Chicago Stout Releases (2018)

barrel aged prairie is fire (prairie fire pun not intended)

 

Sorry about late response, but yeah I always find free parking on Fullerton if I go to the brewpub or the Radler.

 

I disagree. I think prairie is making some of the best barrel aged beers around. ALL of the noirs have been top notch for me, especially pirate noir.

 

I'm guessing price point hurts their score quite a bit

 

Once I've tasted it, the only thing that matters is my subjective view. I was skeptical and on the fence about buying them last year, but really was pleased with some of them. I know that Vanilla and Pirate Noir were both really good...to my taste.

 

I'll agree with this - though less surprising from me. If I remember right you don't like vanilla that much, so it's saying something.

Anyways, I thought they were good stouts that have a nice balance with the barrel. They are expensive though, which is about all I need to not get the ones I've had this year. If I find a BA Bomb, that's different - I haven't had it.

 

People are factoring prices in their beer ratings? Anyone who does this, please do everyone a favor and not rate beers on BA again. Stick to untappd I guess.

 

So, I agree that people shouldn't review this way. This peaked my interest: Another factor that I think is probably getting worse is whether people rate something by a "sample/taste" or whether they can consume a serving, or a bottle, etc.

Case in point, I think you can make a brownie as decadent as you want and maximize the rating if rating only based on that one taste. If you're forced to consumer an entire serving (let alone an entire bottle), I wonder how people's ratings would change. I'd have to think that some of the adjunct-heavy stouts would fall at least a noticeable amount.

So, I wonder how bottle shares ultimately affect ratings.

 

Took a quick look back and looks like the 2016 Noir stuff showed up this week a year ago. No signs down here yet. Last year there were no little birdies whispering, it just showed up out of the blue. If/when it drops again, that's going to be an expensive transaction.

I'm in the Prairie BA stouts range from very good to excellent for my tastes. IIRC, last year for me it went Pirate Noir > Coffee Noir > Vanilla > Noir. It didn't drop with this stuff, but I like Apple Brandy Noir better than all of them. Had to trade for that. Which I'd do again. It's one hell of a beer. Vanilla was too much like butter cream birthday cake frosting for me. Coffee definitely should be drank fresh. I found one in my cellar I had behind some bottles. Drank it a few weeks ago and was a shell of it's former glory.

I didn't love Pirate Bomb! It was just too much rum for me. And generally I like rum BA stuff. BA Bomb! didn't do a ton for me either. It just muted everything I like about Bomb! Obviously I'm someone who really likes regular Bomb! though. They weren't bad and I'd certainly drink them again if offered, but I wasn't blown away either.

 

This is why I don't really get too caught up with the medal results from beer events. It's like competition BBQ (and possibly other similar events) -- they amp the hell out of the flavors because the judges aren't going to eat more than one rib, slice of brisket, pull of pork, segment of chicken wing, etc.

 

Been happy with myself for not chasing BA Big Hugs as I have loaded up during stout season. Stop in at my Binny’s for some hops. “Oh look, Dosvidanya Rye...” ‍♂️

 

Agreed. It’s ridiculous the barrel aged stouts that have been regularly available these last several weeks. Normally I load up on non-BA stouts this time of year but aside from my annual haul of Expedition and Marshal Zhukov I haven’t bought any non-BA stouts because of the availability of some great BA stouts. So just curious, what are some of the non-BA stouts you’ve recently had we shouldn’t pass up? I’ve be been feeling I need to take a break from the nectar of the gods and get back to beer that tastes like beer.

 

Price, as well as other aspects of a beer besides the taste, definitely have an impact most people’s opinion of something IMO. It may not be something that is consciously done, but I believe things like price, setting, hype associated with a beer, people you’re with, etc. can all impact your rating of something. But, if you’re openly saying, I didn’t like this beer because it cost too much or I was with people I didn’t like, then that seems like an odd thing to do.

 

For non-BA stouts, I’ve been really pleased with the ‘16s I’ve been cracking this year. Dino s’mores, blackout stout, and black chocolate stout have all been tasting mighty fine with a little age on them.

 

You and I are in the same boat in that we’ve been loading up on BA stouts at the expense of non-BA. I just couldn’t justify a Big Hugs 4 pack for $20 when I could get an excellent BA beer for that outlay. My next non-BA stout will probably be a Mikerphone release unless someone posts a can’t-miss here

 

If I recall, Prairie is on a who the hell knows distro schedual. I rememeber picking up AB Noir around early fall and all the Noirs dropped around this time last year (Dec 15 spounds right) then Prairie Paradise sometime in January. Been keeping my eyes peeled for BA Paradise and hope to snag some more from the noirs when they come to town. Vanilla and BA Noir were pretty dang good.

 

meanwhile im goin to VSOD tomorrow and probably wont even bother getting anything to go .. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯