39 replies to this topic

[neddles]

ever had Mack and Jacks African Amber?

No sir. Cant say Ive ever heard of it.

ever had Mack and Jacks African Amber?

No sir. Cant say Ive ever heard of it.

[Howie]

sometimes I wonder if these uber high rated beers get a runaway copycat high rating

 

Beer hype is beyond belief or rationality these days. I believe you could brew just about anything high alcohol, age it in a barrel, hype it up as an ultra-rare limited release, and people would go nuts for it. It's way more about the hype than it is about the beer.

 

As for the ratings, I think a poorly brewed high gravity beer will always rank higher than a world class, flawlessly brewed example of a style that's right in the middle of the style guidelines.

Edited by Howie, 13 August 2014 - 10:06 AM.

[HVB]

Beer hype is beyond belief or rationality these days. I believe you could brew just about anything high alcohol, age it in a barrel, hype it up as an ultra-rare limited release, and people would go nuts for it. It's way more about the hype than it is about the beer.

 

As for the ratings, I think a poorly brewed high gravity beer will always rank higher than a world class, flawlessly brewed example of a style that's right in the middle of the style guidelines.

It is true.

 

I have had a lot of hyped beers .. A LOT.  For me only 2 beers lived up to the hype.  The first time I had Heady Topper at the pub and Hunahpu from Cigar City.  The rest were good beers but not worth the hype they draw and some were even worth of a drain-pour.

[Thirsty]

ever had Mack and Jacks African Amber?

I have never had this, however on another board much less active, there is a clone recipe thread 29 pages long, and I have brewed it no less than 5 times. I just brewed a batch 2weeks ago, going to put orange peel and vanilla bean into the keg.I personally dont care either way clear or opaque, I just enjoy fresh.

[MyaCullen]

I have never had this, however on another board much less active, there is a clone recipe thread 29 pages long, and I have brewed it no less than 5 times.I just brewed a batch 2weeks ago, going to put orange peel and vanilla bean into the keg.I personally dont care either way clear or opaque, I just enjoy fresh.

it's a a weird beer for sure, but damned good fresh on tap

[neddles]

I have never had this, however on another board much less active, there is a clone recipe thread 29 pages long, and I have brewed it no less than 5 times.I just brewed a batch 2weeks ago, going to put orange peel and vanilla bean into the keg.I personally dont care either way clear or opaque, I just enjoy fresh.

Link to recipe? You guys have me interested now.

[HVB]

Link to recipe? You guys have me interested now.

Curious myself now because the recipe I have seen before in BYO does not seem to be anything crazy

[Howie]

It is true.

 

I have had a lot of hyped beers .. A LOT.  For me only 2 beers lived up to the hype.  The first time I had Heady Topper at the pub and Hunahpu from Cigar City.  The rest were good beers but not worth the hype they draw and some were even worth of a drain-pour.

 

I've had many myself. I know people who chase the delivery truck around town so they can be sure to buy their "store limit" on Hopslam at each of the good beer stores in town. I've seen people standing in line out in the freezing temps and rain so they can get Bourbon County Stout. 

 

Okay, Hopslam is good. But is it really that much better than all of the other outstanding Double IPAs that are out there on the shelves every day, or for long seasons at the time with plenty of shelf stock? I've done blind tastings of Double IPAs with Hopslam in the mix, and no one picked Hopslam as the best, so I'm going to say no.

 

I've never had Bourbon County Stout. I'm sure it's great. But really, is it THAT much better than the other 50 barrel aged stouts that are available on my store shelves throughout the year? I can't say definitively, but I'm guessing not.

 

To me, Double IPAs and Bourbon Stouts are pretty pedestrian these days. I can't say either of those styles would be considered as candidates in my "Top 5 Beer Moments."

Edited by Howie, 14 August 2014 - 04:51 AM.

[HVB]

I've had many myself. I know people who chase the delivery truck around town so they can be sure to buy their "store limit" on Hopslam at each of the good beer stores in town. I've seen people standing in line out in the freezing temps and rain so they can get Bourbon County Stout. 

 

Okay, Hopslam is good. But is it really that much better than all of the other outstanding Double IPAs that are out there on the shelves every day, or for long seasons at the time with plenty of shelf stock? I've done blind tastings of Double IPAs with Hopslam in the mix, and no one picked Hopslam as the best, so I'm going to say no.

 

I've never had Bourbon County Stout. I'm sure it's great. But really, is it THAT much better than the other 50 barrel aged stouts that are available on my store shelves throughout the year? I can't say definitively, but I'm guessing not.

 

To me, Double IPAs and Bourbon Stouts are pretty pedestrian these days. I can't say either of those styles would be considered as candidates in my "Top 5 Beer Moments."

Agree with you.  Although these days the best beer seems to be the one in my glass.  Tired of trying to get the latest and greatest beer, that has taken a back seat to many other things and I am glad it did.

I have never had this, however on another board much less active, there is a clone recipe thread 29 pages long, and I have brewed it no less than 5 times.I just brewed a batch 2weeks ago, going to put orange peel and vanilla bean into the keg.I personally dont care either way clear or opaque, I just enjoy fresh.

I just like to see some light through a pale beer

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I've had many myself. I know people who chase the delivery truck around town so they can be sure to buy their "store limit" on Hopslam at each of the good beer stores in town. I've seen people standing in line out in the freezing temps and rain so they can get Bourbon County Stout. 

 

Okay, Hopslam is good. But is it really that much better than all of the other outstanding Double IPAs that are out there on the shelves every day, or for long seasons at the time with plenty of shelf stock? I've done blind tastings of Double IPAs with Hopslam in the mix, and no one picked Hopslam as the best, so I'm going to say no.

 

I've never had Bourbon County Stout. I'm sure it's great. But really, is it THAT much better than the other 50 barrel aged stouts that are available on my store shelves throughout the year? I can't say definitively, but I'm guessing not.

 

To me, Double IPAs and Bourbon Stouts are pretty pedestrian these days. I can't say either of those styles would be considered as candidates in my "Top 5 Beer Moments."

 

I was stewarding FOBAB a few years back so I was listening in on the judges debate as to which beer was best for the Barrel Aged RIS. The judges didn't know what beers were entered but the stewards did. We were filling glasses from kegs in another room for the judges to evaluate. It was funny to hear the judges debate the merit of one particular entry. One judge was saying that it was exactly what they picture a bourbon barrel aged ris to taste like. It was GI Bourbon County Stout and it won the category. It's arguably the original and it's still damn tasty! It's also one of the few beers I don't have a problem shelling out $25/4 pack 12 oz bottles. 

[Poptop]

Link to recipe? You guys have me interested now.

Mee too, anyone with something besides BYO?

Curious myself now because the recipe I have seen before in BYO does not seem to be anything crazy

I agree. BYO's write up is meh compared to the sites information https://www.macandjacks.com/beers.php

[Brauer]

Tired of trying to get the latest and greatest beer, that has taken a back seat to many other things and I am glad it did.I just like to see some light through a pale beer

Too true to the first. It kills me to think of how much money people must spend on chasing the next fix.What bugs me about all the cloudy beer is that I know that my beer always tastes it's best the day it drops clear.To t

[MyaCullen]

Too true to the first. It kills me to think of how much money people must spend on chasing the next fix.What bugs me about all the cloudy beer is that I know that my beer always tastes it's best the day it drops clear.To t

which is right before the keg runs out

 

 

int he case of the Mack And Jacks I mentioned cloudy and hoppy is it's shtick, it's done that way on purpose, and when fresh it's quite tasty

[Thirsty]

Link to recipe? You guys have me interested now.

Link to recipe https://www.brewingk...clone-4311.htmlThread about recipe https://www.brewingk...clone-2641.html

[Howie]

I was stewarding FOBAB a few years back so I was listening in on the judges debate as to which beer was best for the Barrel Aged RIS. The judges didn't know what beers were entered but the stewards did. We were filling glasses from kegs in another room for the judges to evaluate. It was funny to hear the judges debate the merit of one particular entry. One judge was saying that it was exactly what they picture a bourbon barrel aged ris to taste like. It was GI Bourbon County Stout and it won the category. It's arguably the original and it's still damn tasty! It's also one of the few beers I don't have a problem shelling out $25/4 pack 12 oz bottles.

I'm not doubting it is good, even great. Just whether it is that much better than others that are widely available as to want to wait in line in freezing rain?If you look at the Top 100 beers on Beer Advocate, they are mostly rare, hard to get, limited availability selections. Evidently you can't rate a beer highly if it is widely available

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I'm not doubting it is good, even great. Just whether it is that much better than others that are widely available as to want to wait in line in freezing rain?If you look at the Top 100 beers on Beer Advocate, they are mostly rare, hard to get, limited availability selections. Evidently you can't rate a beer highly if it is widely available

I agree to a point. I've never waited in a line for Bourbon County. I used to be able to buy it off the shelf for a solid month after it was released then it got more scarce. They have upped production so once again it isn't too difficult to score a 4 pack. The variants/coffee/vanilla/coconut are harder to get. I won't wait in line for those so I usually just seek them out to try at fests. I'm trying to think of a barrel aged ris that you could easily buy that's anywhere near as good.

[HVB]

I agree to a point. I've never waited in a line for Bourbon County. I used to be able to buy it off the shelf for a solid month after it was released then it got more scarce. They have upped production so once again it isn't too difficult to score a 4 pack. The variants/coffee/vanilla/coconut are harder to get. I won't wait in line for those so I usually just seek them out to try at fests. I'm trying to think of a barrel aged ris that you could easily buy that's anywhere near as good.

Not barrel aged but Old Rasputin is pretty good,reasonably priced and easy to get. I have some BCBS but like to save that to share with friends and drink the old raspy when I just want a good stout

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

Not barrel aged but Old Rasputin is pretty good,reasonably priced and easy to get. I have some BCBS but like to save that to share with friends and drink the old raspy when I just want a good stout

Old Rasputin is great. It's one of the beers that got me back into home brewing.

[Thirsty]

Not barrel aged but Old Rasputin is pretty good,reasonably priced and easy to get. I have some BCBS but like to save that to share with friends and drink the old raspy when I just want a good stout

Have you had the fade to black flight at Mcladdins in Noho yet? Dogfather, Bourbon County stout, Founders KBS, Parabola. Took me half the night to drink it, well worth it.

[HVB]

Have you had the fade to black flight at Mcladdins in Noho yet? Dogfather, Bourbon County stout, Founders KBS, Parabola. Took me half the night to drink it, well worth it.

I have not but minus dogfather I can do that flight at home.  I may not be of much use the next day though!  I am sure I can find a dogfather sub though, maybe big bad baptist.