Random Beer Thoughts

[nathanmiller]

I don't really want to throw my opinion in here, but why the hell not.

Supply and Demand is not a complicated issue. I agree that I want prices for beers I buy to stay low, but that's just not how things work in an efficient market. There's a cost, be it standing in line or $$$ or whatever else.

I believe beernerds said it best: "For the record, I think all beer should be sold at whatever price the market will bear, and at whatever time/place/format the brewer prefers. Except for the beers I want. Those should be cheap & sold nearby & not on weekday mornings unless I'm off & don't have to stand in line."

 

[Der Fuchs]

I just blocked everyone who posted on the last few pages about this gimmicky nonsense. Get a ******* thread for this dumb ****.... Oh wait, we already have one.




I hear brew dog is stuffing another rodent and charging $1000 dollars for it. Perfect pricing because beer idiots will buy it. Not a worthless gimmick at all. I think it even says 'rare' on the bottle so all you GI buying neckbeard fools can run right out and **** yourselves with stupidity.

 

[JulianB1]

They have bourbon Cicerones now? Where do I sign up for the test?

www.dontdrinkbeer.com

 

[nathanmiller]

Okay so on a different topic, I'm moving, in December, from Houston to NYC.

I'm gonna drive, because I'm nuts, and because I want to see breweries, etc., that I might not otherwise get the chance to visit.

I would post this in all the various regional forums through which I'd cross, but I figure I might be better off just posting it here.

Major cities I intend to pass through: Houston-->NOLA-->Mobile-->Montgomery-->Atlanta-->Asheville-->Washington-->NYC

So, I know NOLA quite well, but the other middle cities on there, or anything along that general path (I'm willing to go a little out of the way, like to Creature Comforts when I'm near Athens, for instance) is fair game and unknown to me.

I welcome all suggestions. ALL suggestions of anything along that path that you might know of that's good. Breweries, good bars, great restaurants, the world's largest ball of yarn, whatever the hell.

Thanks!

Relevant gif:

 

[lazerviking]

Okay so on a different topic, I'm moving, in December, from Houston to NYC.

I'm gonna drive, because I'm nuts, and because I want to see breweries, etc., that I might not otherwise get the chance to visit.

I would post this in all the various regional forums through which I'd cross, but I figure I might be better off just posting it here.

Major cities I intend to pass through: Houston-->NOLA-->Mobile-->Montgomery-->Atlanta-->Asheville-->Washington-->NYC

So, I know NOLA quite well, but the other middle cities on there, or anything along that general path (I'm willing to go a little out of the way, like to Creature Comforts when I'm near Athens, for instance) is fair game and unknown to me.

I welcome all suggestions. ALL suggestions of anything along that path that you might know of that's good. Breweries, good bars, great restaurants, the world's largest ball of yarn, whatever the hell.

Thanks!

Relevant gif:

Seems to me you should hit Tired Hands on your way between DC and NY.

 

[jedwards]

On your way out of Asheville, stop in Johnson City, TN and eat at Scratch Brick Oven. In my top five pizzas ever.

 

[kodt]

Because every beer geek is a bourbon cicerone and knows exactly what every bourbon tastes like and what every barrel's character is and that the best bourbon is Pappy and therefore those are the best barrels and Pappy 23 barrels are the bestest because Pappy 23 is the best and most expensive bourbon and that is that.

Your comment is sarcastic of course, but where has Goose Island ever said that 2010 Rare was aged in Pappy barrels? I know people say this, I realize it is in the description of the beer here on BA. But it has never been said anywhere in the official marketing from GI, nor on the Rare box. In fact the details on the Rare box contradict the idea that it was aged in Pappy barrels. I think there is no way it was aged in Pappy barrels, even though there really is no such thing as a "Pappy barrel" just barrels that were chosen to be blended into what becomes Pappy.

 

[kodt]

Damn, that's what I get for posting on BA and TB at the same time.

 

[RayP]

I just drank a beer so bad that I won't even send a bottle of it to tosh. It was that bad. ****.

And the beer I'm talking about is the beer they had a special release for tonight.

**** you Terrapin.

 

[JulianB1]

I just drank a beer so bad that I won't even send a bottle of it to tosh. It was that bad. ****.

And the beer I'm talking about is the beer they had a special release for tonight.

**** you Terrapin.

That Walking Dead beer they've been hyping the **** out of?

 

[RayP]

That Walking Dead beer they've been hyping the **** out of?

Yes. Tasted like it was a 9 month old IPA.

Honestly impressively bad.

 

[Der Fuchs]

Okay so on a different topic, I'm moving, in December, from Houston to NYC.

I'm gonna drive, because I'm nuts, and because I want to see breweries, etc., that I might not otherwise get the chance to visit.

I would post this in all the various regional forums through which I'd cross, but I figure I might be better off just posting it here.

Major cities I intend to pass through: Houston-->NOLA-->Mobile-->Montgomery-->Atlanta-->Asheville-->Washington-->NYC

So, I know NOLA quite well, but the other middle cities on there, or anything along that general path (I'm willing to go a little out of the way, like to Creature Comforts when I'm near Athens, for instance) is fair game and unknown to me.

I welcome all suggestions. ALL suggestions of anything along that path that you might know of that's good. Breweries, good bars, great restaurants, the world's largest ball of yarn, whatever the hell.

Thanks!

Relevant gif:

Holla when you're in NO... And just keep driving through mobile. There is a bar or 2 with decent selections but montgomery will be better. Birmingham is the best for beer in AL though.

 

[tosh1]

I just drank a beer so bad that I won't even send a bottle of it to tosh. It was that bad. ****.

And the beer I'm talking about is the beer they had a special release for tonight.

**** you Terrapin.

This?

I can hardly wait!

 

[RayP]

This?

I can hardly wait!

Yeah. It was so bad. Sooooooo bad.

 

[Der Fuchs]

Damn, that's what I get for posting on BA and TB at the same time.

Yeah, it is hard to tell the difference since BA started ripping this sites look/features off. The difference is that here you won't have your post deleted or get banned for mentioning another beer site like you just did.

 

[furley]

Yeah, it is hard to tell the difference since BA started ripping this sites look/features off. The difference is that here you won't have your post deleted or get banned for mentioning another beer site like you just did.

reported

 

[jivex5k1]

Yeah. It was so bad. Sooooooo bad.

******* turtles....

Reminds me of the first ommegang Game of thrones beer I had. **** them for releasing those beers.

 

[ASak10]

Holla when you're in NO... And just keep driving through mobile. There is a bar or 2 with decent selections but montgomery will be better. Birmingham is the best for beer in AL though.

I go to Birmingham every year for a golf trip with my college buddies. Love the beer selection there.

 

[sacrelicio]

So I get a growler of Masada Mama from Town Hall yesterday. First couple glasses taste weird, like funky beginner's homebrew. A little diacetyl maybe, some stale malt. Hmmm, a bad batch I think.

But the last two glasses were fine. What's going on here? Anyone know?

 

[jivex5k1]

So I get a growler of Masada Mama from Town Hall yesterday. First couple glasses taste weird, like funky beginner's homebrew. A little diacetyl maybe, some stale malt. Hmmm, a bad batch I think.

But the last two glasses were fine. What's going on here? Anyone know?

 

[tosh1]

So I get a growler of Masada Mama from Town Hall yesterday. First couple glasses taste weird, like funky beginner's homebrew. A little diacetyl maybe, some stale malt. Hmmm, a bad batch I think.

But the last two glasses were fine. What's going on here? Anyone know?

Aliens. Only possible answer.

Unless it was the Lizard people? But that might be the same thing.

 

[masterovkhaos]

So I get a growler of Masada Mama from Town Hall yesterday. First couple glasses taste weird, like funky beginner's homebrew. A little diacetyl maybe, some stale malt. Hmmm, a bad batch I think.

But the last two glasses were fine. What's going on here? Anyone know?

You started to get drunk before the last two glasses.

Your description reminds me of the growler of Pacer from Tree House that I had. Tasted like bad homebrew.

 

[JBP]

Your comment is sarcastic of course, but where has Goose Island ever said that 2010 Rare was aged in Pappy barrels? I know people say this, I realize it is in the description of the beer here on BA. But it has never been said anywhere in the official marketing from GI, nor on the Rare box. In fact the details on the Rare box contradict the idea that it was aged in Pappy barrels. I think there is no way it was aged in Pappy barrels, even though there really is no such thing as a "Pappy barrel" just barrels that were chosen to be blended into what becomes Pappy.

BCS rare, I’m excited. Brewed in 2008, aged for 24 months in 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle Barrels. These are the very best smelling barrels I’ve come across in 18 years of barrel aging beer. Barrels were originally filled with spirit in 1985. We have 50 bourbon barrels aging, it will be a one time bottling, it will not be repeated.

http://beerpulse.com/2010/01/goose-island-2010-megapost-part-i-stouts/

 

[Mindtrip2012]

http://beerpulse.com/2010/01/goose-island-2010-megapost-part-i-stouts/

 

[kodt]

http://beerpulse.com/2010/01/goose-island-2010-megapost-part-i-stouts/

Interesting, good to know it was straight from the horses mouth.

Thing is, the Box on Rare says it used barrels filled in Bardstown, KY in 1985 and emptied in 2008 in Bardstown, KY. Since when was Pappy ever distilled or emptied in Bardstown? Heaven Hill and Barton are located there. Heaven Hill seems most likely since Goose regularly uses their barrels.

A 23 year bourbon from Heaven Hill would likely be Evan Williams 23, not Pappy 23.

I do believe 2010 Rare it was aged in Stitzel-Weller barrels, just as PVW23 is. Just that the barrels were owned by Heaven Hill at the time (who got the Old Fitz brand from Stitzel-Weller in 1992 and probably got some of their barrels). But the bourbon that was in those barrels did not become PVW23.

Adam Vavrick former beer manager at LP Binny's in Chicago had one of the barrels (it was never filled with rare, instead had the rare logo stenciled on it and was used as a display item at the release in 2010) and he says it was labeled Old Fitzgerald, with a date of 1982. 1982 is a few years earlier than the 1985 on the Rare box, but it is certainly possible that a few older barrels were blended in with a 23 year product.

Of course I could be wrong, just saying the facts don't all add up.

 

[nathanmiller]

Holla when you're in NO... And just keep driving through mobile. There is a bar or 2 with decent selections but montgomery will be better. Birmingham is the best for beer in AL though.

Will do. Should be there the night of the 18th. Spend most of my time at the Avenue Pub with my favorite Polly in the world and then head out in the morning. What's good in Birmingham?

 

[JBP]

Interesting, good to know it was straight from the horses mouth.

Thing is, the Box on Rare says it used barrels filled in Bardstown, KY in 1985 and emptied in 2008 in Bardstown, KY. Since when was Pappy ever distilled or emptied in Bardstown? Heaven Hill and Barton are located there. Heaven Hill seems most likely since Goose regularly uses their barrels.

A 23 year bourbon from Heaven Hill would likely be Evan Williams 23, not Pappy 23.

I do believe 2010 Rare it was aged in Stitzel-Weller barrels, just as PVW23 is. Just that the barrels were owned by Heaven Hill at the time (who got the Old Fitz brand from Stitzel-Weller in 1992 and probably got some of their barrels). But the bourbon that was in those barrels did not become PVW23.

Adam Vavrick former beer manager at LP Binny's in Chicago had one of the barrels (it was never filled with rare, instead had the rare logo stenciled on it and was used as a display item at the release in 2010) and he says it was labeled Old Fitzgerald, with a date of 1982. 1982 is a few years earlier than the 1985 on the Rare box, but it is certainly possible that a few older barrels were blended in with a 23 year product.

Of course I could be wrong, just saying the facts don't all add up.

All interesting points, for sure. The extent of my knowledge on the subject is the conventional wisdom that it was PVW23, and the google results for "goose island rare pappy van winkle" which I quoted. TBH it would be quite hilarious if the entire craft beer world was incorrectly repeating a statement by a confused brewer for the past 5 years. I'm sure there's a bourbon expert out there somewhere who can set the record straight on the barrel types in regard to the specific brands and storage locations.

 

[kodt]

All interesting points, for sure. The extent of my knowledge on the subject is the conventional wisdom that it was PVW23, and the google results for "goose island rare pappy van winkle" which I quoted. TBH it would be quite hilarious if the entire craft beer world was incorrectly repeating a statement by a confused brewer for the past 5 years. I'm sure there's a bourbon expert out there somewhere who can set the record straight on the barrel types in regard to the specific brands and storage locations.

Yeah, my experience is that brewers know as little about bourbon as your average beer drinker and often make mistaken claims on the type of barrels used. Thinking about my post further, if Heaven Hill got some old Sitzel-Weller barrels in 1992 and used them in 2008, Evan Williams 23 probably didn't use those barrels as it is a ryed bourbon and not a wheated bourbon.

I suppose calling wheat mash Sitzel-Weller barrels "Pappy" barrels could sort of fly because ultimately the same juice went into the same type of barrels for what would become Pappy 23 and whatever the barrels Heaven Hill received that eventually ended up in Goose Island hands.

Did Heaven Hill release a bourbon in 2008 using these barrels? I would find it hard to believe they would let old SW barrels go to waste. but who knows. I know the Rare from this year was 35 year HH barrels, which likely were not emptied to be used for a specific bourbon. Either some was blended into younger product or dumped because it was too old to be worth using.

 

[furley]

Interesting, good to know it was straight from the horses mouth.

Thing is, the Box on Rare says it used barrels filled in Bardstown, KY in 1985 and emptied in 2008 in Bardstown, KY. Since when was Pappy ever distilled or emptied in Bardstown? Heaven Hill and Barton are located there. Heaven Hill seems most likely since Goose regularly uses their barrels.

A 23 year bourbon from Heaven Hill would likely be Evan Williams 23, not Pappy 23.

I do believe 2010 Rare it was aged in Stitzel-Weller barrels, just as PVW23 is. Just that the barrels were owned by Heaven Hill at the time (who got the Old Fitz brand from Stitzel-Weller in 1992 and probably got some of their barrels). But the bourbon that was in those barrels did not become PVW23.

Adam Vavrick former beer manager at LP Binny's in Chicago had one of the barrels (it was never filled with rare, instead had the rare logo stenciled on it and was used as a display item at the release in 2010) and he says it was labeled Old Fitzgerald, with a date of 1982. 1982 is a few years earlier than the 1985 on the Rare box, but it is certainly possible that a few older barrels were blended in with a 23 year product.

Of course I could be wrong, just saying the facts don't all add up.

vav

 

[Gonzoillini1]

http://beerpulse.com/2010/07/goose-island-rare-bourbon-county-brand-stout-label-approved/

Which references the same post from Gregg Hall on BA back from 2010.

http://chicagoist.com/2010/11/23/the_hunt_is_on_for_rare_bourbon_cou.php

Article from Chuck Sudo from Chicagoist referencing again that Gregg Hall said it's 23 PVW.

“Tom’s great for the industry,” says Greg Hall, Goose Island’s brewmaster. Because of him, gone are the days of making Bourbon County Stout in six relatively young Jim Beam barrels. Goose Island’s warehouse will soon reach its capacity with about 1,200 bourbon barrels, including a soon-to-be-released version aged in the pricey 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle barrels. Hall equates Griffin’s value to brewers who barrel-age to all brewers who rely on hop brokers.

from

http://draftmag.com/beer-in-good-spirits/

It's not just Gregg Hall, but Tom Griffin is the premier barrel broker in the USA for craft brewers and I highly doubt he got taken / sold a bill of goods that wasn't accurate to his primary account (Goose Island).