PNW Stouts

Ben's Bottle Shop in Vancouver will have all the all the Variants on Draft tomorrow if anyone in Clark County is interested.

 

has anybody had some/all of them yet? any initial thoughts?

 

Have had the Bocconotto and the Maple. They were both delicious, but those looking for a thick base beer loaded with the added flavors may be disappointed. The flavors are there (though I couldn’t find the cinnamon in Bocconotto the chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of lemon were present) but they’re accents to the base beer rather than overwhelming it. It’s almost like Breakside favors balance over the extremes or something.

 

I've had two of the so far: Maple Oligarch (which was good) and Bocconotto (which was better). I put a few notes about both in my posts in February's NW WBAYDN thread.

I also have the Piedmontese on deck tonight. Stay tuned.

 

Excited to see that these variants are starting to get out into the world. Curious what you guys think of the Candy Cap variant, that one is probably my favorite, followed by the Champurrado and Piedmontese. The "PB" was really nice too, I wish we had made enough to bottle it. If you guys liked Oligarch, you'll like what we brewed up today (when it eventually comes out sometime next year I'm guessing).

 

Interesting note about the Breakside Oligarch series: So far, they've gotten better with each one I try. Piedmontese was better than Bocconotto was better than Maple Oligarch.

 

So I tried most of them just now and while all were quite good, all the beers aged in Maple barrels definitely were significantly "hotter" from an alcohol standpoint.

Champurrado was definitely the favorite of mine.

 

For Seattle barrel aged stout fans, Beer Junction has all the Oligarch variants on tap right now. At least I think it's all ... they've got the base beer plus six variants. Are there even more?

 

There's one more variant which was draft-only: PB & Oligarch, which is Oligarch with almonds and raspberries.

I think @afrokaze mentioned Breakside didn't make much of it, which is why it's draft-only. I haven't seen it on tap anywhere yet.

 

The Candy Cap Oligarch is on tap at Breakside Milwaukie now if you're interested. There wasn't much of this in kegs, so if you prefer stuff on draft I'd come get it while you can.

 

I thought it was solid. But from Astoria with Love is WAY better IMO. One of the best non-BA stouts around I think

 

Got a can in the fridge, I too didn’t care for the first one, but Ft. George earned the benefit of the doubt for me a long time ago.

 

So, to follow up, I really enjoyed this version. The maple was present, but not too sweet. Next up, maple Oligarch.

 

I want to say $8.99/12oz bottle

 

I just saw $12/22 here in town.