Chicago Stout Releases (2018)

I wouldn't panic, this stuff is usually everywhere in quantity. A bunch of places haven't even put it out yet/received it...

 

So, someone posted that Black Note dropped at Bell's yesterday. Supposed to be size able, and thus definitely hit distro. My question is:

For those that saw it drop last year, can anyone indicate how long it was before they saw it drop?

I'm not in Chicago (or the extreme NW corner of Indiana), but these type of approximations give me ammo to start contacting retailers near me.

 

Can’t answer your question but my Binny’s sold single bottles only for Batch 2 back in December.

 

Probably

 

Last year was the only time I've had an entire bottle (otherwise only had it at Fobab). I didn't think it lived up to the hype, but mostly because it's one of those beers that fans say is "the best BA stout evarrr", which means I almost always am let down when I don't feel the same. It was certainly tasty, though.

 

I didn't think it was all that special last year. Then again I also didn't think much of KBS and BCS from last year either.

 

That's the thing about beer. It's all subjective.


But you're all wrong. It is the best BA stout evarrrr!!!!!! haha jk it is great though

 

No.

This year's Bourbon Barrel Aged Expedition was much better, to me, than BOTH batches of Black Note last year.

I absolutely loved the 2014 batch of Black Note; not sure if my palate has evolved or the batches last year were worse.

 

Naa, it lacked the fudge quality that I love so much from that beer. It was decent, but merely a shell of 2014.

 

You sure? Called a few binnys and had them check their systems, said all Chicago area binnys are sold out. Who else would get westified?

 

Sometimes the people answering the phone will just say that without being entirely honest. I'm sure many will get tired of constantly getting phone calls and it's just easier to say no than:
'yes'...
'i don't know how many are left exactly'...
'i don't know how long it will last'...
'no, we can't hold any for you until you get here'...
'that is our store policy'..
etc etc.

But I'm sure some were honest in telling you they sold out. No way of really knowing unless you go there.

 

Whole Foods got it last year. Check some of their locations.

 

According to a guy at Garfield's, High West sent Lagunitas a cease and desist regarding High Westified. No idea if it is true - but maybe Binny's was just liquidating old stock?

 

Oh dam this is last years? Not sure why I thought it was the most recent batch.

 

It's labeled 2017 but the product is 2016. They are not using High West barrels any more because High West was acquired by Constellation brands, which I believe is a competitor in some sort to Heineken. Lagunitas will be using Willett barrels instead of High West supposedly, which gives me no grief

 

From this article last week in the Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...f053ff30921_story.html?utm_term=.9eec9eb7f768

“Lagunitas Willettized Coffee Stout: High West’s new ownership meant the end of a long-standing partnership with Lagunitas, which aged its coffee stout in a mix of High West bourbon and rye barrels for up to 17 months to create High West-ified Imperial Coffee Stout. Brewmaster Jeremy Marshall wasn’t thrilled about the decision. “It’s an interruption of your raw material supply,” he explains. “The barrel becomes an ingredient.” Thankfully, Lagunitas quickly found a new supplier: Kentucky’s family-owned Willett distillery, which worked with Lagunitas last year on a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Marshall says there will obviously be differences in the two beers because of the wooden barrels themselves as well as what they contained, but everything else will be pretty much the same, down to a variety of ages in the whiskey. “In my mind, why would I change the base recipe or use a coffee that was radically different? . . . We’ll see what the court of public opinion is. We’re already prepared for the ‘High West-ified was better.’ ”

They’re basically killing whatever stock they have.

 

The interesting thing for me about this recent drop of High Westfield is that it was bottled "230 7 1" so it's Aug 18, 2017. That's what people are reporting in the Willetized thread. So that potentially means this spent a good 7 months or more in the barrel if it is the same batch of beer from the 2016 and early 2017 drops. I wonder if they "found" some barrels and needed to get it out before the Dec. High Willetized gets released. Either way, still haven't seen it downstate yet...

Also interesting that as @prior2two quotes above, this beer spends up to 17 months in the barrel. I know it's a pretty stale conversation, but with all the talk on this site about the reasons Westified is so cheap, we definitely can't say it spends less time in barrels than many other stouts that cost A LOT more.

Drinking one of the '16's right now. Such a great beer. Hope to get a 6 or more if this drop hits by me. Go Bears.