Lagunitas Willettized 2022

Normally its late October/early November. Good beer but doesn't hold a candle to yow good high westified was.

 

Maybe the barrels this year took longer!?! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheers!

 

Spot on observation. 2015 High Westified my number 5 all time beer. But the 2018 Willettized bomber release was pretty damn amazing as well, my all time number 7 beer. I'd rather pay the old $10 bomber price for perfection. Looking forward to this year's release.

 

2016 high westified blew my mind. I went out and bought every one I could find over the next month and even put in a pricey order from California to craftshack to buy them out of what they had. Acquired like 2.5 cases and still have maybe 12 left. Regularly drink it so its not my memory when I say high westified > every willetized since by a country mile.

 

So, those beers are now 5+ years old. How are they drinking now? Can you still taste the coffee?

Cheers!

 

What i would do to hold one again

 

I almost NEVER could taste the coffee on 16 high westified. They've changed, and aged for a 5 year beer. My last one I did note a slight oxidized note.

Oxidatation doesn't make a beer bad or going bad for me necessarily and appreciate the feature much like I do on a 20 year old JW lees.

To circle back to the coffee question there is no detection of faded coffee (aka green pepper) for me to find in it. I'd rather have this as i remember it in 2016 but in 2020 when I last had it all of the remarkable flavors where there in the right balance to still be world class, just with an additional dryer slight chalky oxidation note.

 

I never tasted much coffee in the 2020 willitized either. Good beer though.

 

The only beer worth a damn from them and they go snd do this shit. If they change ANYTHING( grain bill,barrel type, coffee addition) in the beer they're dead to me.
I don't buy anything except Willettized from them since they went and discontinued their Imperial Stout bombers

 

Believing the Jan 10 I checked three likely stores this week! I can wait a bit more...

 

Go and do what "shit"? Keep a beer in a barrel for an extra month or two?

 

You think they're keeping it in a barrel?

 

Untappd released a badge based on the 10 January release. Who knows why it changed. Seems like it was the 10th but what can you do but wait.

SMS is out there at around the same price. I paid about $15 a four pack and think Willet was $13-14 last year.

Might crack a SMS Friday after work.

Enjoy

 

I have no idea. Let me re-phrase...

Go and do what "shit"? Delay a barrel aged beer a month or two?

 

Forgot about SMS. Don’t get that here anymore.

 

SMS has not been in bottles for a few years. This is the first time in a while. Might want to take a look if you get any of the brand. I have been buying Blithering idiot a few times a year over the last few years in 4 packs.

Enjoy

 

Yep. Haven't seen it in at least 3 maybe 4 years. Just saw it drop in ohio yesterday and am pumped to revisit it!

 

A bit off-topic, but speaking to the point of barrel-aged value…I saw Deschutes released a whiskey barrel-aged Black Butte Porter for $10.99 a 4-pack!!

 

Nice, I need to find some of that.

Enjoy

 

Nothing will beat the 2016 and 2017 High Wes 12 oz bottles. They were like $12-14 a sixer and damn good!

 

Whats SMS

 

Weyerbacher Sunday Morning Stout:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/392/89345/?ba=Oh_Dark_Star

Cheers!

 

ive had that
Willettized is better by a small margin i think

 

They are both great beers and i would take both in a heart beat

I am biased to California

That being said. Listen to this while enjoying SMS

 

Yeah these were $11.99 / 6 pack in ohio and pa in 2016.

I was absolutely enamored by the beer and actually remember finding it on craftshack for like $2.50 a bottle and contemplating if i was willing to pay the markup! Don't worry I did buy them.

 

I'll disagree with that (opinion though). A much better comparison of SMS is to KBS though as sunday morning stout is VERY coffee forward and willetized is subtle at best.

I'm drinking an SMS right now and while I think its a better beer than willetized, its still far less enjoyable than HW.

Sadly SMS is now a $25/4 pack whereas its last appearance was a $12-$14/pack. Inflation sure but okay Weyerbacher... your last batch in 2018 sat on the shelves... bold move playing the scarcity card by not releasing for 4 years and then doubling price.

I'm really detracting the willetized post at this point but I do definitely want to give a nod to weyerbacher on their consistency as this SMS never missed a beat. It's 100% the same beer they didnt brew the last 4 years but did the last time that they did. Impressive (and also nostalgic to taste) when other brewers csn barely brew the same beer a few months apart.

 

Went looking for this and SMS today, and only found SMS (which is tasting great).

Five years back or so I got a case each of SMS and High Westified and used to cuvée them fairly regularly. I loved the HW, but didn’t think it had enough coffee profile.

 

Ouch…..I saw a case for $108 at one spot and I paid $14.99 elsewhere for a 4 pack this year.

Enjoy

 

We used to get SMS around here, but not lately…total shame. Now I have to buy it on road trips to other states.

 

Anywhere near Erie? Otherwise, I get it from Ohio.

 

I’m hoping the local craft store beer manager gets Willetized at all. He’s more into porters, so I’m starting to notice more of those lately. Porters…meh.

 

I sorely missed SMS and I agree it is tasting mighty fine. 18 bucks a pack around here, going back for more. Kind of an interesting divergence between SMS and willettized. With SMS I get tons of coffee with a little barrel, with willettized I get plenty of barrel and barely discernible coffee. Love both for very different reasons.

 

This standard SMS talk has me thinking of Sunday Mole Stout and how much I miss it

 

I see everyone's SMS posts and raise you a Peruvian Morning by Central Waters. Best Coffee BA stout <$5 for a 12 oz bottle.

 

Haven't seen it fresh around here for years, but I remember loving it. Central Waters has a stellar lineup of BA beer.