FIB War Room

[Mugatu]

Went to Longroom and sat in a half full room at a table with 8 friends. Could get any variant except northwoods and coffee l bet they’ll have plenty leftover tomorrow.

 

[mjohnson171]

This year’s BCBS lineup = good. Skip Northwoods, the rest solid to great. No reason to wait in lines. Beer lines are stupid. Plenty of places around Chicago with them on tap. I still hate beer releases and the ****** nosels it brings out. 2017 craft beer sucks. 2017 beers have never tasted better, the scene is a bunch entitled babies. Long live the few good guys. Mahalo!











#blackfriday summed up.

 

[JulianB1]

Reading the thread on the other site from the comfort of my living room 1000 miles away is tremendous entertainment.

 

[daniel1]

The public intox and littering alone should be reason enough to kill this thing. I wasn’t there but most reports do not sound good. Forget the people pissed at line cutters and not getting full allotments. If hundreds of over-entitled man children can’t act their age and/or follow the law, then pull the ******* plug on this.

 

[daniel1]

I talked to a Goose employee at Clybourn who was helping out for a bit at Binny’s. He said there were 2,000 people there.

 

[daniel1]

Drank all of this year at Warren's in Wheaton with no effort. Went in expecting to hate Prop, but damn that is really good. Coffee is great as well. Reserve is good, but side by side with regular, it didn't seem worth a 150% price increase. Northwoods is fake flavors and beetus. Barleywine, I'll just say I miss the 3rd use barreling of '13 and '14.

This is pretty bang on.

 

[ClCardinal84]

The public intox and littering alone should be reason enough to kill this thing. I wasn’t there but most reports do not sound good. Forget the people pissed at line cutters and not getting full allotments. If hundreds of over-entitled man children can’t act their age and/or follow the law, then pull the ******* plug on this.

Where are said reports to be read? Interested in hearing about them.

 

[Lansman]

On a related note i put bottles of Coffee 16 on the menu at Pub today tho

Why are people/businesses 'cellaring' Coffee beer? Max profit$?

 

[vav1]

Why are people/businesses 'cellaring' Coffee beer? Max profit$?

I thought it was a little hot last year and could use a mellowing period.

 

[Lansman]

I thought it was a little hot last year and could use a mellowing period.

Agree to disagree. Week of release, drinking very nicely with a great coffee kick in the background. Month later, completely different beer, two bottles I had were generic, still good, but nothing like the first bottle. May be bottle variation but sitting on Coffee hasn't been something that 'worked' since 2012-13.

 

[daniel1]

Where are said reports to be read? Interested in hearing about them.

Various Facebook groups and the other site. Apparently, a guy was passed out in a porta potty and the paramedics came and took him to the hospital.

 

[jvanaus]

Various Facebook groups and the other site. Apparently, a guy was passed out in a porta potty and the paramedics came and took him to the hospital.

Because when you have the opportunity to stand in line and drink all night with 1000 of your closest friends, what other choice is there?!

Oh and make sure you drive home afterward, too. Key part of the experience right there.

 

[Scalzo]

Agree to disagree. Week of release, drinking very nicely with a great coffee kick in the background. Month later, completely different beer, two bottles I had were generic, still good, but nothing like the first bottle. May be bottle variation but sitting on Coffee hasn't been something that 'worked' since 2012-13.

Went to my moms for thanksgiving and she still had 2016 bcbcs... opened and can confirm that the coffee flavor has faded quite a bit and its no longer really there. Unfortunately a shell of what it was a year prior, albiet still tasty. Just not my favorite like it normally is

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Didn't do any standing in line myself yesterday, but I did spend the $$$ to go to the Black Friday "Structured Tasting" (not sure what its actually called, just the name I've always given it) at Goose Island Clybourn yesterday (**** them, I'm not calling it the Goose Island Brewhouse).

Food / dessert pairings were pretty on point this year, and while the talk given by the host (Josh ?) was a little neurotic / spacey, the initial talk by Gregg Hall was a rambling mess. The timeline of when they started making Bourbon County as the 1000th batch at the brewpub doesn't line up with his recollection of the Bell's Batch series or the debut of Sam Adams Triple Bock. I'm looking forward to Josh Noel's book and hopefully, finally, putting the real timeline of bourbon county in stone. My order from Prop Day was unchanged, but Coffee is right there with Reserve as my favorite this year.

Drank at Clybourn for a bit afterwards, had them run out of coffee about 20 minutes after we ordered our pours, and lurchingbeast called it that we would miss out as our server was totally overwhelmed by the day. Still not terrible given the scene that morning.

Walked over to Mousetrap for the first time, and really enjoyed spending a couple of hours hanging out there. Great vibe for the place, and having Yuzu Fierce on all year would be the most amazing thing ever. Was hard to pass on a bottle of Market Rate for $25, but hopefully next time I'll grab it.

Finished up the afternoon at Fat Pour Tap Works on Division and Damen, and had pours of 2016 Proprietors (still a really smoky / spicy weird beer) and more 2017 Coffee before calling it a day.

Thinking this will be the model for all future Black Fridays, so much more enjoyable than waiting in line to buy beer I will be able to drink on draft throughout the upcoming year.

 

[capnmike]

Didn't do any standing in line myself yesterday, but I did spend the $$$ to go to the Black Friday "Structured Tasting" (not sure what its actually called, just the name I've always given it) at Goose Island Clybourn yesterday (**** them, I'm not calling it the Goose Island Brewhouse).

Food / dessert pairings were pretty on point this year, and while the talk given by the host (Josh ?) was a little neurotic / spacey, the initial talk by Gregg Hall was a rambling mess. The timeline of when they started making Bourbon County as the 1000th batch at the brewpub doesn't line up with his recollection of the Bell's Batch series or the debut of Sam Adams Triple Bock. I'm looking forward to Josh Noel's book and hopefully, finally, putting the real timeline of bourbon county in stone. My order from Prop Day was unchanged, but Coffee is right there with Reserve as my favorite this year.

Drank at Clybourn for a bit afterwards, had them run out of coffee about 20 minutes after we ordered our pours, and lurchingbeast called it that we would miss out as our server was totally overwhelmed by the day. Still not terrible given the scene that morning.

Walked over to Mousetrap for the first time, and really enjoyed spending a couple of hours hanging out there. Great vibe for the place, and having Yuzu Fierce on all year would be the most amazing thing ever. Was hard to pass on a bottle of Market Rate for $25, but hopefully next time I'll grab it.

Finished up the afternoon at Fat Pour Tap Works on Division and Damen, and had pours of 2016 Proprietors (still a really smoky / spicy weird beer) and more 2017 Coffee before calling it a day.

Thinking this will be the model for all future Black Fridays, so much more enjoyable than waiting in line to buy beer I will be able to drink on draft throughout the upcoming year.

Sounds great!

 

[DiscountMegaMall4ever]

Because when you have the opportunity to stand in line and drink all night with 1000 of your closest friends, what other choice is there?!

Oh and make sure you drive home afterward, too. Key part of the experience right there.

And despite passing out 5 hours before the doors opened, in a portable *******, hauled off by the EMS and getting his stomach pumped (if they still do that), he's probably pissed he didn't get his allotment. The other site said his buddy, who actually found all of this funny, said this guy was his mule. There's a rock bottom moment here somewhere.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

This year’s BCBS lineup = good. Skip Northwoods, the rest solid to great. No reason to wait in lines. Beer lines are stupid. Plenty of places around Chicago with them on tap. I still hate beer releases and the ****** nosels it brings out. 2017 craft beer sucks. 2017 beers have never tasted better, the scene is a bunch entitled babies. Long live the few good guys. Mahalo!











#blackfriday summed up.

So long live the good guys as long as they’re your friends? LOL

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Black Friday summed up – bourbonnais for dark secret bottles and variants on tap with biscuits and gravy for breakfast bottle share during the whole process. After that dive bar for Miller high life and pizza I’ll take it.

 

[jvanaus]

And despite passing out 5 hours before the doors opened, in a portable *******, hauled off by the EMS and getting his stomach pumped (if they still do that), he's probably pissed he didn't get his allotment. The other site said his buddy, who actually found all of this funny, said this guy was his mule. There's a rock bottom moment here somewhere.

 

[Ckozl]

I talked to a Goose employee at Clybourn who was helping out for a bit at Binny’s. He said there were 2,000 people there.

Definitely not 2000. Maybe 1400. Maybe.

 

[trickytunadicky]

And despite passing out 5 hours before the doors opened, in a portable *******, hauled off by the EMS and getting his stomach pumped (if they still do that), he's probably pissed he didn't get his allotment. The other site said his buddy, who actually found all of this funny, said this guy was his mule. There's a rock bottom moment here somewhere.

Inquiring couch quarterbacks want to know... did he get a replacement mule or sell the guy's ticket?

 

[ClCardinal84]

Black Friday summed up – bourbonnais for dark secret bottles and variants on tap with biscuits and gravy for breakfast bottle share during the whole process. After that dive bar for Miller high life and pizza I’ll take it.

This sounds like my kinda ****.

 

[lb304854]

Northwoods is comically bad. Like I can't believe they thought it appropriate for release. Everything else is really good.

 

[kodt]

Definitely not 2000. Maybe 1400. Maybe.

I think there was a good 1,700 there at one point, but a good chunk left after a while. If you consider how many actually waited it out and went through line it was maybe 1,300.

 

[lb304854]

Didn't do any standing in line myself yesterday, but I did spend the $$$ to go to the Black Friday "Structured Tasting" (not sure what its actually called, just the name I've always given it) at Goose Island Clybourn yesterday (**** them, I'm not calling it the Goose Island Brewhouse).

Food / dessert pairings were pretty on point this year, and while the talk given by the host (Josh ?) was a little neurotic / spacey, the initial talk by Gregg Hall was a rambling mess. The timeline of when they started making Bourbon County as the 1000th batch at the brewpub doesn't line up with his recollection of the Bell's Batch series or the debut of Sam Adams Triple Bock. I'm looking forward to Josh Noel's book and hopefully, finally, putting the real timeline of bourbon county in stone. My order from Prop Day was unchanged, but Coffee is right there with Reserve as my favorite this year.

Drank at Clybourn for a bit afterwards, had them run out of coffee about 20 minutes after we ordered our pours, and lurchingbeast called it that we would miss out as our server was totally overwhelmed by the day. Still not terrible given the scene that morning.

Walked over to Mousetrap for the first time, and really enjoyed spending a couple of hours hanging out there. Great vibe for the place, and having Yuzu Fierce on all year would be the most amazing thing ever. Was hard to pass on a bottle of Market Rate for $25, but hopefully next time I'll grab it.

Finished up the afternoon at Fat Pour Tap Works on Division and Damen, and had pours of 2016 Proprietors (still a really smoky / spicy weird beer) and more 2017 Coffee before calling it a day.

Thinking this will be the model for all future Black Fridays, so much more enjoyable than waiting in line to buy beer I will be able to drink on draft throughout the upcoming year.

After you left, we went to Revolution taproom for Deth variants. Still had cans of Cafe which is cool. Then went to Whirlyball for the 7 pm BCS tappings. Was busy at first but after an hour I think everything was still on and the crowd thinned out. Then we went to some hipsterish bar that I hated.

I do love that you can find variants on draft all around the city all day. Makes it an easy decision to not wait in ridiculous lines for bottles.

 

[RedCoffee]

Northwoods is comically bad. Like I can't believe they thought it appropriate for release. Everything else is really good.

You're telling me that running some barrels of BCBS past Dunkin Donuts for several pumps of blueberry and almond syrup didn't work out so well?

My career as a master brewer of stouts is over before it started.

 

[lb304854]

You're telling me that running some barrels of BCBS past Dunkin Donuts for several pumps of blueberry and almond syrup didn't work out so well?

My career as a master brewer of stouts is over before it started.

The one brewer's explanation for why they used almond extract in Northwoods and actual almonds in Prop was something to the effect of 'we didn't want them to taste too similar'. That's almost an admission of purposely making Northwoods ******.

 

[RedCoffee]

The one brewer's explanation for why they used almond extract in Northwoods and actual almonds in Prop was something to the effect of 'we didn't want them to taste too similar'. That's almost an admission of purposely making Northwoods ******.

Sounds a lot better than "our profit margin demands it."

People still went apeshit chasing it, though. Next year I hope they make them all with Schnapps flavoring and get it over with.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

After brunching at SecretSquirrel's favorite place in the city (Duseks), checked out the three breweries in Pilsen this afternoon. Started our day at Lo Rez Brewing.

A nice selection of Belgian and malt forward options as our bartender described their style, and the Berliner Weiss, Saison, and Common were all very solid. The barrel aged option was pretty boozy and wasn't my thing, but that may have also been from Bourbon County overload the day prior.

Great vibe to the place with an old Chicago building character and minimalist taproom (single TV is barely visible above the cooler playing college football without the sound on), lots of space if not the most comfortable tap room chairs.

Kind of crazy they only have 3 fermenters at the moment and a single brite, but they had a bunch of beers on and everything tasted pretty good.

Met the owners as one of them had a baby shower going on just before we walked in, and they still were showing all sorts of folks around the place. Cool spot that I am looking forward to re-visiting in the summer as the outdoor porch looked great.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Moved on to Alulu Brewpub afterwards, and after spending a minute finding the door (down the alley outside the place) we checked it out.

Started off with a flight of the Ghostly Liso (Mexican Lager), Prencot Sol (Belgian Blonde Ale with Apricot and Bergamot), Binary Daydream (Double IPA), Dual Torus (Kettle sour with figs and vanilla) and Onyx Delta (Marzen / Oktoberfest). Lager, Prencot and Daydream were all solid, but the Torus was a definite miss for me and the Delta was inbetween a brown ale / porter and oktoberfest.

Small spot that only seated about 35 on the first floor and 25 on the second floor with a 3.5bbl system that looks like a huge pain in the ass to brew on (looks like they have to haul grain / spent mash / supplies up and down 2 flights of stairs for every brew) as it is super tight. Beers were hit or miss, but the space was unique and had a full bar as they don't distribute at all. Will check it out again as they had enough beers I enjoyed and the food menu looked unique (3 different poutines on the menu trickytunadicky).