5 biggest whale let downs

#1 Nut Smasher (not a whale but no where near the hype and just needed to be #1 on my list!)
#2 BA Abraxas
#3 3F Framboos 2015
#4 Monsters Park - Bourbon Barrel Aged With Coconut And Cacao Nibs
#5 Nut Smasher again because it was that big of a disappointment!

 

Vanilla rye by far.

 

1. Blabaer
2. Brabantiea
3. Dirty Horse (80/20)
4. Deviation
5. most of the BA DLs

I am sure there are others, but these came to mind immediately as giant let downs based on my expectations. Was also fortunate enough to tick Dave and while not the end all be all of beer, I expected it to be a drain pour and it was actually drinkable.

 

haha, I have ones on my list as let down so that you list as lived up to the hype and vice versa. I can't believe you didn't love Ann and Blauw, those are extreme standouts to me as some of the best beers I have ever tried. One man's trash I guess....

 

I know Dave can be polarizing but M is amazing. when did you have it? been lucky enough 3 times in the last few yrs and each time was amazing.

 

1. Kane - A Night To End All Dawns and all of their variants
2. Westbrook - Mexican Cake

 

Confound that list! Don Q and Blauw are ghost whales.

 

for what they pull....tree house cans

 

Huna (not even as good as Xocoveza)
DDH Fort Point (had Trillium Pier a few days before this and it blew it away IMO)
Exponential Hoppiness (good but not amazing like people say)
KBS (good but I've had much better BA stouts)
Sahati (just wayyyyyy too much spruce to the point that drinking more than a sip was a struggle)

 

At 6.20% ABV Zombie Dust is as much an IPA as any beer you can mention.

Again I get a chance to point out the ridiculous nature of having too many different styles, and the inconsistency of naming conventions for brewers.

 

Rarer than a white whale = Ghost Whale (I've heard a couple people use this term, nothing official). It's something so rare that it would be hard to verify its existence. For example, the white whale list shows Struise Dirty Horse 1983, which was released once or twice. But there's an older vintage: Dirty Horse 1978, but most people would deny that, so you'd have to talk to the Struise brew master to verify.

 

Blauw. Had it about 8 months ago and thought it wasn't anything special. I've been told its past its prime now, so when it was ripe I'm sure it was worth every bit of hype it received

 

Every beer you think is good.

 

Wow, respect your opinion, and yes, everyone's taste preference is different, but couldn't disagree more. I mean Sosus, Pseudo Sue, King Sue, Pompeii, Mornin' Delight, SR-71, and on and on. I just checked, and Toppling Goliath has 7 beers with over 100 "hads" that are rated 4.5 or above ("whale-ish" territory). As a comparison, here's how many 4.5 or above rated beers a few fantastic breweries have (minimum 100 ratings):

Toppling Goliath.. 7

Hill Farmstead ... 10
Lagunitas............ 0
Founders............. 2
Stone................. 0
Mikkeller............. 0
Epic.................... 0
The Bruery.......... 0
Cigar City............ 3
Goose Island....... 6 (5 are Bourbon County "types")
Bell's................... 1
Russian River....... 3
The Alchemist...... 2
Perennial............. 1
Surly................... 1
Maine Beer.......... 1
3 Floyds.............. 3
Lawson's............. 3
Tree House........ 14 (wow)

This list is far from inclusive... you just made me question my own belief that TG makes many "whale worthy" beers, and it evolved into a little exercise into BA statistics research. It does seem to confirm that TG is among the elite of the elites.

Again, I'm not discounting your tastes in any way. I gravitate towards stouts, IPA's and barleywines, and I detest sours (I'm still trying) and Belgians. But I realize that many here are exactly the opposite. Vive la difference!

 

I was not impressed with a 1-year old Abyss. Maybe more time in the cellar?

 

Could try it. I actually enjoyed it after a year.

But I remember my first Expedition Stout being slightly underwhelming. A friend said to age the rest for a year. I did, and they were fantastic. In fact, we did a blind taste test with a fresh one, and confirmed the difference.

 

There's quite a few Fantome Ghost Whales that I might trade away the house for.