The Bar Towel

It's a box destined for me. 12 large format beers in a styro shipper. Usual cost between Ontario and B.C. is $29-33 tax in. SO obviously $155 is way out of whack.

Yeah, don't go FedEx...that advice was erroneous. It's looking very likely Canada Post will strike. Could be 48 hours long could be a month. Sit tight and wait it out. As for the wedding invites...if the strike drags on you might have to send out an evite or something internet based in order to keep...

The Brockton IPA gets a 39/6 on Ratebeer and a B-/3.38 on Beer Advocate. Everything in the G.I. standard bottle line-up other than the Lions Winter scores well below the Brockton's scores which aren't really very good to begin with. When compared to the scores of Sleemans regular bottled line-up, an...

Viggo and I brewed a beer similar to a Cass dark but with Westmalle yeast, it turned out really nice I thought... That sounds very promising! I'm all for mixing it up but obviously didn't want to place expectations on you. You're already doing a lot to make this happen so we're ultimately going to ...

At this point it's "BarTowel Anniversary CASScadian Dark Ale". Mike and the gang who brew the beer will have the last say on that...we're also not worried about it being wordy or commercially viable since it's never going to be a beer that goes to market.

Stay tuned~!

I tried the Gemini - it was a very strong, very hoppy ale and beyond belief expensive. $9 per bottle?! Here in B.C. (and I believe in Alberta too) most quality American IIPA's in bombers are $8 or more. Some on the high end, like Dogfish Head Squall or Hopworks Ace of Spades, run about $28 for 750m...

Well said Stephen. It takes character to step up and admit the error in judgement. At this point the best move is to let the beer speak for itself in the online arenas like Bartowel, RB and BA. The extended beer community and the general public will let you know where the beer fits with their words,...

I will be very surprised if any of the GOOD Granville Island beers are part of that release. Basically if it isn't in a bomber then it's their mainstream beer, all of which is on part with something like Sleemans.

According to the Spearhead website Stephen is also "assistant brewmaster" and yet his Ratebeer review (pasted below) is written as though he's discovering the beer for the first time and is apparently unaware of what makes it a Hawaiian Pale Ale until he sniffs it. Really? :oops: 5 AROMA 1...

Are those big bottles of Robertus bottle conditioned like the smaller ones? I don't think it will kill you...the hops will likely be a faded memory but it could be okay... All this assumes it wasn't exposed to a great deal of temperature variance the past few years (like sitting on top of the water ...

Stephen, while I welcome you to BarTowel and welcome Spearhead to the brewing community in Ontario I have to cry foul to something. On the Spearhead website, in the description of your Hawaiian Pale Ale, you end the page by providing direct links to the beer's related pages on both RateBeer and Beer...

In defence of Granville Island, I know a few folks working at the small, original brewery still on the island and they report that the big brewery has been very supportive of them. While the main brands are now all made at the parent brewing facility all the GI seasonals (which are much better beers...

Good work guys! We are now at 15 confirmed with about 4 or 5 more of you as possibles. We're probably looking at no more than 25 for brew day, to keep it manageable for Mr.Lackey, so any fence sitters who haven't spoken up yet should do so if they want to attend. Really important as well that if, fo...

I'm trying to figure out what Obama is toasting with in that second picture. The other bottle is a Hobgoblin. The last picture cracks me up. You know Clinton finished that bad boy and appears to be scanning the horizon for young, impressionable women he can bag after. I hear he enjoys a good Nobgobl...

They have been discussing that. It was going to be Brydens but it will likely be too busy so other options are being considered downtown. I will keep you posted once that plan is finalized. But if you are planning to book a hotel I'd suggest anywhere in the downtown core near the subway and you'll b...