White Whales and Founders KBS Dethroned?
If you're into craft beer as a semi serious hobby you probably already know all the craft beer slang and what the term white whale means in the craft beer community, if not I'll explain it real quick. White Whale: a beer highly sought after that is very hard to obtain and costly to trade for. When I first started my adventure into craft beer I wasn't much for chasing whales rather I enjoyed local and easy to get beers. After awhile however I started to develop my palate and figured out I enjoyed imperial stouts and good bourbon. This led me on my first whale chase to drink Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout.
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
I started by doing some research to see where I could find it and get a full glass of it to see if it was really the beer of my dreams. This led me to a place called Local Option located in Chicago Illinois. This place is kind of like beer geek heaven nice food and a great bottle and draft list. I was able to get a 12oz pour of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and was impressed tons of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, oak and little hops for balance and thought hey there might be something to this white whale thing. While I was in Illinois I also made the trip to 3 Floyd's to see if I could luck up on some Zombie Dust.
I checked 3 Floyd's website the week I was in Illinois as 3 Floyd's is only 30 minutes away and Zombie Dust was not listed, and from what other's said it would not be available again for quite awhile. I decided I would go anyway just to go and see the place at least. What I saw next was my first experience how serious some people take it. I drove into 3 Floyd's lot that was packed and saw grandma's, and wives piling cases of Zombie dust into their cars. I was able to buy a case and try it on draft and thought it was a solid American Pale Ale smells and taste of pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine a little biscuit notes I can easily see why it's talked about in such high regard.
White Whales Are Rare Finds
Now fast-forward a few years to 2015 I finally decided to chase my last Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. As it happened there was a special tapping in Ann Arbor at Ashley's on Valentines Day. This was my first time chasing a draft whale of this caliber and expected a huge line but I got there at 9am and was the first person in line much to my surprise. I was able to get in a few hours later and was brought a 5oz pour of Canadian Breakfast Stout which did not disappoint. Great mouth feel, coffee, maple vanilla, coconut worth the hype it gets in my opinion. If you ever get the chance to try this beer I say go for it it's a well put together beer whether your into the style or not your appreciate the craftsmanship of this beer.
Now onto current whales. The whale known as Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout or KBS came out a week or so ago and the chase believe it or not was pretty fun. I decided to join the chase this year to see if things were as crazy as some of the stories I've heard. I'm happy to report the chasers were out but didn't seem as crazy as some have led me to believe. We each shared stores getting deliveries and the best game plan to hit all the areas receiving KBS. I highly suggest chasing this one at least once just for the experience and some of the great chase stories others will undoubtedly have.
White Whale Chasers Are A Fun Group
A nice surprise the same release day as KBS was Weyerbacher's Sunday Morning Stout which in my opinion is KBS on steroids, definitely worth the hype high ratings and praise it's getting right now and appears to be on its way to white whale status. If you lucked out on KBS I suggest picking this one up if you can find it, its not KBS but it's a darn fine beer. This was a treat to be able to buy a whale and get to see a beer finally released in bottles become a whale at the same time. As always you can catch me on Beer Advocate , Ratebeer and HomebrewTalk under the name Ohiobeer29 or on twitter at @ohiobeer29 to trade beer stories, reviews and thoughts on the next great beer to look out for.
If you're into craft beer as a semi serious hobby you probably already know all the craft beer slang and what the term white whale means in the craft beer community, if not I'll explain it real quick. White Whale: a beer highly sought after that is very hard to obtain and costly to trade for. When I first started my adventure into craft beer I wasn't much for chasing whales rather I enjoyed local and easy to get beers. After awhile however I started to develop my palate and figured out I enjoyed imperial stouts and good bourbon. This led me on my first whale chase to drink Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout.
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
I started by doing some research to see where I could find it and get a full glass of it to see if it was really the beer of my dreams. This led me to a place called Local Option located in Chicago Illinois. This place is kind of like beer geek heaven nice food and a great bottle and draft list. I was able to get a 12oz pour of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and was impressed tons of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, oak and little hops for balance and thought hey there might be something to this white whale thing. While I was in Illinois I also made the trip to 3 Floyd's to see if I could luck up on some Zombie Dust.
I checked 3 Floyd's website the week I was in Illinois as 3 Floyd's is only 30 minutes away and Zombie Dust was not listed, and from what other's said it would not be available again for quite awhile. I decided I would go anyway just to go and see the place at least. What I saw next was my first experience how serious some people take it. I drove into 3 Floyd's lot that was packed and saw grandma's, and wives piling cases of Zombie dust into their cars. I was able to buy a case and try it on draft and thought it was a solid American Pale Ale smells and taste of pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine a little biscuit notes I can easily see why it's talked about in such high regard.
White Whales Are Rare Finds
Now fast-forward a few years to 2015 I finally decided to chase my last Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. As it happened there was a special tapping in Ann Arbor at Ashley's on Valentines Day. This was my first time chasing a draft whale of this caliber and expected a huge line but I got there at 9am and was the first person in line much to my surprise. I was able to get in a few hours later and was brought a 5oz pour of Canadian Breakfast Stout which did not disappoint. Great mouth feel, coffee, maple vanilla, coconut worth the hype it gets in my opinion. If you ever get the chance to try this beer I say go for it it's a well put together beer whether your into the style or not your appreciate the craftsmanship of this beer.
Now onto current whales. The whale known as Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout or KBS came out a week or so ago and the chase believe it or not was pretty fun. I decided to join the chase this year to see if things were as crazy as some of the stories I've heard. I'm happy to report the chasers were out but didn't seem as crazy as some have led me to believe. We each shared stores getting deliveries and the best game plan to hit all the areas receiving KBS. I highly suggest chasing this one at least once just for the experience and some of the great chase stories others will undoubtedly have.
White Whale Chasers Are A Fun Group
A nice surprise the same release day as KBS was Weyerbacher's Sunday Morning Stout which in my opinion is KBS on steroids, definitely worth the hype high ratings and praise it's getting right now and appears to be on its way to white whale status. If you lucked out on KBS I suggest picking this one up if you can find it, its not KBS but it's a darn fine beer. This was a treat to be able to buy a whale and get to see a beer finally released in bottles become a whale at the same time. As always you can catch me on Beer Advocate , Ratebeer and HomebrewTalk under the name Ohiobeer29 or on twitter at @ohiobeer29 to trade beer stories, reviews and thoughts on the next great beer to look out for.
