Barrel Aged Old Rasputin

At least BT comes in 750ml (I think) and ABV is much higher. BA Raspy is 500ml and 12% ABV.

 

"Just because they are barrel-aged" means: tying up space for much longer than a non-aged beer, dumping any barrels that are infected, dumping any barrels that just don't taste good, learning the difficult art of blending. I think you do a significant disservice to brewers when you use the word "just" there.

 

Pass Pass Pass. The price is too damn high.

 

Sounds like a hit a touchy subject with someone. I was referring to the fact that Old Rasputin and Black Chocolate Stout are probably 2 of the cheapest RISs around while their barrel aged versions are expensive even for being barrel aged. I could get a 4 pack of Bourbon County Stout for about the same price as a 500mL bottle of BA Old Rasputin. Of course every brewery's costs are different, its just amazing that the base beer can be produced for such an affordable price, while BA version is so expensive.

 

True -- now if Goose Island, located in a high-real-estate area like Chicago, can afford to release BCBS at $5 per 12 bottle, then what is North Coast's excuse for having over double the cost per ounce?

Yeah, there's overhead... But there's also greed.

EDIT: beaten while typing that up...

 

ok, without spending too much time on dr. levi's theories of supply and demand (seriously, it is a GOOD THING when good beer is on the shelves year-round), can i ask a simple question?

how do you two, as known eclipse shills, rationalize complaints about $22 / 16.9 oz ($1.30 / oz) being "too high" and turn a blind eye to eclipses that are $30 / 22 oz ($1.36 / oz)?

even worse is when i see someone complain about black tuesday being "way too expensive" or a "gouge" ($1.18 / oz) and, in the same thread, gush breathlessly over eclipse.

can any of you address the inconsistency in your thinking?

 

^ No. After some unpleasantness following my comments about the past couple of years of Eclipses, I am declining to review or post about them going forward. Troll elsewhere.

 

Let's not assume here. I never pay 30$ for Eclipse beers. I always stock up on Futures for around 21$ a bottle. Still cheaper than a 500 ml bottle of BA Rasputin. I think 30$ for Eclipse is too damn high too, but a cheaper option exists with futures.

Black Tuesday is one of the only few bottles I will drop $30 for in a heartbeat.

 

Boo this man. . . and I'm not saying "boo-urns".

For my two cents, oversimplified style: $20/500ml BA Old Rasputin sucks, $9/4 (12oz) Old Rasputin rules.

 

I bought two, one to share with a friend and the other to cellar. We drank one a couple weeks ago. It's a great example of the style. It changes quite a bit as it warms to room temp. I liked it best around 65-68 (guessing), seemed to have the most complexity at that temp (didn't care for it at about 42-48). Not my favorite, but I would have no problem dropping another $20 on a bottle.

 

BA Old Raspy is nowhere near as good as a finished product as Eclipse or BT. Futures and RS work out to where BA Old Raspy is the most expensive for my situation.

None of the other barrel aged beers are anywhere near being significantly worse than their base version as well (well I've never had the BT base, but Totality is good, and gets better when put in barrels, I can't say the same of Old Rasputin).

 

One man's opinion: good beer, but not great. If you've ticked one vintage of this, it's certainly not worth the price tag when there are numerous other BA imperial stouts available that are a. better and b. cheaper per ounce.

 

I'm going to say this beer is overrated. Even if it was $15 a bottle I don't think I would buy it again. I've sampled the X, XII, and XIV in the past few months and wasn't really impressed by any of them. Furthermore the older vintages didn't seem to be whole lot different with age.

 

This thread makes me thirsty.

By the way, a drop fell off the rim of the bottle and I licked it off the floor. It was like 6 cents after all.

 

If you can't afford to lose it; you can't afford to have it.

 

IF you dont like Eclipse thats fine, but dont continue to Troll around and bash it to no end. Get over yourself.

And I definitely agree with Abecall98, most who buy Eclipse buy through the futures program, so technically at $21 (0.95/per ounce) its definitely a better buy, and beer. I still enjoy a BA Old Rasputin every now and then, but $21 for 16.9oz is a tough buy.

 

you guys really need to stop overusing "troll." i challenged you on a seeming double standard. i didn't even say anything negative, just talked about price.

i think the fact that none of you 3, who i'd consider to be big proponents of eclipse, will stand up for the shelf pricing says something.

 

Just picked up a couple bottles of this in Ohio. Found this and Black Ops so not a terribly bad day...

 

I'll concede point one, I don't think wanting to engage in a discussion in is trolling, and I wish we had greater ability on this website to engage in constructive disagreements without someone hitting the report button over nothing but different politics.

But I think I laid out succinctly why it was not hypocrisy to say ''paying ~ 'x' amount'' hurts for a beer you don't like, but hurts less for a beer you do like. The fact that non BA old rasputin is better and cheaper than its BA counterpart is just icing on the cake.

Point 2? I've never bought Eclipse (nor seen) on a shelf. I see BA Old Rasputin year round on multiple shelves in multiple cities. If you like it, its probably worth it. If you don't, its not.

What specifically do you mean by "stand up for" the shelf pricing? I don't see the logic of saying its hypocritical to like one beer at a price, and not like another at a similar price.

Its not hypocritical for someone to pay the similar $$$ for a Toyota Tacoma, but not like a Ford F150 and find it to be overpriced. Same with Coke/Pepsi.

Having a dislike or appreciation for something isn't called hypocrisy, its called a preference.

Black Tuesday > Eclipse > BA Old Rasputin = preference

 

yes, that makes perfect sense, which is why i didn't include you in the 3 i was referring to.

absolutely. however, i've seen arbitrator and abecall98 make references to beers being "too expensive" in the past, and their posts in this thread are predicated on price alone (go back up and see). arbitrary even compared old rasputin xv to bcbs, which is a tacit endorsement of its flavor. so they didn't criticize the taste or express a preference; they simply attacked the cost, and i used the opportunity to try and point out a discrepancy in their thinking.

to come back and expound by saying, "well, i like eclipse more, so i'll pay more" is fine; i can accept that, though i'd obviously disagree that eclipse is a quality barrel-aged stout.

i'm not sure what this is supposed to prove. eclipse is well-known to be distributed.

misuse of "troll" aside, if you attract trouble left and right, even from breweries you support, maybe the problem is you?