Bourbon County 2018

Based on talk in a few previous posts, I tried a bottle of 2016 last night while I watched by beloved Sixers lose. Man, it is tasting great right now.

 

Where did you see that there's supposedly less Prop? Curious because it seems like they have a f-ton with how much they're offering at Prop Day and at LP Binny's.

 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-b...aste-benefiting-guatemala-tickets-51160980871

 

Lord, if you have any sense of irony, please let 2018 BCBS Coffee Barleywine be gushers...

 

And they match it.

 

The 2014 barleywine is the only exciting thing they are pouring.

 

Off topic and not sure if this is common knowledge, but having been drinking BCBS for 6-7 years I’ve never actually thought about this

The imperial stout that is put into the barrels, what is it? Was it a stout that they were already producing? Did it have a name? Do they make a non-adjunct non-BA imperial stout?

 

It's called cook county stout I believe. As far as I'm aware it has not been released commercially, it's possible they've had it at the brewpub but not that I can recall.

When they used to make Night Stalker, it was also cook county stout but dry hopped (yes, it was excellent).

 

Its called cook county stout. It was made specifically for barrels and from what I have heard is not actually all that good fresh. The closest is has ever been to release is Big John (CCS + Cacao) and Nightstalker (DH CCS).

 

Not a coffee fan or have you already had the Coffee Barleywine?

There has been tons of information and speculation of which some is true and some not, but for the most part, I believe the consensus is what HawksBeerFan posted.

 

I've had unaged BCS. It is not good.

EDIT: I mean its fine but its super hoppy, bitter, and sharp.

 

Do you detect those flavors in the finished, aged product? I don't or if I do, I associate them with the barrel/spirits. If you don't get them in the finished product (and maybe everyone else does), from a brewing standpoint, what is the purpose of super hopping a stout that sits for a year?

 

I haven't had the coffee barleywine, I just am not really interested in the barleywines since they stopped using the previous year's BCBS for the barleywine, I want to say it was 2016.

 

I drank 2018 and the unaged side by side. And the taste is similar but the barrel notes and the aging seem to smooth every thing out. Its not like a night and day difference its just that the finished product is much more complex and somehow easier to drink.

 

Honestly exactly what I'd expect. BCBS already has hints of that "sharp" bitterness, and I've always thought a strong hop profile works magic on heavier stouts.

I do (as I mentioned right above), but I haven't actually had Cook County. Closest I got was Nightstalker.

 

Was digging through a friends cellar over the weekend and way in the back was a bottle of Big John and a bottle of Nightstalker. Super curious what those are like after 8+ years.

 

One of my big regrets is that I really only got into craft beer a little before I started this account (so late 2012, early 2013). It took me a while to get into bigger stouts, and I didn't grab as much Nightstalker or try Big John like I should've.

Also, I really don't understand why Goose won't release them again; they roll out a bunch of mediocre lighter beers all the time, but it would kill them to have a big year-round stout?

 

If they're going to trot out that Cooper Project trash, the least they could do is put Night Stalker or Big John in 4 packs.

 

Perhaps the answer is that if they put it in a barrel for a year they can get 3 times as much for it so it doesn't make as much sense to make BCBS without aging it.

I saw a lone bottle of Big John sitting on a shelf at LP Binnys in the past 6 months. I remember it being odd it was out since they haven't released it in so long and probably should have grabbed it. I wonder if they just sneak out lone bottles of vintage stuff as easter eggs every so often or if they discovered it in the back and thought "We'd better get rid of this."