Phew, that's the one I love. Great lil spot.

Plaster,


I hope your lack of a follow-up post last night means you did end up getting to a few more years!

Sadly, we did not. We started the tasting about 4:30, timing it to lead up to kickoff of WSU-OSU, which was one of the other reasons we had people over. By the time the game started, we had opened all of the 2010s and variants that I referenced in that last post, and everyone was in good shape. Then we concentrated on the game, getting occasional refills from what was left and drinking lower-octane stuff.

(With the way the first half went for the Cougs, I suppose it's surprising we didn't crack everything else and just go into full-on drunkfest mode. But I literally didn't have another full beer until after the game ended.)

Anyway, here are my limited notes.

2010 regular: We started with this to give us a baseline. You could feel the alcohol immediately; it was definitely warming as it went down. It wasn't necessarily "hot," but you knew the booze was there.

2010 Coffee: Much smoother, alcohol-wise, than the regular. Most of us didn't get much coffee flavor out of it, which was expected, as I had heard those flavors fade over time. It seemed to have a fair amount of chocolate, and there was a little bit of a bite at the end that must have been from the coffee, even though it didn't exactly taste like coffee.

2010 Vanilla: Far superior to the coffee and regular. Vanilla was still present, although not overpowering. I thought this was very nice, and the consensus was that it was the best of the first three. Also very smooth, without the alcohol presence of the regular. We tried mixing this with some coffee as well, but I thought the chocolate flavor from that beer dominated the vanilla. Might have been a ratio issue, though.

2010 Rare: This was incredible, kind of like the best of all worlds. Really deep, with a complexity the others just didn't have. I'm not someone with a super sophisticated palate, so you won't hear me say things like, "I got scents of tobacco and leather, etc.," but this beer really was on another level. No harshness whatsoever, with a perfect blend of chocolate, maybe a little vanilla, and bourbon flavors that were definitely present but just in the right amounts.

2010 regular #2: While we were in the midst of drinking variants, we opened another 2010 regular so we could compare directly. The difference was immense -- as noted, the regular has a harshness that just isn't present in the variants, and there's a kind of tang that you get initially. Not like from an infection, but perhaps just because of the alcohol sweetness. It's really a good beer, but pales in comparison to the others.

All in all, really an enjoyable experience, and now I've still got 2011-2015 regulars to try later on.

One more note for the other "hoarders" in this thread:
Obviously your mileage may vary, but I don't think you need to worry about aging, at least if you've got BCBS you're holding. There were no indications whatsoever that these beers were over the hill. And I should note that all were stored in an unrefrigerated cabinet or closet for almost the entire time I've owned them (probably about 5 years for the variants). I did put the Rare in the refrigerator this summer, worried about the house getting too hot because we don't have a basement or AC. But now, I have complete confidence that my stash of other big beers, which are still hanging out in boxes and non-refrigerated, will be just fine.

Another 2015 Bourbon County attempt:



At this point, I'm so convinced that all of my bottles are bad that I just open them randomly on nights where I don't actually want a heavy stout. Tonight, I opened both of these at the same time, just assuming the Bourbon County would be infected.

since i haven't opened any of mine and dont have experience with infected bottles, what are the signs of infection once opened?

I'm pretty sure GI has put a list of the dates that produced infected bottles on their website. Either way, your tongue will let you know if it's infected right away.

For me, the three adjectives that keep coming to mind are tart, metallic, and fruity. But not awesome fruity, just gross fruity.

Are your bottles on the list of batches known to be infected? Mine aren't, but I'm wondering if there are bad bottles outside of that list.

Someone turned me on to Cranky IPA. Pretty good.

Yes, every single one of the bottles I have is on the list of known bad batches. I haven't heard of problems outside of those batches, so hopefully you're in the clear.

Would there be demand for a separate UK/Euro thread? I know I certainly post here less often than I would if I knew others ITT would've had the same beers (which is rare ATM), so maybe another thread would work?

Tda,

Post more here; those of us who live in the greatest country in the world can get whatever uk/euro beers we want! Anything is possible in AMERICA!!!!

Not sure if this is sarcasm...

No sarcasm!

(Yeah, yeah, this one's not all that tough of a get, I know.)

TDA, I don't think a separate thread would be a great idea. Probably wouldn't get enough traffic, and I'd still be reading this one anyway. Let's post more here.

No need for a separate thread. I've posted euro hauls before. Like today I finally received a package that I thought had been lost for more than a month.

Sick haul man!

I guess I'd better post yesterday's haul then...



Because my phone's camera is a bit blurry, from right to left:

Weird Beard Sorachi Faceplant, 8.1% (D)IPA blend
Mad Hatter Return to Madness, 11% TIPA
Brew By Numbers 19|01 Gose Classic, 4.5% gose
Boon Geuze Mariage Parfait (2012), 8% gueuze
De Molen Morellen Berliner Weisse, 6% Berliner weisse
SixºNorth & D'Oude Maalderij ATC 1.4, 7.8% whisky BA Belgian brown ale
Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio, 5% gueuze



Green Flash Soul Style IPA, 6.5% IPA
Green Flash Tangerine Soul Style IPA
Wild Weather Mudslinger, 5.5% milk stout
Northern Monk Black Forest Strannik, 10% imperial stout
Cloudwater DIPA v8, 9% DIPA
Lost Industry Foraged Autumn 2016, 4.7% sour made with foraged berries
To Øl Sur Galaxy, 7% sour black IPA
Siren Amigos Británicos, 7.8% saison with lime, honey and chilli
Lost Industry The Dark Cellars, 6.8% dark sour



Lost Industry Serie Saison Bouquet Garni, 5.8% saison
Partizan Saison Rhubarb and Ginger, 3.9% saison
Lost Industry Cold Brew Black Heart, 5.3% coffee milk stout
Weird Beard Rye Smile, 10.6% rye wine
Brew By Numbers 55|03 Double IPA, 8.5% DIPA
Dugges & Stillwater Tropic Folk, 3.5% fruited sour

Most looking forward to the BBNo DIPA, the Black Forest Strannik and the Cantillon, but really, very excited by all of them, except perhaps the ATC 1.4, which apparently I've had before and wasn't a big fan of (only discovered this when sourcing untappd links above).

--------------------------

Also had quite a big one last night. Highlights included Cloudwater's Tripel aged in red wine barrels, which was very delicate for a tripel and the red wine served to add an earthy undertone with some fruit on the top; and Chorlton's Fruity and a Bit Sour, which did pretty much what it said on the tin - imagine a really excellent fruity IPA with a bit of souring. The lowlight was Boss Brave, quite possibly the worst IPA I've ever had which was actually an IPA (read: not Greene King).

Had some Almanac - Truthful Statement on draft yesterday, damn was that stuff tasty. Really cool sour imperial stout, definitely got the bourbon barrels coming through, haven't really tasted anything like it before. Awesome stuff.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/almanac...tement/382598/

I'm going to this Jester King tasting today:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jester-...aff=erelexpmlt

$35 for 11 3-ounce pours. Anybody had any of these beers? I've heard good things about JK.

I was sick this past week so I opened up my BCS Rare 15 last night as a delayed way to celebrate the Cubs WS. My god is that an amazing beer. I have no ability to describe mouthfeel or create palate analogies, so I'll just say the after each of my first few sips I literally said "holy ****".

Was in Portland ME this weekend for a get together. Bottle shared the below.

The Morning Delight was not as good as I thought it was going to be but still worth seeking out.

The Witches Hat Vanilla was unreal good. I would definitely try and find this again.

Also got to do a private tour at Allagash. They took us out to the Coolship room and opened Coolship Red for us. If you ever have an opportunity to try it, you really need to. I'm not particularly a lambic guy but damn, the cherries and raspberries and tartness of the beer were all perfect.

I wasn't super impressed overall. The selection was heavily tilted toward Belgian-style farmhouse, which is the exact opposite of my wheelhouse. That being said, I bought a bottle of the Snörkel (oyster/mushroom smoked beer) and the Reposé.

I'm heading to Dallas next weekend, but J Wakefield here in Miami puts out better beers than anything I had today.

Yeah, looking at the list of what they sent, I don't see any of their best stuff there. Jester King is quite good, but I don't know if I'd pay that much for those pours. Throw in an Aurelian Lure or Fen Tao and I'll hand them all the monies.

00cooler00, that looks like a very awesome bottle share. Sounds like a great trip.

Any Denver specific recommendations?

I've liked everything I tried from crooked stave