Bourbon Barrel Aged - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Fri, 08 Nov 2024 13:20:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Bourbon Barrel Aged - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 LAKEFRONT BREWERY UNVEILS THEIR 2024 LINEUP OF BLACK FRIDAY BEERS FOR YEAR 14 https://thebeerthrillers.com/2024/11/05/lakefront-brewery-unveils-their-2024-lineup-of-black-friday-beers-for-year-14/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lakefront-brewery-unveils-their-2024-lineup-of-black-friday-beers-for-year-14 Tue, 05 Nov 2024 17:00:36 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=15681 LAKEFRONT BREWERY UNVEILS THEIR 2024 LINEUP OF BLACK FRIDAY BEERS FOR YEAR 14

LAKEFRONT BREWERY UNVEILS THEIR 2024 LINEUP OF BLACK FRIDAY BEERS FOR YEAR 14

LAKEFRONT BREWERY UNVEILS THEIR 2024 LINEUP OF BLACK FRIDAY BEERS FOR YEAR 14

Black Friday is a big day for beer, the local brewery looks forward to continuing their tradition of hosting one of the biggest Milwaukee beer events of the year.

It’s not too long after Thanksgiving dinner that beer fans will begin to line up at the Milwaukee staple on Commerce Street. Their doors will open at 8AM the next day to a line of hundreds of excited and thirsty Black Friday guests.
“We have created three barrel-aged beers that have been aging all year and a triple IPA that are all world class and that are only available on Black Friday”, says Russ Klisch, President and Co-Founder of Lakefront Brewery, “Besides the great beer, I always look forward to spending time with folks out in line where there’s an unmatched level of excitement.”

Lakefront offers up the following 4 varieties of their rare Black Friday beer to take home:

  • 2024 Black Friday™ Imperial Stout | Aged in Bourbon and Brandy barrels, the 2024 version of our gold standard brew combines massive caramel and roasted malts with huge vanilla and oak flavor. Sold for $20 each plus tax.
  • 2024 Black Friday™ Triple Black IPA | Big, bold, and hoppy, this Triple Black IPA hits the glass obsidian black with a foamy tan head kicking up aromas of chocolate, orange zest, and rose water. Gratuitous Cascade, Chinook, and Centennial hops yield up-front citrus and tropical fruit notes, while Belgian caramel malts lend balance and sweet cocoa and caramel flavors. Sold for $20 each plus tax.
  • 2024 Black Friday™ Imperial Brown Ale Aged in Wollersheim Winery Port Barrels | A big, hearty Imperial Brown Ale aged in Port wine barrels from Wisconsin’s own Wollersheim Winery. Brought together, flavors of brown bread crusts and caramel malt roll into port notes of oak plank, vanilla, dried fruit, and marzipan. Sold for $30 each plus tax.
  • 2024 Black Friday™ 5-Year-Old | This big stout has been asleep in Bourbon barrels since 2019. The big, roasty, chocolatey Imperial Stout left all traces of alcohol heat behind in the barrel and picked up flavors of vanilla, pecan praline, marzipan, and a touch of pipe tobacco. Sold for $30 each plus tax.

All varieties will be packaged in colorful 19.2 oz. cans and placed in dynamic individual boxes with no limit to the amount that an individual can purchase. Lakefront notes that the yield of 2024 Black Friday beers will be shorter than in recent years as only 2,000 cans of the regular version and only 1,000 of each varietal will be available. Show up early this year to enjoy breakfast items (and cheese curds) from their famous CurdWagon starting at 5AM. Our gift shop inside will open early with exclusive Black Friday items and other warm weather garb if your preparations weren’t up to snuff.

A collectible Black Friday souvenir-dated glass will be free for those who purchase a minimum of 4 Black Fridaycans.

Lakefront is excited to announce the return of the Warm Hearts Community Coat Drive benefiting students of George Washington Carver Elementary. Guests who donate a laundered, gently used coat suitable for youth ages 3 to 14 years will receive one bottle/can of a prior year’s Black Friday™. Guests may donate additional coats with a maximum of 2 bottles/cans per donor over 21. Coats will be accepted conditionally at Lakefront Brewery’s discretion to ensure immediate wearability. They also encourage donors to bring colorful, youth-appropriate items, especially coats for girls and young teen women, giving students the dignity of choice.

The Riverwest Brewing Syndicate (Lakefront Brewery, Black Husky Brewing, Gathering Place Brewery, Amorphic Beer) recently announced the return of their Black Friday shuttle bus. Starting at Lakefront, the shuttle will make continuous round trips to all four breweries from 10AM to 3PM. As always, Lakefront encourages everyone to make safe, responsible choices when it comes to these events.


Lakefront Brewery, Inc. distributes its products to over 30 states, Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, and Denmark. Lakefront Brewery is the first brewery in Wisconsin and 22nd brewery in the world to be certified as a B Corporation. Lakefront Brewery also produced the first beer in the United States made from 100% in-state-grown ingredients, including a first-of-its-kind, indigenous Wisconsin yeast strain (Wisconsinite Summer Weiss), the first certified organic brewery and the first gluten-free beer granted approval by the U.S. Government (New Grist). For more information, visit http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com or call (414) 372-8800.

Other Lakefront Brewery Articles

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of August 2024.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

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Sweet ‘n’ Savory https://thebeerthrillers.com/2024/10/05/sweet-n-savory/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sweet-n-savory Sat, 05 Oct 2024 16:07:47 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=15577 Being Able to Find the Perfect Mix of Sweet and Savory Feels Like a Miracle

Being able to find the perfect mix of sweet and savory feels like a miracle. This necessarily doesn’t mean that it must include something spicy but that is always an option.

I’ve been told recently that spicy doesn’t have to be scary, so be daring with me if you tend to shy away from the heat.  But I won’t be doing that this evening, ha!

Homer drooling over a hamburger

I’m writing on here about paring foods from time to time.  One thing I get stuck on is either find flavors that are matchy or find flavors that are complimenting but different.  One random night after work.  Ya know, when your exhausted but just need some sort of nourishment.  We grabbed Pillar of Beasts from 3 Floyds Brewing at West Connection Beer Vault (we had picked this up in a mix a six, alongside several others, including the recent pumpkin beers I had with Grandma SueAnn) to have with burgers and onions from the grilled and garlicky sauteed green beans.

It. Was. Amazing.

 

I legit wasn’t picking this out on purpose.  It was an evening where we grabbed beer and some food to shove down our tired gullets to try to make it through the week.  First of all; barleywine.  It’s a favorite so we knew we couldn’t go wrong.  It was the perfect combo of sweet and savory.  The flavors mixed so well until I realized they were all gone.

This comes rocking in at a 13.7% ABV according to Untapped.  This definitely qualifies as a BIG DAMN BEER! #BDB

Homer Drooling over beer and food

 

 

Pillar of Beasts has a 4.21 overall rating (on Untappd) and is described as “Our latest Barleywine Ale brewed with Salted Caramel, vanilla beans, and cocoa nibs then aged for 12 months in bourbon barrels.  Taste the scrumptiousness.” You can see our post on Instagram about the beer here: Pillars of Beast – The Beer Thrillers on Instagram. (Please be sure to give us a follow on Instagram. Thank you!)

Pillar of Beasts by 3 Floyds Brewing with dinner

Pairing the sweet barleywine with a savory burger and garlicky green beans was one of the best decisions I’ve made since I decided to date the creator of The Beer Thrillers.

  • Drink More Beer!
    • Amy

Amy’s Column Series

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of August 2024.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Pillar of Beats by 3 Floyds Brewing (photo courtesy of Untappd)

 

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Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator Releasing at Troegs Brewery https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/09/07/bourbon-barrel-aged-triple-nator-releasing-at-troegs-brewery/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bourbon-barrel-aged-triple-nator-releasing-at-troegs-brewery Thu, 07 Sep 2023 17:29:21 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12385

Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator (courtesy of Troegs Independent Brewing)

The Father of All Nators

So we’ve got the Troegenator, we’ve gotten the Triple Nator… and now we got the grandaddy of them all – the Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator. (And don’t forget, next spring we’ll be getting the Little Nator.)

Troegs Brewing has been releasing some stellar beers recently – Oktoberfest, Hop Cyclone, and now Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator – with Master of Pumpkins coming in two weeks time, as well as a Schwarzbier, a Lemon Raddler, and a Rauchbier for the Oktoberfest; and then in time for Christmas they are bringing the Cookie Stout back out, as well as Naked Elf and of course Mad Elf.

Lots of great beers coming from the fantastic brewery in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator

The grandaddy of all the Nators – the Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator is the Triple Nator (Troegenator times three) stored in bourbon barrels and aged for over a year.

Some quick stats on this beast of a beer:

ABV: 14%
IBU: N / A
Malt: Pilsner, Munich, Caramel, Chocolate, Special B
Hops: German Northern Brewer
Yeast: House Lager
Additions: Demerara Sugar, Dark Candi Syrup

From Troegs Brewers and Beer Notes website on the beer:

This is the big, malty and ageable Triple Nator with a bourbon-barrel twist. Munich malt, chocolate malt and Belgian candy sugar deliver deep toffee and complex malt notes, and months in bourbon barrels add hints of toasted coconut, vanilla and molasses. Put it in a glass or put it in your cellar. The next chapter is yours.

We taste: deep toffee, layers of complex malt, hints of toasted coconut, vanilla and molasses

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Triple Nator

Availability

The Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple Nator releases today at the brewery only. Its a part of their splinter series; so you will be able to get it at the bar – in a cork and caged bottle – or from the general store (in cork and caged bottles only). 13.20$ per bottle (or cheaper in a 4 pack). Unknown how long this one will last, so you certainly won’t want to miss out on it.

More Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Related Articles

Looking for more Troegs in your diet? Here’s some other Troegs Independent Craft Brewing related articles we’ve written:

For More Information on Troegs Independent Craft Brewing

According to Untappd, Troegs Independent Craft Brewing is a regional brewery with 148 unique beers listed (despite them nearing scratch 500). They have nearly 2.3 Million ratings and as of 9.7.23 have a global average rating of 3.79. Their Untappd bio reads:

Founded in Pennsylvania in 1997 by brothers John and Chris Trogner, Tröegs Independent Brewing is driven by a sense of adventure and curiosity. Our brewery has been built by family, friends and kindred spirits who share a love of great beer. Together, we all make Tröegs. You might know our Perpetual IPA, the best-selling IPA in Pennsylvania. Or the dark, malty and crisp Troegenator. You may have come across such iconic beers as Nugget Nectar or Mad Elf in your beer travels. Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to try one or two of the hundreds of experimental Scratch Series beers we’ve brewed over the years. Whether you’re already a member of our extended family or you’re just getting to know our brewery, there’s always something new to discover with Tröegs.

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

If you would like to help keep the blog running soundly and smoothly, you may donate to us to help us keep the costs of the blog to a minimum. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you. (Clicking this link will take you to the page to make a donation. Thank you very much for helping us stay afloat!)

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Beer Review: Puzzles and Pagans (Burlington Beer Company) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/11/26/beer-review-puzzles-and-pagans-burlington-beer-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-puzzles-and-pagans-burlington-beer-company Fri, 26 Nov 2021 14:33:06 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=8352
Puzzles and Pagans (2021) by Burlington Beer Company

Puzzles… and Pagans…

First, let’s just begin by mentioning – Happy Thanksgiving – and a wonderful Black Stout Friday to everyone. And secondly, let me mention that the above picture is the first beer and the first meal of Thanksgiving I had yesterday. (I think I wish I did this one with the turkey meal, and the Choir of the Dead with the spaghetti, meatballs, but that’s neither here nor there.) Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving you Pagans, Heathens, and Puzzlers.

Who doesn’t love puzzles and pagans? And more importantly – who doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs on Thanksgiving?

So this week, after work, I stopped at West Connection Beer Vault in Hummelstown / Hershey. Made me up a nice mix – a – six of mostly all stouts: Choir of the Dead, Strange Apparitions, and Puzzles and Pagans (all 2021) by Burlington Beer Company, as well as the World Wide Stout – Utopias edition by Dogfish Head, as well as also picking up a Secret Machine by Dewey Beer Co and the Electro Cooler by VooDoo. All in all, I would say it was one heck of a six pack, and the first three of them (all of the Burlington Beer Company ones) were fantastic, and don’t worry, each will get their own beer review here on the blog.

I actually debated which one of the three to start off with. If I should do Strange Apparitions, which I had Tuesday night while writing, the Puzzles and Pagans while having the spaghetti meatball lunch, or the Choir of the Dead which I had while eating turkey dinner. So… I decided to go with this. Because what sums up my day yesterday better, than doing a review that shows spaghetti and meatballs rather than turkey!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Who eats spaghetti and meatballs on Thanksgiving? Apparently my mom. So… thus… the picture above. My girls, and I, visited my parents for Thanksgiving lunch, where we spent the afternoon watching football, playing Harry Potter chess, walking my parents dog Tink, and having good family time.

Don’t worry, for dinner, we went to my sister’s for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, …and goat meat. My brother in law’s family has a tradition of eating goat meat every Thanksgiving, as well as playing Lotteria (a Mexican Bingo game).

All in all it was a good day, and I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

Burlington Beer Company

Ok, let’s move on from yesterday, and discuss the beer and the brewery. Burlington Beer Company is a really good brewery that doesn’t get brought into Central PA a whole lot, but when they do, they get scarfed up quickly! Like Other Half and some other breweries, its a big to-do at bottle shops like West Connection Beer Vault, The Fridge, Union House, and Breski’s Beverage, when Burlington Beer Company is brought in and in stock. And this was no exception, because this was a barrel aged stout drop.

West Connection Beer Vault, as well as several others, all got a few different Burlington Beer Co stouts as a drop. They got: Strange Apparitions (2021), Choir of the Dead (2021), Puzzles and Pagans (2021), and Incantations (2021). They had them in four packs, as well as mix-a-six singles. I decided to grab one of each (except for the Incantations) in the mix-a-six I mentioned above. If I recall correctly (and I could be mistaken) the four packs of each of these were 28.99$, and the single cans were 7.99$ (with a 10% off of on the whole mix-a-six six pack). So instead of plunking down 30$ for a four pack of each, I plunked down 24$ for 3 and had one of each. I wanted to throw in the Incantations, but alas, I was not able to make a mix-a-seven pack.

Anyway…. this is all to say that Burlington Beer Company is a good brewery, and one I’ve enjoyed, and one we’ve covered on the blog here before.

Statistics on them, from Untappd:

  • Micro Brewery from Burlington, Vermont
  • 151 unique beers
  • Global average rating of 4.02
  • 422,593 ratings (as of 11.26.21)

Their Untappd description reads:

Where Fermentation Meets Imagination We brew with local and international malts, hops, yeast, fruit, vegetables, spices, and herbs while we explore new ways to put our stamp on classic beer styles. We strive to find a balance between going too far and staying rooted in tradition. You can find our beer in cans and occasionally in bottles. Burlington Beer Co. is located in Burlington, Vermont. Est. 2014

Untappd – Burlington Beer Company

Ok, let’s now get down to it and review this beer.

Beer Review

Puzzles and Pagans (2021) by Burlington Beer Company

Beer: Puzzles and Pagans (2021)
Brewery: Burlington Beer Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 10%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Imperial Stout brewed with Raspberries & Toasted Almonds Aged in Bourbon Barrels.

Aroma for this is a delicious bourbon, roasted malt, and raspberries. I think the toasted almonds gets mixed in with the roasted malts of the stout, and perhaps gets overlapped by the bourbon itself. But this just smells like a delicious wonderful beer, no doubt about that.

Appearance is your standard stout, dark black, abyss staring you back in the face black, Razor Ramon hair black. It has a nice tan to brown creamy head, that left lacing the whole way down the glass, and also provided a lovely centimeter or so thick head to the top of the beer that stayed for a bit. Nice varied bubbles, no off coloring, not too much carbonation or too little.

Mmmmhmmm mmmmhmmm…. this was tasty and was so good. Probably would have went better with the turkey rather than the spaghetti and meatballs, but this was still fantastic all around. I do love my bourbon barrel aged stouts, and this was no exception to that. Its a very sweet, but with that still impactful punch and kick of bourbon, stout. The raspberry adds a sweet, and wonderful character to this stout, that really blends well with the bourbon and the two complement each other very well. I’m not sure if toasted almonds really comes through, and if it does, not quite sure how it blends in, because I primarily get the raspberry flavor, the bourbon kick and flavor, and then the stout baseline behind it all. I’m not a huge eater of almonds, so I’m not quite sure how discernable my tastebuds are to figuring out ‘almond flavor’ as well, and so I might be tasting it a bit more than I realize, but I want to say it probably gets blended in and absorbed with the roasted malt flavors of the stout. (I could be wrong, and if you think you taste a lot more almonds than I do, let me know in the comments.) All in all, this is just tasty, and it really lights up the flavorbuds and the tongue. It goes down nicely, not too super smooth, and you certainly can taste the booze and know that its 10% ABV, so its not a crusher, but its not too biting or too heavy bourbon that it is problematic to drink, or that its going to take you all day. Its probably best paired with a dinner, or maybe just sitting at the fire as a night cap, I don’t think you’d want more than one of these in a sitting, but, that takes nothing away from the beer. Some beers are meant to be that way, and some are meant to be pounded and a six pack drained in a few hours. All in all, I loved it, and thought it tasted fantastic with no bad aftertaste or off flavors or annoying characteristics at all.

My Untappd rating: ****.25
Global Average rating: 3.99 (as of 11.26.21)

(Curious note, when I started this article – the global average rating of the beer was 3.96. Til I finished this, and reloaded the page, it changed to 3.99. I also realized I didn’t put in my rating, which I had put in my notes as 4.25, but didn’t actually select on the screen, and then reloaded again, but that did not make an impact on the global average. So not sure if others rated it in that time and it changed, or if somewhere around 9AM they do a math adjustment each day and that changes it. Just thought it was a curious note that I’d add in here.)

Road Trip

So, I’m finishing this up, and we’re about to head out on another road trip. This time, heading down to Virginia, where we will be hitting Adroit Theory and Aslin Beer Company. With possible other stops along the way…. I’ll be posting more about that later! Also, check our Instagram for pictures!

Thanks For Reading

As always, thanks for reading everyone. Be sure to follow us on Instagram for our road trip pics, and be sure to enter our #FreeBeer giveaway.

To help promote Small Brewery Sunday. Check it out here:

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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Beer Review: Bourbon County Brand Stout (Vintage – 2019) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/11/25/beer-review-bourbon-county-brand-stout-vintage-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-bourbon-county-brand-stout-vintage-2019 Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:58:04 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=8340
Bourbon County Brand Stout (2019) by Goose Island

The Original Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Many stouts try to compare or use lingo that suggests a stout was aged in a bourbon barrel but when this one punches a thick bourbon barrel in your nose you start to question all the others before this one.

That quick warm cozy feeling you get when you sip on a snifter of port by a fire is what this stout aged in bourbon barrels will fill you with.  Don’t confuse it with the warm fuzzy slippers feeling Homer has you imagining https://youtu.be/0oAZZK3AD6I Although, I too enjoy a snifter of port at Christmas.

Fuzzy slippers on, let’s drag our feet across the carpet for static electricity AND review a favorite

Beer: Bourbon County Brand Stout
Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 15.2%
IBU: 60

Untappd Description: Originally brewed in honor of the 1000th batch at our original Clybourn brewpub. A liquid as dark and dense as the black hole with thick form the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.

On the bottle it is described as “Notes of Vanilla, Toffee, chocolate, burnt sugar and dried fruit” Also the bottle I have says it yields a 14.7% ABV.

It’s like a Christmas morning for stout lovers. I almost hung up on a phone call with my boss to gallop over to the closest spot selling it on Monday. No varietals near me unfortunately but my taste buds are just as pleased with the OG.

I even shared a bit of this with my mom. She is quite adventurous and entertains all my crazy alcohol adventures, surprisingly. I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree or hop vine. Her first reaction was shock. She also felt that punch I talked about earlier as she sniffed her beer. One little sip and she lets out a mellow “mmmm”. This is the kind of “mmmm” this is accompanied by a warm hug and sets your mind at ease. Her eyes popped open again as if coming back from a quick hallucination. I can only assume she had a similar fantasy of sipping on it by a fire like I did. She quickly reached her glass out for another pour. I am my mother’s daughter after all. The bottle was emptied very quickly.

The only thing I want to add to the description from Untapped is the coffee aroma and flavor. Maybe it’s the charred oak that makes me think of coffee, my mom agreed. If it’s the oak taste and flavor I am enjoying, why do I loathe it so much in my wine? My mom and I both wonder this and can only agree we must drink more to draw final conclusions and give fair reviews.

After it hits your tongue the deep richness of caramel and vanilla lay on your tongue like a nice warm bath. The chocolate and dried fruit tastes dance on your tongue. It’s crazy that you can taste chocolate and a rich dark chocolate at the same time. That mix makes me feel like I am drinking an adult desert beer but not a confectionary sugar taste or flavor. The vanilla flavor from the barrel is why it so tasty compared to stouts with vanilla added, although there is nothing wrong with those either.

The release and sale of the bourbon barrel aged stout is the “Black Friday” kick off to the holiday season that I really enjoy celebrating. As I’m sure any fellow beer drinker still ready this would easily agree. Happy Thanksgiving!

Drink more beer! Cheers!

-Amy

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Beer Review: Thursday (2016) (Cycle Brewing Company) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/07/beer-review-thursday-2016-cycle-brewing-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-thursday-2016-cycle-brewing-company Fri, 08 May 2020 03:31:11 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3085
Thursday by Cycle Brewing Company (2016 vintage)

When in Rome… or when its Thursday and your beer is called Thursday, right? How can you not drink a beer called Thursday…. on any other day than Thursday? It’d be sacrilege otherwise! Heresy one might even say!

So here I am, late on a Thursday, enjoying a big, bold, deep, dark, delicious, four year aged stout. And this is a fine beer. And today was a day where I “earned” me this big bad stout. Early in the day, I stopped at the Central PA Blood Bank (by appointment, with my mask), and donated. I then braved humans and did my grocery shopping at Karn’s. Then home I did a lot of small chores about the house (mainly food prep.) So, like I said, I deserved this beer.

Blood Donation time

I cannot stress the importance of donating blood, especially at this crucial time. Blood is a premium right now, and unfortunately many who could donate before, no longer can (or are afraid to). Google or look up your local blood bank and contact them. It is safe, relatively pain free, and every donation can save up to three lives.

Ok, time for me to step down from my soap box, and move on.

Florida beer mail

In another local for local style trade, I sent two friends in Florida ten beers from local breweries – Pizza Boy, Tattered Flag, Boneshire Brew Works, Rubber Soul, and Ever Grain. In return, they sent me two Cycle Brewing bottles. Buddy Shots (2020) and Thursday (2016).

So I waited for a nice Thursday to drink the Thursday. Saving the Buddy Shots to drink with D. Scott or during one of our podcasts, so we can share it around. Once again, thats just obvious, it writes itself. As a famed director once said, “Its like poetry… it rhymes.” (Bonus points if you tell me in the comments section who said that!)

Alright, enough meandering talk, lets get to the beer review!

Thursday by Cycle Brewing

Beer: Thursday (2016)
Brewery: Cycle Brewing Company
Vintage: 2016
Style: Stout – American Imperial / Double
ABV: N/A
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (Maple DOS). We let the maple syrup barrels do their thing.

The 2016 version on Untappd doesn’t list an ABV. But the 2015 version does – 11%. The 2020 vintage lists it as 11.5%. So most likely the 2016 version is similar. (11-11.5%). Cycle Brewing Company is a micro brewery from St. Petersburg Florida. Untappd has them listed with 642 unique beers and a global average rating of 4.21. They have no description listed.

This pours out dark and heavy looking, foreboding one might say. Its black, and to pull out my trope one more time – Razor Ramon hair black. It has a nice brown creamy head. Interspersed and varied bubbles on the top, nice lacing on the glass as its drank. Quality stout all around.

Aroma is mostly bourbon. Thats forefront, center, left, and right of this beer. As soon as I popped the cap I was getting strong bourbon barrel notes. Theres not much else aroma-wise. Perhaps some hint of maple, but I’m not really getting it. The extra four years of cellaring might have worn the aroma thin on this.

Flavor is good, nice, tasty, heavy bourbon barrel, little notes of wood, but no real true taste of maple. The mouthfeel is a little bit thin, but it still has a strong presence. I think the maple and the thinness are probably a result of the four years of cellaring. The thinness isn’t too much of a problem. There is no off flavors, or cloying or sweetness; which I figured some sweetness due to the maple, but its not present. It still has a good boozy bite to it, but as it warms and as you sip it, the bite mellows and it just becomes pretty smooth. Full warmed up, this is just a nice sipping bourbon heavy stout. By this point you don’t taste the (presumably) 11%, but you certainly know its there.

I think maybe four years is a bit too long to sit on this and age. Two years is probably the sweet spot for it. Would be interesting to have tried this fresh, for comparison’s sake.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.27 (as of 5.7.20)

Sadly, I don’t have a Friday, so I can’t do that tomorrow. But make sure to check back in tomorrow for another post!

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

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