Bourbon County 2018

This year is ECBP? That I don't know that in and of itself speaks to how much of my BCBS mindshare Rev has stolen.

 

Elijah Craig with an age statement. The price of admission just went up.

 

Well, that's at least more interesting to me than Knob Creek barrels (although I like KC fine).

 

I hate it when barrels don't contain barrel-proof whiskey....

 

We've been over this...Barrel Proof is the name of a brand

 

What's funny to me is that, as a rule anyway, I've never found it to matter what brand of spirit was housed in whatever barrel it was.

 

Without proof, it's just he said vs barrel said....I have to turn off the news...

 

I've never noticed much myself, which is why I'd like to do a side-by-side. But I've also not tried Reserve.

 

There's simply not enough of the spirit for it to make an impactful difference in the taste of the final beer (especially after it's all blended down). Too much flavor going on in the beer to notice it.

 

True story however the Koval BCBS was not my favorite. Something about that whiskey stood out to me in the beer.

 

I honestly think more of this is due to things besides the barrel...

1. The base stout, obviously
2. The length of time each different brewery and beer spends in the barrels
3. How each brewery manages their blending process

I think #2 is huge. If we think back to 2010 rare, yes the barrels probably made a big difference, but it was also aged for 2 years in barrels.

I don't know, charging significantly more for something like Reserve when it just seems to be in different barrels and aged for a similar amount of time, I doubt it makes a huge difference.

But, I'm not a brewer so this is just my guess.

In summary, when I drink beers I get a bigger difference in flavor depending on the length of time in barrel vs. the brand itself.

 

I do think that all has an effect. I also know Goose houses their barrels in a non-temperature controlled environment so that the expansion (hot/humid) and contraction (cold/dry) of barrels also contributes to the BCS flavor. I don't know what barrels Goose uses for their regular BCS, but the "upgrade" to whatever they use for Reserve doesn't seem to be a huge delta.

 

From what I remember from touring the barrel warehouse at different events is that regular BCBS is a blend of almost every bourbon out there. I remember seeing JD, Willet, 4 Roses, Jim Beam, Koval, Knob Creek etc. I didn’t see any Pappy barrels or WLW barrels. I do think time and spirit has a lot to do with taste. I think it’s about personal preference. I prefer 4 Roses>Willet=Knob Creek >Wild Turkey. But I also won’t turn down a pour of any bourbon. I like them all.

A few years ago Cycle released Rare DOS in different single barrels. When I had them side by side there was a different taste to each.

I will admit I couldn’t taste a huge difference between regular and Reserve as I could regular and rare. So I do agree with @HawksBeerFan that time in a barrel definitely has a huge impact on the flavor.

 

Is it merely access based on $ from motherinbev? Many of the whiskey brands are owned by conglomerates, and I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me that Goose Island's choices of source barrels are merely due to a corporate umbrella.
(Ducks from slings and arrows).

 

I’ll add to your speculation with my hazy memory that Goose reformed how they purchase barrels after the infections. They buy them in more bulk than piecemeal now, no? I seem to remember that was a quality control change

 

AB doesn’t own any distilleries so there’s no corporate umbrella helping them obtain barrels. The change they made was only using barrels that were still wet. They had been using anything they could get their hands on including some barrels that were dry. The thought was that dry barrels could be breeding grounds for bacteria due to the lack of alcohol on the wood.