Bourbon County 2017

I'm definitely hyped for Reserve. It's exactly the sort of BCS I'm always hoping for.

 

And this is the crux of it.

You assume there are no artificial flavorings. Who determines what is and isn't artificial, and whether beer companies have to divulge such information? They clearly aren't required to divulge ingredients on the label, or even elsewhere, since very often breweries don't even list on the label the special flavoring ingredients in a pastry stout, even if those ingredients were used to hype the beer online.

Regardless, to be averse to using the term "flavoring" because it leads to the assumption it may be artificial is why people veer to a more technical term they don't understand. They don't want it to seem like this thing they love is just a Coffee-Mate or neon-colored powdered drink concoction. It has to remain as this romantic notion that someone individually picked all these natural, organic ingredients or local artisans curated a list of products and a flavor profile on a family farm.

Why be embarrassed that these beers are flavored in the first place? Because that's all they are, and we, the beer geek masses, sure seem to like it that way. If it's so embarrassing to call our mocha coconut peanut butter berry stout "flavored," why are we so proud to be drinking it in the first place? Maybe we don't like people that go to Starbucks to get their Frappe fix, so we couldn't possibly associate ourselves with the consumers of such a conglomerate. I really don't see such a huge difference though.

These definitely are not adjunct stouts, though.

 

Seems like a lot of semantics to me. Though, I'm most excited for the reserve after reading that article...

 

It's funny this article said not to age and the exact opposite.

 

I feel like comments I hear surrounding aging focus on either "do or don't". Most of the time for people with a cellar, it's that they have multiples and did in fact try it fresh, or they have too much beer (I'm guilty of both)...

 

You're thinking about this too hard, man! I'm not trying imply anything like that (embarrassment/desire to distance one's self from other types of beverages). I'm just saying that not everyone is using language as specifically (or accurately, apparently) as you are, because it's not a priority for everyone.

I don't understand the "age it" response unless you have multiples of a beer (like you said). Why would you want to age a beer you've never tasted?

 

Reasons I can think of that people age beer
1) They have 2 (or have one and already had it on draft) and want to see the difference.
2) "Accidental aging" - it gets stuck in the back of the fridge, bought too much beer, etc.
3) Just don't want to open it right away.

I agree, the last one seems silly.

 

Yeah, I totally get #1, and I've been guilty of #2. But generally speaking, if I purchase a beer, I'm excited to drink it, so #3 is a stretch. Only examples I have are the two BCS Rares, which I saved for "the right occasion."

 

I am aging a Hardywood Christmas Morning that I acquired back in February. I am eagerly waiting to impress my friends with my Untappd post on Dec. 25th. Pretty sure no one has ever done this before.

 

WOW at there being no reserve barleywine, that's really unfortunate. It was the one I was looking forward to most. Also a real bummer the normal barleywine sounds like a weak offering, I agree with him that I've liked each year less and less.

Sounds like my top choices will be normal, reserve and coffee. I tend to think a lot of the variants are pretty overhyped anyway, last year the regular was clearly the best BCBS to me.

 

#4) Put it on to a shelf to look at.

Or am I the only one who does this?

 

You would probably impress them more if you shared the beer with them....

 

So Bud Light is an adjunct lager eh? I can't help but laugh at that after their recent commercial lineup poking fun at craft ingredients.

 

Dude. An adjunct is something added to something else and is not essential. Adding coffee or anything to the beer makes that coffee (or whatever) an adjunct. A flavored beer is a flavored beer, but those flavors come from the adjuncts used. Artificial flavoring added would also be an adjunct. It's something added to something else that's not essential.

Corn and rice are adjuncts, but used primarily for their sugars and not so much for flavor...well, maybe for that smooth, crisp, light flavor! Lol

Coffee, chocolate, bananas, funnel cakes added to beer are adjuncts used for flavor...and could also be used for their sugars.

Nothing to be embarrassed about calling it "flavored" or "adjunct". Both would be correct. So it's fair to refer to BCS Backyard Rye as a flavored stout or an adjunct stout.

 

Idk I feel like the Christmas season isn't the right time for that kind of stuff.

 

A quote from the article posted earlier on this page.

 

The dress is Blue you guys.

 

I still have a 2016 Fremont B-Bomb I haven't opened. A bunch of BCBS, Schlafly the Variant, 2017 Darklord, 2017 Handjee etc. I ended up getting way too much beer at once. I'm working on it but it's taking time.

 

Yep, it's common knowledge, at least I thought it was until now. BA even has the style here listed for us all, with a pretty apt, detailed description.

Those flavors don't come from adjuncts, because adjuncts are non-malts that provide fermentable sugars that turn into alcohol.

Goose Island used rice, corn, etc to make BCS Backyard Rye? I think that would be news to them!

That may be the definition you want to use, but it's factually incorrect when you want to talk about beer and brewing on a beer forum. Unless you enjoy sounding like all the other just-turned-21 fresh on the scene know it alls that think Hill Farmstead is a West Coast IPA brewer, be my guest. But an adjunct is a non-malt used for its fermentable sugar.

Yes, outside of the beer world, to a regular person that for whatever reason finds use for the term adjunct in an outside setting that really has nothing to do with this discussion...because the radio told them it was the word of the day.

In the beer world, no, because an adjunct is quite essential to an adjunct lager which were popularized here because of America's lack of access to affordable malts.

I mean, if you don't want to call something what it is, fine. But it requires no additional thought on my part to quickly and easily recognize when someone wants to try to confuse the issue and make something sound more sophisticated than it actually is by using the technical brewing term "adjunct."

What we're talking about here with something like a Bananas Fosters stout, is much more simply put, flavored. Prop '17 is a flavored stout with shit tons of flavoring and no brewing adjuncts, because that's what it is.

Flavored, artificially, unofficially, officially, or otherwise, is what, and all, it is.

I'm not sure why it's so difficult to admit a beer is simply flavored, and isn't actually all that special--as if it attained these flavors through some special, magical, technical process.

They're putting stuff into their stuff to make their stuff taste like other stuff.

Coffee-mate.

 

Respectfully, those flavors come from adjuncts. Not because it's the word of the day. Not because I think Hill Farmstead is a West Coast IPA. It's because the definition of an adjunct is something that is added to something else that is non-essential. It's pretty simple.

The Brewer's Association might say that an adjunct is usually a non-malt used for its fermentable sugar...it certainly is. But an adjunct is also anything else you add in that is not essential to the beer. That's the definition of an adjunct. That's it.

BCS variants have adjuncts.

Don't worry. Everything is gonna be okay. The beer still is fantastic!

I apologize for keeping off topic here. Hope to raise a glass with you on Prop Day! (Shoot! Does that count or do I have to go to the Prop Day thread? Dang it!)