On Tap in the Twin Cities - 2020

Long time lurker, 100th time giving a shit.

Has anybody been by the Red Cow on 50th St. lately and ordered the 2019 Goose Island BCB Café de Olla? I have a 5oz glass in front of me, alongside a 5oz of Odell Bull Proof. Goose Island is supposed to be a 13.5 abv beer over coffee beans AND cold coffee added. Between the two, the Odell is Tru to description and the 12% abv is easily there. The "Goose Island" seems to be obviously lower abv than the Odell and lacks the body of anything in the BCB line, as well as not tasting or smelling anything like coffee.

IMHO, it has no coffee in the ose or the taste, which is contrary to every review that says that coffee dominates both. What I do taste is cocoa and cinnamon, which would match the Stone Xocoveza, which they also had on during their 12 days of Christmas. It also drinks like an 8% beer.

I went to the person here that I trust most for their being able to break down beers and she says that it smells like coffee. The Odell beer tastes spot on and I actually had to reverse engineer what I smelled/tasted to go back through their beer list to find the Xocoveza.

So looking for confirmation if I am nuts (actually, scratch that)... I am trying to see if anybody else thinks that the wrong keg is on tap at the 50th St. Red Cow for the BCB Café de Olla.

 

Try ordering the Xocoveza and do a side by side?

 

Did you see it poured? Bartender may have had a brain fart or server may have grabbed the wrong beer. I’d just ask for a sample of the beer you ordered and compare. If not what you ordered, tell them and they’d make it right.

 

A bit outside of the metro but Waconia Brewing has a Wee Heavy aged in Lagavulin Scotch Whisky barrels on-tap. So if you like your whisky from Islay, you will probably like this beer. Heavy barrel influence in this 8% ABV ale.

 

"I say this an Islay drinker..." (in Millenial parlance): I don't think there's much overlap between whisk(e)y fans and whisk(e)y-barrel-aged beer fans. Most craft beer drinkers I know who also enjoy whiskey don't much care for bourbon-barrel-aged beers and the like, and most BBA beer enthusiasts I've encountered don't know much about whiskey. Obviously there are some exceptions. It's much like whiskey and Coke: The flavors don't mesh particularly well, whiskey fans don't want their liquor ruined with carbonated corn syrup, and frequent Coca-Cola drinkers know the cocktail tastes worse than the non-spiked version. The audience for that concoction consists mostly of people who aren't particularly fans of either component.

Added: HammerHeart put out an excellent Islay-barrel-aged smoke beer in 2017 called Bog Burial. The Islay qualities jibed with the smoked malts instead of being an overwhelming and discordant distraction, as they usually are in beer. That's the only good Islay-barrel-aged beer I've ever had (out of perhaps 5 I've tried). But I'd give this one a go in the unlikely event I happen to be at Waconia Brewing Company any time soon.

 

Disagree. A few friends and I enjoy Bourbons and Ryes quite a bit and my preference in beer is BBA with a strong barrel preference and fewer adjuncts.

 

Outside of the cities.

Tonight at the Boulder Tap House in St. Cloud, they will serving beers from Hop & Barrel in Hudson.
5pm tonight.

 

Please bring back Bog Burial.

 

I had the cafe on tap at turtles and all I could taste was the cinnamon and orange. From what I understand, the bottles have a lot of coffee and cinnamon and very little orange. So I think its just a keg vs bottle variance

 

Had the Café de Olla last night out of the bottle. Strong coffee, medium cinnamon flavors over the smooth base stout.. Orange was only on the nose.

 

Founders French Toast Bastard on at F44 cheese shop

 

City Works downtown is closed. I guess it has been closed for a week or two, but I hadn't noticed until today. They have what I assume is the Hennepin County eviction notice on the door, but maybe it's more innocuous than that.

Either way, their website confirms it: https://www.cityworksrestaurant.com/minneapolis/

 

2018 BA Cherry Vanilla Darkness on at Buffalo Tap in Savage.

 

BBA expedition at Rock Elm Plymouth according to Untappd. Have not been there to verify...yet.

 

Sad- but true. No interest in going downtown anymore. Parking has also become an issue.

 

Northbound Brew Pub has there new Amber Bock on tap, haven't tried it yet. The Czech Dark Lager is a good beer. I'm not sure if it's still on tap,.
https://untappd.com/b/northbound-smokehouse-and-brewpub-czech-dark-lager/3647456