FIB War Room

[Wino1]

Who are you now?

Djibouti

 

[DiscountMegaMall4ever]

a gummy orange slice you had dipped in chocolate

And here I thought the turnip was a desperate food discovery.

 

[furley]

it's almost like everyone has different tastebuds

 

[middlebrow]

it's almost like everyone has different tastebuds

Different tastebuds!?!?! You must be unaware of the universal taste bud of craft beer, foraged and determined by the 20-something elders on Untappd & BA.

 

[DiscountMegaMall4ever]

For the "It Could Be Worse" bunch, this date was Black Friday back in 2010.

 

[furley]

for how much everyone hates Bourbon County now, but especially Goose Island, it's weird how angry people get about lines for it & the general lack of availability.

or in some cases, how easy it is to get in some towns yet people still line up for it in others.

 

[Tooch4321]

Randomly made a stop at Fresh Market or whatever the name of the grocery store is over on Western just north of Armitage last night. They've got quite the selection of beer and spirits, plenty of BCS and even CBS bottles sitting on the shelves and much to my surprise Cygnet and Jerk Bird too...

 

[lb304854]

Midnight Orange tasted like someone spritzed my glass with some grandmother's citrusy perfume. Didn't even finish my pour.

Coffee Barleywine is the real MVP.

I'll probably skip the Clybourn tasting next year if ticket prices keep going up $20 every year. Especially with how easy it was to drink everything I wanted at Fulton, including "Triple Barrel" which was great.

Got a kick out of everyone calling Vanilla "boozy and sweet" as if both previous vanilla variants weren't boozy and sweet when they came out. 2010 'nillz was like dropping a triple shot of Bulleit into your glass.

I dug Bramble more than I did the original when it was fresh.

Wheatwine was a nice change of pace.

Prop is sweet on sweet on sweet. No thanks.

I liked regular more than all but three of the variants.

 

[Scalzo]

Midnight Orange tasted like someone spritzed my glass with some grandmother's citrusy perfume. Didn't even finish my pour.

Worst non infected bcbs to date IMO. Outside of 2015 prop, before infection.

 

[benh123]

Midnight Orange tasted like someone spritzed my glass with some grandmother's citrusy perfume. Didn't even finish my pour.

Worst non infected bcbs to date IMO. Outside of 2015 prop, before infection.

Wow lots of dislike for this one, my wife and I shared a bottle the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[danbanana]

Wow lots of dislike for this one, my wife and I shared a bottle the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well, some people don't like chocolate and oranges together.

Also, some people believe that white people are superior despite all evidence contrary.

Am I suggesting that if you don't like chocolate and orange together then you are also a white supremacist?

No. But more accurately, yes Yes I am.

 

[middlebrow]

not that im an expert on orange peel'd stouts (wink wink) but the trick we've found was to make it feel like a kiss and not a hit. a kiss so that half the check-ins on untappd read 'i dont taste no orange' or 'where's da orange.' subtly is the key, i mean like not to the masses but to like the few left that like beer to taste like beer.

 

[lb304854]

not that im an expert on orange peel'd stouts (wink wink) but the trick we've found was to make it feel like a kiss and not a hit. a kiss so that half the check-ins on untappd read 'i dont taste no orange' or 'where's da orange.' subtly is the key, i mean like not to the masses but to like the few left that like beer to taste like beer.

To be fair, that might not be what GI was going for. The marketing guy who created the original recipe (because of course) said his inspiration was those chocolate oranges you bang on the table before unwrapping. If that's what you got out of it, more power to you. I got an unmistakable Elizabeth Taylor, floral/botanical taste that I'm not a fan of in my bigger beers.

Or maybe people are fans of whiskey and White Diamonds.

 

[Tooch4321]

Oh, I forgot to mention if you nerds love rye whiskey and barrel aged beers, you should grab yous a two-pack of Barrel Bear. The barrel killed all the juniper/spruce from the base beer and it's just love sweet, spicy caramel goodness...

 

[middlebrow]

To be fair, that might not be what GI was going for. The marketing guy who created the original recipe (because of course) said his inspiration was those chocolate oranges you bang on the table before unwrapping. If that's what you got out of it, more power to you. I got an unmistakable Elizabeth Taylor, floral/botanical taste that I'm not a fan of in my bigger beers.

Or maybe people are fans of whiskey and White Diamonds.

im now envisioning some overzealous millennial marketing major (like someone pictured below) walking into the BCS boardroom meeting (while doing a live stream), and rolling down some terrys chocolate oranges down the table and saying 'these have always brought me luck.'

 

[furley]

To be fair, that might not be what GI was going for. The marketing guy who created the original recipe (because of course) said his inspiration was those chocolate oranges you bang on the table before unwrapping. If that's what you got out of it, more power to you. I got an unmistakable Elizabeth Taylor, floral/botanical taste that I'm not a fan of in my bigger beers.

Or maybe people are fans of whiskey and White Diamonds.

what.... what does Elizabeth Taylor taste like?

 

[lb304854]

what.... what does Elizabeth Taylor taste like?

Champagne and White Diamonds. I substituted in whiskey to fit with Bourbon County.

 

[flyingbison]

what.... what does Elizabeth Taylor taste like?

Regret, IIRC

 

[sacrelicio]

I ran the lineup at Fulton including a few extras. Best to worst on the day:

Triple barrel - good lord that's a tasty deviant. It reminds me of what BCBS can be grown up. It's like vsod but with bcbs.

vanilla rye 14 - it's amazing just how much better the variants were back when they were being blended and brewed with real ingredients. It tastes like an oatmeal cookie with vanilla

prop 18 - a weird entry in that it has some shades of prop 16 (I got some smokey mapley sweetness) but this is a chocolate bomb. I don't feel like it's nothing you can't French press with regular so I'm okay not having a bottle

reserve 18 - a great improvement from the cloying knob creek reserve of last year. I wouldn't call this balanced or nuanced and it's hot, but it rides the spirit well and grew on me as I sipped

regular 18 - seems to lean towards an anise note this year. I wouldn't call it fruity (some people have) but more anisey. It's a great vintage. Regular is usually the best

coffee barleywine - dontdrinkbeer you got some 'splainin to do. This is a barleywine like my bcbs-crushing body is an Olympic athlete. I think the best comp is a beer called Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown. It's good, but life it is not.

wheatwine - I LITERALLY lost my **** laughing after my first sip. This beer tastes like High C. It's a ******* juice box. I mean maybe a really nuanced cherry pineapple box but still my kids might dig this.

midnight orange - I don't even know what to say...it definitely smells like candles but it legit tastes like those terrible orange chocolate candies your grandma dumped on you

vanilla - oh boy... Compared to the 14 VR.. Or even compared to what you can do with a French press....this was just extracty and kind of lame.

*BONUS* Vanilla & Midnight Orange cuvee - i don't know why goose island didn't figure this out themselves and bottle it. It tastes like an orange Creamsicle and is way better than the parts

bramble - just totally strips away the base and barrel. Someone I was with said cough syrup. I didn't get that vibe but it's an unbalanced mess and can't touch bramble or backyard.

Overall... I'm pretty content not chasing variants in bottles. This **** will be on tap or in bottles at Fulton for years to come and a lot of the variants in the past two years have been kinda meh and extracty...

I'd appreciate just regular, a reserve, prop, one properly done variant, and BW aged in proper barrels like in '13 and 14

I managed to find WW on tap over the weekend, and it's definitely got a fruit punch or Ectocooler fruitiness in there. But also caramel, coconut, vanilla, whiskey, etc. I really liked it.

And vanilla tasted like extract dumped into a regular BCBS and did not compare well to my (admittedly hazy) memories of VR.

 

[adhdjon]

Got a kick out of everyone calling Vanilla "boozy and sweet" as if both previous vanilla variants weren't boozy and sweet when they came out. 2010 'nillz was like dropping a triple shot of Bulleit into your glass.

I get this perspective and I am curious/optimistic that age will do it good, and I remember enjoying '14 VR fresh and aged. Where I feel 2018 isn't as well integrated or something. I don't know. Maybe it is as simple as the rye brought balance to the beer?

As always, reviews of these beers outside the context of a blind tasting are pretty meaningless since everyone has their own bias/intention.

 

[lb304854]

I get this perspective and I am curious/optimistic that age will do it good, and I remember enjoying '14 VR fresh and aged. Where I feel 2018 isn't as well integrated or something. I don't know. Maybe it is as simple as the rye brought balance to the beer?

As always, reviews of these beers outside the context of a blind tasting are pretty meaningless since everyone has their own bias/intention.

Vanilla Rye was far more 'ready' at release than OG Vanilla IMO, but still boozy. OG rounded into form in late 2011. I had enough of it to tell. I had 18 ******* bottles of it.

As for intention, mine was to get drunk on variants all day Friday instead of getting bottles. I succeeded. If anyone wants my Prop bottle, I'll only accept offers of the rarest lambic.

...or Coffee Barleywine $4$.

 

[daniel1]

Counts and limits for next Rev release for those not on the Facebook:

Ryeway to Heaven ~ 1,500 four-packs (Limit 2)
Gravedigger Billy ~ 1,500 four-packs (Limit 3)
Vanilla Deth ~ 1,800 four-packs (Limit 2)

 

[adhdjon]

Counts and limits for next Rev release for those not on the Facebook:

Ryeway to Heaven ~ 1,500 four-packs (Limit 2)
Gravedigger Billy ~ 1,500 four-packs (Limit 3)
Vanilla Deth ~ 1,800 four-packs (Limit 2)

Ryeway, Gravedigger, Boss Ryeway, and Straight Jacket are the life that GI couldn't provide this year. ISO

 

[jmgrub]

Had a lot of great beers while in Chicagoland last week, but I think that this year's Cafe Deth may have been the best. So ******* good.

 

[Tooch4321]

Café Deth is the real MVP, you kids make good things over there, beeraficionado...

 

[Scalzo]

Really 0 need for bcbcs or any other ba coffee stout w the quality to price point in Cafe

 

[jmgrub]

Really 0 need for bcbcs or any other ba coffee stout w the quality to price point in Cafe

It's rocket fuel too. Was trying to figure out why I was so buzzed after drinking a single can. 14.8% is why.

 

[beeraficionado]

Hey thanks! I just had a can of Gravedigger Billy and am blown away. I'll be pouring samples in line up until the release time, so if anyone comes, you'll get to taste before buying. It has this perfect touch of smoke that's like a cherry on top, without distracting from the well-rounded base, bourbon and barrel character.

 

[IronDave]

I thought the last release of Gravedigger was delicious, so not surprised about this one. Ryeway was great last year. Regrettably I have to sit this one out though. Holiday vacations, medical bills, trying to "reduce the cellar"

 

[rmalinowski4]

Rev should make a BA variety pack with 1 of each of the Deep Woods beers.