Barreled Souls (2022)

Has anyone cracked a 2022 Hot Cocoa SP yet? Mine was a gusher and not great. Hopefully it was just a fluke.

The Munichwine however…is delicious. I really hope they barrel aged some of this. Almost has an imperial Marzen/Dunkel vibe going.

 

Haven't cracked any Hot Cocoa Stay Puft yet, but had a regular Stay Puft the other night; no issues, tasted great.

Sipping a Booker's Bourbon Honey Pot right now. Incredible.

 

The hot cocoa was not anything remotely close to the original run of the variant for me. Much more of the bitterness of the cacao nibs without a more rich chocolate flavor, disappointing bottle. Mine wasn't a gusher, just fell flat. Honestly not a fan of three of the included member bottles being a stay Puft variant, but still can't complain about the best beer society on the planet.

 

Two Deep Space variations announced today. I'm hoping there'll be another deep space release later in the year. The memories of Deep Space Single Malt and Deep Space Tequila are living rent-free in my head.

 

Damn, my wife books out her vendor events way in advance and she has something near home that Sat. I suppose if I could have someone help with setup AND get a 40 minute DD from my mom (sell it as an opportunity for advance Christmas shopping nearby lol).

Also, F yes I am maxing out Deep Space. The first taste of Deep Space years ago, is when I decided there is no need to go up to Portland for my stouts.

 

FYI renewal emails for the bottle society are going out this Friday per social media, then the waitlist will be contacted about open spots around 2 weeks after that.

 

I'm giving up my society space, so at least one new person will be able to join.

 

Check your email, folks.

Pretty interesting plot twist this year.

 

Definitely in for next year, mostly for double barrel Wisdom, but the new member bar concept is awesome.

Something that caught my eye is a barrel aged Crystal Ale with Horus. Never heard of that style, does anyone know what this is alluding to? I'm assuming some sort of old ale/stock ale/barleywine family thing.

 

Just left the bottle release and will be at the event tonight. Should be a good time!

 

Just got an invite to join the Barrel Society, but the brewery seems to want new members to pay dues before they'll actually tell you what's in store for 2023. Can any current members fill me in on what they know so far?

 

Next year's membership includes the following. The specific bottles are subject to change. I have never tracked how accurate the predictions are, but 2023 will be my fifth year in and I have been very (and increasingly) pleased with the membership over the years.

-Stay Puft
- 2 Peanut Butter Banana Stay Puft (Member Only)
- Dark Matter
- Mezcal BA Dark Matter (Member Only)
- Willett Family Estate Rye BA Gimme The Munichwine (member only)
- Big Bang
- TBN anniversary barley wine (member only)
- Basil Hayden BA Stout Clown (member only)
- TBN Dickel 12-year BA Barleywine

-Members Only #8 magnum bottle, brewed and bottled exclusively for our Society members

-Ability to pre-purchase bottles from each release

-Member’s 10% discount on all packaged products (limitations may apply) (does not apply to merch)

-Member’s 10% discount on all can purchases at the Tasting Room (we are sorry, no pre-purchasing or holds on cans)

-An invitation to participate in our Barrel Project to create your own custom BA beer and label art

-An invitation to purchase tickets for our Annual Bottle Society Member events, to be held every year during the weekend of our Stay Puft release and our Bottle Bash and possibly others TBD!

-Secure, climate-controlled storage for all of your bottles until April 1st of 2024 for members that do not renew, and August 1st 2024 for members who do renew

-Annual gift, tiered by number of years in membership

 

Completely agree on the HC SP. In general I’ve been increasingly unimpressed with the non-BA beers coming out of Souls, not sure if it’s just my palate or they’ve actually changed in some way. On the other hand, the BA beers continue to be phenomenal and seem to be getting better, and they are doing more and more variety all the time, so those are plenty to keep me happy. I just find myself passing or getting at most one bottle of the non-BA stuff.

 

I’ve only been to Barreled Souls once and it was during the pandemic in 2020 where we could only sit outside. Just out of curiosity, why do they have these bottle society memberships? Do they sell many/most/some/none of these bottles to the general public?

 

Some are members only. The others go to public sale after members buy how many they want from their allotment.

As to your question of why, not sure, but probably helps them estimate their expected revenue.

 

“This post is a good news/bad news type of post. The good news is people seem to really enjoy our bottle society and renewed at a staggering percent. The bad part is we have very few spots for new members. If you’re on the waitlist, invites have gone out to the top of the list, so check your email and your junk email. If you did not receive one, we are working to increase our barrel inventory to add more people in the future. If you have questions related to your waitlist status, please email [email protected] Also, be patient as this is a very busy time of the year. We thank you all for the support and are working to fill more barrels for all of you.

 

For me it's just the non-BA pastry stuff that I don't love. Honestly non-BA Big Bang is one of my favorite releases throughout the year and who else is doing a Munichwine besides Private Press? Those types of beers are really what her me excited about Barreled Souls.

 

I should have been more specific—I really meant the stouts. They don’t put out as many base barleywine-type beers, but those are generally good. I think they catapult to a completely different level after coming out of the barrel though.