Ep 138 - Bourbon County Night: Big, Bold, And Barrel-Aged - The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:22):
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods ofBeer Guy podcast.
Interesting.
If the if the audience canfigure out the connection
between that song and the beerswe're gonna try today, I give
I'll give them an A.
I'll give them a thousandpoints.

(00:43):
Would you send them a beer?
It depends how many get itright.

SPEAKER_03 (00:49):
But I think this is a good prelude, though, because
I think I think so.
But I think there's a lot ofthere's a commonality of our
beers.
There's a commonality, yep.

SPEAKER_02 (00:56):
Well, but one, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (00:58):
And I think just based on the rebellious attitude
of these guys, these actors,that's gonna really tie into our
urban beers.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
More the name of the location a little bit, but you
know, neither here nor there.
Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen,welcome back to the Northwoods
Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy.
And once again today, we areback in the studio with Jim.
Hello, buddy.
Again, hello.
Yes, hello.
And Toby's here again.
We made him come back.

(01:29):
Say, there you go.
What county are we was that songfrom?
The Dukes.
Dukes of I think it's HazardCounty.
So the the beers we have aren'tfrom Hazzard County, but they're
from a certain county inKentucky.
No, these aren't.
These are from Chicago.

SPEAKER_03 (01:46):
Right, but I think they're aged in barrels from
Kentucky.

SPEAKER_02 (01:51):
Yes, they're not from Hazzard County, they're
from Bourbon County.
Yeah.
But I think before we go toofar, it's gonna be terrible,
Toby.
I guarantee it.

SPEAKER_03 (02:01):
Mike, I think we need to do one more
introduction.
What's that?
We got an extra person today.

SPEAKER_02 (02:06):
Yeah, Angus is here.
They took off, but Angus.

SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
He was here last week, I thought.

SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
Yeah, he was a jerk.

SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
Didn't really help out at all.

SPEAKER_02 (02:15):
No.
He played a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
He plays good music.

SPEAKER_03 (02:17):
He plays good music.
So Jim, you do the introduction.
So who do we have sitting nextto you, Toby?

SPEAKER_01 (02:22):
Joining us today is Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_05 (02:26):
So Hello everyone.

SPEAKER_03 (02:28):
So Elizabeth, can you tell us not about yourself,
but about Jim.
No, about your perspective onbeer, bourbon, anything like
that.
That that is interesting for thelisteners.

SPEAKER_05 (02:42):
Well, I enjoy drinking all kinds of beer and
just interested to try out somedifferent flavors and see what
we have today.

SPEAKER_03 (02:49):
Awesome.
Well, that's that's good.
So let me ask you this.
Have you ever had the beers thatwe're trying?
Have you ever had any of thisstyle before?

SPEAKER_05 (02:58):
I have had bourbon age beer before, but I don't
know if I've had any of theseparticular ones.

SPEAKER_03 (03:03):
All right.
So are you looking forward togiving these a whirl?
I mean, are you gonna be scared?
Because this is not for thefaint of heart for any of these.

SPEAKER_02 (03:10):
I mean, I that's why I can't figure out why Jim is
here.
He's usually faint of heart.

SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
It does make you wonder.

SPEAKER_02 (03:16):
It kind of does.

SPEAKER_05 (03:18):
No, I I'm willing to just try a little bit of
everything.
So awesome.

SPEAKER_03 (03:21):
Well, thank you for joining us.
And remember, every opinion'svalued except Mike's.
And when I ask the questions,I'll make sure I give you the
answer first so you canenlighten Mike because he needs
to be educated.

SPEAKER_02 (03:33):
If you listened last week, even when I get the answer
right, I get it wrong.

SPEAKER_03 (03:37):
So no I was just trying to be I asked the judges
and they gave me the the trueresponse.
Yeah, yeah.
You and the judges are right.
So speaking, speaking of that,can we what's our first beer?

SPEAKER_02 (03:49):
Or can we have should we have well before we
before we get into the beers, Ido have a story for you.
Oh so last couple weeks andweeks ago, we were in Hayward
and we went to the marketplace,which is a grocery store slash,
and they have a liquordepartment, you know, like the
ones around here, some of themdo.
All right.
And we were walking in the craftbeer hours, my wife and I, Susie

(04:11):
and I, and there were twoyounger guys that were walking
down the aisle, and they werelike, Boy, this is they got a
good selection of beer here.
And they pick something up, andthey're like, Man, I don't know.
$20 for a 12-pack, that's a lot.
Ooh.
Looking at the beers that wehave here, I don't think there
was a beer that was under 20bucks for a bottle.

SPEAKER_03 (04:33):
No, some of these, I mean, I know that you're gonna
have the pictures, but some ofthese in the boxes are probably
more than double.

SPEAKER_02 (04:40):
I was gonna say they're 40, 50, 60 bucks.
Yes.
So I just thought it was kind offunny.
You know, the younger folk, theyjust they they don't realize yet
right where it's going.

SPEAKER_01 (04:52):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
I have another story for you too.

SPEAKER_03 (04:54):
I mean this one.
Let's should we do it for thenext beer?

SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Yes, I'll do it in between.

SPEAKER_03 (04:58):
All right, so this is let's have Besides read the
first first one because we'regonna we're gonna start this off
easy soon.

SPEAKER_02 (05:03):
All right, the first what?

SPEAKER_03 (05:05):
First beer.

SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Okay, good.

SPEAKER_01 (05:06):
So just before we get going, yep, um, maybe the
listeners should know that theseare all from the same year.

SPEAKER_02 (05:14):
They're all from 2022.
Yes.
All right, except for the thelast one.
We have we have five from GooseIsland, and the other one is
from the Dragon Spell.
Dragon's Okay, so for NewHolland.

SPEAKER_03 (05:29):
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
And it's a special one.
So very, very special.
So that's 2024.
Okay.
Okay, but yeah, the the GooseIsland ones are 2022.

SPEAKER_03 (05:37):
All right, so we'll have this read the little
description.
This is the shortest descriptionand our only opportunity.

SPEAKER_05 (05:50):
So this is a 2022 Bourbon County brand, original
stout.
It's 14.3 ADV.
Um, every year since itsinception in 1992, we strive to
honor the original bourboncounty stout recipe.
And 30 years later, we continueGregory Hill's legacy and
passion for making the best beerpossible, starting with the best

(06:13):
barrels the bourbon trail has tooffer.
This year, our Imperial Stout isaged and blended from freshly
emptied bourbon barrels fromHaven Hill, four roses, wild
turkey wild turkey, and buffalotrace distilleries.
Expect flavors of vanilla, darkchocolate, coffee, molasses,

(06:34):
almond, and dried fruit.

SPEAKER_03 (06:37):
Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 (06:37):
You did a very good job.
That's awesome.
Man, I'm glad I don't have toread that stuff.
Yeah, that's a lot.
Especially on that last one.

SPEAKER_03 (06:44):
There's like a lot of stuff.
But again, you know what?
Just from what she said, I mean,those four distilleries make
awesome, make awesome bourbon.

SPEAKER_02 (06:54):
So I have a question for you, Jim.
Yeah, so the the original wasaged and all of those?
Yes.
That's crazy.
I didn't have any idea on that.

SPEAKER_03 (07:01):
Well, that's why I didn't know either until I
printed some of this off.
I'm like, you know, sometimes Ithink it's like monotonous, like
trying to print off some of thelist, but I think it's good to
have some a little bit ofbackground to know what we're
drinking.
Because I mean, this is I mean,I'm not tootin' Bourbon County's
horn, but they do a pretty goodjob.

(07:22):
Oh yeah.
They know what they're doing.
All right, so are we ready?
Are we are we ready to startdrinking some?

SPEAKER_02 (07:26):
Yeah.
So this is the original style.
Original style.
14.3% from 2022.
That's just terrible, terribleToby.

SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
Yeah, terrible smooth.

SPEAKER_03 (07:37):
Yeah.
That is that's pretty crazy.
Wow.
You know what's gonna be thehard part, Mike?
What's that?
We have how many beers?
One, two, three, four.
We got five.

SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
Well, six total, five from these guys.

SPEAKER_03 (07:49):
And my calculations are right.
We're gonna have to go from fouron up.
So we may we may have I mightsurprise you.

SPEAKER_02 (07:57):
We might have something above Toby may come in
and say that's a two.
Who knows?

SPEAKER_03 (08:03):
We might have a beer that's higher than we've ever
rated.

SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
Just based on that's that's pretty old.

SPEAKER_03 (08:09):
Because this is the base model that's aged in all
the other books.
Wow, this is this is good.

SPEAKER_02 (08:14):
Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 (08:15):
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, I could be wrong.

SPEAKER_02 (08:17):
Yeah, no, you could be, but it's good.

SPEAKER_03 (08:20):
Toby, are you you are you if you had enough to
like give a score?
Oh, to give a score.
Um because we're even gonna askthis to give a score too.
She's gonna have to jump inhere.

SPEAKER_01 (08:30):
So, you know, I obviously the the the more
you're exposed to things, themore you think about things, the
more I listen to you guys.

SPEAKER_03 (08:38):
Not Mike, just the guys.

SPEAKER_01 (08:40):
It it it makes you wonder about like all the
flavors.
There was a lot in thisdescription, right?
Right.
I can't pick out the differencesin the flavors, but again, it's
just such a good blend thatmakes it really, really good.
And and and you're right, it'sthe base model.
Um, do you go up from here?
Do you do you go down based offof maybe some of the other
flavors that are incorporated init?
It's hard to believe that thatyou would go down, you know,

(09:02):
some of the the ABV might be alittle less than some of the
other ones, um, but usuallycomparable in what they do and
even a little higher.
So where do you start?
You know, Jim, you alluded tothe the the 4.0, you know, kind
of throwing it right out there.
I'm gonna base off of some otherexperiences, I'm gonna start
this one at like a 3.9.

SPEAKER_03 (09:20):
All right.
Well, and that's that's that'swhy it's open to anybody.
So awesome.
I mean, is there something inparticular you think that's not
quite there to put it over thetop?

SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
So uh I think what keeps it in the three range is
just the fact that it had agreat description of of like
some big name barrels, but Ican't taste any of the
differences in those barrels.
You know, you pointed that outbefore, so I'm like, okay, that
kind of makes me wonder.
Like, we know Bourbon County hasgood quality, we've always been
impressed with it, but baseline,I think I feel like I have to be

(09:51):
under that mark because I'mhoping some of the other flavors
come through in some of theother beers.

SPEAKER_03 (09:56):
Makes sense.
Yep.
All right, Biz, you're gonna beon, you're on now.
So, Mike, um, since we do have anew guest, you know a little bit
about craft beer.
I've tried a lot of craft beer,yes.
All right, so then the otherpoint is when you rate him in
untapped, what is the ratingscale and where is your median?

SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
It's from zero to five by tenth of a point.
And I believe my average overallis like 2.9 in that ballpark.

SPEAKER_03 (10:20):
So just FYI.

SPEAKER_02 (10:21):
But now I got to remember five is the middle
average.

SPEAKER_03 (10:24):
So Mike overrates every one of his beers so that
he can claim that they're alwaysbetter.
I always claim it down a littlebit lower because I'm more
realistic.

unknown (10:34):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (10:34):
No, that's not it at all, but it's just that I've
tried way more good beers thanJim has.
For a long time he was hooked onMiller Lite, so Oh why.

SPEAKER_03 (10:43):
So does that does that help work?
That's helpful, yes.
Thank you.
So but here's here's the otherpart.
Regardless of Mike's rating ormy rating, yeah, it is your
opinion.

SPEAKER_05 (10:52):
Sure.

SPEAKER_03 (10:53):
Don't worry about what the scores are.
You can so the only thing that Ialways try to impress upon
everybody is to not have thesame score.
And the only reason is thelisteners want to know what is
better that we think is better.
So if we rate them all at a 3-9,they're gonna they're not gonna
be they're gonna be like, well,which do I know which one's
better?

SPEAKER_02 (11:11):
That's not it at all.
Jim is O C D, and if he sees twonumbers that are the same, it
freaks him out.

SPEAKER_05 (11:17):
But we don't want to do that today.

SPEAKER_03 (11:18):
So that's so that's the only thing.
So as long as you don't have thesame number, right?
You could start at 0.1 and goup, or 0.5 or worked out.
Whatever.

SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
There's no wrong answer, but if we think your
answer's wrong, we'll tell you.

SPEAKER_05 (11:28):
Well, yeah, especially Jim.
Let us know.

SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
Okay, good.
That's that's my role.

SPEAKER_05 (11:33):
Well, I think this is very drinkable beer.
Uh, I would have to agree thatit's hard to pick out specific
flavors.
And I'm gonna say, since this ismy first rating experience, I'm
gonna go out give it a 3.3.

SPEAKER_02 (11:45):
She's way off.
Way off, Toby.
I'm just I'm teasing.
I'm teasing you.
I'm teasing you.
All right, Mike.
I was honestly, Jim, I was gonnasay a 3.8.
Uh and more, not so much on thebarrels, Toby, but more so
because when it's talking toffeeand almonds and dried, I really
don't pick that up.
I I get the the kind of thatboozy flavor, and it's super
good, don't get me wrong.

(12:06):
But when you're trying to kindof pick it apart a little bit,
there's these other flavors thatthey're talking about that I
don't taste.
So that's that's the only reasonthat it's still a very good
beer.

SPEAKER_03 (12:14):
So I think all three of you are wrong.
I really like this beer, and Ialluded to my score already.
It's gonna be a 4.0.
I I like this.
I mean, so the one thing that Ireally am struggling with is
what you guys are already kindof touched on.
It hits all my favoritebourbons, and somehow they did
craft them together, but I can'tpick them out separately.

SPEAKER_02 (12:34):
Yeah, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (12:34):
So they used my four favorite bourbons and put it
into a beer, which I don't thinkthere isn't another product out
there that can say that that'sever blended all four of those
just separate bourbons together.
Now we have a four bourbonsblended as a beer.

SPEAKER_02 (12:47):
You know, I I think we've talked about this before,
but uh, we'd have to look it upbecause I know on Black Fridays
they out before they had a thingwhere you could buy a ticket to
go to the brewery and try all ofthe the you can't buy them
there, but you get to try themall.
Right.
So some some year we should lookat possibly doing that as well.

SPEAKER_03 (13:05):
So that would be a very noble thing for you to
figure out, Mike, how to do it.

SPEAKER_02 (13:10):
Yeah, exactly.
It's all on me.
No problem, no problem.
Could you do that?
Sure, I can do that.

SPEAKER_05 (13:15):
Sounds like he's on it.

SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
Yeah, I'm on it.
So, does anybody know what thatsound is?

SPEAKER_03 (13:19):
Yeah, that sounds like Mike getting ripped on some
more questions.
Are we ready for the easy?
I'm gonna start off with theeasy questions again.
Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_02 (13:28):
All right, because I know if I get it right, I'm
gonna get it wrong.

SPEAKER_03 (13:30):
So we're gonna I'm gonna go back into Toby's realm
talking about history.
Did you write that?
Is it t-shirt?
Oh great.
Okay, it's kind of a two-partquestion, and we're talking the
history of bourbon barrel aging.
Okay, okay.
Who was the name of the I wantthe name of the person who
started the first distillery andin what year?
The first distillery?
Right.
That was because they you in theUS or in the world?

(13:52):
Um, see, he didn't think thisthrough, did he?
Uh let's go world.
And we're gonna see.
Um, the reason why the reasonwhy we have to know that is
because the beer we're drinkingis aged in the barrel.
So you have to have the onebefore you can have the beer.
See, you gotta have the bourbonfirst so you can put the beer in
it.

SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 (14:11):
I'm gonna say you need a first and last name, or
can I just say like you can saylast, you can say either either
one.
I'm gonna know who you'retalking about.
I'm sure you will.
And I'm gonna give you a hintthe year starts with a one.

SPEAKER_02 (14:23):
I pretty much figured.
Thank you.
The first distillery in theworld.
Yep.
I'm gonna say Sven in 1704.
Close, good answer.
Toby?

SPEAKER_03 (14:33):
Just first name or last name, either one.
Either one.

SPEAKER_00 (14:35):
You don't have to lie.
I know you got the answer, soI'm gonna go with James and
Bertles and James.
Are you intruding on my answer?

SPEAKER_01 (14:43):
Are you trying to take credit?
Sorry.
Uh James, and I'm gonna go 1756.
Close.

SPEAKER_03 (14:54):
I think we're both getting done on this one.
Um, so biz, I know you'vethought about this for a while.
What is what is your response?

SPEAKER_05 (15:01):
You know, it's taken me a while to come up with this,
but I'm gonna say Elijah Craigin 1789.

SPEAKER_03 (15:07):
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Wow.
For her first time on, and shesmokes both.

SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
It is weird how those new people on the podcast
always get the exact rightanswer.
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 (15:18):
So I mean, like and and that specific date, just out
of nowhere.
Yeah, Biz gets a thousandpoints.
Yes, and um you guys are minusfive thousand.
You guys didn't even come close.
At least I mean, Biz had it likenail on the head, perfect.

SPEAKER_02 (15:34):
Yeah, that's weird.
All right, sweet.
So, all right, so the otherstory I was gonna tell you.
Oh, yes, and it's ratherinteresting.
So uh is it better than the theElijah Craig?
Well, no, but it's funny.
Oh, because my daughter went toa wedding down in Missouri, and
you know how they have like thecandy bar and the whatever, you
know, where you got all thesecandies on a table, whatever.
Uh this wedding they had atobacco bar, they had cigarettes

(15:56):
and cigars at the reception.

SPEAKER_03 (15:59):
Cigarettes and coffee, like our beer?

SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
No, cigarettes and cigars.
What'd she pick?
She never told me that.
Oh, yeah, I should ask her.
What did what exactly did youtake?
I don't think she took anything,but I know her her friend took a
cigar.
All right, well, good for it.
But uh, I I thought that'srather interesting.
I've never heard of a a weddinghaving a tobacco bar.

SPEAKER_03 (16:18):
Nice.
I did just see one on YouTube onone of the channels I watched.
At the end of the night, youknow when it gets down for the
sandwich, they had culvertsdelivered.

SPEAKER_02 (16:25):
Well, we so the last wedding we were after had
Domino's pizza delivered lastyear.
Remember?

SPEAKER_03 (16:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, Domino's is all right, butculvers they must have been high
flute and they had culverts andthey were farmers.

SPEAKER_04 (16:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (16:39):
All right, so Toe, you want to read off the next
one of what we got on tap?
Yours is only three-quarters ofa page.

SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
Yeah.
All right.
So we've got our 2022 BourbonCounty brand coffee stout.
Nice.
And this one goes down in ABV,it's uh only 13.2 percent.
Okay.
In 2010, they released the firstever bourbon county stout
variants, and our Goose IslandBourbon County Coffee Stout has
been a fan favorite ever since.

(17:06):
For the first time since 2017,we brought back a coffee variant
this year in partnership withour friends and neighbors,
Intelligentsia coffee.
Intelligentsia relies on Burundifor some of the cleanest,
sweetest coffees in the worldthat ultimately complement the
quality and tasting notes of theBurfee Man, hang on here, of the

(17:27):
Bourbon County stout.
So the specific coffee blendcombines with our Imperial stout
is called Chiruhami.

SPEAKER_03 (17:35):
Can you say that again?

SPEAKER_01 (17:36):
No, I can't.
That's easy for you.
Which means together.
That's okay.
Right.
And is a perfect tribute to allthe hands that go into making
it.
From the female coffee farmersin Burundi, I don't know what
he's making me read here, thatproduced the blend to our
friends in Intelligentsia, thefirst brand we work with on a
variant back in 2010.
So the result of thistogetherness is an exceptional

(17:58):
coffee variant featuring richchocolate, coffee, and caramel
flavors that will appeal tocoffee drinkers and beer lovers
alike.

SPEAKER_03 (18:06):
All right, can you repeat that just so we make sure
we get it right?
I would like to say any hatemail can be directed to Jim.

SPEAKER_01 (18:11):
Yes.
Just press rewind if you want tohear that again.

SPEAKER_05 (18:14):
That's what I was gonna say.
Just rewind it.

SPEAKER_02 (18:15):
Awesome.
You did a great job, Toby.
Thank you.
Thanks for the warning.
It is funny because I'm not acoffee drinker, but I will drink
coffee stout.
And you can taste the coffee.
But it's not like it's not likethe wet coffee ground taste.

SPEAKER_03 (18:27):
It's not over the top.

SPEAKER_01 (18:28):
This yeah, and I think you know, I've mentioned
it before that sometimes it'sthat coffee grounds and ashtray,
but there's no ashtray here.
I mean, there's coffee and youcould probably warm this up in
your coffee your cup when you goto work in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 (18:40):
Could you pour a little bit in?

SPEAKER_05 (18:41):
I could, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (18:43):
This is not bad.

SPEAKER_02 (18:44):
This is no, this is pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 (18:46):
Yeah, this I mean, and I guess for me smooth.
I like the the coffee part,you're always afraid they go
over the top with coffee.
Yeah, this is very subtle.
I think I'm tasting thechocolate and caramel kind of.

SPEAKER_02 (18:58):
I don't know.
It does have a little bit of asweetness to it.

SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Yeah, and I can't I I can't decide if uh it's
caramel or chocolate that I'mgetting out of it.
But just a little bit of sweet.

SPEAKER_02 (19:05):
A little bit.
The initial is the coffee, andyou get that little sweetness.

SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
I think it's interesting that it took him
eight years to revisit this.
Yeah, that's kind of wild.
You know, I mean it's it it'snot bad.

SPEAKER_00 (19:15):
No, no, no.
I this is I like it.
So, Toby, you are first.
So um, gosh, I think he'sthinking hard on this one.

SPEAKER_01 (19:23):
I am.
I'm I'm trying to decide if I II I think I gotta go one
one-tenth above a 4.0, so I'mgonna go 4.1.
Nice.
Because I I do and I've not beena coffee drinker my whole life
until COVID hit, and I drinkcoffee.
I can't say I overly enjoy it,um, but I I do enjoy this beer,
so it it it it's about a that4.1 for me.

SPEAKER_03 (19:44):
So just so I can clarify for the listeners,
because a 4.0 is kind of theupper echelon.
And you don't like coffee, butyou put it up there.
So why why did you do that?

SPEAKER_01 (19:52):
It just to me it has just a good balance of flavor.
You know, you you get thatcoffee to it.
There's like I mentioned, thesweet.
Not sure if it's a chocolate orthe caramel, but it's a very
good blend.
Okay, perfect.
Mike?
I'm gonna go a 2.4.

SPEAKER_02 (20:06):
I was gonna see if Jim would like his head would
explode.
I'm gonna see if his head wouldexplode.
No, I'm gonna I'm gonna go a4.0.
All right.
I was trying to see if if Jimwas like, what?
Again, I think coffee-wise, it'slike a super touchy.
It's real easy to go.
I'm not a coffee drinker.
Okay, you're not a coffeedrinker.
No, but and I think sometimesthey go way too heavy on the
coffee, but this I think is verygood balance.

(20:28):
And I do like it.
I mean, the the original, thethe base model is very good, but
I think this one just kind ofups it that little bit.
And like I said, that thatlittle bit of a sweetness at the
end too is it's very good.
I I really like it.
All right, Biz, you're next.

SPEAKER_05 (20:41):
Okay, well, I'm new to this and I love coffee and
beer.
Um, but I don't love chocolate.
I think the sweetness isprobably chocolate.
I don't taste caramely, but Idefinitely am going to up it and
give it a 3-8.

SPEAKER_03 (20:56):
Nice.
Okay, perfect.
So I like it.
I mean, because for me, so I I'mnot a coffee drinker anymore.
I used to drink coffee, so Idon't mind coffee.
But what's good about this isyou don't even have to, I don't
think you have to be a coffeedrinker to like this because the
coffee is down.
I mean, it's not it's not theoverpowering flavor.
So for that, I I like it.
And then at 13.2, it's doubledigits way up very much.

(21:18):
Very smooth for that.
Very smooth.
So I'm gonna go a 4.1 becauseToby looked at my notes again
and he copied what I had.
So Toby.
It's it's very good.

SPEAKER_02 (21:26):
But that's okay, Toby.
You get a thousand points.
Jim loses points for it.
Perfect, because he copied youranswer.
That's right.
It's a very good beer.
I agree with you though, Jim,because I don't know, I just
like coffee itself.
I'm not, you know, if it smelledas good as it or tasted as good
as it smelled, I'd like it.
But in a in a stout, I do likeit.
Yeah.
I mean, I can drink that, andI'm I'm really glad that this
one doesn't make it to whereyou're it's like too much.

(21:47):
Right.
You know what I mean?
100%.
Yeah, so it's it's good, reallygood.

SPEAKER_03 (21:51):
So going back to our easy questions again, we talked
about oh, that's a good sound.

SPEAKER_02 (21:56):
Um, hurry up and get your question out of the way so
we can drink this.
So I'm I gotta formulate itbecause I I copied the
information.
You copied an answer, but Ididn't copy the question.

SPEAKER_03 (22:06):
There wasn't a question, just the answer.
Oh, now I'm understanding.
So this I think is gonna be alittle tricky.
Okay.
My question is uh hopefully Ican craft this correctly.
But so the theme of these beersis what bourbon county.
Bourbon County Bourbon orBourbon, all right.
Yeah, okay.
Where did Bourbon get its name?
There is a place.
Where did it get its name?

(22:26):
The name Bourbon?

SPEAKER_02 (22:27):
Yes, well, it's gotta be in Kentucky.

SPEAKER_03 (22:29):
Okay, so that's Mike's answer, is Kentucky.
Toby?

SPEAKER_01 (22:31):
From Burbania, Transylvania.

SPEAKER_02 (22:34):
That's a good question.
That's a good answer, Toby.
Bourbania, huh?

SPEAKER_03 (22:38):
Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_02 (22:38):
So Biz, let's that's that's a next door neighbor to
Brandyvania.
Yes, and vodkovania.

SPEAKER_03 (22:45):
You know your geography.
Yes, yeah.
All right, so Biz, do you haveuh look?
Could you have I hope you canlike get us like back in the
ballpark?

SPEAKER_05 (22:52):
You guys, the name came from the House of Bourbon
is a dynasty that originatedfrom the kingdom of France,
obviously.
Wow, how did you not know aboutit?
Why did you guys not know?

SPEAKER_02 (23:04):
I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
There's Bourbon Bourbon Vania.

SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
Yeah, that's right next to Transylvania, Bourbon
Vania.

SPEAKER_03 (23:10):
Yeah, well, 10,000 points for biz on that one, and
minus 10,000 for I can't believeyou got you guys weren't even in
you guys are playing footballwith a baseball bat.

SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
I was in the right continent, kind of.
You were in the right handlessgonna work.

SPEAKER_02 (23:22):
You kind of were.
You were north of the I give youthat.
That's about as close as Iforgot about Bourbon Vania and
Brandyvania and Tito, Tito'sVania.
It's a newer place now.
All right, Mike.
All right, read this one so wecan so once again we're back in
2022.
Yes, bourbon County brandBiscotti Stout.
Biscotty 14.3.

SPEAKER_03 (23:44):
Is that like beam me up Scotty?
Yeah, yeah.
Kind of like structure.

SPEAKER_02 (23:47):
Sure, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 (23:48):
Bascoty is a pastry.

SPEAKER_02 (23:49):
Oh, I didn't know that.
Thank you.
Wow, I thought it was beat me upscotty.
You know what's funny, Toby?
If we'd have said that, he'dhave been like, No, it isn't.
No, you don't know what you'retalking about.
It's true.
All right, it sounds like beatme up, Scotty.
It could be so their descriptionof this one is fairly long
again.
Uh at Goose Island, we believeideas and inspiration can come
from anyone in the goose family.

(24:09):
So the gander, you know, peoplelike that.
Some dude came up like this?
Yeah.
Uh we bel and our Biscotti Stoutis a perfect example that came
from our very own HR team.
Ooh, HR.
Inspired by the Italian dessertsof her childhood, Jill Ceroni,
people manager.

(24:29):
Really?
People manager?
It's HR.

SPEAKER_03 (24:33):
I'll write it.

SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
At Goose Island, dreamed up this variant after
grabbing a box of chocolatedippiscotti from her cabinet.
Apparently, she's got a lot ofmoney if she can have those
hoity toy type desserts.
Don't check my cabinet.
You're gonna be the biscotti inmy cabinet.
If you're lucky, um there mightbe a like a kit cab in there,
but there ain't none of thatfancy stuff.
Fancy sh stuff.
Let's see.
Working with the brewing team,Jill, yeah, she was working with

(24:56):
them all right.
She was like, You make this oryou're out of here.

SPEAKER_03 (24:59):
I'm HR.

SPEAKER_02 (25:00):
Yes, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 (25:01):
Do what I say.

SPEAKER_02 (25:02):
Yeah, it's kind of like a principle.
Do what I say.
What's it say there, Mike?
Working with the brewing team, JJill brought the flavor, this
flavor to life with notes ofanis.
I know where you were goingthere.
Anis, which is licorice.
Oh you guys.
You said it.
You need it, you're gonna, I'msending you to HR here in a

(25:22):
minute.
You said it.
So anise, marzipan, cocoa, andbuttered toffee.
Huh?

SPEAKER_03 (25:28):
Isn't Lerezipan a drug?
What are you talking about?
It's Marzipan.

SPEAKER_02 (25:32):
Oh, not oh my gosh.
I thought you said cover yourdrinks.
Jim's gonna roofie somebodyhere, apparently.
All right.
Now I lost my okay.
The Biscotti enhances flavorsalready found in our bourbon
county stout and add strongnotes of nostalgia from your
Italian grandmother's kitchen.
One sip, and you'll be remindedof what is a Pazelli cookies,

(25:54):
Easter panty deep, yeah, Pasqua,and of course, almond biscotti.
Wow.
You struggled with that one,buddy.
Well, those I've never heard ofmost of them.
Are we still talking about beer?
No, but I'm hungry all of asudden.
And I think Jim's got thosehoiti-toity desserts in his
cabinet.

SPEAKER_03 (26:11):
You saw my hoity toity stuff upstairs.
Yeah.
It wasn't biscottis.
No, but it's the aroma smellsalmost like a cookie, doesn't
it?

SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
Kind of cookie-ish.
Oh, that flavor is definitely asweeter.
Not like not like sugar, sweet,but like right.

SPEAKER_03 (26:27):
It's there's there's a cookie, like a liquid cookie.

SPEAKER_02 (26:30):
There's a different flavor to that one.

SPEAKER_03 (26:31):
Biz, you have to make smile.
I mean, do you see tastesomething that we're not
getting?

SPEAKER_05 (26:35):
No, I'm just glad that I knew what a biscotti was.

SPEAKER_03 (26:37):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (26:37):
She was looking at she was looking at you.
That makes three of us.
Jim had no idea.

SPEAKER_05 (26:41):
No, I had to tell all of you what it was.

SPEAKER_02 (26:43):
Thank you very much.
You were you were correct.
I had no idea.
Oh, she's already on Jim's side,Toby.
Do you see that?

SPEAKER_03 (26:49):
I thought it was BDM Scotty.
I thought it was a Star Trekreference, and it wasn't even
close.

SPEAKER_01 (26:52):
That's what happens when you get all the points.
Yeah, when you get it allanswered.
They're going to town to get theMuscotty.
I'll be honest with you.
Um you read the description.
You know, that there weredefinitely some big words in
there that Mike said.

SPEAKER_04 (27:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (27:07):
Um that he struggled with.
But then when you look at thebottle, it just says notes of
mouseupon, cocoa, butter,toffee, and black licorice,
right?
Me, me as a person is going tosee black licorice and we ooh.
And unfortunately, that's all Itaste out of this.
The finish is black licorice.
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (27:23):
Big time.
Oh, yeah, I taste that for sure.
I definitely on the finish, Iget that.
But I like black licorice.
Yeah.
So I don't I don't mind it.

SPEAKER_03 (27:30):
Well, then with that, Toby, do you want to go
first?
Because we'd rather have youropinion first, so then so we
don't like trying to persuadeyou to raise it.

SPEAKER_01 (27:37):
Oh, I thought just so you could make your numbers
look better.

SPEAKER_03 (27:39):
No, it's only we're dealing with Mike.
We your your numbers are alwaysvalued.

unknown (27:43):
Man.

SPEAKER_03 (27:44):
This is I like the this is good.
This tastes I I think it's good.

SPEAKER_02 (27:47):
Yeah, this is.
Yeah, Toby, what do you what doyou think?
I know you're not a fan oflicorice.

SPEAKER_01 (27:51):
So drinkability, fantastic, right?
Smooth.
You know, their their base, inmy opinion, has some definite
bourbon, like that burn.
Like in the finish, the more Idrank of it, the more I I could
kind of get that.
This doesn't have that.
It it it's not bad.
But for me, this is worse thanthe coconut guys.
Like that Licorice just jumpsout at me, and and I can't, I

(28:14):
don't like that finish.
So for me, it drops down to likea two eight.
All right.

SPEAKER_03 (28:17):
Well, and that's and I know Mike and I always talk
about this.
Every opinion is valued becausewe all don't have the same just
Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 (28:24):
Some opinions are way more valuable than others,
yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (28:27):
So thank you.
Depends on who you ask.
Yeah, depends on who you ask.
So thank you for being honest tome.
I mean, we appreciate it.
Yeah, thank you.
So I know that you knew thisbefore we even took a drink.
And so what do you what are yourthoughts?
What do you think?

SPEAKER_05 (28:39):
Well, I'm not gonna say I knew all of it, but I did
know that a biscotti was apastry.
Um, it's sweet.
Um, I don't love black licorice,but it's not turning me off
necessarily.
Definitely a drinkable beer.
I'm but I didn't like it as muchas I like the coffee.

SPEAKER_04 (28:56):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_05 (28:57):
But I like coffee, so maybe that's I don't know.
That's my opinion.
I'm gonna do a three, five.

SPEAKER_02 (29:04):
Oh, okay.
Awesome.
You know, when Toby had saidabout that on the finish, that's
what he tasted was black, and Iand it is.
I tasted that 100%, but I reallylike black licorice.
You know, I like I like, youknow, there's like Anna set is a
lagre that's like a blacklicorice flavor.
Uh and then there's um what'sthe green?
Uh oh, Jägermeister?
No.

(29:24):
Green bottle.
That's where I was going.
Is that Jägermeister's kind oflicorice, right?
Anyway, I've drawn a blank onthe name of it.
But I I really like the theblack licorice flavor.
So honestly, I do like this, andI think I'm gonna go a 4-1 on
this just because I do I likethat black licorice flavor.
Yeah, and I think it's supersmooth, just a really good
flavor.
It's sweet, but it's not overthe top like some of them we've

(29:46):
had.

SPEAKER_03 (29:46):
Sure.
So and I echo everythingeverybody said.
Absinthe, that was it.
Absinthe.
Yes.
So, what really caught me atfirst was that aroma.
It's it smells like a cookie.
You know, I know that theScotty's not a cookie.
It's kind of a kind of a flatbread-ish thing, right?

SPEAKER_05 (30:05):
I think it's yeah, it's a fancy pastry.

SPEAKER_03 (30:07):
Okay, right.
The aroma smells just like that.
The flavor, like Toby said, is alittle bit black licorice, but I
don't mind.
I mean, I'm probably, I'll haveto admit, if there's a little
licorice bites in the bowl, I'lldig for the little black
licorice one.

SPEAKER_05 (30:23):
Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 (30:23):
I will that's the ones I go for.
You guys are thinking thatexplains a lot.
But I mean, I like blacklicorice, and I mean this to me,
so it's got the good cookieflavor on the front end, and the
flavor is like a black lic.
I mean, I really like I meanthat to me, and it's well
blended, well crafted.
To me, this is the best one sofar.
I'm gonna go in a 4.2.

SPEAKER_02 (30:42):
I I like yeah, like I said, if if you're not if
you're not a fan of blacklicorice, I can totally see how
that would turn you off.
Yes, because that is a verypredominant flavor.

SPEAKER_01 (30:51):
Yeah, and you know, and I mean, and my numbers are
above average.
Oh, yeah, it's still way aboveaverage.
But it just it's a flavor that Ido not care to drink.

SPEAKER_03 (31:00):
Oh, yeah, and we're totally understand that.
We're not talking about it.
I mean, the good part of thepodcast is that people get to
hear different perspectives.

SPEAKER_02 (31:07):
Yep.

SPEAKER_03 (31:08):
It's not it's not just us.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 (31:10):
All right, we've got three.
Oh, I was hoping he forgot thosequestions and we were just gonna
keep drinking.

SPEAKER_03 (31:15):
But so another I'm I'm doing the slow pitch
softball, the little arc, so youguys can hit another home run.
Okay, now there are probablymore answers to this question
than what I have.
Okay.
Treat it like a little baby.

SPEAKER_02 (31:28):
Don't just just you just read your question, let
Toby deal with what Toby'sdealing with here.
All right, so how do you getthat thing out of the box?
Slides.
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 (31:36):
Okay, Jim, go ahead.
So we're talking barrel-agedbeers again, correct?
Yes, there are different typesof barrels you can use to age
beering, correct?
Correct.
So give me the three generalvariations.
So I don't want you to say likebourbon or like barn bardstown,
bourbon barrel.

(31:57):
Right.
I don't want that's not what I'mlooking for.
I'm looking for the the generalcategory.

SPEAKER_02 (32:08):
So three three general categories.
Okay.
The the most common you'resaying, yes.
Okay, Toby, you want to gofirst?
You you said your you can say itagain so people can hear for
sure.
Bourbon, okay, rye, okay, andbarley, okay.
Wine.
All right.
Mine was gonna be bourbon, rum,and uh, because uh I'm I I have

(32:30):
this horrible thought there'sgonna be like another, like a
really bad one, but I'll saybrandy is the other one.
So bourbon, brandy, and rum.

SPEAKER_03 (32:37):
So we did is did we have some audience participation
to help too?

SPEAKER_05 (32:41):
Did you have a suggestion?
Nope.
Oh, get the answer.
All right.
Well, I've got this then.
Oak barrels.
Wait a minute.
See, I said uh used bourbonbarrels and um wine barrels.

SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
Very good answer.
So, so this always generates aquestion in my mind, and I'm not
not sure I quite understand ityet, and I want to spend some
more time down in in Kentucky inthe Louisville area.
But the difference between abourbon and a whiskey, or what
makes a whiskey, even thoughit's a bourbon, I like I still
don't off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_02 (33:15):
Every whiskey is not a bourbon, but every bourbon is
a whiskey.

SPEAKER_03 (33:19):
And does it uh didn't we actually answer that
question once?
We did once.

SPEAKER_02 (33:24):
And it has to do with it has to be 51% corn to be
bourbon.
And it has to be in a brand newbarrel.
It has to be in a brand new oakbarrel.
Yes.
And it was always you know,people always think, oh, it has
to be made in Kentucky, buttechnically that is not part of
it.

SPEAKER_04 (33:39):
I thought it was the location.

SPEAKER_02 (33:40):
But it types will be the grain.
Never been used before.
Right.
So and you can only use thebarrel once for bourbon.
Yes.
So that's why you see all thishow many times can you use it
for beer?
Well, you could probably use itover and over.

SPEAKER_05 (33:54):
Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 (33:55):
So I but I think the hard part is every time you do
it, it when it pulls out more,right?

SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
It's gonna be less lower strength for Susan and I
did a tour at Bullet when wewere in Louisville the one time.
And I think we talked about thisbefore where you know you've
heard of like, you know, the thepart that evaporates, that's the
angels cut.
Or the angels' share, and thenwhat's in the wood is the
devil's cut, is what I call it.

(34:20):
And and um was it uh Jim Bean orJim Bean, maybe that had the
head that it was called theDevil's Cut, where they somehow
sucked it out of the wood, andit, you know, I've never I don't
think I've interested it was Idon't think it was Jack, but it
was one of the other could I geta drink?

SPEAKER_03 (34:35):
Because I'm getting kind of actually no, you can't.

SPEAKER_00 (34:37):
You're gonna listen to us for a while now.
Well, he if he wants to have adrink, that means no more
trivia.
Oh, yeah, perfect.
Yeah, yeah, here.
Hurry, hurry.

SPEAKER_03 (34:44):
Because Biz got that one right again.
I mean, Mike, I'm glad TobyBrown is along because she's got
educating you more than I ever.

SPEAKER_02 (34:50):
I do have a question though, Jim.
Nobody read the description onthis next beer.
So you want me to?
You probably should.
All right since he was so oh,this is like one sentence long.

SPEAKER_03 (34:59):
This is the 2022 Bourbon County That's all he's
gonna read is two-year barleywine old Fitzgerald.
17 per oh wait, well, we're onthe wrong one.
No, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're on this one.

SPEAKER_02 (35:13):
Yes, we're on the Bourbon Strike one for Jim 30th
anniversary.

SPEAKER_03 (35:17):
Negative negative 10,000.
Okay, reserve stout 14.4percent.
So this is based on their 30thanniversary from 1992 to 2022,
and this was in collaborationwith Knob Creek, yay, which is I
think Toby does like knobcreek,he's had a few variations of the
knobcreek, love knob creek,bookers, bookers is a big name,

(35:39):
bakers, I don't know if I'veheard of Bakers and Basil
Hayden.
I have Basil Hayden, I likeBasil Hayden as well.
So we created a special 30thanniversary stout to pay homage
to the serendipitous unionbetween Gregory Hall and Booker
No, that then led to subsequentyears, variants, and traditions

(36:02):
from Black Friday lines tobottle shares and more, going
back to the inception of BourbonCounty Stout.
The 30th anniversary stout isaged from a blend of gym beam
barrels from their small batchbourbon collection barrels.
Each of the remarkable bourbonbarrels offer characteristics
unique to each of bourbon'sdistinct nuances.

(36:25):
They are then blended togetherfor a complex, balanced
expression that celebrates theheritage and legacy of both
brands.
And as history would have it,Jim Beam launched their first
ever small batch bourboncollection 30 years ago.
This 30th anniversary reservestout is a culmination

(36:46):
signifying the historicalgroundbreaking shifts in both
the bourbon and beer industriesfrom two visionaries all those
years ago.
Both the concept of small batchbourbons and bourbon barrel age
beers have changed ourrespective drinking communities
forever.
And the 30th anniversary stoutis a celebration of all the

(37:07):
people that have enjoyed, workedon, and been a part of the
bourbon county stout brand overthe years.

SPEAKER_01 (37:13):
Wow.

SPEAKER_03 (37:14):
That's easy to say.
I can't believe you guysstumbled on anything.

SPEAKER_01 (37:17):
I I I can get behind that, but I have some questions
for you, Jim, since you seem toto know.

SPEAKER_02 (37:22):
You don't get any, you you've read too much.

SPEAKER_01 (37:24):
Okay.
So can you break down thepercentages of each of the
bourbon barrels used?
So, like the Bookers, the KnobCreek, the Basil Hayden, and the
Bakers.
Do you know what percentage ofthose products was in those?
25.
So you're saying an evenquarter.

SPEAKER_03 (37:38):
Make it straight across the board.

SPEAKER_01 (37:40):
Mike, this is your opportunity to to see if you can
redeem yourself.

SPEAKER_02 (37:44):
Boy, I think Jim's a little off.

SPEAKER_01 (37:46):
You think so?

SPEAKER_02 (37:46):
I I do.
How could that be?
Just totally off the top of myhead.
I'm gonna say the first one, Ithink they probably like
bookers.
They probably maybe beefed up alittle bit on the booker.

SPEAKER_01 (37:57):
I'm guessing that's probably like mid to high 30s.

SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
I'm gonna go 36-ish.
Okay.
And then I think the next onethat they had, it's probably not
pretty because that's a bignamed.
I'm gonna knock it down just alittle bit, just you know, I'm
gonna say like a 33 ballpark.
Um, so then you know, BasilHayden was kind of that new and
up and coming kind of one.
So but I think it's gonna bedrop down, you know.

(38:19):
So they didn't know how to takeit.
So I'm I'm like a 17-ish, Ithink.
And then I think that bakers, Idon't know if they really knew
them either.
So I'm gonna say they're thelowest one that like a you know,
like a 14, I think, is what Iwould say.
I you know, Mike, you're you'redead on.

SPEAKER_00 (38:36):
Really?
Like, really?
Your numbers add up to 100%.
Oh my gosh, your your numbersadd up to 100%.
That is so crazy.
I get it, surprise.

SPEAKER_03 (38:45):
I think I get 20,000 points for that.
At least.
At least.
Good good thing I'm keepingscore, though.
Zero zero.
Well, this is it.
So, I mean, it's amazing.
So, Toby, did you tell thelisteners what it was like to
open up this bottle?
Yeah, so then what was it liketo open this is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 (39:04):
Um, it not only just comes in one of the traditional
Bourbon County bottles, but itcomes in a box that has um
openings on three of the foursides.
And when you try to open it, youcan't open the top.
You can't open the bottom.
You you you need to look at itand it it slides out.
So it's like a sleeve, and thenthe bottle is still protected on

(39:26):
all three sides, or all threesides, three of the sides, uh,
and it comes out in this nicesleeve where you can remove the
bottle from it.
So it not only is it phenomenalin taste, but it's pretty cool
packaging.

SPEAKER_03 (39:36):
Yeah, awesome sure.
So so they might get a tenth ofa point just for their
packaging.
See, that's why we don't havethat very often.
We talk about the Brian piecefor the artwork, but I think
that's just just having thatwell, it's not a silo like some
of the other ones, right?

SPEAKER_02 (39:50):
You know, and and that is the one thing that they
do with some of their one,especially the the fancier
barrel age stuff that they do.
They have them in some kind of akind of a fancy container.
Well, that they should for whatwe pay for them, but you know,
that's uh yeah, that bottlethere costs more than the toll
pack that those guys were uh youwant to you want to go first on
your um this is this is this isgood.

(40:11):
This is good.
This is this is very good.
This is uh amazing for a beer.
Boy, I'm I yeah, that's good.
I'm gonna go with a 4.3 is thereis there an asterisk by that?
Well, if they'd use a touch morebasil Hayden, it might have been
better, but no.

SPEAKER_03 (40:25):
There's no there's no beer of the year possibility?

SPEAKER_02 (40:27):
Uh yeah, we could definitely put a stuff.
Yeah, we can yeah, I'd nominateit for that because that's
that's very good.
Just the blend that they did.
You you can't really pick themout, you know.
And we've I think we've learnedthat when they have multiple
barrels, you really can't pickit out per se.
Yes, but just it's very smooth,very good.
And what'd you say it was forfor ABV?

(40:48):
Um, okay, yeah.
So it but it's super smooth,yeah.
It doesn't have a burn to it oranything like that.
So could you for our newattendee, what does a beer of
the year mean?
Uh nominee.
We at the end of the year wename a beer of the year, like
the best beer that we had forthat year.
So last year it was the was itlast year, year before was the
the Central Waters Pappy, PappyVan Winkle Barrel.

(41:11):
Yep.
And uh so I mean it's yeah.
So that's when we nominate veryprestigious, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (41:16):
Sure, sure.
I mean, we go through a lot ofeffort to make pick this up.

SPEAKER_05 (41:20):
High quality, yeah.
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 (41:21):
So that that was that's a good recognition to be
named as.
Yes.
So which one do you guys want togo next?

SPEAKER_05 (41:26):
Um, I also agree that this is delicious, very
smooth.
Um, I'm gonna go with a 4.0.

SPEAKER_03 (41:34):
Wow, you really jumped up your score.
I so what what sticks out?
What sticks out for you?

SPEAKER_05 (41:39):
I like this better than the coffee beer, I which
was my highest so far because Ijust really like coffee, like I
said, and beer.
This is smooth, easy to drink,and it didn't give the
description of all the differentflavors, so I wasn't like
looking for that, but it Ienjoyed just the overall flavor.

SPEAKER_02 (41:55):
That's a good point.
Because we're not looking tryingto find vanilla or whatever.
Like I said, there's a very longwrite-up, but yeah, but they
didn't go into that breakdown,but it's very good.

SPEAKER_05 (42:04):
Yeah, it wasn't like is this caramely, is this
chocolatey?
It was just tasty.
You just tasted it.
Yeah, yeah.
Very good.

SPEAKER_01 (42:11):
So, you know, obviously, um, we're a fan of
these these beers, BourbonCounty.
You know, they they've they'vegot something figured out.
I I referenced them before, it'skind of like the grandfather of
of the Bourbon County bears.
And we were talking about thepackaging before, and you know,
this one says, brood withrespect for tradition.
With a unique that's anothergood thing we should put on ear

(42:32):
with a unique story to tell.
And I I think about that.
I think it's very goodadvertising when any liquor or
beer company comes at you with astory, because there's a story
that people can tell when theydrink these things, the people
they hang out with, and um whatit all kind of represents.
And it says these barrels andbeers are meant to be shared,
and I think that encompassesreally what what I believe,

(42:54):
Mike, your podcast is all about.
Like, let's let's share what wethink about things so you might
go out and and try some things.
So, because of all that, um, andyou know, I'm not I'm not around
for all of these, but thisflavor to me is is really good.
Um, I enjoy this one.
I'm all the way at a four-five.

SPEAKER_03 (43:11):
Dang, he's going big boy.
I am big boy scores.
Thank you very much to me forreading that.
I I did not catch that on there.
I mean, that's I wish that wouldhave been part of what I had
actually found because I thinkthat encapsulates everything
that Mike is trying to do withthis podcast.
Not anything that I do or we do,but it's trying to get the
listeners to understand thatthere are a lot of flavors out

(43:32):
there, a lot of flavors thatare, in our opinion, a little
bit better than the big boxbeers.
And don't be afraid to try someof those beers just because
they're they don't taste likethe big box ones.
Yeah, and I think kudos to Mikefor doing his podcast for doing
this, and I because I think thatwithout this podcast, nobody
would even know some of thethings that are out there.
So I I appreciate what you'redoing, and I think that Bourbon

(43:55):
County's really got a good ohyeah, yeah.
This is a tough podcast to do onthis thing here.
So what's your score?
So my scores Toby looked at mynotes again.
He's I'm going 4.5, and I got anasterisk by mine too.
Oh, a beer of the year.

SPEAKER_02 (44:09):
I was gonna tell you, Jim, I did uh receive some
messages from a listener.
Oh, did you a week ago?
Okay.
And uh actually, he remember wewere talking about we were
trying to find the ultimateOktoberfest again from Founders.
Yes, and he thought that he hadfound it in Arkansas.
Oh, wow, okay.
So he said, Hey, and he wastraveling again, and he said his

(44:29):
wife was gonna send him apicture, and then you he was
gonna send it to me, right?
Yep, and so he did send it tome, but it was the original, the
normal Oktoberfest.
Okay.
But the thing that was reallycool was when he messaged me, he
said that he was listening toour Oktoberfest podcast this
year.
And he goes, I just want to letyou guys know that our tastes in
in Oktoberfest are are basicallythe same in how we saved him a

(44:51):
bunch of money.
Oh, because he listened to ourpodcast and then he didn't end
up buying those those beers thatwe said weren't that that good.
So that's I mean, like I said,that's that's a cool thing.
That's awesome.
Because that's what we're tryingto do.
Yes, you know.
So all right.

SPEAKER_03 (45:05):
So I plugged in another question out of you
guys, yeah.
Sure.
All right, so it since Biz isdoing phenomenal, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (45:12):
She's totally coming out of left field somehow.

SPEAKER_03 (45:14):
Um, another this is one of those easy questions
again.
I'm you know, that's the likethe slow pitch right up the tea,
right?

SPEAKER_05 (45:19):
Oh, that's right up my alley.

SPEAKER_03 (45:21):
Yeah, what are the role?
What is the role of barrels inflavor?
That's easy.
I gotta go last in this one.
I'm sorry, as I already know.

SPEAKER_02 (45:29):
You should go first on this one.

SPEAKER_03 (45:31):
Oh we'll have we'll have what is the role of
barrels?

SPEAKER_02 (45:35):
Yep.
What in flavor?
Well, yeah, because the beergoes soaks in and out of the
barrels and pulls out the theflavor of the bourbon or
whatever was in the barrel.

SPEAKER_03 (45:45):
Well, that's that's like you sound like you're a
politician.
Like that's not very good.
Toby, what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 (45:50):
Well, I think when when you consider the reason why
you would put it in the barrels,it would be very, very closely
aligned to what Mike said to getthe flavor of that type of
bourbon or whatever was in thatbarrel to join or meld with the
flavors of the beer.
So I I I think we're ontosomething.

SPEAKER_03 (46:09):
That's a great answer, Toby.
Uh I think uh help me out.
What do you got?

SPEAKER_05 (46:14):
Well, I mean, it it's not just that it stores it,
it contributes to the agingprocess.

SPEAKER_03 (46:19):
Nice.

SPEAKER_05 (46:20):
Um it is the beer in the barrel, it removes some of
the flavors.
It it it really brings out thetaste that's determined by a
variety of factors like the kindof wood.
Um, American oak is the mostpopular for bourbon and whiskey.
That's that's a given.

SPEAKER_02 (46:36):
That's a given.
You know, the the You guysdidn't even mention that.
You know, Toby, you guys didn'teven mention it.
Toby, how do you how does itfeel?
Now you know how I feel.

SPEAKER_05 (46:45):
The char, it did it dictates the um amount of
smokiness and the caramelizationon the flavor.

SPEAKER_03 (46:54):
See, there's nothing she's said that we haven't said
already.
You guys didn't talk about charor caramelization.

SPEAKER_05 (46:58):
Those words are used bourbon barrels are rich with
vanilla, caramel, spice.

SPEAKER_03 (47:04):
See?

SPEAKER_05 (47:04):
Again, it just adds to it.

SPEAKER_02 (47:07):
It adds see.

SPEAKER_05 (47:08):
That's not what I said.
It's not what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 (47:09):
You guys didn't mention we didn't, we didn't
think we had to go into the youknow the entire perspective.

SPEAKER_01 (47:15):
Well, well, I'm I'm understanding, Mike, how you
feel.
I do think that um this may kindof answer some of the questions
that that are brought up inprevious podcasts about all
those flavors.
So if the bourbon barrel hadthose flavors in to make a
bourbon, they can probably saythese flavors are associated
with it, even though they mightnot come out as a dominant

(47:36):
flavor.
Right.
But you have to kind of givecredit where credit is due.
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (47:40):
That's why we give Biz 50,000 because she did a
very good job answering it.

SPEAKER_02 (47:43):
Oh, that's crazy how we can find these people that
have never been on here beforethat knowledge.
But they're highly educated.
Highly educated process of beer.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.

SPEAKER_05 (47:53):
It's I'm so glad that could be here.
Do we have another beer to dothat?
Yeah, let's drink that.

SPEAKER_02 (47:56):
You know what's funny is so there are.
So whose turn is it to read?
Toby's.
Hold on.
There are there are companiesnow that are taking the so you
had the bourbon barrel, let'ssay, then they had beer in it,
and then they're taking thatback and making a different kind
of whiskey in that.
Right.
So it's kind of interesting thatthey're doing that too.
To see, I've never tasted one ofthose to see if you get that
kind of a beer flavor, like anIP, whatever it is that they're

(48:17):
making.
I don't know.
We'll have to look for that.
So that'd be interesting to try.

SPEAKER_01 (48:21):
And you know, until Biz was kind of you know
enlightening us with theirknowledge, I didn't think about
the fact that it takes flavorsout of the liquid and what it
may be, you know, because itgets absorbed into the wood.
Yeah, that's a good point.
I mean, I've just never thoughtof it that way.
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (48:35):
So I agree with you.
So which beer are we gonna drinknow?

SPEAKER_01 (48:38):
Is this our fifth and final?
This is our fifth and finalbourbon county.
Okay, yeah.
And this is a 2022 again.
It's a two-year barley wine withuh old Fritz Gerald.
Nice.
Okay.
So what's the EBB?
Yeah, this one's up a littlebit.
It's 17%.
Oh you do you have your big boypants on?

SPEAKER_05 (48:58):
They're on.
Okay, good.
I got them.

SPEAKER_01 (49:00):
No, I was talking to Toby.

SPEAKER_05 (49:01):
Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 (49:03):
I always wear big boy pants.
That's the only way it fitsaround the waist.
So the Bourbon County Old FritzGerald 2022 is a limited edition
barley wine that combines therich heritage of Old Fritz
Gerald Bourbon with a nuancedartistry of barley wine aging.
So, for this reserve, we workedwith our friends at Old Fritz

(49:23):
Gerald to obtain threeexceptional sets of barrels of
varying ages from thedistilleries Old Fritz Gerald's
bottled in bond decanter series.
This reserve offers us a rareopportunity to highlight the
distinctive characteristics ofour rich bear barley wine aged
in 14-year, 16-year, and 17-yearold barrels of amazing bourbon

(49:47):
pedigree.
Bringing back our classicEnglish style barley wine for
the first time since 2018.
Interesting that all of theseplaces are doing that, right?
We knew that this was going tobe something special.
Our two-year barley wine reserveevokes the rich intricacies of
old Fritz Gerald's bottled inbond series for a velvety taste

(50:07):
of rich malt entwined with notesof toffee, cherry, vanilla, fig,
and almond.
Last paragraph, guys.
The barley wine.

SPEAKER_03 (50:15):
You probably don't even have to say that last one
because that was just a littleextra stuff in case.
Okay.
But I mean that I think thatreally hits everything on the
head, though.

SPEAKER_02 (50:23):
And we like I said, we've had old Fitzgerald.

SPEAKER_03 (50:25):
Didn't we have one on the last episode?

SPEAKER_02 (50:26):
We had yeah, last episode we had.

SPEAKER_03 (50:28):
That was a 19-year.
Yes.
Yes.
And that one, remember, wecouldn't really taste modified
myself.
Yeah.
So hopefully this one goes.

SPEAKER_01 (50:37):
And I think while we're you you're kind of going
through that, just one otherthing to add that you know it
it's a collector's delight dueto the distinctive packaging.
So again, this comes in apackage similar to the last beer
we talked about.
Uh beautiful box that Istruggled to get into again.

SPEAKER_05 (50:53):
I'm still not sure if he opened it the right way.

SPEAKER_01 (50:55):
I probably not, but um, I think that again, you're
appealing to the collectors ofof someone that may want to keep
this, you know.
And it's just part of theirtestament to commitment of
excellence and the art ofcrafting exceptional barrel aged
brews.

SPEAKER_02 (51:08):
Yes.
I don't know about you guys, butthat's good.

SPEAKER_03 (51:10):
Oh, you already tried it?

SPEAKER_02 (51:11):
Well, I yeah, but Toby was reading his book.
I just had it too.
You you had me, you I you lostme, and I just started drinking.
Boy, that's smooth.
No burn.
That's before we go into scores.
I'm gonna say that's up for beerof the year.
Is it you already got the wellthat is that is smooth.
It's in the conversation.
I'm not saying it's there, butit's in the conversation.

(51:31):
That is really good.
That's good.

SPEAKER_01 (51:34):
Again, you know, I I think I mentioned this uh maybe
in the last podcast about howbarley wine and and you know
just isn't something thatappeals to me in it in itself.
But when they use the barrelswhen they do it the right way to
make this beer that is smooth,it doesn't have that wine
dryness.
Yeah, they they did a good jobwith this one.

SPEAKER_02 (51:55):
Yeah, that's very good.

SPEAKER_03 (51:56):
So, Biz, what you haven't said much.
What do you think?

SPEAKER_05 (51:58):
I think wine in a title turns people off, right?
So when you are a beer drinkerand you're like, oh, wine, I
don't like wine, you're like,oh, I don't want to try that,
but this it's it's not, itdoesn't taste like wine per se.
Um it it's a great combinationof just a dark, yummy beer, and
just I don't know, they made itwith wine.

SPEAKER_02 (52:20):
That's a technical term.
Yummy.
Very, very technical.
Yummy.
Yummy is like third-degree beerdrinker.

SPEAKER_05 (52:26):
Okay, well.

SPEAKER_02 (52:27):
You're getting up there.

SPEAKER_05 (52:28):
No, we're saying, hey, I'm gonna keep moving up,
okay?

SPEAKER_03 (52:31):
Yeah, so so the only drawback then for me, which I
think it's very it's still verygood, but it talked about
cherry, vanilla, and fig.
I don't know if I taste a lot ofcherry or vanilla.
I get the old, I get the oldfitchgerald smoothness, but the
other flavors a little bit.
I don't know.
Do you guys pick them out ornot?

SPEAKER_01 (52:49):
I'm gonna compare this to like an old fashioned.
I think in an old fashionedsometimes, if you get the the
cherries in it, if you eat thecherries once they've soaked in
the bourbon for a little bit, tome it's a similar flavor.
Oh not saying that I would havepointed that out until you said
something about it, but that'skind of what it reminds me of as
I took another drink of it.

SPEAKER_03 (53:08):
So yes, okay.
So who wants to go first?

SPEAKER_02 (53:10):
Uh you go first, Jim.

SPEAKER_03 (53:12):
I like it, I like it a lot.
Um, it's a very good beer.
I think it might it'd be thebest one.
So far, four six.
Wow.
And I got it for beer of theyear.
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (53:24):
Toby.
You know, again, Jim's lookingat my sheet, I think.
Um You know, I d uh I I do thinkthat, you know, because I'm at a
small percentage of the thenumber of of podcasts that you
gentlemen do, uh when I drink abeer and I do rate it the same
as as as one of you two, I Ifeel good.
I'm like, hey, maybe I I I kindof have an idea of what I'm

(53:45):
talking about because it doesn'thappen often.
Um but I'm right with you, Jim.
I I think it's that that same4'6, it it it's good.
It it's really good beer.

SPEAKER_02 (53:54):
I'm gonna go with 4'5.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Yeah, I gotta be different.
Very good, very good.
I mean, 17% doesn't I would haveguessed I'd have guessed 10,
right?
I mean, you know what I mean.
I mean, it's so smooth, andoverall the flavors, I it's
good.
So yeah, uh four or five.
Uh biz, you're up.

SPEAKER_05 (54:13):
All right, uh again, new to this podcast, and I just
like drink it because I likedifferent beers, right?
So when I have to give a numberto it, I'm gonna give it a 4-1,
probably my favorite of the day.
I don't know.
It it was delicious, easy todrink.
I I like it like somebody elsesaid, you can't you don't have
to pick out the flavors, but youcan just enjoy it and drink it,

(54:34):
and it's very easy, it'sdrinkable.

SPEAKER_02 (54:37):
There you go.

SPEAKER_05 (54:38):
Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 (54:39):
And that's half, that's half the battle.
Yes.
You know, don't you don't haveto try and look for every single
flavor.

SPEAKER_01 (54:44):
Yeah, if it's a good beer, just drink it.
Well, and I think when you saidthat, you know, hey, it's a 17%,
I was like, I forgot about that.
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (54:52):
I mean that's it's a high alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 (54:55):
Yeah, but this is this is one of those scary ones
because you could drink a lot ofthis, and then at some point
you're gonna try and stand upand go, Yep, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_02 (55:03):
Some reason the earth is shaking or something or
moving.
And all right, all right.
So do you have one more questionfor um a couple of us to get
wrong?

SPEAKER_03 (55:13):
Maybe, but I thought we should do something else
first.
Okay.
I think um what we should do ismaybe give a wrap-up of the
bourbon county because this lastbeer is not part of bourbon
county.
So is that all right?
So we'll start with you.
So usually what we do is justlike maybe give your top one or
two and what you thought was thebest of those one or two, okay,

(55:37):
and then we'll pass it around toeverybody.
Just you or you could saythey're all good or one or two,
whatever's easiest for you.

SPEAKER_05 (55:43):
Okay, so I definitely like the wine one
that we just had and the coffeeone.
Again, I'm a huge coffee person.
So if I was to pick my two top,I would say that last one that
we just had, which was theFitzgerald.
The Fitzgerald.
That was that was a really good,just like all-around beer.

(56:04):
If I was going to just gosomewhere and say, Hey, I want a
beer, I would pick this coffeebecause that's what my
preference is.
Yeah, but the the uh Fitzgeraldwas delicious also.

SPEAKER_01 (56:15):
Awesome, Toby.
So, you know, you always learnfrom people, and and uh I I
think what Biz just said inrelation to if I was gonna go
somewhere and have a beer, youknow, that's a great way to
describe it because I thinkagain, that's what our listeners
want to hear from your storyearlier, Mike.
With that being said, you know,I uh I definitely like the
Fritzgerald.
I I think that was really goodfor the the barley wine, which

(56:36):
I've always been opposed to.
To me, phenomenal, drinkable,17%.
You can't go wrong with that.
Um, my other one was that 30thanniversary reserve stout, which
was really good.
Um, I enjoyed that.
I've got to go back to the thebiscotti though, because you
know I I don't like thatlicorice flavor, so it dropped
way down on my list.
But that's not to say it wasn'ta good beer, and that uh I don't

(56:59):
want to take anything away fromBourbon County because said it
before, they've got it figuredout, they've got great beers,
and you're gonna find theflavors you like.
So you're never gonna go wrongif you if you really want to get
into it and try some of the theBourbon County barrel edge beers
because they are good.

SPEAKER_03 (57:14):
Yep.
Jason, what did you think?
You don't think you're allright?
Yeah, so um very good classbecause we don't do an entire
brewery class very often, right?
And all those opportunities tohave all barrel aged beers from
the same brewery, even less.
So again, bourbon county did notlet us down, they did a
phenomenal job across the board,so that all of them were great,

(57:36):
you know.
So my opinions are always justlike nitpicking to split the
hair, which is very hard to do.
But for me, my in my opinion, Ilike the old Fitzgerald, that
was my tip best.
The 30th anniversary was thesecond, but they were all for
me, they were all 4.0 or book.
So in my book, they're allexceptional.
Would I recommend them for thevery beginning craft beer

(57:58):
drinker?
No, but if you like bourbon, Iwould try any one of these five.

SPEAKER_02 (58:03):
Yep, easily.
I agree 100%.
I mean, they were all good,they're all very good, you know.
And and the old Fitzgerald wasmy top one as well.
And I do like the the 30thanniversary and and then the
Biscotti, because I do likeblack licorice.
So I mean they were very, buteven the the original and the
coffee were very good.
I mean, right, and like yousaid, Jim, for a new person

(58:25):
that's never had a barrel-agedbeer before, I wouldn't
recommend these just because youknow, if especially if your
palate's never had it, it'sgonna be really strong.
Yes.
But if you're if you're lookingto try to get into some of these
things, try if you're lookingfor a barrel age, try bourbon
counties, one of those top, thetop tier that we've said over
and over, and you're not gonnabe disappointed right at all.

(58:47):
So, yeah, they're all good.
So all right, we got one lastbeer.

SPEAKER_03 (58:51):
Yes, so this is a special one.
I still do not know, rememberwhere I bought it, but um this
is a 2020-20 or 2020.
2020.
How many 20s you got in there?
24 version.
Um, it's the Dragon's MeltDungeons and Dragon D20 Brew

(59:12):
Silver Dragon Edition at 20 ABV.
How much?
20 wow, yep.
So what is unique, and I wishmaybe there's one you guys know
more, but Dungeons and Dragon isa thing, apparently.
Yeah, it's been a thing for along time.
So apparently it's been a thingfor 50 years.
Yeah, it's been around for along time.

SPEAKER_02 (59:34):
So I didn't realize we were that old.

SPEAKER_01 (59:37):
I know.

SPEAKER_03 (59:37):
So I I think I gave you guys a lot of write up
You're out of here.
I gave you guys a lot of writeup, but the so the Yeah, we're
not reading three pages.
No, right up.
I think Jim is.
So the the main points I'm gonnabring across, right?
So from the 2024, so this was acraft brewed instilled by New
Holland Brewing in collaborationwith Hasbro, Hasbro Toys, who

(01:00:00):
Was creator of Dungeons Dragons.
Yes.
To collaborate their 50thanniversary of the world's
greatest role-playing game,Dungeons Dragons.
The second part that I wanted tobring out is that on November
1st, they're going to bereleasing their 2020 25 version.
All right.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:16):
Today, tomorrow, next week, a few days ago.
A few weeks.
A few days ago.
You said November 1st.
Yep.
A few days ago.
Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:24):
So that we don't have the 2025 version.
Right.
But it's it's out there alongwith the bourbon that they
distilled from it.
So there's the bourbon and thebeer.
Oh.
So I I wanted to just bring thatout.
So that was the second part ofit.
Interesting.
Yeah.
So I was not necessarily goingto ask you guys the question,
but I wanted to educate you.

SPEAKER_05 (01:00:45):
Oh, he's going to give us a break.
Is that what he said?

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:48):
Thank you.
So so I just wanted to bringthat.
So this was, I'm not going toeven say the price of this.
It was it was slightly more than$20.
Slightly.
But it was probably more thanall those bourbon counties put
together.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:02):
Really?
Yeah.
So I think one of the thingsthat caught my eye right away
was when you were pouring that,it was a lot thinner than I
thought it would be for a 20%er.
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:12):
I agree 100% with you there.
So have we is anybody eventasted?
I tasted it.
Oh, I did too.
I'm holding my okay opinionuntil you guys taste it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:20):
But the aroma, there's not much for aroma.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:21):
There's a lot of aroma.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:22):
What do you think there, Jim?
The hard part, again, theydidn't tell us what flavors we
should expect.
Right.
I think Biz had mentioned thisbefore.
Maybe it's better they don'ttell us what to expect.
But for me, it does not tastelike 20%.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:34):
But this gave us nothing.
Like the other ones gave us likea little bit.
This gave us just like nothing.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:40):
Well, nothing, but nothing that Jim read.
Nothing that Jim read, but itdoes there in the three pages of
the the of research, it does saythat it is an Imperial stout
aged for over one year in twoseparate first-use bourbon
barrels.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:56):
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:57):
So robust notes of milk chocolate, cherry, coffee,
vanilla, and bourbon.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:03):
I don't know if I get any of that.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:05):
So maybe the age is is the key.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:07):
It should be to me, it's a sharper flavor than the
than the goose islands.
You know what I mean?
Like a the goose islands weremore of a smooth kind of a
flavor.
These ones seem like a yeah, ithas a bite to it almost.
And again, 20%, but I don'treally feel the 20%.
I mean the flavor is kind of abecause remember, I always fall
back on Avery.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:27):
Yeah.
You know, when they startedgoing up higher, it got sweeter
and sweeter and sweeter andsweeter.
Where this, I mean, and it's notyou can actually, if I said on
my paper, you can actually seethe writing.
Right.
Yeah.
So I don't know what that means.
I don't know.
But it's but it's not some ofus.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:43):
It's not like yeah, I can't read that either, but
it's not like motor oil.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:46):
No, no, no, it's not that big.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:48):
It it's definitely lighter.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:50):
It's more of a brownish instead of a really so
my first impression, and andthis is not meant to be um
demeaning or taking anythingaway from it, but I was kind of
like, is this like Dr.
Pepper?
Or that's kind of the colorcolor and the flavor of it, just
you know, Dr.
Pepper has all those flavors init.
I was like, this doesn't tastelike a bourbon barrel age beer

(01:03:11):
to me.
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:12):
And I think we got it warm enough, right?

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:14):
I mean the temperatures are definitely warm
enough for the for thetemperature.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:17):
What do you think?
I mean, you haven't said much.
Like I said, you're like stilltrying to figure it out?

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:22):
Well, a little bit.
I mean, it's like I said, thegoose islands were a way
smoother flavor, you know.
And this one is it's a littlebit, and I don't want to say
harsh, but it's kind of thatharsher flavor.
So let me ask you this.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:34):
Let me ask you this.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:35):
Now, this was a stout, or is it a barley wine?
Or what is this one for sure?

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:40):
Did it say I said limited edition stout?
Okay.
See, to me, it's so let me askyou this.
So, do you think if they wouldhave maybe tapered it down an
ABV, so was it 20%?
Would that have made it better?

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:52):
I don't think the ABV is really what is bothering
me.
Okay.
I think it's more some of theflavors are just more
pronounced, maybe, or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 (01:04:01):
So you can't really tell what the flavors are,
right?

SPEAKER_03 (01:04:03):
So it's not so much the ABVs, not really.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:06):
It's not really because honestly, Jamie, I don't
think I've had a couple uh Imean we've had utopia that was
higher, and but we haven't hadmany that have been 20%.
Right, this is the formula up.
So this is one of the higher, Ithink.
You know, but again, that's notwhat's bothering me, I guess.
It's more just kind of theprofile of the entire flavoring,

(01:04:26):
it's just a little bit moreharsh.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:27):
So you know, so a wonder.
We had five good bourboncounties.
Yep.
Would this one taste differentif we just hadn't had those?

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:36):
It's there's a possibility.
Yeah, there's definitely apossibility.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:39):
Okay, I mean, we're our palate's comparing to what
we've just had, right?
You know, I I mean, I think initself, you tell me this is a
20% and it's smooth, easy todrink.
I mean, it really is.
There's flavor to it.
Um, I'm I can't pinpoint whatthe flavor is, but it's not bad.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:56):
Right.
Oh no, I'm not saying it's badat all.
Like it's just a little bitsharper flavor.
Maybe a sharper flavor is betterthan harsh.
It's not harsh, but it's asharper flavor.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:06):
But they they describe it as velvety.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:08):
I don't say that.
I wouldn't say that.
I don't get that either.
Again, if we hadn't drank.
All right, so who was gonna gofirst?
You brought it, you rate it.
I went first last time.
That's fine.
You can go again.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:21):
I'll I'll I'll take it away from you, Jim.
I'm I'm going, it's unique, it's20%.
So to me, that that gives itsome credit, yep, credibility,
exactly.
Do I think it's in the fourrange?
I don't.
I mean, I I'm a 3-8 on it, Ithink.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:35):
Okay, all right.
I'm I'm in the same kind ofcategory.
I'm going to 3-7 though.
Uh because I used 3-8 before.
So it's given hate duplicates.

SPEAKER_03 (01:05:43):
So this is your worst beer of the night.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:44):
Yeah.
Just because, just again, justbecause it has that sharper
flavor.
And if if you'd have said, if wehad been blindfolded and just
tasted this, I never would haveguessed it was 20%.
No.
At all.
But uh and you're right, Toby.
I think coming after the thebourbon county, we were spoiled,
so to speak.
And this one is just it's adifferent thing, so it gets

(01:06:07):
penalized.
And I and I have I apologize forthat, but it's just kind of I
would probably rather drink theother ones first, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:18):
And if I could just to add to that, I think the the
aftertaste of this one lingerson my tongue a lot longer.
And that that to me kind oftakes away from it because it's
like what is that flavor?

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:29):
And I and I don't know if I see that's where I was
wondering, okay, is this abarley wine or is this what is
this?
Yeah, yeah.
That's why I asked if it was aspout or what it was for sure,
because it's almost like itdoesn't quite know what it style
it wanted to be.
Where is it gonna be?
You know, so okay, all right.

SPEAKER_05 (01:06:44):
I'm gonna have to agree.
I maybe we should have tried it,not tried it first, but if it
was on its own, I would havefelt differently about it, but
it's not my favorite.
I'm gonna give it a three-four,just different.

SPEAKER_03 (01:06:56):
All right, so I guess I have to be the outlier
again, don't I?
Nope.
This was a five, right, Jim?
No, it's so it's definitely notnot that high.
Not um, so the the harper forme, without Lena like trying to
like interject her input to forme, so when we base beers,
everything that we our cap hasalways been 19 or below.

(01:07:17):
Oh we've always like kind ofhaven't ventured because we
haven't had the options reallyto go above that.
We have never like been able tothat rarefied air, right?
So I have to my own opinion, myown is to make a beer of 20% or
above is challenging at best.

(01:07:38):
And we've had several Dragon'sMilk beers, yes, and they've
always been very good, verygood.
Is this the best beer ever?
No.
Is it something that I'm gladthat we bought to try because it
was 20% by all means?
I mean, I I don't think was itscary to buy a 20% beer?
Yes, because you don't even knowwhat you're getting into.

(01:08:02):
But I think all of us can agree,wow, a 20% beer that did not
taste like that.
Yeah, so so my score is gonna bea 4.3 just because I think I'm
giving it credit because it's ahigh ABV.
They actually made it so it'snot like when I watched all of
your faces when you first took adrink, nobody winced.
Nobody like shrugged yourshoulders.

(01:08:22):
So so to me, your initialimpression was not that it was a
bad beer, it just didn't hit allthe wickets that we wanted.
So for me, I thought that waswatching you guys was more
important than what I thoughtfrom the score.
I don't know what you think,Mike.

SPEAKER_02 (01:08:38):
Well, you know, and when you brought up about the
other dragon's milks that we'vehad, they've all been 10, 11
percent, except for the triplemash, which we're gonna have on
another podcast because thatone's like is it 18 or 19
percent?
I got one in the fridge, andI've got a number of them at the
house.
Yeah, so this is quite a stepup, yes, you know, from the the
normal dragon's milk, but a lotof those dragon's milk have a

(01:09:01):
lot of very good flavors, right?
You know, and like I said, inthis one, it just I don't know,
it's got a sharper flavor to methan what the other ones have.
And and again, it I feel so badbecause it's compared to Bourbon
County, which is on anotherlevel.
But this this brewery is just aone step below that, I think.

SPEAKER_01 (01:09:18):
So and I think you hit it, you know.
I I mean I I I get what you'resaying, Jim.
It makes a lot of sense, right?
And the more I drank of thisthough, the more of that burn I
got on my tongue, which kind oflike made me like it even less.
So like I feel that my score waswas there because normally
dragon's milk like you can drinkthem and not a problem, they're

(01:09:40):
good till the last drop, kind ofthing.

SPEAKER_03 (01:09:42):
So and I mean that's good.
I mean, that's I appreciateeverybody's I mean, because that
is that's what we want to makesure the listeners understood.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:49):
Would you recommend this to a new person?

SPEAKER_03 (01:09:51):
Oh, by far no.
There is absolutely not a 20%beer.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:56):
I don't know if I'd recommend it to a person that
has been into craft beer for awhile, but hasn't went higher A
B.

SPEAKER_05 (01:10:03):
Yeah, no, unless you know that you like that in a
way.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:06):
And if I did recommend it, I'd be like, hey,
if you buy that, I'll I'll sharea beer.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:10):
Yeah, I got you, I got your back.
He's in yes.

SPEAKER_03 (01:10:14):
All right, so how do you wrap this up then, Mike?
So we got five from one in one,yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:19):
Goose island, bourbon county did not
disappoint.
Right.
And and honestly, even this onewas very good.
It's just different, it's justdifferent.
Yeah, and it was kind ofsurprisingly a lot different
than what I was expecting.
I thought it was gonna really bekind of along those bourbon
county lines, you know what Imean?
As far as very smooth, high ABV,not you wouldn't take in which

(01:10:40):
it was.
It it didn't taste like 20%,right?
But it did have a way, again,like I said, a sharper flavor to
it than what the the GooseIsland had.

SPEAKER_05 (01:10:51):
Yeah.
You're gonna want to share it ifyou drink it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:53):
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (01:10:54):
Yeah, I wouldn't want to drink that whole bottle
myself.
So the only thing I would is ifToby brought this out, I don't
know if it was this episode or acouple back, I think the hard
part is when you see a beer likethis, you gotta try it.
You don't know what it's gonnataste like.
I saw it one bottle on a shelfand I bought it.
Yep.
So no, that's again, you'rethrowing it, you're throwing a

(01:11:15):
dart against the window.

SPEAKER_01 (01:11:15):
And and thank you.
You know, I mean, again, theexposure, the the being able to
talk about it is what it's allabout.

SPEAKER_02 (01:11:20):
Jim, anytime you see a high ABV beer that you're
willing to buy, Toby and I willbe glad to help you drink it.

SPEAKER_05 (01:11:26):
Hey, me too.
Oh, awesome!

SPEAKER_02 (01:11:28):
Yes, we can help be glad to come and drink it with
you.

SPEAKER_03 (01:11:32):
So that was you know, the reason I was intrigued
by what it was because NewHolland always has some good
years.
Yes, they have very good beers,and I we have very few that are
above 20%.
So I was like, maybe this wouldfit in with something this
category, it didn't uhcompletely align, but I'm glad
we tried it.
Yep, I agree 100%.

(01:11:52):
And I'm glad you guys were ableto enjoy it with us.
For having us, yeah, thank youfor sure.
So I I I don't have anything toadd to what you said, Mike.
I mean, this is a good this is agood podcast.
I'm glad we had this, we hadToby, extra people here.
Yeah, always it's always good tohave.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:09):
There was an incident with Angus, we couldn't
have him back.
Well, you did, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:13):
That's what happens when you drink all our leftover
beer.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:16):
Yeah, he got crazy.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:17):
He did.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:17):
Yeah, that was weird.
I don't know.
Anyway, thanks, Jim, for forproviding those.
Yes, and uh, yeah, I'm ladiesand gentlemen, I hope that uh if
you see a beer out there you'venever tried, don't be afraid to
buy it.
Try it.
There's some extremely goodflavors out there.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:35):
And send us a note, let us know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:36):
Send us a note what you think.
Yeah, if if you've had these, ifyou want to have them, you know,
but if you're looking forwhatever, just let us know,
right?
You know, we'd love to hear fromthe fans.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:46):
And not only that, but we're here to support you.
So if you need somebody to drinkwith, we're there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:51):
We would be will more than willing to drink beer.

SPEAKER_05 (01:12:53):
And if you don't want to try it, we will.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:56):
There you go.
There you go.
Yeah, awesome.
Well, hey, everybody, thank youso much for uh being a part of
this, Toby, Biz, Jim.
Even though Jim again cheated onthe questions.
And Biz won the content.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:08):
Biz won't weird.
Isn't it weird, Toby, how thatworks?
Congratulations, newcomer.
I know how you feel about it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:13:14):
Well, that's weird how that happens all the time.
Anyway, thank you so much,ladies and gentlemen, for for
listening.
And Jim, like we always say, wehope your campfire's always warm
and your beers are always cold.
See ya.
See ya.
Thank you for listening to theNorthwoods Beer Guy podcast.
If you have a question, acomment, or a beer you'd like us
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com.

(01:13:36):
You can also find us onFacebook, Twitter, and
Instagram.
If you're on Untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope all yourcampfires are warm and all your
beer is cold.

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Ep 138 - Bourbon County Night: Big, Bold, And Barrel-Aged

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep 138 - Bourbon County Night: Big, Bold, And Barrel-Aged