Why is every new stout seemingly an insta-whale?

I don't know but "insta-whale" should become an official part of the beer lexicon.

 

People dig the stouts. With that said, not every new stout is a "whale".

 

I definitely see a lot of that too. The nice part about stouts being the most sought after of the product line, (especially the barrel aged line) the other barrel aged beers (barley wines, Scottish wee heavies, old ales, bocks) for many breweries are left on the shelves longer and are easier for folks who like them too, to have access to some also great tasting beers, with not near the effort.

Sour styles also seem to receive the same treatment as stouts now. They're gone in a hurry too.

 

The hype engine doesn't slow down. It always needs more beers otherwise people might realize that the hype of something else might've not been worth it.

 

Cause, trade bait bro...

But seriously - people are hyping the shit out of everything these days to try and cash in trading on the latest release. Stick to the classics... (bah humbug, curmudgeon, grumble...)

 

In some alternate beer trading universe, taste is the critical factor in determining the desirability of a beer. Well, I'd like to think so anyway.

 

Not every stout does, actually. It's got to have been in a barrel for sure. If not, it's got to have the kitchen sink of ingredients to be really good. Even better, throw in all the ingredients and then throw it in barrels. And do 5 variants in different types of barrels.

 

I think we know why every new beer is an "insta-whale." Local trade base hypes the hell out of a beer in order to increase its trade value. This behavior is especially rampant in areas where the general beer is mediocre. What then occurs is that some people truly don't realize that the best beer in their area is still just slightly above average and they claim that it's the best beer ever. Then there are other people in those areas who know their beer is only slightly above average but they makes sure to hype it wildly in order to fleece others or trade for beer that actually is great. Either way, you see a lot of this type of stuff happening in regions where there isn't a large sample of great, or even above average, beer.

I really hope this is true, and I wish I lived in that one.

 

I would say that barrel aged is the rage. Stouts are my favorite but I don't care for the barrel age but that is what everybody loves.

 

I was going to say sours, too. Any new sour ale instantly becomes a whale.

 

Not everybody.

 

Stouts are the shit!!

 

I was gonna say barrel-aged beers. (for many people's definition of "whale" anyway.... mine is a bit more particular)

 

Both play a factor. I've had low bottle count releases that were "meh" and I wasn't the one who won on that venture, it was the brewer. Low bottle counts are always over-hyped and the brewer better bang it every batch because they are commanding a higher dollar and in return costing our valuable time to travel there and wait in line. It's a two way street if they want return business. (And social media reviews which spread like wildfire.)

 

No idea. Old Rasputin and Stone IRS are better than 95% of any of those hyped beers. (And often times the store will do you the favor of aging the bottles.)

 

I find that most Imperial Stouts are not even judge-worthy until they've been aged a couple years. The odd one tastes great fresh, but it's pretty rare that they even come close to something aged perfectly, with the exception of say a coffee stout.

I find I need the sugar and intensity to wear off a little and balance out before they get into EPIC territory. Also, way to many people throw out the word "amazing" these days to describe pretty much anything. Some beers need age before they grow into whalez.

 

Totally agree, and when you look at the price it's hard to argue anything is much better than these. I love a good Fifty Fifty Eclipse, it's stellar beer and aged really well, but I'll be damned if I'd rather not have like 12-16 Old Rasputin's over a single bottle of Fifty Fifty if it were a choice. Thankfully, I have both!

The other thing about single small batch releases is that it's a one shot deal, most brewers will try and save a batch that is just ok by cutting in the regular stout, blending or simply just releasing the beer to make their money. Sometimes it's amazing, sometimes it's just ok, either way you are taking some chances with the barrel aging.

 

I don't think its every stout, but Big barrel aged stouts take time to make and age and for most breweries they don't have the ability to do that year round so when they can release them they get hype. Plus they are fantastic for the most part.