Official tasting pictures thread

[Gonzoillini1]

Had a tasting with imperialking and a few others last weekend, and as part of it I opened up a bunch of Abraxas bottles.

The (almost universal) rankings looked like this

Barrel Aged Abraxas (2017)
Vanilla Abraxas (2017)
Coffee Abraxas (2017)
Abraxas (2017)

Barrel Aged Abraxas certainly takes the edge off the "adjuncts" used in it, and as a result was the smoothest and most well balanced of the bunch. Personally I would be drinking mine if folks are still holding onto it. Coffee Abraxas blends the coffee character in the overall beer extremely well, and was closer for me to #1 than most of the folks. Regular Abraxas when fresh (less than 6 months old) is always tasty, and this years batch was no different. Vanilla got the most divisive response, with me in the camp that it was way too heavy on the vanilla which drowned out everything else going on in the beer.

Glad we had a bunch of folks as about 3oz of each was more than enough.

 

[furley]

Last night’s share was a rousing success.

104 bottles and cans + 2.... sixtels?

6 dudes?

 

[Gene1]

104 bottles and cans + 2.... sixtels?

6 dudes?

Definitely more than 6 dudes. Plenty of ladies in the house too.

 

[lb304854]

Plenty of ladies in the house too.

Fake news

 

[Gene1]

Fake news

raginasian238 among them.

 

[wuntrikpony]

Did the '17 BC set with ty1erwh1te and a couple other homies.

Overall was pretty impressed...I expected Northwoods and Prop to be garbage. Regular was one of the better freshies I've had...great chocolate character and not too much dark fruit, barrel character was in check. Coffee was decent, still not as good as I remember '14 being fresh, but glad they went back to a more traditional roast instead of that weird fruity ****. Reserve didn't do much for me...I'd just drink reg instead. Northwoods smelled fantastic...it was a little overcarbed which made the blueberries come off as slightly acidic, but I really dug the marzipan thing. Prop was damn good...bananas were subtle and there was a big cinnamon character(from the cassia).

For fun we opened up an old infected bottle of regular...it was terrible as expected.

 

[Ataraxia1]

Finally got around to this blueberry showdown I've been wanting to do since HenrikO sent me this Blabaer in 2015 - not to mention finally opening the Flora Blueberry from 2014. Man that feels like a long time ago ><

I had heard Flora Blueberry was not great fresh and for a year or so after. But then a couple years after that it has improved significantly, apparently. It was very good when we opened it last night, lots of blueberry and funk with just a tiny bit of herbalness in the finish.

On the other hand, the Blabaer benefited even more with just a couple years. I had tried it fresh(er) at a share with Don, tehzachatak, HevvyMetalHippie, and ShawDeuce22 years ago and was unfortunately outranked by most of the other Cantillon opened that day/night. This 2015 bottle was deep and had so much blueberry, fruitiness, and funk. It. was. amazing.


On a different note, these stouts are really good:

The Coconut had TONS of coconut and a very good mouthfeel, viscous and rich, but not palate-fatiguingly heavy. The Coffee Mexicana was pretty much the closest thing to cold brewed coffee with some milk and sugar to make it like a stout. It handily beat the Coffee Colombiana even though the latter was also fantastic.

 

[Bill2]

'16 Damon and '16 DBD are quite different while both being elegant, impressive, top class stouts. Damon is more fluffy with a light carb and roasty chocolate, great barrel character. DBD is flat, velvety, really great balance of both distinct port and bourbon, a bit hotter which I don't find to be offensive, and really coating with a long lasting aftertaste. b2 Aaron was a little disappointing in comparison to the company. Apple brandy kochere is on a lower tier to the Damons for me, and expecting that we started with it, and it was a very tasty opener. We drank left to right.

Mead homebrew "π" was kinda tannic but still nice. Red Agnes... drool

Great share w the boys while home for xmas

Last thing I'd be doing is giving that "π" guy any feedback other than negative.

 

[rjose]

 

[wuntrikpony]

No thanks

 

[rjose]

No thanks

I'll take a tank top over a Blackhawks jersey every day.


#fiteme

 

[wuntrikpony]

I'll take a tank top over a Blackhawks jersey every day.


#fiteme

I wear tank tops all the time. I am also an *******.

 

[rjose]

I wear tank tops all the time. I am also an *******.

No one wants to see my upper arm freckles and hair.

 

[Marc2]

So about a year ago a friend of mine started a facebook group because he was sick of the ******** from other groups. He just wanted a group where people could post a pic of the beer they were drinking without anyone giving them **** for drinking a shelfie or whatever. Same for hauls and all that. So there are now about 800 members and to celebrate he along with myself and another friend decided to organize a huge party/slash bottle share where we got local bottle shops and breweries to actually sponsor the event. It was awesome, we sold 78 tickets and a few more at the door. This was to cover the venue and food and what not. Good times were had, great people showed up and great beer was had. I was impressed we got 12 magnums

Everyone was asking about the second edition so I guess it was a success

 

[sunnrider]

So about a year ago a friend of mine started a facebook group because he was sick of the ******** from other groups. He just wanted a group where people could post a pic of the beer they were drinking without anyone giving them **** for drinking a shelfie or whatever. Same for hauls and all that. So there are now about 800 members and to celebrate he along with myself and another friend decided to organize a huge party/slash bottle share where we got local bottle shops and breweries to actually sponsor the event. It was awesome, we sold 78 tickets and a few more at the door. This was to cover the venue and food and what not. Good times were had, great people showed up and great beer was had. I was impressed we got 12 magnums

Everyone was asking about the second edition so I guess it was a success

Love this idea, but that photo needs to be a video

 

[Marc2]

Love this idea, but that photo needs to be a video

There are a few videos that got posted in the facebook group but couldn't post here for some reason

 

[sunnrider]

Had a few bottles of stout in Madrid over the weekend.
They were all well received with one notable exception.
The Wakefield Label Us Notorius, it was pretty flat, ugly floaties, no real body to it and no meshing of any flavors.

 

[IronDave]

Nice little share with theredflame2 and 3 others last night
-Wolf's Ridge Dire Wolf Canis Mexicanus Double Espresso
-Wolves and People LO3
-BL Darkstar November
-BL Red Eye November
-Bruery Tart of Darkness
-Braxton Dark Charge Bourbon Barrel w Vanilla
-Side Project La Ruche .
-Cigar City Look to the Cookie
-Superstition Peanut Butter Jelly Mead
-3F Armand & Gaston
-Imperial Oak Double Dee's Porter In Port Bourbon barrels

 

[djben]

Had a few bottles of stout in Madrid over the weekend.
They were all well received with one notable exception.
The Wakefield Label Us Notorius, it was pretty flat, ugly floaties, no real body to it and no meshing of any flavors.

Hate to break it to you but the Label Us Notorious you got was a counterfeit bottle

Your description reads as if someone grabbed an average shelfie stout, threw coconut specs in it to make it look like LUN, and then sold it off as the real thing.

Would recommend seeking it out again (obviously from another source), or finding JWB's "It Was All A Dream" (0.5 notches better on the X/5 scale).

 

[tikk]

Hate to break it to you but the Label Us Notorius you got was a counterfeit bottle

*notorious

Also why do you say that?

 

[djben]

*notorious

Also why do you say that?

lol, copied/pasted from OP's post

Added an additional comment to my original post after realizing which forum I was on.

 

[tikk]

Hate to break it to you but the Label Us Notorious you got was a counterfeit bottle

Your description reads as if someone grabbed an average shelfie stout, threw coconut specs in it to make it look like LUN, and then sold it off as the real thing.

Would recommend seeking it out again (obviously from another source), or finding JWB's "It Was All A Dream" (0.5 notches better on the X/5 scale).

Thanks for the clarification. We need more knowledgeable beer people here, we are all morons.

Do you have a notification go off anytime anyone disparages jwbrewing beer?

It definitely sounds like a recap job, but it could also just be someone didn't like the beer.

 

[ASUBeer]

Hate to break it to you but the Label Us Notorious you got was a counterfeit bottle

Your description reads as if someone grabbed an average shelfie stout, threw coconut specs in it to make it look like LUN, and then sold it off as the real thing.

Would recommend seeking it out again (obviously from another source), or finding JWB's "It Was All A Dream" (0.5 notches better on the X/5 scale).

If that doesn’t get the results you’re looking for, I’d recommend trading for a bottle of ‘Can’t Work the Middle Cause your Things too Little’ or ‘Now We Drank Champagne When We Thirsty’.

I only had to give up a ‘Throw Yo Hands in the Air if You’re a True Player’ to get those bottles.










Please kill me for this post.

 

[disapowzment]

Do you have a notification go off anytime anyone disparages jwbrewing beer?

It definitely sounds like a recap job, but it could also just be someone didn't like the beer.

 

[tikk]

Aaaaangry pour!



He's probably watching Star Wars. Love that line.

 

[user 312341]

<3

...And what handsome devils in the background!

 

[sunnrider]

Hate to break it to you but the Label Us Notorious you got was a counterfeit bottle

Your description reads as if someone grabbed an average shelfie stout, threw coconut specs in it to make it look like LUN, and then sold it off as the real thing.

Would recommend seeking it out again (obviously from another source), or finding JWB's "It Was All A Dream" (0.5 notches better on the X/5 scale).

I actually considered this for a minute. But I didn´t bring that bottle, and I really doubt the guy that did got played. He uses a regular trading partner in Florida, and always has lots of AC, Cycle and Cigar City etc. I´ll run it by him though..

Just to clarify, it didn´t pour flat, there was some foam, it just disapated quickly, leaving something that resembled an oil slick with coconut floaties.
It wasn´t even palate fatigue since it was literally the second bottle we opened.

 

[landrewg]

The Chimay at 10 years plus was one of the highlights. Cork date of 11/07. Smooth, figgy with a good amount of carb.
The Firestone XX was everyone's favorite. Chocolate cake and bourbon.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

So I drank until 2:45 AM on Thursday / Friday with dvelcich and others and figured why not do it again on Friday / Saturday.

So we drank the above bottles between 5 people last night / this morning.

My liver hurts.

 

[smithj21541]

So I drank until 2:45 AM on Thursday / Friday with dvelcich and others and figured why not do it again on Friday / Saturday.

So we drank the above bottles between 5 people last night / this morning.

My liver hurts.

Either this is...

Or count me...