I hosted a, hopefully annual, Stoutfest over the weekend. Chico1985, Atremains, OrvalRugger45 (all good friends) attended along with a few other people. There were six official pour glasses. The event ended up going for 8.5 hours until about 4:30 AM. We cooked 2 3lb roasts, 3 full size pizzas and a chocolate cake during the event. It was on December 17th, 2011.
Here is the lineup, in order of consumption, score in parenthesis:
Founders Candian Breakfast Stout (17.5)
Portsmouth Kate The Great (2010) (16.5)
Deschutes The Abyss (2007) (19.0)
Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel (16.0)
Founders Breakfast Stout (18.5)
Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (16.5)
AleSmith Speedway Stout (N/A)
Southern Tier Jahva (2009) (12.5)
Great Divide Espresso Oak Yeti (16.0)
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti (16.5)
Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti (20.0)
Souther Tier Oat (12.5)
Firestone Walker Parabola (17.5)
Dupont Monk's Stout (13.5)
Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon (15.0)
Mikkeller White Wine Black Hole (12.5)
Mikkeller Cognac Black Hole (14.0)
The Bruery Black Tuesday (18.0)
All unmarked with year are from most recent releases.
Scores are on a simple 4 point (.5pt intervals) scale from five of us rating, totaled. Top 5 in order: BA Yeti, 2007 Abyss, Breakfast Stout, Black Tuesday, Parabola/CBS. I can't say this scoring system was perfect but I think it pretty much sums up the general feel of the night, BA Yeti and 2007 Abyss were clear favorites.
Although BA Yeti was a beer I really looked forward to, I was surprised (pleasantly) by how it turned out. I thought it would be a lot more whiskey forward like fresh KBS. Instead I found it to be mellowed out with great flavors of cocoa, oak, whiskey, caramel and roast malts. It really reminded me of how the Abyss was with one year on it, just well crafted and balanced, not a hot Bourbon bomb. Everyone agreed (somehow) that this was the case. I really don't wanna age my other bottle for very long now, possibly a treat on my birthday in July.
I found that KtG with close to 2 years (~21 months) and The Abyss with 4 years were probably at peak or getting toward past their prime. A lot of the original flavor was mellowed out and started to fade into the caramel old beer profile. I wouldn't think anymore time on these bottles would really make them better.
The Speedway was utterly disappointing and worries me for my other bottle and the rest of people who got some from the most recent batch brought to MA. (also weird that the Speedway I had before this, IN SD, was 100% flat). It was definitely just "off"/infected. There was no coffee flavor and it was dominated by this plum fruit flavor that isn't what I have come to expect from the other few times I have had the beer, might be the best stout when fresh and not infected. Some people had a truly hard time actually finishing it.
Overall it was an amazing night and really showcased how many great stouts there are out there. We really didn't find any that were mediocre, the lower scored ones I would just call decent. I guess we gotta go bigger and better next year and bring in Dark Lord, Darkness and a few other staples.
All of the pictures from the night are right here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsme ... hotostream
A rendering of all of the beers in one picture:
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