I believe Spencer are a Trappist monastery that brews beer? But yeah, I get that you are referring to trappist-style ales maybe similar to Chimay, St Bernardus, etc. Spencer are decent! Yup, their flagship is creativly named "Trappist Ale". Last time I tried it, it reminded me a lot of Ch...

De Ranke XX Bitter — Damn this a fine ale. Does anyone make anything like this (or Simplex) locally? I may have to order a whole case.

The Spencer pack is pretty good value. One Trappist Ale, Imperial Stout and Holiday Ale and a nice glass for about $16 IIRC.

Session 1 was great as expected. I like that they added chalk boards with beer listings this year, it makes the ordering process easier.

Barncat's Lavender IPA stole the show for me.
Bellwoods 3M2M had some off notes/flavours.

Prediction: Bellwoods Double Chocolate Hazelnut 3 Minutes To Midnight will last approx 45 mins

Had the Scotch Bonnets Skeleton Key today and was very impressed. I had a taster of the scotch bonnet version and was almost floored. This is a remarkable beer. The flavours are so intense, yet so balanced. It gave me scotch bonnet burps. The coffee and vanilla version of Skeleton Key is also fanta...

Port City Optimal Wit — This one is new to the LCBO via Alexandria, Virginia. It delivers on the fruity-ester front. It's softly carbonated and very gulpable. There is a dearth of Belgian wits at the LCBO, so it's nice to have this one around.

I was at session 1 and it was pretty great. They must have underestimated how many people would show up for the opening 45 min Ontario session because we were like sardines in there for a while. Good on Bellwoods for opening the main event 15 mins early. I only went for Cantillon once, there was jus...

More details in a new blog post, including a detailed beer list.

Alvinne Phi - My final bottle from the last batch the late Peter @ Esprit imported in 2016. This has got to be 2+ years old (BB Jan 2019). Still gushing aggressively, drinking very well. Sweet honey-like barrel, balanced sourness, fruity, medium finish. Very nice brew.

Stellar list. Hopefully they release a more detailed list before the event.

De Ranke Simplex — Grassy malt, herbal Euro hops (lots of them). Reminds me of a cross between Pilsner Urquell on steroids and Chimay Gold. Firm herbal bitter bite which lingers in the mouth. Frothy bubbles, quenching and keeps me wanting more. Bottled Dec 2017 but drinking very well right now (2 ye...

This price is bizarre. Sam Adams states the MSRP is US$200 (C$260) and LCBO sells it for C$110. Perhaps LCBO gets a better price by buying 588 bottles, but I suspect anyone selling it for the US$200 is making a very healthy margin if the LCBO can profit at less than half price.

Looks like the LCBO didn't bungle the timed release. Nice to see.

I enjoyed the peach flavour but overall it was kinda bland. Doesn't really drink like an IPA.

The Gose with Guava is delicious despite having less salt than expected.