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seangm wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 10:40 am
The decline of the Bastard series has been disappointing. In the mid to late 2010s those were some of the best BA stouts going. Last I had was around 2020/2021 and I noticed a significant drop-off. It was watery, unbalanced. Hopefully it returns to form.
I'd recommend trying Left Field's Blackburne series- they've got a 3-pack of BA variants plus the original for $19 at the LCBO right now. They're perhaps not as good as Goose Island, but like the Wellington series, they are a good value comparatively.
Despite my earlier comment about not bothering to buy BCBS since 2020, I will say I respect that it's a straight up BA RIS which can be harder to find. I find the adjunct on top of adjunct thing is a little much these days, it gets to a point where you obscure any nuance. Less is more, am I right? In fact going further I often most enjoy plain ol' imperial stouts even sans barrel-aging. OG Tempest is one of my favourite Ontario beers.
The Rye barrel Blackburne is pretty god damn spectacular. The bourbon one is no slouch either. As you said, great value. I’d say far and above the quality of the Welly pack this year. It hasn’t been great the last two years IMO.
seangm wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 10:40 am
I’d say far and above the quality of the Welly pack this year. It hasn’t been great the last two years IMO.
The M31 is definitely not as good as the UVB from a few years back. That said, I only get the bourbon can, not the pack with all the adjunct versions, and think the bourbon only is still pretty good.
seangm wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 10:40 am
The decline of the Bastard series has been disappointing. In the mid to late 2010s those were some of the best BA stouts going. Last I had was around 2020/2021 and I noticed a significant drop-off. It was watery, unbalanced. Hopefully it returns to form.
I'd recommend trying Left Field's Blackburne series- they've got a 3-pack of BA variants plus the original for $19 at the LCBO right now. They're perhaps not as good as Goose Island, but like the Wellington series, they are a good value comparatively.
Despite my earlier comment about not bothering to buy BCBS since 2020, I will say I respect that it's a straight up BA RIS which can be harder to find. I find the adjunct on top of adjunct thing is a little much these days, it gets to a point where you obscure any nuance. Less is more, am I right? In fact going further I often most enjoy plain ol' imperial stouts even sans barrel-aging. OG Tempest is one of my favourite Ontario beers.
The Rye barrel Blackburne is pretty god damn spectacular. The bourbon one is no slouch either. As you said, great value. I’d say far and above the quality of the Welly pack this year. It hasn’t been great the last two years IMO.
Agreed on the Welly pack, I found a bit of a decline last time I bought whereas Blackburne is always excellent. Plus I've got two of those Welly glasses now, gonna get out of hand if I keep buying the gift pack every year haha.
Well, Goose Island Toronto may not have done Black Friday, but it doesn't stop them from having BCBS throughout the year. Stopped in today and they had '22 on tap.
I visited the Brewhouse on Saturday (the 19th) and the 2022 version was on tap though the server cautioned it was running low. I asked whether there would be a release event for the 2024 installment like there had been before last year but he had no news to share either way. Perhaps it is too early.
Would be nice to have it come back, it was a fun event. Looking back they announced the '22 news on Nov 10th, so perhaps it is still a bit early.
They'd most certainly know if there would be an LCBO release due to the lead times, but likely the info wouldn't make it to the servers & bartenders.
The past few times I've been at the GI Toronto it's been eerily quiet. Maybe bringing back a BCBS event could provide a bit of spark, but maybe it won't be worth it for them (like last year).
Edit: no posts on GI Toronto's IG since July 10th.
Kind of amazing how much BCS (and other stuff) is available. They've definitely made BCS much less hard to get than the pre-Bud days.
Certainly a premium for some of the variations but $14USD for a bottle of '23 isn't bad seeing it was $24 at the LCBO when it was last here 2 years ago (and would presumably be even more if it came back). I have a free checked bag so might just grab one to bring home!
Funny enough, I pondered a trip to Buffalo this week, sort of forgetting it is Black Friday.
Not going to deal with that, but I did see Premier Gourmet said they will have 17 variations of BCS for sale. I imagine limited and a need to line up though.
The annual Bourbon County Beer Release is here, and Premier Gourmet has the best selection available in WNY! In addition to the 2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout, we'll have lots of different varieties available, including inventory from past vintages!
There will be 17 different varieties available in total, and each customer can get up to 1 bottle of each variety. Get to the store early to have your best chance at getting the bottle you'd like. While supplies last!
I wonder what the lineups are like nowadays. No pricing information, so I have to suspect they'll be at least somewhat priced to not move, so they'll earn money of off the diehards & stock will last for the day. I recall the last time I went to Premier Gourmet the prices were quite high so I think I just bought some beer at Wegman's instead.
