[unknown]

so I went to Oakquinox at the Stone brewery yesterday. This is the festival I look forward to every year. 15 tasters, and I never make it through all of them. This year was no exception. However, I was pretty disappointed by a couple of the beers I had.

For the first time ever, I've been disappointed by a Kern River Brewing Company beer. Their Class X is a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. Only been brewed once or twice before. It just wasn't good. First of all it was flat. Second, it lacked the depth and complexity of a good bourbon barrel aged RIS. There were no boozy notes, no vanilla, no amazing smell. I was pretty bummed.

I was also disappointed with Oskar Blues's Barrel aged Ten FIDY. Ten FIDY is already a great imperial stout, so naturally the barrel aged version should be better right? Several people who went to last year's Oakquinox said this was one of the highlights. So I eagerly forked over a ticket for a taster. It was bad. I poured it out. It tasted like soy sauce and was obviously over the hill. Shame.

Otherwise, everything else I had was great. FiftyFifty Eclipse in Rose Hills and 20year Elijah Craig barrels were fantastic. Firestone Walker's Parabola is still drinking nice, which is good since I have a few bottles in the cellar.

Overall it was a good time, but this was probably my least favorite Oakquinox I've attended so far