bcbvs and king henry

i'm sure there are thousands of bottles rotting away in cellars. it's a little comical how reflexively people age stuff.

 

I drank one (and reviewed it) on my birthday last year, seems fitting to do it again with my last one this coming year (in about a month).

 

I hope to god people listen to this. Even now its not as good as it was fresh. The people who are trading for this now thinking theyre going to get the best beer ever are going to get a terrible surprise

 

People really need to realize that almost nothing improves with age. Typically the best you can do is horizontal changing that some people might like and others don't. Most of the time it's just a big ramp down, down, down.

Drink beer fresh.

 

But you can't have the next Isabelle if you drink it fresh!

 

Got Bourbon County Vanilla for Juicy, twilight, and Anna. Trade was expanded but that was the major part of it. I was happy with it had been trying to land a Vanilla for awhile.

 

I plan on doing a full review of it, without looking at my previous one until after I've finished my review. Will probably report back to the Cellaring/Aging forum with my results, not that anyone gives a shit what I have to say.

 

I had king Henry and and bcbvs fairly fresh and with age and I have to say king Henry will never be as good as it was fresh, vanilla definitely need age, IMO. Had vanilla again after a year and again after ~1.5 years and it was still delicious. The vanilla mellowed out a lot and really rounds out the complexity of the beer.

But who cares what I have to say..

 

I truly hope this thread brings down the trading value of KH so at some point I can get away with FT: Fresh Jai Alai ISO: old falling apart KH.....#winning@winning

 

All these posts about the decline of king henry leave me confused. I had one about two weeks ago and I didn't think it had declined. I thought it was deeeelicious. (If you think it's going down hill fast - feel free to trade some to me.)

All the reviews from the past month are from people who seemed to enjoy it...

 

I'll admit, it's still delicious! But compared to what king Henry was fresh, it's a different beer now

 

I drank my first and only KH on Christmas, and I have to say it didn't blow my mind like I thought it would. Perhaps these gentlemen are right and this whale is on the decline? I prefer regular BCBS.

 

I honestly cannot like these comments about KH enough. I didn't try KH fresh, unfortunately. The first time I had it was 6 months, and it was perfect: the best barleywine, and one of the best beers period, that I have ever had. We completed our trade, and I had it in the fridge ever since to slow the aging process of it down. I did not want that beer to change from where it was at that moment. I cracked one on NYE, and it was still delicious, but maybe slightly off from the first time. Thanks again for the bottle, Scott. I have one left that was a wedding gift from a good friend, and it's in my fridge, ready to be cracked and shared within a month or two.

Like CBS before it, King Henry was never a beer that was going to improve with age. Instead of holding these bottles for ransom, just share the damn things or trade them already.

As for vanilla, I am in the extreme minority, but I'll opine anyway. I cracked my last bottle in a BCBS tasting a year ago, and while it was good, it wasn't great or distinguishable to me anymore. The vanilla fell off significantly from where it was fresh. I preferred the sweetness of it when it was fresh; I thought that was how the beer was intended. A year ago, it wasn't significantly different than aged BCBS. I can't imagine where it is now. I wouldn't turn down a pour, but there is no way in the world I would give up crazy beers for it.

 

Definitely post this. Since I didn't do the formal review this week, I am pretty curious, so there is one guy who gives a shit, eh?

 

Something can be worse and still good.

 

Definitely. I should have specified that I didn't think it was much different than the other times I've had it. It's probably been 7 months since the last bottle I tried, which I thought was equally delicious.

 

I can't comment on KH, but with BCBVS it depends on how much Vanilla sweetness you want in a stout. I had it fresh on tap and really didn't care for it, but loved the bottle I opened this last summer, so YMMV.

 

Yeah, by no means is it not a totally fantastic beer anymore, i still clamor when a bottle gets opened, but it isn't quite as good.

99% of -Bal beers are this same way. They are like IPAs with a longer half-life.

BCBVS has been getting better though, it is the fabled 1%.

 

Jesus, i was lookoing for something like this for one of my Vanillas and no one came through...

No, i dont belive in magic anymore!

 

Ah yes, BA Abraxas. Hopefully only a few weeks away...