Side Project / Shared (2022)

I was messing around and speaking in hyperbole. Didn’t mean to spread rumors.

 

DB Generational is confirmed fire

 

Looks like it's in 375ml bottles too. Wonder if they will see a public release?

 

Invitational thoughts:

Top Barleywine:
-Kent the Otter

Top Adjunct Barleywine:
-Banana Almond COW

Top Non-Adjunct stout:
-Moksa Elijah Creed

Top Adjunct stout:
-Medianoche Reserve
-Honorable mention to Moksa Midnight Abundance and D12

Top Saison:
-Oude Fermier v2019

Top mead:
-Pips BA Heart & Sole

Nicest brewer:
-Curly hair guy from 3 sons

Most hype beers that did not live up to expectation:
-Firestone Walker Dreamwood (tasted like liquid oak)
-West Ashley Cuvee (some sulphur/acetic notes, but not bad, just not mind blowing)
-OWK (It was faded at the last invitational and age is not making this beer better, which is a shame. Still better than 97% of stouts, but not a goat. I will take my flogging for this comment as deserved)
-Anchorage blessed (so sweet)
-Monkish Teeth? (too sweet), but Henry from Monkish is cool as heck

Overall I liked this Invitational experience better than the first. It was nice to break up the dark beer with light. The organization was so on point. Lines moved fast & food options were terrific.

 

No, OWK has definitely fallen off pretty hard and I’m not sure why it was the “welcome” beer again. If they didn’t tell you it was OWK you’d never know.

Obviously it’s expected since it’s four years old at this point, but there was basically no vanilla.

 

The bottle pour I had at the Brewery Anniversary in December was still great. Not as good as fresh, but still plenty of vanilla and mouthfeel was still there. This keg was way different.

 

Yup. We actually asked if this keg was a different batch or something. Bottles still had some vanilla, this keg had nothing.


Also it’s funny that BA Ambiente yesterday was apparently B2, which means it’s getting released twice before a new BA Coco Vibes.

 

Was this the 2022 version?

 

How much was it? I’m almost afraid to ask

 

Oh very cool, I was a huge fan of b1. How did b2 stack up?

 

Whoops I already blasted it all over social media!

 

$50

I didn’t try it. Apparently this time it’s rye barrel.

 

I didn’t know this was b2 Ba Ambiente. I loved b1 and I thought this was pretty close to b1. I remember saying to my friend how surprised I was that the cinnamon had held up; turns out that’s because it was a new batch.

 

SP is pricing me out of the game. These prices are getting out control. Two 750s >= $100. Christ. I'm disappointed that this is the new normal, but I guess that I'm not surprised.

 

Did anyone get to try the bottle(s???) of beatification 001 (barrel ph1) that was apparently opened?

No one listed it as a highlight, so curious...

 

I just traded some voodoo for a bottle of Elijah's Creed - very anxious to taste that.

 

Wanna say only 1 bottle brought by an attendee

 

Oh wow, by an attendee. I had assumed RR brought it. That's pretty cool.

 

I'll give some insight on the invitational.

Over all wonderful event and I felt that things ran very smooth. Just a couple longer lines as already stated, but was able to get pours from other breweries while waiting in the longer lines.

I've got some opposite takes on some of the things that were already posted.

OWK - I've had this two other times and it was at the end of a day long session of drinking. So my first sober pour. I thought it was great! It was my (all of ours) first pour so nice fresh palate. It was served at a perfect temperature which was a big deal for me (more on beer temps later). I got plenty of vanilla and since things are so overly adjunted I felt it was stellar.

Highlights in no order:

OWK, Medianoche Reserve, BA Heart and Sole, Gin Black Agnes, Phase Three Blend 2022, 3 Sons Buenas Noches (underdog of the day), Midnight Abundance

Lowlights:
Rare 15 - Man pretty rough. Tasted like watered down bourbon and coke.
Banana Vanilla Almond Circle of wolves - Just way too cloying
BAnanaversary -Meh
TxxTH- little too sweet
3Floyd's - Cocomungo was good, but why bring this over a Darklord variant?
Hand of Glory- Just didn't do it for me
Zenne blend 94 - missed out on 93. little too acidic

This was a fun festival, but it reminded me why I typically don't prefer them. It's definitely a tickers dream and I love ticking, but a couple huge aspects went into how I may have perceived the beer.

Beer temps- Majority of the stouts seemed to be in the 40 degree range. I get that this is a festival and little hard to control the temps, but I feel it affected my perception on a few of these. I wish I had more time to let warm and enjoy it the way it was intended. Maybe that circle of wolves or BAnanaverasry would have came around if I wasn't drinking it ice cold?

Palate fatigue- Again I knew what I was getting myself into, but towards the end I just don't think I was able to really give an honest opinion/rating on the beer I was drinking. I sampled over 30 beers, but still did not get to everything. 4 hours sounds like a long time, but it flew by fast.

 

Missed out on the Elijah Creed, bummer. I enjoyed West Ashley Cuvee, but I agree it was nothing special. I preferred West Ashley over Westly when I had them side by side fresh. I enjoyed FW Dreamwood, but I had this towards the end of the day. My judgement was most likely compromised.