Good memory and I miss working with cheese. Gorgonzola Dolce with a roasty imperial stout is a favorite pairing and I can see it working well with Tree of Fire (I LOVED this beer) I like your thinking with a gouda, I'd want to go with well aged one that has a lot of bite. Maybe something a little funky with a washed rind like Taleggio?
I totally forgot your professional cheese days. Gorgonzola makes sense but a smoked cheese with smoked beer would be too much for me; kind of like pairing a spicy dish with an alpha hopped IPA.
Agreed, none of the cheeses I mentioned are smoked. I'm a big fan of smoked beer but not so much smoked cheese. I do miss mongering, but not the 14-15 hour days.
Very excited to dive into this peach brandy DBVSOJ. The aroma is intense and amazing. Layers of bountiful booze, but I can't necessarily discern the bourbon from the rum. They seem to blend seamlessly. Woody notes of cinnamon and vanilla come through along with some faint, fermented peach. This tastes as the smell suggests it should it's probably the dryest of the barleywine and barleywine adjacent beers I've had from Revolution. I wonder if third use barrels being a big part of the blend cut down on the sweetness? Bliss.
Want! And we will likely not see this in the Carolinas as we only get a few of the variants and nothing over 15.0 abv, stupid NC liquor laws but hey, give me some 151 proof 'shine!
Love GI barleywine, I'll probably have to seek these out. I wonder if these are both legit, don't they put out fake labels sometimes?
Yeah, doubtful they'd come out with two Barleywines, but still hope they do. I think it's an indication there will be a barleywine, just a question of which.
https://mybeerbuzz.com/goose-island...a-distilling-triple-oak-angels-envy-cask-fin/ Not sure if they're only teasing us, but seems legit.
They had me at oatmeal cookie, but lost me at raisin. I'd still try that one, never know. I suspect several are real. Think I'll whip up a few labels myself...
Here is an article from mybeerbuzz dated July of last year listing 2025 variants and they all came out. So yeah, seems legit. 40% barleywines would be kick ass!
I love raisin/prune notes in a stout and the fig newton bourbon county from a few years ago was amazing. I know GI has submitted fake labels for approval in the past, but have any ever been featured in a mybeerbuzz article that did not end up coming out? Edit, answer to above question is yes. At least one of these from this April 2024 article was not released. https://mybeerbuzz.com/goose-island...ollaborations-bardstown-jack-daniels-mystery/
Just finished a 12oz can of Central Waters BW 4 year (2025). Canned 2/11/2025 Its tasting good, A basement floor pull, just slightly chilled in the fridge. Plenty of stone washed dark fruit with some raisin. Smooth with some alcohol heat, but no abv bite too it.
Year 6 Anniversary Ale from Lumberbeard in Spokane. This is a blend of one year, two year, three year, and four year old barleywine aged in Willett bourbon barrels. 15.2% ABV. The taste is wonderful. Nicely balanced. Toffee, bourbon, vanilla, raisins, prunes, boozy, brown sugar, a bit of honey, and molasses. Lovely. The flavors are super intense. This is so damn enjoyable.
@DIM @CarolinaCardinals @Blogjackets @bbtkd @ovaltine - I know you are all sitting at home contemplating which barleywine to open. Well, I'm here to tell you to hurry up and pick one!
Traitor!!! Just kidding - we will welcome you with open arms tomorrow. I might venture over to stout land tonight...
