Bourbon County and the awesome Beer Share

It sat in rye whisky barrels for a year, waiting for me to line up for an hour or so on a chilly late November day in uptown Toronto to pay a record price (for me) of $35 to buy it.

It then sat on my kitchen counter for another year, with a 40-ouncer of Captain Morgan Dark Rum (opened once) and a bottle of Windex (used at least twice) for company.

It was Goose Island's Bourbon County Vanilla Rye Imperial Stout, one of the top 50 rated beers in the world, and I was (understandably) eager to drink it.

I had originally asked my friend Sarah (formerly known as My IPA Girl), partly because of her vast knowledge of all things beer and partly (okay, mostly) because her beer cellar was even vaster (that's a word, right?) and filled with rare and exotic beauties.

But Sarah has a busy social calendar and we couldn't settle on a date, and with the one year anniversary of my Black Friday purchase fast approaching, I needed to find someone to share this beer with.

In the words (sort of) of Uncle Ben, with great beer comes great responsibility.

My epiphany came while sitting at the bar (second only to the toilet for Deep Thoughts) in early November. My server was Jessica, the newly promoted manager at Buster Rhino's and one of my all-time favourite people.  And something clicked.

"Jess," I said, Deep Thoughts successfully forcing their way to the surface, "how would you like to share a bottle of Bourbon County?"

Jessica, myself and Matt. In case you weren't sure

Of course she said yes and when I asked her to bring her boyfriend my devious plan was set. Jess knows a thing or two about beer and had quite a few prizes in her beer cellar; a fact I did not know until that moment. But her man Matt takes beerology to another level: he owns the Brewer's Pantry, a brewers' supply store, and is a homebrewer and frequent collaborator with several of Durham's breweries on one-off beers. His cellar is also full, I might add.

This bottle share is going to go well, I think.

The date was set for a few days after Black Friday and we decided on Jessica's parent's house as a venue because it had, in Jessica's words, a "kick-ass" basement.

And on the appointed hour I rang the door bell and was greeted by Jess' parents, who were almost unbelievably as adorable as their daughter - seriously - and also unaware that I was coming.

Jessica ...

They invited me in anyway and we chit-chatted while they continuing playing a board game I had never heard of (I would learn they were board game fanatics) before I ventured down to the "kick-ass" basement to await Jess and Matt.

It was definitely kick-ass, with wall-to-wall board games (I did say they were fanatics), a jukebox, crokinole table, dart board and other leisure games, along with an adorable (of course) dog for company.

So I happily threw a few rounds of darts while I waited for my hosts to arrive. Which they eventually did, bringing food with them.

You are both forgiven.

Because you can never have too
many pics of these two

We started with the Bourbon County (Vanilla Rye) Imperial Stout - because that's in the headline of this blog - and I must admit I was just a teeny bit apprehensive. Four of the six variations of this annual Goose Island release were found with unwanted bacterial infections, causing the beer to become sour.

No infections were discovered with the Vanilla Rye release and as soon as we drank it we knew we had nothing to worry about.

It was fantastic.

Beautiful pour and lots of dark fruit on the nose, with a hint of licorice. Plums, dates and other ripe things on the tongue, though the vanilla was very subtle - after two years something’s gotta give, Matt noted.  A bit of booze as well. This was an extremely rich and decadent Christmas cake kind of beer. Really amazing stuff.

Jessica and Matt agreed. "Really nice. Tastes like a dessert," said Jess, who did pick up the vanilla flavours. "Really smooth and rich."

Matthew got a lot of booze, "but in a good way." Sweetness was also prominent, he added, along with black licorice.

Even though an Imperial Stout was released with my face on it in 2016, this could be my Stout of the Year.

Next up was something from Matt's cellar: Grand Cuevee Baltic Porter, a 10 per cent porter (brewed in 2013) from Quebec's famed Le Trois Mousquetaire brewery that was made from lager yeast.

This beer was also the bomb, with licorice, coffee and chocolate on the nose. It was complex and
smooth with red wine flavours (!), but not as rich as the stout. And the ten per cent alcohol was well hidden.

Looks like I have my Porter of the Year.

We also had an informative discussion (and, at times, a spirited debate) on hops, with Matt doing most of the informing and me doing most of the Polly-Annin'. "What hops shortage?" I cried."Hops for all!"

Wisely, we got back to the beer.

My final beer of the night came from Jessica's cellar: Warp & Weft, a 7.5 per cent Sour Brett Ale from Bellwoods that had been aged in tequila barrels before a further year of cellaring down in that kick-ass basement.

It was sour and tart on the nose, with an effervescence not unlike a sour ginger ale. Jess picked up on the tequila flavours while I did not. It tasted limey, even a bit salty.

It was delicious. And probably my Sour of the Year.

So let's recap: three new beers. Check. Potentially three category winners for Beer of the Year. Double Check. Great company with great people? I think that's where I write, "Priceless."

My most delicious $35
bottle of Bourbon County
Vanilla Rye

Yeah, I think I made an excellent choice for this bottle share.

***
A few days before our date I was at my pal Rodney's place and I was bragging about my $35 bottle of beer when I was asked how much the bottle was worth now. "Oh, we in the craft beer world wouldn't sell beer," I said rather smugly to pal Greg, who runs a flea market booth and a scrap business and knows the value of most things. "We share it."

A few clicks on his phone later and I was proven wrong. Greg had found a website - Beerblackberry.com - that declared a recent listing for the bottle for $227, with a 30-day average selling price of $207.

Well. You learn something new every day.

Paul Thebeerguy or Paul Thebeersaint?

When Paul Thebeerguy called to say he had some beers for me from one of his (almost) daily brewery visits and could we meet at Brock Street Brewery for a cask tapping, I said "Paul!"

You had me at beer.

It's like there's TWO Paul Thebeerguys!

So we met at the brewery - one of Paul's favourite hangouts - to await the ceremonial tapping of the cask, which was filled with a five per cent Sour Cherry Chocolate Milk Stout. And while we were waiting we enjoyed a flight of Brock Street beers. I'd like to tell you what beers we tried, but this was a couple of months ago and my notes seem to have disappeared into the ether.

I do know I enjoyed the ESB. Yeasty, malty, hoppy, with a touch of sweetness. Not bad for the style and I like me a good ESB

The cask was a little underwhelming, though the ceremony - with bagpipes and all - was very cool.

The trip was more about having a pint with Paul and the beer share than the cask, anyway. This was, as I mentioned, a couple of months ago and the only notes I have are of the beers Paul gifted me. Nothing of what I gave him in return.

I know I gave his something. I even asked Paul and he couldn't remember either. And as I write this I've given up trying to remember.

Oh well ...

What I got from Paul Thebeerguy I remembered very well. There was Yuzu Pale Ale from Radical Road Brewing (Queen Street, Toronto):

Brock Street's Sour Cherry Chocolate Milk Stout

Delicious hoppy aroma. Tangerine and tropical fruit and something citrusy and exotic, which is the yuzu, I presume. Bubbly and refreshing on the tongue. Lemon-lime and peppery flavours. A bit harsh but still nice.

And there was an excellent double play from Left Field, which is located about a mile away from Radical Road. The first one I tried was their Imperial IPA, named after baseball's classic short-to-second-to first double play: 6-4-3.

Strong grapefruit and orange aroma.. Resiny citrus, some pine, and a bit of lime. Slightly sweet. Nice bitterness.

The second turned out to be my favourite: Grandstand Hoppy Wheat, a 5.5 per cent 40 IBU beauty that checked off all the boxes for me. 

Peach, lemon and a bit of funkiness on the nose. Tastes like grapefruit, bitter orange, wildflowers and weetabix had a party and my tongue was invited. Great stuff. 

And that's why the social media world may call him Paul Thebeerguy, but to me he's Paul Thebeersaint.

And dammit! I know I gave him something.