Coming Soon to the LCBO

[Belgian]

I've seen (DrieFont Armand & Tommy Oude Gueuze) being sold for as high as 30 dollars. Say what you want about the LCBO but there's times their pricing is a fairly good deal.

Sounds like it's a labour-intensive beer, and I actually wonder if it's easier and cheaper to make a great bottle of Champagne or Bordeaux wine selling for $100.

We bierophiles enjoy a wonderfully affordable hobby, mostly.

[Belgian]

Any concerns with the "green bottle skunk" I've got three bottles reserved for me at a store but considering buying the whole case. Only thing stopping me is the concern of the bottles being skunked.

they've barely been on the shelf and exposed to light. assume zero skunkiness

And while many words come to mind concerning any Gueuze, 'hoppy' is just not one of them. Aged hops are used in Lambics. No alpha-acids present in the aromas would mean no light-struck beer, yes?

And I can't wait to try one of the 12 bottles of 'Oude' I picked off the shelf at the Beaches store today. Be patient and keep dropping by the usual stores.

[mixedup]

I thought the 6 bottles I picked up was a bit excessive....with people picking up 6-12 bottles each, it might be tough to get any at the usual stores!

Still not sure this warrants the price differential vs. the standard 3F gueuze??? 'Rare' as it may be....

[atomeyes]

I thought the 6 bottles I picked up was a bit excessive....with people picking up 6-12 bottles each, it might be tough to get any at the usual stores!

Still not sure this warrants the price differential vs. the standard 3F gueuze??? 'Rare' as it may be....

i was buying regular 3F gueuze in Belgium for around 4 euros a bottle. 375 mL at a bar. so that would be $12 cnd for 750 mL.

for a special edition AND it coming from overseas? again, i have no issue with the prices. also, keep in mind that, due to the limited #s released in Ontario, we, the consumer, are paying for
a) lab testing ($150)
b) shipping

And while many words come to mind concerning any Gueuze, 'hoppy' is just not one of them. Aged hops are used in Lambics. No alpha-acids present in the aromas would mean no light-struck beer, yes?

correct. but regardles of hop content, i wouldn't want my beer sitting in direct sunlight or excessive heat.

and 12 bottles? man, that's an expensive purchase! i hoard my sours and still have 6-9 Cantillon bio-lambic that i take my time on drinking..and perhaps too much time, since they've lost the sour crispness and have definitely started taking on grapefruit and delicious funk flavours. for Cantillon, i think that aging their gueuze for 2 years is perfect. i'd probably guess the same for 3F, although last week i may have had their gueuze from 2009 and don't remember it being all that funky.

[mixedup]

OK, i'm convinced I need more now... Wife may not be on board with it, though....

[JesseMcG]

I had a bottle last night, and it wasn't skunked. And it was awesome.

[Kekumba]

Three years on 3F's Gueze was tasting pretty good to me. So much so that I opted to drink multiple bottles of it at Kulminator rather than dig deeper into that dudes massive cellar.

[S. St. Jeb]

According to an ad in the brochure for the Burlington Sound of Music Festival, Nickelbrook Headstock Lager is coming to the LCBO in June in a 473 ml can.

[GregClow]

After the initial mini-frenzy, things seem to have calmed down for the Armand & Tommy - still a few bottles on the shelf at Liberty Village today (I grabbed another to avoid cellar regret later), and online inventory shows at least a dozen stores with stock as of the end of day yesterday.

Oh, and in terms of aging - the bottles we got are already over 2 years old (2011/02/17), so they're probably in pretty prime drinking condition right about now.

[tyler90]

Oh, and in terms of aging - the bottles we got are already over 2 years old (2011/02/17), so they're probably in pretty prime drinking condition right about now.

That's a good point, I was thinking about that the other day.

Wouldn't this beer be best drank fresh off the shelves? I don't doubt other people's ability to taste and judge beer, but I would assume the people involved with the brewing/blending process of this beer would be best at gauging when it is "best" to drink. Especially this beer (style), where 3F aged the blend for a fairly specific amount of time, I'd want to drink it relatively quickly. That's not to say it would suffer if aged, but just something on my mind.

Maybe it just comes down to taste being subjective?

[nickelass]

I find there is a completely different flavour profile depending on the age. That being said, I enjoy both fresh and aged lambic based on the flavours they offer. I usually try to get at least three bottles of each lambic that I put in the cellar, and try them at different intervals to see the changes.

[mixedup]

Yep...have seen quite a few bottles on the shelf. My guess is that there are still more to trickle in (if Ontario received 600+ bottles, I don't think that many have hit the shelves yet).

[TheBeeraholic]

I find there is a completely different flavour profile depending on the age. That being said, I enjoy both fresh and aged lambic based on the flavours they offer. I usually try to get at least three bottles of each lambic that I put in the cellar, and try them at different intervals to see the changes.

Exactly what I do with all my Belgians and Imperial Stouts. Kind upset that the 3F is already over two years old. That behind said not stopping me from buying the three bottles being held for me until tomorrow.

[Craig]

When you say it's already 2 years old, what does that mean exactly? The descriptions online say it's a blend of a 4 year old Boon lambic with another Lambic from 2008.

[MatttthewGeorge]

Hope I get a change to try this. Haven't seen any listed in Guelph, K/W, London yet.