I dunno. Taste is so subjective in the first place, and staling reactions aren't really very well understood. I do think that storage and oxidation have much more impact than anything recipe-derived.

I think there's a reason so many small breweries have beers that people think are awesome, and it's not because those breweries are doing something new or that nobody else can do. Fresh beer tastes good.

Anyone had Prairie Ale before?



This beer was, for some reason, brutally expensive ($23 for 9 fl oz. Yeah. Welcome to Australia, bitches) and I only bought it because nothing else took my fancy. It's a saison from Oklahoma, of all places.

And yeah. I love it. Comes across like a wine. All dry and spicy and peppery and with a distinct progression through the palate. That's the bit that's wine like. Composed, cerebral and sophisticated. Crackling with coiled up energy. Aftertaste for days. 8.2% but I'd never have known.

This is a beer to make you excited again after you've had enough of DIPAs and Imperial Stouts. Check it out.

i've yet to find anyone who can tell me that barley wine is significantly different to old ale, at least how they're marketed over here (obv in the states etc your mileage may vary, try an ipa over here and you'll get somewhat different results) - if anything, the only difference is that old ales tend to be on the weaker scale, try to pick up some theakston's old peculier or robinson's old tom that might be a bit different

Found the Vanilla Java Porter this past weekend and gave it a shot. Pretty good for sure. Loved the usage of Chocolate malts. Porters are def my thing.

Good recommendation for sure.

victory at sea tastes like lagunitas cappuccino stout, but milder. i like it, but i like the cappuccino stout more. BERATE ME

you may have seen this beer style map. definitely agree that some are very close to one another and without doing a side by side and knowing what to look for I would probably lump them together

Went to grab a 6 pack of Wachusett Larry, only to find multiple 4 packs of Bourbon County Stout sitting on the shelf. $$$ but I had to finally give this a try.

Third on the list from my Best of Beau's (local Toronto brewer) variety pack is the Burnt Rock Vanilla Porter.




It's got a lovely nose of vanilla, chocolate and tobacco (wtf). It's very carbonated off the bat, but after a few seconds the vanilla takes over and makes you say WOW! A really good drink.

(I didn't bother with the Amber Coffee that I drank last night, because it didn't do anything for me and left the most rotten smell in the glass afterwards.)

That's pretty sweet. I'm never in town the day after Thanksgiving so picking up BCBS is pretty hopeless for me. I eventually wound up at a couple stores on that Friday that had it at one point (random craft beer store in Healdsburg, Bevmo in San Rafael) but both had sold out. Any idea where I still might find it in California?

I can't remember what adjectives I'd use to describe it but I also remember not being a huge fan of Abyss. I have a 2013 bottle in my collection so I'll have to take some notes when I finally break it out.

I'm currently hoping it doesn't snow in Tahoe on Saturday so I can drive up and collect my 2014 Eclipse from FiftyFifty's brewery. The week after I'll be stopping by The Bruery on my way to San Diego to pick up probably 15-20 bottles from there I've ordered throughout the year including several Black Tuesdays. Lots of beer in my future

Lately I tried Almanac Dogpatch Sour for the first time as well as their Tequila Barrel Noir (stout aged in tequila barrels). I liked the sour a lot, the stout was tasty but probably not as worth it ($10 for 12oz bottle).

Goofy,

Nice re: the Bruery beers!

No idea re: where might have BCS now, but city beer store last year got a couple of additional allocations later - they send out an email each week with new stuff.

I'm in socal. I called and asked a few places on that Friday and they basically laughed. Sold out within 10-30 minutes everywhere from what I've heard. Some places the allocation was so small they ran a raffle where you had to purchase another beer just to have a chance to buy some. I'd be very surprised if you were able to find any unless there is a later shipment that gets to a decent amount of stores.

I think regular BCS will get future shipments in certain places, but variants are more questionable. A lot of BCS hit NYC so I haven't even felt the need to pick up bottles yet. I went to a bar last friday that still had cases with no real bottle limit on regular BCS, and they had A 4 pack limit iirc on Barleywine. They sold out of Coffee quickly earlier in the week, but the distributor must have gotten some cases of Backyard Rye with their shipment because the owner sold me and a couple others bottles from the back. I have a bottle shop that is slightly less known nearby where I live where I was able to pick up 4 bottles of Coffee and 2 Vanillas on Monday and Tuesday (2 bottle limit and 1 bottle limit per day respectively) last week.

As for recommendations on how to find any future shipments elsewhere, I'd recommend liking key bottle shops on facebook and maybe talking to the owner. Oftentimes in NYC or in Denver the better bottle shops give shout out whenever they get highly regarded bottles via facebook and social media.

wow nice ^

you talking about Top Hops? I remember they had 2012 BCS for about 10 months with no limit. It was expensive though. in Boston there are still places with 2013 BCS as well, the regular I can basically find year round

Not Top Hops, I hear they were absolutely insane for BCS this year. Its a place on the UES. There are a couple of other places I haven't visited yet way uptown that likely would be carrying loads of BCS too, though its doubtful they'd have any variants remaining.

After 6 weeks battling pneumonia and a couple weeks with a newborn, I'm ready to jump back in and start drinking some good beer.

Completely separate - anyone know of a good craft beer of the month club? Trying to find one as a gift.

Guys,

Founders has released some kegs of CBS across it's distribution network a couple weeks ago. They aren't saying how much or where they went but keep your eyes open.

I'm almost dead certain chicago will get a couple. There are 3 places that I can think of right now that are the usual suspects in limited release kegs from Founders

There's a place by me tapping KBS on 12/30, thought it was strange timing but I'll be there

Beer Authority near Port Authority in NYC is tapping it next Wed too. Never been there, but I suppose for CBS I'll make the Trek. I had a Lawson's Maple Trippel yesterday and it makes me really want more beers with maple syrup in them.

Local Option, Fischman's, Delilah's? (Hopleaf?, Map Room?) I'm west, and I think Brixie's has a shot at getting something like this, but obv I am not sure about that. Can you shoot me a PM if you hear anything? I'm also on CCBE on FB (guessing you are as well), so I'll post here or shoot a PM if I get a chance, but you seem way more plugged in than I am.

I don't post on the CCBE because there's just wayyyyyyyyy too much noise and whining for my taste. But, yea, I'm on it as are a few friends of mine (and very few that post on there actually know wtf is going on in the biz. In fact, I saw a lot of dumbass bull**** posted about my store and how we ran out of Darkness by some people there. Those posters will believe anything dumb if there may be a smidge of truth).

The main 3 I was thinking of are/were: Maria's (they always get hard to get firkins), Sheffields, and Hopleaf. Maybe Maproom (would be nice for me as it's down the street from me), but the first 3 are the most likely suspects to receive a 1/6 Barrel of CBS. Given that Chicago is easily Founders' biggest city by a good ways, I wouldn't be surprised if 2 of the 10 1/6 Barrels make their way to our city.

Wound up finding BCBS last night at Healthy Spirits on Clement, and they had some more bottles (just the regular). Went there with a date who I had kind of introduced to sour beers and liked them, and her last visit to Trader Joe's she asked about sours and a guy there suggested this place, which she then suggested we check out together. Imagine my surprise when perusing the shelves I see a beer I've never been able to buy before. Guy behind the counter said that if he sends out emails then it sells out too fast so he wanted to just put a few out and surprise somebody. Pretty awesome store.

All,

Hey, I'm pretty much a noob on the beer front. My buddy in CA can't get BCBS anywhere, meanwhile the random supermarket pretty close to my place somehow has a ton of it. He offered to trade for some, what's an equivalent beer he could trade me for that you guys would recommend (open to having basically anything). San Diego area.

Mullen,

What's some beer you like? Tons of awesome stuff from SD. And also he can prob easily find plenty of other CA stuff.

Like I said, haven't had too much super-fancy stuff. Been trying a bunch of stouts/porters lately. I like Anchor Porter, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Founders Breakfast Stout, Boulder Chocolate Stout. Also like most Belgian ales I've had - I get delirium tremens whenever I see it on tap somewhere. Basically just want to try something I can't get here in NYC.