18th St Barrel Massacre 2017

I was trying to remember what they had at FOBAB...wasn't it Hunter Vanilla? I remember thinking it was awful (for my palate). I have really liked regular non-BA Hunter whenever I've had it, so would be intrigued to try regular BA Hunter without any adjuncts. I also had something at last year's GI Clybourn Stout Fest, which I think was Cognac Bitches Bank (it was Cognac something). I didn't care for that one either.

 

They've been pretty hit or miss on some of their BA offerings. For example, I wasn't a big fan of the latest BA Bitches' Bank. However, I thought BA Devil's Spear was fantastic - and I'm not even a fan of barleywines. I had BA Hunter and BA Hunter Vanilla on tap last year and loved both, but other than that, they haven't done much to make me go out of my way to track anything down.

 

They had BA Vanilla hunter on draft this year at fobab. I really liked it. It was one of my favorites.

I've had regular BA hunter though, and thought it was only ok. Same with BA bitches bank.

That being said, I can't see myself snagging a bottle of any of their stuff, both due to this fest and 18th street prices.

Hopefully they'll have it on draft.

 

I almost forgot how FIBS rushed to line up for every single non barrel aged hunter variant in the early days.

 

Now one might wonder if/when Hunter #8 happens, how many days it might last.

 

Mikerphone has the "it" crown now. Give it 18 months and it will be someone new.

 

Or how long before it becomes an undrinkable mess?

 

The barrel aged Bitches bank with chili pepper was only on tap at the massacre last year and it was pretty darn tasty. My palate was wrecked by the time I had Barrel aged vanilla hunter at FOBAB. I need to revisit. I did have BA hunter at Shelton Brothers and thought it was really good. Of course I traded for one of the bottles that had off flavors, before any talk of issues, and that was disappointing. Sounds like some inconsistency for sure.

 

Was that 18 a reference to 18th Street no longer wearing the crown?

 

No, but I did notice it. Using 18th street as a barometer/blueprint, I figured Mikerphone will still have a bunch of hype and lines when the first anniversary rolls around, but about 6 months after they'll settle into a comfortable spot of producing quality beers without crazy hype.

 

Still LOLing at comment in last years thread referring to it as "Wallet Massacre".

 

No offense, but this is on you - you didn't expressly say it, but the takeaway is that it was 18th's fault that it was that expensive. It wasn't.

It's your fault that you paid the freight, despite not really being pleased at doing so, and not 18th's for the pricing. I have been going to 18th since day 1, but I passed on BA last year because I thought it was too pricey, and the benefits of the ticket couldn't be enjoyed in the window in which they gave you to drink it. I didn't blame 18th for it, I blamed my damn wallet for being limited in its capacity to spend, and my common beer drinking sense for realizing that I didn't want to drink 7 BA beers in 2 hours; and then drive home.

I've come full circle on beer - At first, I just enjoyed, then I started chasing to enjoy, then I realized I wasn't enjoying chasing, and now I'm just enjoying beer.

And, I'm much happier for it.

 

Not offended. 18th street named the price for everything, so if people choose not to go due to price it may be their fault. Was it my purchase decision, yes. Which is why I later say I may not choose to attend. I almost felt that the right to purchase that beer was included in the price of the ticket. So, if you didn't purchase the bottle, that is cool, but you aren't getting everything you paid for. I wanted to experience this event since I missed out the prior year and I was already in town for Dark Lord day. I think there were likely a lot of people going prior years as a pre-party to DLD. Hope attendance is high for them this year.

 

Weren't the sessions only two hours last year? That was the most egregious thing was you had to get into the venue, buy all your bottles, drink all the beers you wanted, and still find time to enjoy the actual festivities all in 120 minutes. Not even remotely worth it at the prices they charged.

 

I would probably have a different take on it if I hadn't the access to them that I've had since they opened, and if I were just visiting on a mega-beer weekend tour. I'm curious as to what the event will look like this year - I'm guessing that they had to have heard what was being said about the pricing et al - will they adjust?

 

I know tickets were available for a while but didn't they eventually sell out? I think they'll listen to their wallets before they listed to unhappy customers, unfortunately.

 

18th Street claimed that they sold out, but I was checking the day before and you could see how many tickets were bought for each session. The first session was almost at capacity, while the later session had a lot of room left. Not sure if they actually did sell out of tickets.

 

They said they sold out, but session 2 was at half capacity the day before they announced they "sold out". I'm betting they just gave those away.

 

Slightly off topic - please direct me to a better place if so.....but heading to CHI for Memorial Day. Would Binny's or similar places carry Hunter cans or would I need to hit up the Gary tap room?

Thanks for any help!

 

My guess is that the 18th Hammond location would have more of the Hunter cans than Binny's, but I guess it depends on timing.

Depending on where you are visiting, Gary is still viable, but Hammond generally has more of the goods available for carry out.