New Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2018 Variants

As the regular ages, what flavors tend to die vs what flavors tend to come to the forefront

 

My rankings are 1. Vanilla/Wheatwine (World Class) 2. Midnight Orange (Outstanding) 3. Regular (Exceptional) 4. Bramble (Very Good)

I thought Bramble was a very good stout but I found it thinner, too berry juice forward and lacking the rye barrel presence that I would’ve hoped for. This is my first time with any Vanilla or Bramble so I cannot compared to prior years.

I only poured a taster of Vanilla last night and will decide after I finish the entire bottle.

Haven’t had Coffee Barleywine or Reserve yet.

 

The elusive cinnamon variant

One of my local spots also has a "rewards club" that is like $100 a year and you get access to certain limited beers that are only sold to club members rather than going on shelves. Personally it seems like a money grab to me so I just shop elsewhere even if that means going without something and I am fine with that. Just on principle I refuse to pay $100 a year just to get access to buy beer from someone.

 

That does not sound very, I guess I would say, ethical, to me? The bottle shop I am talking about does a number of things besides being a part of the rewards club (where the allocations are based on previous purchases). He will put some hard to get beers on the stores blog and limit it to a bottle/4-pack a person, first come, first served, sometimes he will only tweet about an extra few bottles he will put on the shelf, and not post it on the blog, sometimes he does it by lottery. I don't get much, but I do appreciate the way he mixes up things.

 

Wow, the last thing I would call BCBS vanilla this year is balanced/well complemented.

 

I've been drinking 2017 and 2018 regular side by side tonight. 2018 pours with a bigger head and is a little hotter. No real reason to age them except for for the fact that it is kind of cool to do.
I just watched the Ranger game and haven't even finished two beers, but I am nice right now!

 

Why would orange or vanilla make it sweeter? Neither of those ingredients contain sugar (orange maybe has small amount of sugar). If anything the Bramble "juice" would be what contains extra sugar (although adding acidity too).

I'm not trying to give you a hard time but what you are saying doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

So how's prop '18 for those that have tried it?

 

No worries. I find the Vanilla and the Orange Midnight sweeter than the Regular. This is a fact. What makes them sweeter seems to be under question. I attributed it to the additional ingredients, namely, the vanilla and chocolate. If not from these ingredients then I stand corrected. Regardless, and most importantly, the combination of flavors in these beers are perceived by me as sweetness, especially compared to the Regular.

As for the Bramble, the "flavors" I refer to are the smoke and char present in the Regular. My point is that I do not get these flavors in the Bramble like I do in the others, and I attribute this to the fruit juice cutting through such flavors. I was not commenting on the perceived sweetness of Bramble. I could have been more clear about that.

Hope this makes sense.

 

Vanilla absolutely tastes sweeter.

 

A pet peeve of mine is how many breweries serve their imperial stouts much too cold.

 

If you liked Midnight Orange I would give regular BCBS another try...16 is my favorite but they're all good and once they warm there are few barrel aged beers out that are better. And at least where I'm at there are no more on the shelves.

 

This post is coming from a store that is charging $50 per bottle for Vanilla, Orange, Coffee BW and Bramble. No wonder 2017 bottles are still sitting on your shelves

 

Prop is very good but not excellent. Just a lot of chocolate (but not to the point where it is unbalanced like vanilla).

One of the top variants this year but that's not saying a ton.

 

You had me at "this is a fact"

but I do understand your position a little better. Bramble (presumably) has a lower abv (like bcbcs) because they add juice to it that isn't fermented. My point was not that your palate sucks (or anything like that) but that vanilla might suggest sweets more than the standard, even though the sugar level is the same. Wouldn't make as much sense on the orange (unless you were raised around holidays on those Terry's Chocolate Oranges).

You are far from the only person saying Vanilla is "sweeter" although I saw people saying Bramble was the sweetest of all, too.

I personally (if you care) haven't had anoy of this years, there is so much in DC I am doing some bargain shopping and might take home a few bottles tomorrow. IME Regal, and Backyard, were more vinous than sweet. And VR was a disappointment side by side with BA Vanilla Shake ::ducks::

If I do cop some tomorrow I will pop back in this thread and see how it compares to your experience. /blog

 

No reserve but plenty of everything else.

 

How I find the beers is a “fact” in my mind.

I took no offense to your post.

You raised the issue of sugar. Not me. I find vanilla to be a “sweet” flavor and I think that shows in Vanilla compared to Regular.

I thoroughly reviewed Wheatwine and, more importantly, Midnight Orange, and I’d encourage you to read my review of the latter so you can understand where I’m coming from.

I reviewed Bramble, but crudely. I’ve only had a taster of Vanilla from my bottle at home, so I’ve not fully reviewed it yet. I’ll also note this is my first time with Bramble or any Vanilla variant, so I don’t have the advantage of comparing to prior years.

Thank god for emoticons. How else could we express civility and respect on the internet?

I look forward to your thoughts should you choose to share them.

 

I can definitely say that California saw much more variant availability this year. But with that came plenty of price gouging. I was able to get a couple of deals through my regular bottle shop because I give them a lot of business. But, I couldn't find another store that wasn't charging between $28-$30 per bottle regardless of the variant (not including regular). The only variant I had to hunt for was Wheatwine. I made the mistake of thinking, "that's cool, at least it's the cheapest out of all of them." Had to pay $28/bottle. Well, nobody put a gun to my head. But I did want to try it.

 

$28 for WW... I almost want to paypal you some money, yikes

FWIW in Chicago the prices were...

Regular = $10-12
WW/CBW = $16
All others = $25

 

I knew this place had a good amount Friday morning, but I wasn't going to chase. It wasn't until 5pm that I noticed on IG they still had WW and I was like I'll take the shot. Didn't find out what the price was until I got there. Figured, what the hell, it's like dropping $150 a head at dinner in Vegas. You only do it once a year. They also wanted $30 for 2017 Barleywine. I did not pay that. Have a few bottles left over that I paid $15 per last year.