Sucaba:Bourbon County Barleywine side by side

harsh notes? for me part of the reason why i prefer Sucaba (based on having my 1st BCS barley wine last night) is because the barrel character comes through more - vanilla, toffee - but certainly not in a harsh way

 

also California is the best

 

...and you also tasted lots of coconut in Sucaba, right? Yeah.


I was in Illinois visiting family for the holidays. Sucaba I last had in 2012, so it's possible my perception of it was colored by my then-recent tasting of King Henry (which exploded with vanilla and coconut) but I distinctly remember thinking "this is it? This is second place after KH for best English barleywine?" Which it was at the time. Had vanilla but not much, and not a trace of coconut.

To be perfectly frank, it's a good beer but for the price and the chore of finding it I don't understand why it is so revered. J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, Weyerbacher Insanity, Naked Evil, Traquair 2020, North Coast Old Stock Ale, Yorkshire Stingo, Double Double Barrel Ale---all beat it pretty handily in my opinion. Many of those are cheaper and virtually all of them are easier to find as well, even shelf turds.

 

I haven't done a side by side comparison yet so I can't compare the mouthfeel and drinkability just yet. BCBBW may very well be fuller-bodied and smoother in mouthfeel, but what takes away from your argument is the use of chocolate as a descriptor. There's no doubt about it, the stout element that contributes to the chocolate notes you enjoy is a departure from the style. At this point, it's no longer a question of what's the better barleywine, but what beer you prefer.

 

Sucaba has nowhere near enough vanilla notes for a barrel-aged barleywine and by many (perhaps most) accounts the oak notes pretty much fall off a cliff between 6 and 18 months (which is frankly embarrassing for $15+ barleywine). We can't know for sure but I would bet even money that BCBB will have more vanilla at one year than it does now, based both on BCBS's aging trajectory and to a lesser extent King Henry's.

As for the people saying they taste more toffee in Sucaba....either my conception of toffee flavors is wildly at odds with everyone elses or you guys are drinking BCBB too cold and too fast. To me, it isn't even close. Let BCBB warm up a bit and the aftertaste positively explodes with chocolate-dipped toffee. I don't have my notes for Sucaba on hand but I recall it being mostly whiskey-forward with hints of fruit and a small touch of vanilla and chocolate.

 

Did you actually say Sucaba was a chore to find? More of a chore than KH, which was so hard to find, it was responsible for the formation of a new unit of currency (KH units)?

 

One thing we can deduce from this thread, and previous threads about KH, is that there's a certain segment of the BA community that prefer their barleywines to taste like stouts.

 

Way to not quote your original comment in your reply. They're called jokes. Being from the west coast, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't understand them.

 

Hey illinois folks, ya think the sisters are the best wilds too? For the love of great beer, west coast is the best, Sucaba wins!

 

P

That's because you live 15 miles from the FW taproom and Reside in FW dominated and bought country.

 

Technically, he's not incorrect. KH was arguably harder to find. I remember people saying Abacus was pretty much a shelf turd in their locales. Let's not forget KH was trading for about 2 to 3 times its cost at release. Not that black market listing sites are an accurate gauge for value, but the listed prices tend to indicate how much people are willing to pay for certain beers. Abacus, for instance, is listed for about $45-$50 while KH is listed for about $150+. Newcomers are particularly influenced by these prices and seemingly more likely to pay or trade exorbitant amounts to acquire them.

 

I would drink Sucaba over this if both were fresh. None of us can tell how BCBW would age, but Sucaba for me is a more complex and subtle beer where BCBW smells and drinks very robust.

 

Planning on setting up a Bottleshare with my buddies centered around Great/BCBW/Sucaba/MoaS/other bba-barleywine tasting. Up until this point Great is still the best barleywine (possibly beer in general) I've had, but I'd like to see results of this. Now to track down a MoaS or Blighs. Lol.

 

Where? I would go buy a few bottles right away!

 

For Hops maybe. Have you even had BCBW or are you just talking out your ass?

 

In the last week I have seen that BCBCS should top Heady as the number one beer in this site, 10 reasons you should drink Goose Island right now, BCBW is better than Sucaba, Black Friday fanatics that make my mother look normal, blah blah....I was trolling for sure, but don't be surprised if Juliet is mentioned as the GOAT sour.

 

It is always funny to see this type of stuff happen year after year. It seems like there's a lot more of it happening this year though.

Also: Aside from the Bourboun County releases I don't buy any GI beers. I did pick up a Lolita this year only because I've never had it and I'm thinking about picking up a Halia, but I'm in agreement with you: I generally don't care at all for GI.

 

cw bbbw blows the bbs out of the water imo. Peruvian morning may be my favorite but infection issues must be taken into account

 

I was just poking. I used to live in the same area and shop at the same places. It's not a bad thing having FW at your fingertips.