The Bar Towel

Stopped by the Burdock bottle shop yesterday for the first time in a while. I've always thought most of their stuff is above average. I looked at the extensive bottle/price list. Barrel 24, $14.75! Blink. Read the description. "I'll try it." Get home. Pouring a bottle of Té when I notice t...

I'm also loving that we got Saison Dupont in brown glass. This beer always had a skunky smell to it whenever I got the green bottles (despite my best efforts to shield it from light). The one I had today had no trace of skunk. Nice.

I went to the Friday session, my first time there. It was not as bad I had expected, based on what others have said. Pretty good service and food selection, fair prices. Lineups were manageable from what I saw, except for the washrooms at one point. It does have a frat house vibe, with many people w...

Masterplan wrote:The pricing is the most interesting part. If they had come out with $5 growlers, and tried to undercut actual craft Brewers. They might have been on to something.

Beer prices are regulated and $5 growlers would probably be below the minimum legal price.

If you're looking to get a buzz going and stretch a buck Mill St. IPA is a drinkable 6.6%.

How is Detour $5+ more than all the others? How is Goose IPA cheaper than Coors Banquet? I can just imaging the looks on TBS staff' s faces when they learned of this initiative. This is truly laughable.

I tried the Domaine De La Duretiere Brut last night. Overall it is a decent cider, a bit on the sweet side. Despite coming from the same region, it is not nearly as impressive as Le Pere Jules Cidre Brut, which should not be missed.

Trying this for the first time from the collection pack currently at TBS. I'm really liking it. Never had anything remotely hoppy from Unibroue but this bottle from Feb has held up nicely with a nice punch of grapey-lychee fruit on the nose and taste. Well done!

Sipping on a pre-Sleeman bottle of Maudite. 750 ml bottle caged with real cork born on October 15 2003. This was given to me a few years ago by a friend who had it sitting in his wine cellar from a Quebec trip years before. No pop on 14 year old bottle, it has lost all carbonation. Flavour profile h...

Caledon Hills Badlands Dark Lager — This is a nice brew with a solid dry-roasty-bitter backbone. Reminds me of Czechvar Dark. I'd never heard of this brewery before. It seems like a small operation that has good presence at bars and restaurants in and around Caledon.

The gose is very nice. Tang Town is incredible. But using passionfruit is kinda cheating.

Popped the Le Pere Jules Brut last night, wow. Never tasted a cider like this before. Very unique, earthy funky flavours. The cork says 2015 on it and I am not sure how long these have been on LCBO shelves, but I highly recommend it.

Ditto for Jacobins. I think a lot of it has to do with economies of scale. The established Euro breweries have been doing the same recipes for decades, and tend to offer a very limited variety of beers. Bellwoods is really still an upstart and brews multiple styles and experimental variations.

I REALLY don't get the BOs pricing these days. This is par for the course. LCBO sells premium imported (especially European) beer cheaper than just about anywhere. This is probably because of their ability to make large orders, combined with an absent desire to optimize profit from this relatively ...

Le Trou du Diable L’Impératrice (bourbon barrel edition) on the shelf. 750 ml for $13.50