Bottle Share: Go Over the Hill to get to Bourbon County (May 17th, 2014)

"Go Over the Hill to get to Bourbon County"

(May 17th, 2014)

Another Saturday another get together with some fellow foragers to sip some delicious selections and share our thoughts on the subject of what else, Beer! Sometimes I wish I had a big barn for these Saturday bottle shares so each and everyone could make the tasting every week, but with the forecast being for rain we tried to keep it small and I hope none of my fellow foragers get disappointed when they see a tasting happen and they were not involved. Its never personal as to who gets the invite and who doesn't it just shakes out differently every time and now that rooftop deck season is back there will be some larger scale shares coming where everyone can get together for some epic megashares !  

Ok for some reason I felt I needed to get that off my chest... now onto last nights share.

The full line up:

Oxbow Freestyle #24

Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget

De Garde Imperial Hop Bu

Hill Farmstead Arthur '14

Hill Farmstead E. '14

Hill Farmstead Flora '13

Hill Farmstead Edith '13

Cigar City Brewers Brunch Stout

Revolution Bourbon Barreled Bean Gene

Olde Hickory Event Horizon

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Proprietors

Backyard Rye

Coffee '12

Coffee '13

BCS '11/'12/'13

  

So we don't always have a theme for bottle shares but the catalyst for this tasting was the BCS Proprietors landing on JBPortland's doorstep... he expressed that he wanted to sip it soon so the discussion started about what the rest of the fellow foragers had kicking around for Bourbon County variants and this is what we came up with !

My thoughts on the line up...

Proprietors 

(Really delicious coconut cream flavors were well integrated into the stout, not sure if it has "fallen off" like some folks are claiming but the level of coconut was quite perfect for my personal taste. It wasn't a punch you in the face coconut flavor but rather a well constructed dessert with just the right amounts of booze chocolate and creamy coconut... the mouthfeel was also enhanced by the addition as well !)

Backyard Rye

(I've had the pleasure of sipping this one a couple times and feel the berry flavors are becoming more integrated into the stout every time I drink it. Think about this beer as liquid version of a box of chocolates that are filled with gooey berry liquid.  Juicy raspberry, blackberry  & boysenberry flavors add a beautiful layer of juicy tang to the bourbon soaked stout flavors !)

Coffee '12 & '13

(I still stand by my original feeling about these two vintages, I find the 2012 release to be a smoother richer body that holds the coffee flavors in check with more balance and a chewier mouthfeel. The 2013 tasted better this time than prior experiences with it but the heavy earthy coffee roast on this vintage has turned me away in the past. This time it was softening a touch but the nose was still smack you in the face coffee without a doubt. I feel the body of 2013 base overall is thinner and it just opens the door for the coffee to play the predominate roll in the 2013 offering. )

Bourbon County Stout '11, '12 & '13

(Overall I would gladly drink any of these vintages again as they were all delicious and especially the 2012 has really come into its own with some time in the bottle. The '11 and '12 had similar body but I found the '12 to have a bit more complexity overall. Nice bourbon integration with chocolate sauce sweetness and soft vanilla, kola nut, burnt brownie... you know all those tasty bourbon aged stout characteristics. The '11 had a slight trace of a salty soy flavors appearing later in the palate that detracted a touch from the overall taste in my opinion. Now for the '13, which I still find delicious, but no doubt it is a slightly thinner body than past years offerings. That being said its a bit more crushable for that very fact and there is less chewy chocolate flavors and much more bourbon soaked kola flavors... its soft and velvet mouthfeel, Yum !)

When discussing the line up for this weeks share we decided we also needed some crushable beers to counteract the boozy stout syndrome for the evening... Hill Farmstead seemed to be an approachable option and I offered up the Flora to sip when a recent batch of E. was offered into the mix. Round out that with some of the most recent batch of Arthur and a surprise appearance by Edith and we had a good base for the evening as the sun broke through the clouds and heated things up the crushability factor was high for each one of these selections !

Arthur '14 

(Wow, this is drinking amazing from the get go ! Nice and quenching with a beautiful level of tartness that simply focuses the beer and brings it to another level that not many other saisons will ever go ! Forage this while its on the shelf at Hill Farmstead and thank me later ! )

E. '14

(Such a treat to drink this beer again, the last batch I had was a year or two in the cellar and was a delicious beer but fresh E. seems to be how this beer was intended to be crushed. Soooo much juicy Galaxy hop presence; dank pineapple musk, barnyard funk, rustic grain... all the layers just come together and punch you in the mouth while giving you a shoulder rub all at the same time ! Must find MORE !) 

Flora '13

(I love this beer and was happy to share my last bottle with a few folks that haven't had the opportunity to try it before ! After all thats the whole reason for having a cellar anyhow right... ? The soft morning dew approach this beer has is amazing because the flavors just sneak up on you and make you close your eyes and smile. Soft tropical fruit, floral rustic wheat,  fizzy soft minerality, with hints of a barnyard on the horizon as the fog lifts with the morning sun... yes Flora will turn even the most close minded taster into a poet !)

Edith

(Another classic Hill beer, love the complexity of this unassuming dark saison. Tons of layers of dark cherry vinous fruit, rustic tobacco and black tea, rose petals, tar, burnt toast, cranberry tartness and roasted dark malts all come together beautifully in this beer !)

Overall it was an outstanding tasting and am super stoked to have tried many of these selections.

The notable drain pour in the line up needs to be called out:

Cigar City Brewers Brunch Stout

(This was probably the most disappointed I have ever been with a Cigar City beer, especially seeing as it was a stout and I don't think I've ever had a subpar stout offering from them.  This one was just weird... supposedly a coffee sweet stout but the overall predominate flavor I perceived was straight up sweet bubblegum. Yes there was some chocolate and coffee nuances underneath but straight sweet bubblegum with a thin body... pure drainpour !)