How do you rate 2019 BCBS offerings with previous years?

The base this year is excellent, IMHO. I have 3 variants (Cafe, Mon Chéri, Rye), but haven’t tried any of them yet.

 

Haven't had the base yet, but I loved Cafe de Olla and liked (not loved) the kinda unbalanced Mon Cheri.

 

I haven't had this year's BCBS yet, so I can't make a comparison to previous years. I've got a bottle each of the 2018 and 2019 base BCBS in my cellar, but just haven't opened them yet. I will say that historically speaking I've always enjoyed BCBS more than KBS or CBS. There was a time a number years ago that I was on the hunt for all three of them. When I finally tried KBS and CBS I didn't really understand the hype. When I finally got my hands on BCBS I understood immediately why people sought them out. That said, there are still bottles sitting on shelves in my area, including the variants, but they're dwarfed by the amount of CBS I'm seeing still sitting around.

 

The cafe was real good, but misunderstood and it was because of the orange and sugar. So my thought was go back to a straight up coffee stout variant. Just my opinion.

 

As good as any I've had before maybe except when it was in 12 ounce bottles. Shrugs.

 

So far I have only had two variants: Reserve Rye and Mon Cheri. I should caveat that these were small pours (5 ounces) at a local craft beer bar.

@bsp77 mentioned above: "...liked (not loved) the kinda unbalanced Mon Cheri." and this pretty much summed up my thoughts on this beer. I thought the Cherry flavor was too much in this beer and I just couldn't help from thinking about Cherry Cough Syrup as I slowly drank this beer.

I was not a big fan of the Reserve Rye since it had a notable alcohol hotness to it; I was not a fan of this aspect.

I have yet to drink a regular BCBS.

Cheers!

 

I have two of the base but have not opened them. I was too lazy to go and get the variants so sadly none at the moment but I always see them pop so with time I hope to get some.
If they are as good as years past I will be thrilled, one of my favorite beers.
Looking forward to reading all the posts to see how this year turned out.

 

IMHO, this years BCBS is a good one, and reminds me of the 2015 BCBS which I think was the best vintage I have tried so far.

That said, I've only been able to get 2 variants, Cafe and Mon Cheri, and I am kinda disappointed with both of them. Midnight Orange and Bramble Rye from last year were much better in my opinion. And Vanilla was just outstanding. I really do miss the BCBCS and hope it makes a comeback.

So, I've stocked up on this years BCBS and it should age beautifully.

 

I've only had Mon Cheri and Cafe De Olla so far this year, and to me Cafe De Olla is the winner. Last year I liked Wheatwine, but loved Prop, Vanilla and Midnight Orange. Bramble Rye was OK, but I really didn't care for Reserve. Now that we get variants, I hardly pay attention to regular. I got an obligatory regular 2019 but haven't had it yet. I honestly haven't noted a big difference year-to year on regular.

 

So far for me:

regular, excellent as usual, not sure better than previous years but at least as good as any other vintage I can recall

Cafe de olla and mon Cheri: cool, liked but didn’t love them, happy to try but at 23 bucks or something probably won’t buy more. Preferred last years midnight orange and vanilla.

wheatwine: yet to open

Others: haven’t seen em, would love to try them at least once if I can (particularly rye version)

 

I would really like to try some these, but I can't get on-board with GI's price gauging. Swank bottles does not justify the massive uptick in price per ounce.

I'm sure I'm missing out on some wonderful beers - but it's not everyday I reach for a 14%+ bew

 

I was worried with the IB purchase of GI, but the '19 Original Stout tastes as good as always. Looking forward to seeing how it ages. I have a '15 I plan to open at Christmas.

 

How much do they cost in your area? The regular seems like a pretty good deal to me at 9-10 bucks when compared to other larger BA stouts available.

 

Have only had straight BCS & Cafe.

The Cafe was a big letdown, just a slightly about average big stout for a premium price point. Honestly the least impressive BCS variant I've ever had.

The base is like most years. I felt '17 - '18 were better, ready to drink at peak yumminess right away, but this is back to previous vintages, where I feel 12-24 months will improve it significantly.

 

Went to the GI brewhouse in Philly on Friday. They only had the BCBS and Cafe de Olla on tap. I would say both were excellent and I was surprised by how much I liked the Cafe. I need to go out and find a couple of bottles!

 

I've tried regular, Cafe, and 2-year Reserve. This year's regular BCBS is really good, it's got a strong cocoa powder flavor. Cafe was hard for me to rate, because it seemed to taste different from sip to sip. I think overall I'd say it was one of my least favorite variants of the last few years, but it's very interesting and unique.

2-year Reserve is insanely good with super intense flavor. Probably my favorite variant since Prop 17.

 

I found regular to be really, really good. Better than usual post-2015.

2 Year Reserve was even better...but for what it costs, I'd say one is enough.

Mon Cheri & Cafe de Olla were interesting, but don't worry about buying new socks...these won't knock your current pair off.

Haven't had Prop or Rittenhouse Rye yet.