And the same is true with beer! Many folks age Bourbon Barrel beers.

The deal with IPAs/DIPAs is that they're high in hops and those hops go stale fairly quickly. The aroma and flavor deteriorates drastically in a short amount of time compared to other beers.

That's why most craft guys don't like when breweries don't date their bottles/cans. If they're being sold in a store that doesn't get a lot of traffic, you might be buying a bottle that's six months old and have no clue.

Shit....you are absolutely right. I don't know why I had it in my head that it's a DIPA. I've not tried it, I just remember seeing it in stores a while back.

My bad, Lew.

Michigan has a lot of good breweries actually.

I meant funny because it a mango and habanero beer from Michigan....especially when I live in AZ.

As mentioned, I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of Bloom by Parish from TimBone. I popped it last night. My shitty condo lighting doesn't do the appearance justice, but it's a beautiful opaque light orange. Aroma was bursting with citrus and tropical juice. Soft, juicy™ mouthfeel that lingers. Taste was a nice balance of tropical hops and malt sweetness that finished with a touch of piney bitterness. Fantastic beer that was a real treat to drink.

Not sure if Gulf Coast IPAs are a thing, but of the Parish pales/ipas TimBone has been generous enough to share with me, they seem to capture the right balance between the juicy flavor and soft mouthfeel of New England and the bitterness of the West Coast without the viscous booziness of a lot of Midwest IPAs (FFF, Pipeworks).

I couldn't find a lot of info on Bloom and would be interested to know the yeast strain used.

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Aaaand...I'm officially on vacation for the rest of the week, y'all. Cheers.

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I tried 6 different beers the other night at the place by our house. Two sours that were really good and one milk stout that was really good....made by Founders I think?

I'm anxious to check BKS Artisan when I'm back in KC. That spot could turn into a cool little area.

http://www.bksartisanales.com/

Finally got a chance to try Lizard of Koz from Founders on Christmas night. Good stuff.

I've seen that one around but haven't pulled the trigger. How pronounced is that blueberry after the barrel aging?

Between the blueberry and vanilla, it's pretty sweet. Then again, my idea of sweet may differ from yours.

It's certainly worth a try to see for yourself, IMO. I was several imperial stouts deep before I broke out that bottle, so I'm going to buy another and get a fresh perspective.

I heard that one was a sugar bomb, so have been staying away from it. Have seen it on tap a few times - maybe I should ask for a sample, and see for myself.

I've been drinking a coffee stout called Winter Grind by Mother's Brewing out of Springfield. It's a seasonal that I find very tasty. Really good if you can find it on tap but good out of bottle too.

BKS will be good. Really good. I had a bunch of it last night. My favorite was an english mild with vanilla beans; it was so freaking delicious.

Koz definitely has a lot of residual sugar, but I still thought it was quite enjoyable. It's no Dark Lord, in terms of sweetness.

I still refer to the list Brian gave me of Chicago beers and breweries to check out when I moved. I'm excited for them and that neighborhood.

I saw Lizard of Koz on tap this afternoon and asked for a sample. Yeah, that's dessert. I could definitely see it being enjoyable in the right setting though.

Speaking of dessert stouts, did I miss what happened to Bearcat? He gone?

In St. Louis for a few days. Went to Urban Chestnut two nights ago and went to Side Project last night. So much beeeeer.

That little area around Maplewood, down Manchester, has some great stuff. Try Heavy Riff if you're in the area too, their beers are great!

Also, if you have an excuse to go up north to Florissant, try Narrow Gauge. Their IPAs are killing it right now. Hazy juice bombs are their specialty. Make sure to try OJ Run, Bird Law and Cloud City if you go!

Luuucky. I'm really bummed I couldn't make it to St Louis during our Missouri vacation. Anything in particular that stood out?

Also, speaking of stuff that stood out. I was surprised by a nice beer in Tulsa on our way to Texas from Kansas City. We stopped in at Prairie Artisan's taproom. I saw a DIPA on the menu called New Phone Who Dis, brewed by American Solera in Tulsa. Really good. Cloudy, juicy, with good bitterness. I've certainly had better DIPAs, but this was really good.

Still don't know if when I go into a bar, have them fill a growler, pay and leave, if I should tip them?

Had a very good local Cranberry Gose last night.

It depends for me. If a place lets me fill any growler, rinses my growler, let's me sample a few, and then provides the cap and seals the growler. I'll tip them well. The tip lessens as those things aren't provided.

Amashed some absolute killer beers tonight with my buddy and his family. Shouts out to KCUnited for The Juice is Loose.

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American Solera is basically the guy who started Prairie. They sold Prairie to Krebs Brewing who was making their beer anyway and started up AS.

They have some great stuff, mainly sours etc....I had a brett ESB in their tap room that was just nuts.

I will keep testing their products for you :D

On a side note I met the brewer who brews the beers they make at the Prairie Tap Room (they only do a handful on sight) and hope to go up and join him for a brew day this winter. Extremely nice guy but he might be Von Millers twin brother. The resemblance is uncanny.

The only beer I have had in the last week is the new Shiner Birthday Beer which this year was a coffee ale. Good but not the best coffee ale I have had. They usually do a good job on their birthday beers though.

Shiner is not the best cheap beer, that is Yuengling, but it beats your Bud, Coors, Miller, etc. I enjoy some of their stuff: Ruby Redbird, Prickly Pear, Holiday Cheer and of course Shiner Bock is a ingredient in my chili and beef roast.

:drool:

I grabbed another Transient DIPA while picking up The Juice Is Loose called Honeystone. Very Hopslam/Pipeworks-ish with the honey addition. It flew under the radar but I'm really hoping it gets brewed again.

Very nice! That Commotion APA has become my daily drinker for the last month or so. Delicious.

Terrapin "Hopsecutioner" is the best beer on the planet IMO.

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Also: speaking of Great Raft: picked up a bottle of their All My Tomorrows hoppy saison that I'm cracking tonight.

It's good to see Great Raft is distributing in Arkansas. I k ow they're just now crossing the border into Texas. Commotion is a solid daily drinker. This batch was double dry hopped, which made it a bit better as well.

That All My Tomorrows is decent. I was expecting a bit more because hoppy saisons are right up my alley. It's still enjoyable, though. How far north are you in Arkansas?

Yeah. The hoppy saison wasn't spectacular. Tasty but not mind blowing. I'm up in Nkrthwest Arkansas.

Just finished off a crowler of Narrow Gauge's Cloud City. Just silly good. These guys are going to do big things.

I somehow missed this post. That's good info. Thanks! We were sitting at the Prairie taproom late in the evening when I tried the beer from American Solera. I immediately looked up the brewery and saw that we weren't but a few miles away from it. It was closing in 15 minutes, though, so we stayed put.

Winters Grind is delicious, their American Blonde is pretty good and their IPA L'il Helper is amazing.

I admittedly pay little to no attention to Bocks. I'm trying to diversify in 2017 and had an Ayinger Celebrator on tap last night.

DAYUM! That was good.

Not surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of that style being brewed near me, but I did manage to track down a Pipeworks doppelbock attempt to try.

Has anyone had any of this year's Hopslam?

I've had it from the can and on tap. Still very enjoyable. I remember Gomer's in KC only selling me 3 12oz bottles a few years ago, now there's displays stacked to the ceiling with actual hops dusted on the 6 packs for effect. At least around here. So props to Bells for making much more of it, at least it seems.

Picked up some last night. Fantastic

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

:drool:

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You mother****er.

I mean...

HEY BUDDY! HOW YA BEEN?

LMAO

How the **** did you get a 12 of BCS?

The -ator ending for beers typically donates a doppelbock. Where as goat on the labeling usually donates a bock.

If you like Celebrator I would suggest Aventinus which is a wheat doppelbock, Salvator which is the original doppelbock, and Optimator which is Spaten.

LMAO

Stopped by a local beer store and shit you not, they had like 4 cases laying around. It's what I imagine heaven to be like, if such a thing exists.

It's ****ing amazing.... it's usually pretty boozy and could use 6-12 months of aging, but this batch is already there.

The original plan about a month ago was to drink one per month... I have 8 left.

****, I hate living here.

I was just reading another forum regarding the mass availability of Hopslam. Places in certain parts of the country have had stacks of it for a week.

I had to win a lottery to buy a ****ing 6-pack.

LMAO

I was floored... I had given up on the Black Friday BCS runs to multiple beer stores just to pick up a couple of 12oz bottles, as there are too many quality stouts these days to do that shit on one of the worst days to go outside all year.

If you want to do an exchange, Schafly (for one) doesn't distribute here... how much are a couple BCS worth to you? :D

Let me know what you want from Schlafly and I'll make it happen.

This year's Hopslam is damn good.

So, they still have cases just laying around like it's no big deal, but then shot me down when I went to buy another one... limit 2 bottles. Supposedly the manager will give me a call this week if they're able to override that.

As far as Schlafly, their Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout. More importantly, if Crown Valley's Imperial Pumpkin Smash is still around, that's my true Missouri love.


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Still some 2015 Rare sitting around Chicago for you BCS fans.

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Those aren't '15 Barleywines, are they?

Aren't those like $60 a bottle or something crazy?


Any BCS coffee? Or is that red label? That stuff is amazing and impossible to find.

Nah, those are this years.

I believe MSRP on Rare was $70 but it varies up to $100 by bottle shop. You're more likely to get shot in Chicago than find a Coffee still around after Black Friday. Those are Barelywines in that pic.

*sigh* Yeah, I figured.

Still, do they hang on shelves for a while? I might wanna work a trade for one when I'm back from the beer hiatus.

'15's? Not really and the ones that are would be buyer beware unless its a special release from a reputable bottle shop. '16's will likely be around for a bit.

Yeah, I meant the '16's in the pic.

Oh yeah, I can grab you a couple and hold them til you're ready if you'd like.

That would be awesome, man. Thanks.

No problemo.

So what's the deal with these Bourbon County Stouts? I love bourbon itself. What's the ABV on these and cost? What's the taste really like? How ****ing good is this shit?!

Holy shit dude. That's like the jackpot based on you liking this shit.

Is the manager Trevor? He's a good dude.

14.5% abv, retail $9.99-$19.99. 16.9 oz bottles. Flavors can include chocolate, vanilla, caramel. Nose can include all that plus charred oak and smoke. Flavors can change as it ages. It's pretty much the benchmark of bourbon barrel aged stouts, imo.

This is my "go to" on Bourbon Stouts. Smooth as silk! :D

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Yeah, I was originally worried there wouldn't be enough craft beer around here, just to find out it's apparently where Goose Island hides its extra cases of BCS. :drool:

Not sure, but the guy I spoke with this morning called back and said I could come back for a case or however much I want..... that pic would run about $520. :hmmm:

Their reserve stuff is outstandng. The regular Dragon's Milk seems to be a bit inconsistent, but very good.

Drank a lot of that while in Grand Rapids last summer. My cousin and now uncle works for the distributor that distributes Founders, New Holland, Brewery Vivant, and a ton of other beers in the GR area. They get a huge discount and of course tons of samples.

Awesome. I might have to try and find a bottle of this just to try.


So Bearcat....have you gone and bought the 4 cases yet? Also, check the next 10 days of weather. :D

Never had any of their reserve but I'll look for it. Thanks! :clap:

Didn't make it back last night, but will soon for a case or two.... or 3 or 4. :D

Yeah, it was great out this afternoon... and will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

Note, this actually started as an argument over the price of Remy Martin, but this liquor store near me is notorious for charging up to $200 a bottle for Bourbon County variants such as coffee.

LMAO I thought about this post as soon as I read it this morning.

Driving back to KC for a funeral this afternoon. Going to take the opportunity to swing through Narrow Gauge and grab some crowlers. Looking forward to trying their beers.

Taking the family to Tulsa this weekend for my oldest's birthday. Staying downtown by Prairie Pub. Will definitely be hitting it.

Make sure to get Cloud City, Hoppy Meal and All the Citrus to go. The rest of the beers are very solid but aren't big time stand outs. I will say, Oast #5 is the haziest hazy IPA I've ever seen. it seriously looks more like a mango lassi than a beer.

Cloud City is my absolute favorite IPA right now. It's got a ton of citrus hop punch.

The food is good too, we were just there last weekend!

Thanks for the suggestions, I've heard great things about Cloud City. Oast #5 is a must try for me with galaxy, nelson sauvin, and motueka. That sounds right up my alley.

Elysian just started distributing in STL (or I've been asleep) and I finally was able to try Space Dust. Good stuff.

Buying a 6 of this on the way home from the office tonight

http://www.lostinthebeeraisle.com/wp.../03/photo3.jpg

Good news: Narrow Gauge was releasing a stout called Zavtrak when I rolled through on my way back to Chicago yesterday. Its an imperial with cocoa nibs, vanilla, coffee, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

Bad news: I pretty much had to sit through 4 hours of the Bachelor last night for making my wife wait an hour in line to get it. Had to be a 100+ people wrapped around the parking lot when we rolled up.

I also got crowlers of Cloud City and Hoppy Meal. Looking forward to trying one of the pales today.

4 hours of the bachelor after getting a bunch of beer? Sounds like the perfect time to get hammered!

If you like Russian Imperial Stouts, this one is excellent.


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Just picked up two bottles of Rye on Rye on Rye.