A big, bold stout base, resting in exceptional barrels and then dosed with some of the finest vanilla in the world—this is the combination that forms one of the most adored and sought-after imperial stouts among aficionados.
The ingredients that the Bottle Logic team wants for Fundamental Observation aren’t always easy to get. Especially in their early days, quality bourbon barrels could be challenging to find for an upstart brewery in Southern California. “We were small and new, with tiny distribution,” says Lindsay Langton, Bottle Logic’s creative director and “lord commander” who is integral to shaping the final product.
Thanks to an industry friend—Trevor Tyler, beverage director for the Eureka! Restaurant Group—Bottle Logic was able to source barrels from Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Weller back in 2014. Fundamental Observation debuted at the Bruery’s 2015 anniversary party. By the second hour, says Bottle Logic founder and brewmaster Wes Parker, “the line got to a hundred people long.” A legendary stout was born.
The Fundamentals
Parker says the beer’s base is “essentially, an oated stout.” It’s an evolution of one of Parker’s recipes from his homebrew days, and it’s similar to their Darkstar November—but without the rye and molasses and with more oats.
Since Day One, the foundation has been Simpson’s pale malt, which Parker says turns barrel-aged beers into something “amazing over time.” For big stouts like Fundamental Observation, Bottle Logic targets 12 to 16 percent dark malts. While many modern imperial stouts shy away from black malt and roasted barley, Bottle Logic embraces them. Parker says the recipe is a bit more traditional compared to some newer breed stouts.
Besides a bittering charge of Columbus, Fundamental also gets a whirlpool hit of Perle. Parker says it’s something they’ve always done, unique to this beer, and it’s there for subtle depth.
One aspect of the beer that’s shifted over the years is its viscosity. Starting around 2020, many stout enthusiasts seemed to be clamoring for a thicker, chewier body. “We jokingly and lovingly called that the ‘Florida Effect,’” Langton says. That may prove to be cyclical, she says, because they’ve slightly toned down its thickness in recent years, letting it settle into its own identity.
During the peak years of the “Florida Effect,” Parker says that the beer was finishing as high as 20°P (1.083). That was after finishing as low as 9°P (1.036) in its early years. Today, Parker says, the sweet spot is around 12 to 14°P (1.048 to 1.057). Those high finishing gravities, he says, “can become [so] sweet and chewy that you start to lose barrel character.”
Barrel Observations
For a beer that sits on oak for more than a year, adjusting to market whims is a challenge. Bottle Logic’s “secret sauce” is to brew separate batches of the same recipe—drier and sweeter versions—then blend them together for the final product.
“We segment off these variables,” Langton says, “and I can use those like a painter, pulling different colors to make a final, beautiful blend that speaks to what people want their beer texture like in the modern era.”
Langton says she has a rating system for the barrels that could potentially be incorporated. Her considerations include the final blend, but they also include which casks would be best for adding vanilla. “That’s the magical ingredient in Fundamental,” she says.
Chocolate-chip cookie dough is her “compass North” when searching for flavors that might make the final cut. “If I’m tasting flavors of baker’s chocolate or semisweet chocolate, I want that,” she says. “Toffee is big for me, brown-sugar caramelization. Vanilla pumps all of that character up and fills in the missing puzzle piece of that flavor bowl.” Fruity notes, meanwhile, the team tries to avoid.
Photo: Justin Graziano/Courtesy Bottle Logic
It’s Not Just Vanilla
Parker has done a lot of research on vanilla, from visiting a farm in Costa Rica to reading college textbooks, learning about its cultivation and how fickle the plant can be. Since the start, he’s kept Fundamental Observation with the same type of vanilla bean: Madagascar.
“We’ve locked in on that,” Langton says. It’s not that Madagascar is necessarily the best variety—it’s simply the best for this specific beer. For Fundamental Forces—an 18 percent ABV monster version of Fundamental Observation—they use Tahitian vanilla instead. Langton says she thinks the more floral, pastry-chef-frosting sweetness from that variety better matches those higher alcohols.
For Fundamental Observation, the team calls upon six to eight vanilla purveyors each year, and they bench-test crops from each supplier. Early on, Langton identifies the cask of Fundamental that she believes is most representative of the brand, and she doses 12-ounce samples of that beer with vanilla. The team tastes the samples and takes elaborate notes on each version before deciding on the source of vanilla.
“I’m surprised at how much it changes each year,” Parker says. “It’s absolutely an agricultural product, where it can go from a beautiful marshmallow smell one year to a very farmy [bean] the next.” One year, Langton says, there was a vanilla crop that tasted like raspberries.
The base beer typically rests in barrels for about a year before they add vanilla directly to those barrels, then it rests another three months or so. They don’t want to use tanks for this for two reasons: One is that they don’t want to tie up any tanks for three months, and the other is to ensure more successful blending at the end. If there’s a specific vanilla-dosed cask that isn’t tasting true to the brand, they can leave it out of the final blend.
The amount of vanilla changes year to year—they’ve used anywhere from 14 ounces to two pounds per 53-gallon barrel (or roughly 400 to 900 grams per 200 liters). “If it doesn’t express itself in a month or two, we’ll add more,” Parker says.
This is a beer with certain customer expectations—including the vanilla component—and meeting those is the goal. “We have to get it there,” Langton says.
The team has tried adding vanilla in many different ways, but they learned early on that you can’t replicate the process of allowing the vanilla to age in the barrel for three months. “It’s just not the same flavor characteristic,” Parker says.
The cost of vanilla has skyrocketed at times, costing the brewery as much as $500 per pound at one point. “We had $30,000 of vanilla locked in a cabinet at the brewery,” Parker says. Today, the cost of $70–90 per pound is far higher than the $20 they paid in 2015, but it’s far more manageable than the peak. The brewery also contracts for its vanilla, so it can ensure access to a certain amount each year without unwelcome surprises.
Maintaining the Magic
The production volume of Fundamental Observation changes from year to year, and that can reflect how many casks make the cut rather than a specific volume target. “I’d rather let the barrels, rather than the liquid, tell me what it wants to be,” Langton says. “I’m not going to force it, to overproduce and lower the quality.”
Currently, the brewery has about 450 casks in its inventory; at one point, it had about 1,200. “I want to be doing really thoughtful releases,” Langton says. “People also just aren’t buying beer the way they used to.” Today, people can buy the beer in advance and pick it up at their convenience. They can also find some of the top barrel-aged stouts—including Fundamental Observation—via apps such as Tavour. It’s a far cry from the days of unruly lines at the brewery, illegal drinking in the parking lots, and people leaving with cases of beer.
“I deeply care about hospitality and the guest experience,” Langton says. “I want to make things smooth and organized and convenient and show people that I value their time and their [choice] to spend money with us.”
Still, there may be something missing in all that efficiency and convenience. “When I compare how beer is operating today, it seems like a little bit of magic was in the chaos,” she says.