Impys Aplenty

Man, I am not sure what it is about spring, but two of the best Imperial Stouts in the world come out in the spring. Not exactly the time of year one would associate with a rich, heavy style of beer, but nonetheless...

Anyway, this past Tuesday, Founder's Brewing released KBS to the delight of the Kentuckiana Beer Geeks. This beer's actual name is Kentucky Breakfast Stout. For some reason, it was changed to just KBS this year. I have a sneaking suspicion that the government, be it state of KY or the Feds, had something to do with the change. As you might have guessed, this is yet another Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout. However, I would say the base beer of KBS (Breakfast Stout) is one of my favorite stouts around. So, throw it in a barrel for a couple months, and you get something special. Of course, special comes at a cost. I believe Whole Foods is charging around $25 for a 4 pack. They also have singles of it for $6.49. I haven't heard who else has it in town, although I am sure that all of the usual places will have at least some (Liquor Barn, Old Town, ValuMarket). Also, I know that Todd at The Keg has some. However, he only got one case this year, so he will be selling it as singles only. If I get a price, I'll update you all. If you can get your hands on a bottle, definitely give it a shot. Its worth the money.

The other big stout to come out at this time of the year is Three Floyd's Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. This beer is HUGE. The final gravity of this beer is higher than most beer's original gravity. The big appeal of this beer is that it is only available on one day a year, Dark Lord Day, and it is only at the brewery in Munster, IN. They have the DLD party every year, and they get their hands on some really great guest beers from all over the country. Also, you can try their Oak Aged Dark Lord, and their Vanilla Bean Dark Lord. This year, as a bonus, they will be releasing Popskull too. Popskull is FFF's collaboration with DogFish Head Brewing, out of Delaware. Not alot is known about the beer right now, other than it is a big, probably hoppy, brown ale. Hopefully I'll get my hands on a bottle or two and I can tell you all what it is like.
So, I will be going, and this will be my first festival I have covered for this blog.

For this year's festival, FFF changed up the process a little bit. In years past, you showed up, tried to get as close to the front of the line as possible, and hoped they didn't run out of beer. Every year there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people who went home empty handed. In order to try and rectify this, FFF instituted the "Golden Ticket" lottery. You registered your name on the Dark Lord Day website, they sent you an e-mail when tickets went on sale, and for $10 you could buy a "Golden Ticket." Every person was able to buy up to 2 tickets. Then when DLD gets closer, FFF will let us know how many bottles we can get with each ticket, based on the yield of the brew. I would guess it will be anywhere between 2 and 4 bottles per ticket. Tickets went on sale this past Tuesday, and all 4,000 tickets were snatched up in about 4 hours. So, I got 2 tickets. Now, I know what some of you are saying. "Why do you have to pay $10 just to get the right to buy DL?" Well, I look at it this way; The money goes to charity, so the brewery isn't pocketing the cash. Also, I can take the time to travel up there secure in the knowledge that I won't be coming home empty handed. I think that that alone will make the day exponentially more fun. If anyone reading this has tickets too and they want to carpool, just let me know.

So, what if you can't afford KBS, or didn't get tickets for DLD? Well, there are lots of great Imperial Stouts that are readily available in Kentucky. Bell's Expedition is great. Avery's The Czar is another one. I recently tried Night Tripper from New Holland Brewing and found it to be a breath of fresh air. Full bodied and rich with a slight dusty cocoa quality that would have been overwhelmed had the brewers decided to barrel age the beer. This beer is a proof that sometimes simpler is better.

Well, that's about it. When I get back from DLD, I'll set up a tasting and we crack open a bottle of Dark Lord. I love to share. Until later, cheers all.