Kate the Great

Are they still making that beer? It was a good stout, but similar to Southampton IRS not worth the hype IMO. But then again I am a fan of sweet and thick stouts as opposed to dry and smokey ( I/we found both to be oddly dry, and the latter to be smokey as well.)

With that said, if you can land one for a reasonable price I would say stick to newer vintages, neither of the two could/should go past 3 years for optimal flavors.

 

I would wait and see what Todd puts out at Tributary. Kate is my favorite non-BA stout. My experience is that it holds up okay in the bottle but is best fresh. I personally wouldn't seek out older vintages at this point.

 

I opened a 3yr old KTG and it was awful. I followed up with a 2yr old version and it was better but still not as good fresh.

 

Had a '12 recently that was pretty tasty and had a '10 about a month ago that was a borderline drain pour.

 

I did a Kate vertical with some VERY generous friends a few years back. I remember certain vintages holding up very well. 08 was my favorite, by a long shot. Other vintages had some serious variation. Double oaked Kate was pretty amazing. I really felt the last vintage (11?) was the weakest.

 

Has Tributary made any recent comments about making it again under a new name? I drank a 2012 Kate with a year on it and it just blew me away. Many beers haven't matched their hype for me (DB Huna, VSB, BA DL, etc.), but Kate completely delivered. I'm so hopeful he finally brews it again soon.

 

I went to the Portsmouth brewery last week and their head brewer left a year or so ago and took the "Kate the great" recipe with him.

 

drank an '08 over the summer that was spectacular