Sucaba:Bourbon County Barleywine side by side

BCBW is delicious, but I can hardly taste the barleywine. You guys seriously think it's a better barleywine than Sucaba?

 

Sucaba>Great>King Henry>BCBBW

 

they both are items i'd do my best to not be caught dead without. let me offer a novel idea,,, enjoy them, share them, for a change, maybe stop pitting everything against each other? most sensible people aren't going to call either trash or sub-par. it's amazing that "good " beer just isn't good enough! we need to belabor about which one is better than good. jmho

 

Sucaba for the win

 

Sucaba isn't fit to carry BCBBW's jock strap. BCBBW has more defined flavors and feels a lot more decadent, while Sucaba is a bit less sweet with harsher barrel and alcohol notes. Sure, Sucaba is pretty easy to drink, but I feel that 'easy to drink' shouldn't be one of the top criteria for a barleywine.

 

That is a good point, and to be fair, Sucaba IS a good beer. It's just that BCBBW is freakin' amazing.

 

If by more defined flavors you mean tastes more like a stout, I wholeheartedly agree.

 

not picking on you specifically, quoted your post as an example (of many).

Sucaba is good, BCBW is amazing. so, actually, both are good? yet, for some reason we need to go beyond that to find a reason to say something less positive about one & elevate the other beyond "good"???

preferring one over the other is expected. do we need to emphasize by saying one is not fit, particularly while admitting that which is not fit, actually is good? it begins to sound a little like brand loyalty etc. at play, rather than the actual merits of the beers in question.

 

It's simple preference, really. Both are enjoyable, just one is far more enjoyable than the other one IMO.

 

this is basically a geographical argument. I mean, it is less likely someone from california would prefer bcbw or the other way around based on loyalties like marcwp said. I have not had sucaba but both seem to be top shelf

 

Ft: 1 Bourbon County barley wine ISO: Case of Sucaba

 

Many of the comments being made here do seem provincial and it's easy to point out which ones those are. However, the comparison goes beyond personal preferences or allegiance to your home team to me. I like to pick styles based on my mood and when I'm in the mood for a barleywine, I'm thinking of flavors like toffee, caramel, malt sweetness, and dried fruit. BCBW, while delicious, yields more stout-like flavors. Its opacity and color even resemble a stout more than it does a barleywine. These two beers could not be more different and I'd be inclined to consider BCBW a style on its own.

 

Sucaba is in no way more drinkable than BCBB. Hotter and boozier. More pronounced (ie, unbalanced) whiskey flavor, less oak (vanilla). Also, the fact that it's only available in single 22oz bottles pretty much disqualifies it from the drinkability contest unless you have three or more people around. I had one bomber of Sucaba to myself and that was enough for about two years.

 

Yea BCBW (BCBBW?) is delicious. Also comparing it to Sucaba thats nearly a year old already is kinda unfair.

 

I'm still waiting on a response that argues why BCBBW (or whatever you wanna call it) is a better barleywine than Sucaba.

 

I've had both, as recently as last night. BCBW is very tasty, but I prefer Sucaba. BCBW tastes like it's part stout, part hard cider, and part port. That's not a bad thing, and I enjoyed it. But perhaps the 3rd use barrels imparted a bit too much stoutness to it. I ended up with a 4-pack of BCBW, and I'm very glad to have done so. It's a delicious beer; I just find Sucaba to be more of a true barleywine. But heck, it's great to be fortunate enough to have all these choices.

 

Complexity. Fuller, silkier mouthfeel. Hides the abv much better, despite only being a few ticks lower abv. It's smooth and easier to drink. There is a tasty chocolate element not found in Sucaba. It tastes similar to King Henry(yes, I've had KH. Sorry, purists.) My Uncle who is a strict BMC guy and usually rags on craft, really liked it. The bottle even looks better. I heard Chuck Norris drinks it. I'll continue if you'd like, because this beer is a HOME RUN! See ya(god, I hate Michael Kay)!!!