Has anyone had it? Has anyone seen it? How is it? What's the general availability? I really want to try it because it's one of my favorite beers aged in the barrels of one of my favorite whiskeys.
The only place I've seen it for sale is at the Stone store at the brewery. Wanted to try it on tap, but they were out and I didn't feel like buying a bottle at the time.
I had a bottle at Liberty Station. Nowhere near as good as Southern Charred or their Barrel Aged IRS. IMO it was still too hoppy and it clashed with the barrel notes. Not a bad beer but not worth $20 IMO.
What sczaplicki said. I got a bottle at the Pasadena store, it was OK, but not worth the $18 for the bottle.
"Still too hoppy" can be fixed with cellaring for a while, I figure. Are you saying it's generally too hoppy or just too much for a BA beer?
I'm not sure why you figure that. Saying that hop aromas and flavor degrade quickly over time is not the same thing as saying that if you want your beer deliciously less hoppy just toss it in the cellar.
I didn't say quickly. Part of why you're supposed to enjoy IPAs fresh is because those flavors and aromas succumb to oxidation more quickly than others, right?
IMO the base beer is great. It's super hoppy, like it's supposed to be. Stygian Descent isn't bad by any means but I think that the base beer might not be a great choice to put in barrels. Maybe it needs more age (kinda backwards thinking for an IPA), or it needed more time in the barrels (only 6 months in the barrels IIRC). Anyway, like I said earlier, not bad but not worth $20.
