It’s election night and like most Americans, we’re kicking back to celebrate the blessed end of campaign commercials. Here’s what your ModernThirst.com staff is throwing down: Bill Starting out with a Samuel Adams Fat Jack Double Pumkin Ale. It’s, not surprisingly, chalk full of heavy pumkin and spice flavors. Regardless, it’s head and shoulders better than the standard Sam Adams Pumkin Ale. I like it, though at 8.5% ABV, it’s probably best to split this bomber. Matt This has a nice fresh hop aroma and taste, but finishes with a earthy, dank bitter hop flavor. All of…
Author: Bill
Bill
Bill is the Co-Founder, Editor-in Chief, and official Bourbon-o-Phile for ModernThirst.com, and Founder and Chief Blending Officer for Four Gate Whiskey Company. He is a native of Louisville, KY in the heart of Bourbon Country. He attended the University of Kentucky in the mid to late 1990s. He has also been published on Liquor.com. He has conducted various bourbon and whiskey tastings in cities across the country, and consulted for multiple national labels. He is married with two daughters, and lives in east Louisville. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BillStraub and email him at [email protected].
So you’ve discovered this wonderful nectar of the gods we call Bourbon. You may be an expert in sipping the juice, or you may be entirely new to it. Either way, the next step from enjoying bourbon is to make it a social focus. Just as Wine Tastings have been en vogue for decades, Bourbon tastings are becoming the en vogue evening social event to host at your home. We’ve had numerous readers reach out to us over the past few months asking what they need to know in order to host their own tasting. With the holidays fast approaching,…
Stats: 43.3% ABV (86.6 Proof) Age: 9-10 Years Distilled: 2004 Distiller: Heaven Hill (Bernheim Distillery) Price Paid: $24, Louisville Bourbon Society Availability: 2004 vintage readily available. This private selection is available only to members of the Bourbon Society. What It is: Evan Williams Black Label is the second highest selling bourbon in the world behind Jim Beam. That’s also reflected in Heaven Hill’s inventory, as they boast the second largest number of barrels of aging bourbon in the world in their many rick houses spread across Kentucky. The standard Black Label shares the same underlying distillate as this single barrel…
About a dozen years ago, various distillers at Jim Beam Brands posed a hypothetical question to themselves. What happens if the secondary ingredient in Jim Beam bourbon, rye, suffers a shortage or becomes too expensive to use in future distillation? It wasn’t an incredibly off the wall question, as the price of rye did, in fact, spike in the early 2000s. Luckily for bourbon drinkers, it did not reach crisis levels. But the question still needed and answer. It also spurred distillers at Jim beam to experiment a bit with different secondary grains in their mash bill. So about 12 years ago,…
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Last night, I opened a recently purchased growler of Country Boy Alpha Experiment Mosaic. This is an IPA, very fruity in flavor with tons of pineapple, mango, and tangerine. The mosaic hops are definitely on display as well with a very hoppy finish. Great representation by Country Boy. Stats: Distiller: Country Boy Brewing; Lexington, KY Style: Mosaic IPA ABV: 7% If you’re a user of the UNTAPPD app on iOS or Android, you can follow our beer tastings. Matt’s user name is “gater” (Matt at ModernThirst.com), and mine is “wastra,” (Bill Straub).
Boredom got the better of me. I’ve seen multiple nice tasting sets on eBay, etsy, amazon, etc. I looked at the prices, and thought they seemed a bit…ridiculous. So yesterday, I took to the garage shop and made my own glencairn tray out of some scrap wood with a minimum of effort. The Tools: Drill (with 2 inch flat bottom round bit) Palm sander Vice or clamps Router table with round over bit Bench saw Wood glue Stain Exacto knife (for logo stencil) Spray paint (for logo) The Steps: (Optional) Cut stencil in cardboard using exacto knife Cut two…
[amazon_link asins=’B00H143UXW,B01N7IB71N’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’modernthirstc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’fef1caee-970c-11e7-b0ef-53cd0f1cd183′] What it is There are certain releases in the Bourbon and Whiskey arena each year that generate a ton of buzz. The obvious Pappy release leads the pack, but the Four Roses Limited Editions, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, and Buffalo Trace Antique collection come to mind. Another release that sits high in that list is the annual Heaven Hill release of Parker’s Heritage Collection. Previously, Parker’s Heritage has been bourbon, with most being cut to 90 or 100 proof, with the exception of 4th release, which was wheated bourbon that came out in barrel…
Modern Thirst was on location yesterday at Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, KY to sample the new releases of several new barrel aged beers. A further post about our discussions with the guys in charge of the operation is forthcoming, but for now, enjoy some of the photos we took of Country Boy’s facilities!
Stats: Producer: Smooth Ambler; Maxwelton, WV Distiller: MGP; Lawrenceburg, IN 59.9% ABV (119.8 Proof) Age: 8 years Price Paid: $54 Barrel 904 Bottled on 9/16/2014 Availability: Somewhat Rare What it is: In an age when it seems whiskey producers do everything they can to obscure the origins of their distillate, and create false and misleading narratives about the source of their whiskey, Smooth Ambler is a refreshing change of pace. While they are distilling many of their own spirits, they also do source whiskey from other producers, namely MGP in Indiana. They are very transparent on the process, which…