Night Of The (Bourbon) Barrels

I'm still drunk and Session One starts at 1:00, so this post is going to lean pretty heavily on the blurry pictures we took.


"You gotta keep the big bills on the outside, Jerry"


Waiting in-line outside Cyclorama, the worst-named venue in the history of scheduled events. It was 25 degrees but the windchill was approximately twelve below.

The room was large and round, with the stations set up along the perimeter.

For some reason, they didn't print up any signs and instead decided it would be a good idea to hand-draw them. The one on the left was the headliner, brewed by Dogfish Head exclusively for the event. Here are the ingredients:

- Maple Syrup (Grade A, Massachusetts)
- Chestnuts
- Green Peppercorns
- Korean Corn Tea "Oksusu-cha"
- Fawcett's Maris Otter Base Malt
- Dash of MFB Kiln Coffee Malt
- Liberty & Vanguard hops
- Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre House Yeast Strain
- Aiming for 8% ABV

That's Sam from DFH in the black t-shirt. He was cool enough to chat with us for a little while after he stopped pouring and updated us as to the progress on the one of the beers discussed in the article in New York Magazine. It's almost 10,000 words, but if you like beer it is a must read.

This was when the "there is more of us than there are of them" mentality kicked in.

I snapped this shot just to prove that there were some "Yeses" in attendance.

This brew was concocted with cranberries among other things and was the color of grapefruit juice. With all due respect to the Kentucky Breakfast Stout, this is beer's answer to the Bloody Mary.

Brendan's note: These were Southern Tier's Oak Aged Cuvee #1 and #2. #1 was aged in French barrels and is the lighter of the two. #2 was aged in American barrels and is notably darker. Despite our allegiance to the star and stripes, the French was much cleaner)

For good measure (and to propagate the already existing stereotypes), here is a character collage of covert shots of some of the attendees.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get EXTREMEly drunk again.