BCBCS: not what it was?

turned the volume down slightly to the correct level.

i would bet that the effect was really more about the whiskey alcohol that was in the barrel walls... coming back out of the wall (in that time-span) and into the beer, thus adding both whiskey & barrel character ...as opposed to the beer 'cycling' greatly into & outta' the walls. but again. i could be wrong.

 

Agreed

 

Plus memories for things past change over time and sometimes more with frequency of recall.

 

The position off the floor as well as the relative humidity in the barrel room GREATLY affect the exit proof of spirits, even in the same room over a number of years, the top levels will have higher abv than the entry proof, and the barrels closest to the floor are lower in abv than the exit proof.

Back to the original OP though. BCBCS is simply some cold brew poured into the bottle, and then topped off with regular old BCBS and a crown top snapped on. You can do the math at home but it's an A+B=500ml, and you need to get the abv of the final mix down to 12.8 from 14.7 or so.

I did not come up with this on my own, but it's quite obvious coffee is not in the barrels at all, since the abv of BCBCS is always lower! Presto Voila. Anyways if you have ample reg BCBS make your own cold brews or buy from a specialty grocer and play around with it.

 

so that nobody else is confused, ^^this is definitely speaking of barrels filled with spirit in a distiller's possession.

the reason ABV increases in barrels resting on higher ricks &/or floors is because HEAT rises. the higher heat, in KY's environment, causes water to actually escape faster than alcohol can from barrels. so the water to alcohol ratio is affected in alcohol's favor, over time. this is an effect of cycling & as far as i understood - it requires temperature. based on testimony, some brewers have indicated there's a deliberate aim in the area of 60°/60° for barrel aging.

 

I believe that GI has stated that they cut the stout with cold brew after it is out of the barrel.

 

i am not so sure about that either. i don't know the answer but i can see a few factors fudging up the simple logic of the "abv" being different/lower.

the one snag for me to not just dismiss the idea was his saying: "the abv of bcbsc is always lower". assuming that's factual - (cause i haven't the time to check, myself... before i wreck myself) - first thing i wonder is if perhaps coffee absorbs alcohol and if so might there be an alcohol ratio reduction when compared to barrels aging without coffee? but i mean i can also see a bunch of other incalculable factors we can't necessarily know for certain. simple things like the length of time coffee is aged might always be shorter & mean less alcohol is pulled back outta the wood then regular BCBS. etc.

 

I'm trying to find where i read that but not having any luck.

 

i had not seen that. do you have an idea when this statement was made? i have not had 2016 coffee, i do have some 2017 but have not opened one. if it is true, i am curious to know whether that was a reaction to the 2015 issue? it might be part of the explanation some people aren't "feeling it" now compared to before.

what wasn't lost on me is after 2015, GI scrapped the 1-2-3 process for regular barleywine. seems like they tried it again & had to scrap this year's variant altogether. for me it's 1 additional indicator the current barrel supply isn't able to support the process. another potential piece of evidence.

 

I saw a video explaining that the make cold brew and blend it into the finished beer. That was for either last year's version or this year's. They then carbonate the beverage afterwards. That's why when we dump in the coffee ourselves it tastes watered down.

Also it's alcohol by volume. So adding any non alcoholic beverage will dilute the alcohol percentage and lower it.

 

that's interesting. it makes me arrive at other questions. like the rumor has to be wrong /false that there was a sizable amount of coffee variant discarded again! also seems weird coffee isn't much more readily available - if all they are doing is raiding regular BCBS to add cold pressed over the top...

 

They definitely add cold brew, but not sure when. I guess after would make more sense to reduce the chance of introducing foreign substances into the beer that might infect it. Blend in the cold brew the flash pasteurize the whole thing...

Maybe they also select specific barrels of BCBS for coffee that differ in flavor or abv than what makes the normal blend. They constantly measure how each barrel is progressing.

 

Because if it was available like regular bcbs nobody would want it. The rareness adds to the hype.

There was so much extra BCBS around here that the Distributors started buying back cases because it is a bad look to have 5 cases sitting around collecting dust at every store.

 

if that is the case, it made more sense to pair down additional regular BCBS into a bit more coffee. that probably would've reduced some of the "bad look".

 

Doubtful, IMO. Any proof (whatsoever) or pure speculation? I'm not trying to be a dick but this is how misinformation starts.