Decided to give this one a final review. The batch never carbed up right, so I have a flat beer (and a few others) to get through. I don't like wasting beer, unless it's undrinkable. Chocolate, dark fruits, bourbon, oak and hints of vanilla in the aroma. Taste has roasted malts, dark fruits, chocolate, bourbon, oak and a hint of vanilla on the back end. Very similar to Bourbon County Brand Stout, which makes sense, since that's what they were going for with this recipe. I'll have to try them side by side to see how close they actually are. Nice full body that lightly coats the glass and a smooth mouthfeel. It's a great and tasty beer, and I definitely like it way more than when I first tried it. Time in the bottle has done wonders for this. I'll refrain from rating it, since it's not the full beer drinking experience. Cheers all!

This was bottled back in October. I suppose I should review it. This beer was brewed with 2 2-liters of mountain dew in place of the same amount of water. Mountain dew is definitely a huge part of the aroma. Taste has mountain dew as well, but it's not as sweet as the aroma indicated. The base cream ale is there once the taste of mountain dew fades away. The body is medium+ with a creamy mouthfeel and medium-low carbonation. This is definitely the most unique beer I've brewed so far. This will be a repeat brew, but for future batches, I'll change the soda used. Should be fun; I can't wait! 4.25/5

My Barrel Aged Oktoberfest. I'll add a picture at some point. Nice Oktoberfest aroma with plenty of caramel and bready malts coming through. I'm not getting any bourbon or oak in the aroma, but we'll see what the flavor has to offer. Taste has light bourbon notes to start, followed by caramel, breadiness and oak coming through in the finish. The bourbon, though light, is lingering in the finish. The body is medium with medium-ish carbonation. I think I'll try this side by side with the regular Oktoberfest I brewed. I'm satisfied with this. I don't believe it's fully carbed yet, but it's definitely on its way. High 3.75/5

This is my most recent homebrew. This isn't a true märzen, since it was brewed with ale yeast and fermented at ale temperatures. Huge caramel aroma with bready malts following. Taste has a lot of caramel up front with bready malts following. The caramel isn't as sweet as the aroma indicated, which is a plus. The body is medium with a medium-low amount of carbonation. I think this turned out pretty good. Can't say it's my favorite märzen, but I'm definitely not disappointed. I have a barrel aged version of this that's almost done conditioning. I'll give that one a try next week. High 3.75/5

What better way to celebrate my most recent trip around the sun than drinking something I brewed? Well, there are plenty of better ways, but the bottle of 2018 BCBS will be after this. This is an amber ale that I aged with oak chips soaked in rye whiskey. I got a good hiss when I opened it and a good head on the pour, so that's a plus. Caramel, breadiness and sweet malts hit the nose first, followed by the rye whiskey. Taste has more of the same. The amber ale qualities come through first, with nice notes of caramel, bread and semisweet malts and almost immediately after the slight kick of the rye whiskey hits. The whiskey is noticeably present without overwhelming the amber base. Quite enjoyable and exactly what I was aiming for. I'm proud of myself and this beer. The body is medium+ with a medium-low amount of carbonation. I don't usually comment on the appearance of the beers I drink, but as you can see from the picture, it's noticeably darker than a typical amber. I think I'll bring a few bottles to the next beer share and have the guys try it. I try not to toot my own horn too much, but toot-toot! 4.5/5

This is my 4th homebrew and my first IPA. Bottled 15 days ago (8-13-23), I was happy to hear a hiss when I cracked the lid. It was delicious from the fermenter and I'm hoping it is at least as good, if not better, now. This is a Heady Topper clone, a beer I haven't yet had the privilege of trying. In other news, the craft beer world lost a true fan of craft. I never met the guy, although I've had chances to run into him a time or two. We were just friends on Untappd. The reigning champ, Darren Raymond, has passed on after having tried 28,429 different beers. His last check in was yesterday in the next town over from me, which was his usual Sunday hang out spot. No clue what happened, but he will be missed by many. Citrusy aroma with a lot of hop character coming through (it was dry hopped). Taste has citrusy hops, piney hops and some earthiness right away. It's very flavorful. Pine lingers on the tongue after sipping along with a moderate amount of lingering bitterness. The body is medium+ with a medium-low amount of carbonation. I'm very pleased with this one so far and I hope by the next one, it'll be fully carbed. This one taught me some lessons on how I want to go about brewing it next time (and there definitely will be a next time). Cheers everyone and rest in peace to a guy I never got to meet, but know we would have been friends. 4/5

This is my third stout. The name came from a combination of the bourbon used and the fact that I couldn't think of a name for it. This was my least favorite of the 3 when I tried them from the fermenter prior to bottling. I'm hoping for better results tonight. It's definitely not done carbing yet, but let's see where it's at currently. Roasty chocolate notes hit first, followed by bourbon and oak in the aroma. Off to a solid start. Taste has chocolate first, followed by bourbon, roasted malts and oak. Surprisingly balanced flavor given the amount of bourbon that went into this. The body is medium-full with (as mentioned above) no carbonation. I definitely feel better about this one now than I did before. Still would rank last of the 3, but I think it definitely shows potential. I'll probably wait around a month before I try this one again. Next up: a Heady Topper clone As for this one, 3.75/5

My second official homebrew. It's probably not carbed yet, and I expect that, but I'm trying it anyway. Roasty chocolate notes throughout the aroma. Taste has delicious chocolate throughout, along with notes of roasted malts and coffee. The body is medium-full with a smooth mouthfeel and (at this point) no carbonation. For being non-carbed/undercarbed, it's really not very off-putting. Very similar to a stout being left out overnight - some are fine in the morning, some not so much. This tastes like one that was fine the next morning. This is gonna be tasty once it's carbed and I can't wait. I'll revisit this in about a month. Cheers everyone! 4/5

Second tasting, about 1 month after bottling. Maple syrup, bourbon and oak in the aroma. Taste has maple syrup to start, followed by bourbon and oak. Some light coffee notes throughout as well. Unfortunately, the carbonation is still not really there. I've read that around 2-3 months is the sweet spot for this one, so hopefully in a month, it'll be where it should be. I think I'll wait a month before trying it again. Same rating as 2 weeks ago. High 4/5

This is my first real homebrew. It is a pre-made recipe, but I chose the bourbon and maple syrup used, so it's uniquely mine. I plan to brew this one multiple times with different bourbons and other adjuncts, hence the batch 1 attached to the name. As for this batch, I plan on drinking 1 bottle every 2 weeks until they're gone. I stashed 4 bottles in my cellar to see how they age. I'm getting bourbon, roasted malts, chocolate, maple syrup and coffee notes in the aroma. Taste has bourbon first, followed by maple syrup, oak, chocolate and roasted malts. The coffee notes in the aroma didn't carry over into the taste, unfortunately. The aftertaste is primarily bourbon, oak and light maple syrup. The body is medium-full with no carbonation (apparently 2 weeks wasn't enough time for the carbonation to kick in). Hopefully the next bottle will be better carbed. With the exception of a lack of carbonation, however, the flavor is nice. I can't wait to see how this develops over time. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much oak flavor came through by using oak chips. Either way, I'll sip and enjoy this one. I'll see you guys in 2 weeks for another review on this one. As it stands right now, it's about a high 4/5