Chicago Stout Releases (2018)

Luckily it won’t be too hard (for BA people anyway) to find as it “sits around behind the counter” section at Binny’s haha.

 

I had one a couple nights ago. Thick mouthfeel with that dark fruit flavor. My only beef is the same issue I have every year with MZ in that fresh the hops are more prevalent. I personally prefer MZ with about 6 months or more on it where the hops are gone and it’s just thick and chewy with dark fruit. 18 months to 3 years IMO is the sweet spot. Cracked a 2015 the same night and I savored that bottle for a couple hours. I’m an MZ fanboy so take that for what you will.

 

I just had a triple barrel from last year.... it definitely fell off in flavor and wasn’t as good as I remembered. After a year, the coffee turned into a harsh flavor that took over the other flavors that were supposed to be there.

Drink fresh imo... does not get better with age

 

I grabbed Baptista and the two new BA Lake Effect from Binny's last night. Person there said they should be getting Quad Barrel today. First time trying the Lake Effect stuff. Only had the espresso and really liked it.

 

Binnys Grand has Quad Baptist out on the floor. 4 cases.

 

Thank you sir! Perhaps I'll sit on one for a bit.

 

Is it possible to find the new Energy City smores stout anywhere near Schaumburg? Thanks in advance

 

You ever a little further west? I have two cans if you can’t find them anywhere. Live in st Charles, work in Elgin

 

Morning, all. Super random question. I'm heading into Chicago next week for Thanksgiving and will have very limited time to do BCBS-related activities (probably for the best). My mother-in-law plays piano at rotating Mariano's, so we will most likely go to one of them to see her play--do they ever get any BCBS variants on draft? Also, I'll be in the South Loop. Thanks and go Bears (maybe we'll see a J. Howard resurgence???).

 

Highly unlikely that Mariano's will have a variant(s) on draft. Maybe South Loop Binny's?

 

Sure leave it to me to awkwardly tell him Thanksgiving is this week....

 

I actually assumed he knew what he was saying, and that he was heading there next week because that's when they could get together. Good eye, though!

 

I was in there 3 days ago, and they said the taproom is closed indefinitely.

 

Wtf? What happened?

 

No idea. The employee simply said it was closed, and they weren't sure when/if it was going to open again. She also assumed that I worked for GI because I was wearing their hat......so, she may not be playing with a full deck

 

Just picked up two willittized gift box sets from binnys, didn't know these were a thing/willett was out yet.

 

Been out for a couple weeks. They're cheaper at Meijer. I think $12.99 at Meijer and $14.99 or $15.99 at Binny's.

 

They’ve been out for a bit, but price point has gone up substantially on a per/oz basis. Plus unfavorable bottle format (22oz bottle vs 6-pack last year) and being forced to buy two half jars, and.... well, you got perfect negative trifecta. My guess is you’ll see those sets around for quite some time. Individual 22oz bottles without jar box set are supposed to he released at some point but you’ll probably still see those last longer than typically because of, again, higher price/oz and 22oz bottle format.