The Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers
I was fortunate enough to attend the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers (FoBAB) on Saturday in Chicago. It’s an amazing event and I recommend it to any beer aficionado. The selection of hard-to-find and limited brews is overwhelming and the crowd behaved itself (despite four hours of downing high ABV beers).
Wisconsin beers represented themselves well. Central Waters Peruvian Morning and Black Gold, and Lakefront Black Friday held their own against the best barrel-aged stouts there. 3 Sheeps had some great brews on tap. And as far as medals go, Milwaukee Brewing took home gold for Gin Barrel Aged O-Gii and Lakefront snagged silver for Beer Line Barley Wine.
Stouts weren’t the only highlights. Sours and fruit beers fared well too, and there were several experimental brews on hand. (Experimentation is cool, but barrel aging couldn’t tone down the bitter herbal flavor in Lunar Brewing’s Malorted Stout.)
Buyer’s Guide to the 2015 Bourbon County Stouts
I got to try most of the new Bourbon County Stouts at FoBAB, and honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed by this year’s batch. Bourbon County sets the bar pretty high, so expectations are for liquid gold in every sip. It’s my duty to inform the public about my thoughts before you spend your hard-earned money.
Bourbon County Rare: The stout, aged for two years in Heaven Hill barrels, has earned plenty of buzz. But I found it to be too hot and boozy. If you shell out $60 for a bottle of this, do yourself a favor and let it sit for at least a year. I’m guessing this beer will be awesome after aging, but it’s not quite there yet.
Bourbon County Regal Rye: Goose Island does “berry” barrel-aged stouts better than anyone. Regal Rye is an amazing mix of rich chocolatey stout with flavorful blackberry and cherry. It is decadent and delicious and the best of 2015.
Bourbon County Coffee: As good as usual. Goose Island has this style down too and manages a perfect balance of coffee and stout.
Bourbon County Proprietor’s: A sweet, syrupy maple flavor made this a disappointment. It’s cloying, and definitely my least favorite of the variants.
Black Friday Weekend
A few years ago, Black Friday was primarily the day in which dirtbags would fight each other over subpar TVs at Walmart. Now, it kicks off a huge weekend for beer lovers. I call that progress.
Here are some places you absolutely need to go to if you call yourself a beer lover.
Black Friday
Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St.) has quickly become the go-to place on Black Friday, largely because the limited brew they release is one that people will line up for. This year, folks who show up early for the barrel-aged Black Friday Imperial Stout will be rewarded with three Black Friday bottles. The doors open at 8 a.m., but get there a lot earlier if you want to be sure get a few bottles. There will be plenty of coffee, food, and no doubt beer, available while you wait in line.
After a stop a Lakefront, head down the street to Stubby’s (2060 N. Humboldt Blvd.). They’ll be tapping Bourbon County, Bourbon County Coffee and Bourbon County Barleywine at 10 a.m. to go along with their delicious brunch.
Discount Liquor stores in both Milwaukee (5031 W. Oklahoma Ave.) and Waukesha (919 N. Barstow Ave.) begin “White Whale Weekend” at 9 a.m. on Friday. Get there for a chance to Bourbon County Stout and other rare brews. The fun starts again on Saturday at 9 a.m. when the Bourbon County variants are the main draw.
The Harley-Davidson Museum (400 W. Canal St.) hosts the fourth annual Black Friday Beerfest from 4 to 7 p.m. The list of breweries is solid and tickets start at $40.
Gray Saturday
Nobody does limited releases better than Ray’s Wine & Spirits (8930 W. North Ave.) and this might be the highlight of the weekend. Set your alarm early because the first 40 people in line get to enjoy a breakfast of Bourbon County Stout in Ray’s Growler Gallery (which will open around 8 a.m.).
Ray’s hands out one ticket to early arrivers, which lets them purchase Bourbon County (the amount of tickets depends upon the allotment of BCS that Ray’s receives), and everyone in line gets a raffle ticket. Each raffle ticket offers the chance to snag one of more than 200 rare brews like Founders KBS. Follow Ray’s on Twitter (@rayswine) to see the beer list, which will be posted Friday.
“We like to spread the wealth,” says Ray’s co-owner Orey Laev. “(A raffle) is really the only fair way to do it.”
The festivities aren’t over on Saturday afternoon. Uber Tap Room (1048 N. Old World Third St.) hosts its third annual Barley and Whey Festival from 1 to 8 p.m. The event is free and allows you to spend all day sampling beer, cheese and sausage.
Barley Pop of the Week
Dogfish Head makes a few brews that simply aren’t for everyone. Higher Math, the brewery’s 20th anniversary beer, falls into that category. The bold ale mixes hints of chocolate and cherry with a boozy heat. Higher Math has a whopping 17 percent ABV, and it is noticeably potent. I thought the beer was a fine slow sipper and a great elixir for any winter day.
Quick Taps
Winter finally arrived over the weekend. Draft Magazine has you covered with a selection of hot beer drinks you can try from now until whenever spring decides to get here.
Congrats to Benno’s Bar & Grill (7413 W. Greenfield Ave.), one of Milwaukee’s craft beer trailblazers. The bar celebrated its 35th anniversary last week. Cheers.
