Assassin/KBBS day 2017...

The SR-71 was an awesome surprise!

 

I got them same thing and for a brief second thought something was about to go down. When I handed in ticket I asked what it meant and Murph said it wasn't anything....sigh, and the ultimate troll.

 

Speaking of which. It was my first time in the Midwest, so I just wanted to say a few things, not totally offtopic I guess.

Release was super smooth and easy. I was a little bummed that I didn't even get to see the brewpub from the inside, due to our time restrictions and the fact we couldn't get there day early, or stay till 4:30pm, but it was nice to at least see the building. Of course as most people I found it smaller than I imagined it.

Every single person in Decorah, Minneapolis and nearby I met was super nice and friendly. Shoutout to the guys at Courtyard for letting me use my pour tickets on a couple bottles to go. Great customer service!

Huuuuuge shoutout to Bill (I hope I remember the name right) from France 44. After you guys' recommendation I decided to hit their store right at 9am and after I walked in and asked about the shipper I was asked if I'm from BA. Bill hooked me up with a shipper and a can of a local rum BA stout. Store had awesome selection btw. Thanks Bill!

The Amish pastries I got from their "farmers market" somewhere in Iowa were the best I had in US.

 

If the rum BA stout is Indeed Rum King, this year is great. If you need more of it, luckily it is still easy for us to get and I am sure you can easily find someone to send you some.

 

It is! Awesome, can't wait for my box to get home

 

I'll add my thanks in too. Thank you everyone who suggested breweries to hit (DriftlessFarmer for sure), and whoever posted the Rubaiyat event info. Everyone who worked at Rubaiyat was fantastic and extremely kind, and it was such a chill environment. The selection of bottles for sale was awesome, and MD is amazing. Easily my favorite beer of the weekend.

We hit Surly, Wild Mind, Fulton, Dangerous Man, Pulpit Rock, TG, Forager, Indeed, and Fair State over our stay. Every single place had good/great stuff, but I think Indeed had the widest selection of styles and everything was fantastic (plus I'm a sucker for adaptive reuse spaces). Definite shout out to Fair State for the awesome neighborhood and delicious ethnic food. Also, record night at Fulton on Thursday was pretty rad.

 

Thank you for the kind words of our state. Iowa is a lot better than most give it credit for, and I'm glad you got to experience some of it!

 

Very well run bottle release, pick up time was 2. In and out in about 10 mins. Wish i was able to stay for longer but life gets in the way. Herd great things about all the shares thru a few buddies.

 

Really was a fantastic weekend. Cherry on top is the fact that KBBS exceeds all expectations. Wow. Best beer I've ever had. Assassin is very close behind. Feels so good knowing the fruits of your "labor" is more than worth it.

 

Interesting that you subconsciously inserted 'cherry' and 'fruits' into you recap. Seems fitting for this years Assassin.

 

I have no idea what others are drinking if they got any fruit in their Assassin. I get pure fudge, + some booze. No fruit whatsoever. A few of us opened up one of our bottles each the day after, + all 3 were phenomenal. Served at about recommendation temperature (50-55), into the Assassin teku. We each got about 7 oz.

 

I got a slight flavor of dark fruits from my pour of assassin at C&C, both my buddy and wife did as well.

Just to be clear, I am not talking about tart cherries like an infection.

 

Definitely some dark fruit in the draft. Definitely not infected. Still plenty of fudge. Anxious to try the bottle!

 

My notes from T-Bock's draft pour. "Chocolate and dark fruit aroma. A little tart up front in the mouth followed by dark chocolate fudge. Chocolate lingers."

 

Maybe some difference on draft than in the bottle? I haven't had a pour on draft, yet. Hoping either Hunahpu Day or Wakefest get a keg. I do like some dark fruits in my stouts. I just didn't get any from what I've had so far.

More than likely, though, I have no fucking clue as to what I'm tasting, + my gut's just telling my brain, "All clear here, we're good to go!"

 

It could very well be the different between draft and bottles. I haven't had it from the bottle yet, but it wouldn't be the first time that bottle and draft taste different.

Overall, I say who care what you are tasting. If you like it, that is all that matters.

 

Agreed, 100%.

I've never been so obsessed with "cellar" temperature.

 

I only had on draft and I agree with the dark fruits both on the nose and taste. The finish was a really nice dark chocolate fudge. I thought body was great (nice and thick). Overall a great beer.

 

My wife surprised me by mentioning a cherry aroma with her pour. It was unprompted and not influenced by any previous review. I didn't agree, but I don't think she made it up. There probably are some dark fruit flavors, especially before it warms up.

I'll also say that the MD pour at Rubaiyat was a perfect compliment to the rest of the quartet. The strong coffee (while off-putting to a lot of maple lovers) worked well with BCS (hottest), Assassin (sweetest), and Darkness (the easy drinking palate cleanser!).

 

I frequently see a draft/bottle difference on TG's hoppy beers, FWIW.