I've heard people from both sides say KBS is not boozy enough because of the cave aging while others have said it is too boozy. Me, I find a full pour not boozy enough and a half pour just the right amount of booze. It's a well balanced beer imo, although some vintages seem thin -- it's still an enjoyable, world-class beer. That said, those that say they can find locals that are better, is it because of the "mellow" barrel character? Too much barrel? Better coffee? Not enough coffee? Better chocolate? Not enough? Would KBS be better to leave the cave a thing of the past and go to a warehouse? Oh, and why is Toppling Goliath allowed to use "Kentucky" but Founders isn't? Is it because Founders use Jack barrels and it's from Tennessee?
Having just had a KBS 2017 and finding it outstanding and far better than 2016, I don't care whether they're making it in a cave, a warehouse, or an outhouse - just don't change anything!
I went on a brewery tour once in the middle of a hot, and humid August at a very large brewery. They don't blow A/C in a giant warehouse mind you. At the end of their tour, I asked what was in the barrels. They said their imperial stout. I asked why they would age their beer in 95 degree heat. The guide proceeded to explain how their view of barrel aging was meant to capture all the expansion and contraction of a barrel during the seasons. He explained how the heat was changing what was happening in the barrel and that was exactly what they wanted to happen. You may have had the beer. Its got a 97 on BA, and costs $2 a bottle. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/150933/ At the end of the day, what I'm saying is both the cave and the warehouse method can yield great results.
Like both beers this year, but for me 2017 KBS was more dynamic than 2016. Whereas I felt that 2016 HW had more depth than 2017. My palate preferences only, and I don't care where/how it's aged...the end product is what matters to me as the consumer. YMMV
I shared a bottle of Disgruntled Brewing's Imperial Brunch Stout and a four pack of KBS with my uncle who is not a huge beer drinker but does like "dark" beer. After taking a sip of the KBS he said, "this is good, but do you have anymore of the other stuff?"
KBS imo is a drink fresh beer. Just the right amount of booze. This years KBS I liked because it was more Coffee forward than some the previous years. Sadly this beer had been going downhill since 2014.
I agree that it is best to drink fresh vs age - had some aged mediocre 2016 recently - but it sure didn't go downhill for 2017. The 2017 I've had was outstanding, much better than 2016.
On a related note... still can't believe it's sitting on the shelf into May at my local. Don't think I've seen that before.
I think the price increase this year had a little to do with it. It also seems like every market recieved a lot more KBS than prior years.
Was there a price increase? I have read several places (including FB/twitter posts by stores) that the price was very close to the same as last year.
Seemed like there was a slight increase in the market where I live from previous years. I'm not 100% positive about this but I'm pretty sure it also even increased at founders for release day. Ticket sales
It went up about $2 per 4-pack here. Others have commented about similar increases elsewhere. That's starting to push the limits of what I'd buy in quantity. If it were $25, I'd only buy a couple of 4-packs, and at $30 would not buy any.
Since your store sold cheap Breakfast Stout in order to get the KBS, I wonder if that was there way of recouping some of their loss, since it does not appear to be uniform across distribution, and...not like COL went up in SD
Could be in the case of that store, but others stores also had increases. Not sure they took a loss on the FBS though. As it was overstock they probably got a sweet deal on it and may have been selling it at cost. They were drawing in some new customers also. Back to the cave vs warehouse, can anyone really taste the difference? Like a lot of commercial claims that call out some product differentiation, there is rarely any scientific proof.
