The Bar Towel

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

BakaGaijin wrote:Question about the Cafe del Bastardo released last year. I did not detect much bourbon in that beer. Were the barrels 3rd use barrels (i.e. 1st bourbon, 2nd beer, 3rd beer)?

Also, what is the deal with that golden sour ale that has been in barrels for three years?!? What are the plans for that?!?

Cafe del is the same beer as Kentucky, just with a bag(s) of coffee beans added to the barrel a couple of months before release. (ie if no coffee added it would be regular Kentucky). So any lack of bourbon would only be because of the coffee overpowering it for you.

As for the golden ale (and others we have, Flanders red, for instance), they'll be released when ready. The brewers were sampling them a couple months back but said they need more time. But I feel ya, drives me crazy just looking at them and thinking about how they could be in my belly, lol

Cheers!

Just out of curiousity...I think I saw Kentucky Bastard aging in Heaven Hill barrels.....any idea which HH product was in said barrels?!?

BakaGaijin wrote:Just out of curiousity...I think I saw Kentucky Bastard aging in Heaven Hill barrels.....any idea which HH product was in said barrels?!?

Sorry, I don't know. I'm only at the brewery about every other week, but next time I'm down I'll see if I can find an answer. Cheers.

this is back again, I assume the 2016 version

Duvel Tripel Hop

MatttthewGeorge wrote:Full disclosure, in case you didn't know, I work for Nickel Brook. Last year KB was $14.95. The reason for the large price increase on Bolshevik Bastard from the 4-pack to the can, and the increase on KB from a few years ago till now, is that Nickel Brook literally wasn't making any money from these beers.

I totally assumed that, nobody in Ontario is selling an Imperial Stout like Bolshie for 9.95 a four pack and we might like to appreciate all the time and expenses tied up in making that type of big brew.

Prices are still great now I think.

Masterplan wrote:Yeah, $6 bucks a can is cray-cray.

Totally. We're into gouging territory now. Drink up everyone!

My local in Georgetown shows 24 Mikkeller Texas Ranger in stock. I dont remember ever seeing that it was coming this year

I think that is the dregs of the 2014 brewery feature. Still making the rounds looking for buyers.

new listings at TBS

Manitoulin Brewing Company Bridal Veil Pale Ale
Lake Wilcox Bandit Apa
Lake Wilcox Lakehouse

I have to laugh at the talk of gouging and complaining about price increases, I mean no one has batted an eye at Bellwoods' pricing of their IIPAs at 6.25 or 6.50 for a 500 ml bottle. How is that any worse than a $6 473ml can? I don't like the pricing on either but given how our dollar is in the states right now, it's really not much more than what we have to pay at premier to get good IIPAs.

Bolshevik was a steal at 9.99 for a 4 pack, so a price change was due. it's tough to not compare it to its previous pricing, but compare it to the market of other RIS and it's perfectly in line.

And I'd love Kentucky Bastard to not have gone up in price as well, but business is business and I can't imagine their costs to make it stay the same each year. Still, even with their increase they are still lower per ML (15.95/750 = .021/ml) than either Amsterdam's Double Tempest ($15/650ml = .023/ml) or Bellwoods' BA stouts (13/500ml = .026/ml).

Craft beer isn't a staple, you can't be gouged on this product since you can simply choose not to buy it. Just be thankful we are not in the states where breweries are regularly charging $20-$30 USD for bombers of BA stouts!

I think the only gouging talk was about Collective Arts IIPA and I'm my opinion that talk is warranted. $6 a king is a bit steep. Defend it all you want but I'm already not a huge fan of Collective Arts and this wont help me buy their product any more. However I do hope they change my mind with this beer.

As far as BB I think we all knew that was too good a deal to last. For the quality of the NB Bastard beers I'll pay the little bit extra. TBH I'm drooling at the thought of a glass of Winey Bastard.

Actually I was at Indie ale house last week and ended up leaving without buying anything because they wanted $18 - $20 for a 750ml bottle for the ones that looked interesting to me. On top of that, they couldn't even give me a sample of most of them.

Is this the beginning of market saturation? Too many choices, brewers selling less as more and other options become available. Mix that with rising hop costs and it sounds like saturation is beginning.

Grabbed some cans of Stone Go To IPA last night, as it is showing stock at multiple stores in T.O. Happy to report that, despite being exactly two months old (canning date of Sep. 23), it is drinking phenomenal right now. Probably the most tangerine forward Session IPA I've ever had, with a massive hop bouquet that puts many regular-strength IPAs to shame. Well worth buying, at least for the next couple of weeks.

cratez wrote:Grabbed some cans of Stone Go To IPA last night, as it is now showing stock at multiple stores in T.O. Happy to report that, despite being exactly two months old (canning date of Sep. 23), it is drinking phenomenal right now. Probably the most tangerine forward Session IPA I've ever had, with a massive hop bouquet that puts many regular-strength IPAs to shame. Well worth buying, at least for now.

I also picked up a pair of Go To cans earlier this week and was very happy with the purchase. Not stale at all, despite the fairly old canning date; I think I liked it more than their regular IPA.

CoolB wrote:Is this the beginning of market saturation? Too many choices, brewers selling less as more and other options become available. Mix that with rising hop costs and it sounds like saturation is beginning.

It's definitely getting there. You can only have so many pale ales, ISAs and "craft lagered ales" on the shelves before consumers eventually start to recognise the difference between the top tier products and the middling stuff - or stop trying new stuff entirely and stick with known brands that they already like. This is especially true when the price difference between the "good" and "middling" tiers is basically negligible. I'm really not very picky about IPAs, e.g. I still enjoy established brands such as Smashbomb and Mad Tom and will get them occasionally... but if they're sitting next to near-identically priced cans of Karma Citra or Headstock then I'm always going to purchase the latter two, because they are objectively superior products IMO.

Not everyone's beer is worth three (or six) dollars a tallboy - and even though I understand that it may very well need to be priced there in order for any real profit to be earned, that doesn't change the fact that lots of people just aren't willing to pay that much for middle-of-the-pack beer on a regular basis. There are plenty of mediocre-to-OK ON-brewed products out there that I wouldn't pay $3.25/473 mL for (at least, repeatedly - I'm a ticker so I'm guaranteed to pick up at least 1). For $5-6 a can, it better be at least as good as the stuff that I can get in the States, if not better. I am willing to pay for top quality beer, but only if it's actually top quality, not just "pretty good by local standards".

If your break-even point is forcing you to price your mediocre product as if it were a premium one, and your premium products as if they're super-premium, well then I wish you luck. It's not impossible to be successful with this strategy (see: Beau's and their $26 four-packs), but as the marketplace becomes more crowded and ingredient prices rise, more and more breweries are going to be forced into using this business model just to stay afloat. Everyone's individual slice of that profit pie is going to get thinner and thinner; it's inevitable that some are going to get squeezed out.

ckoop wrote:I have to laugh at the talk of gouging and complaining about price increases, I mean no one has batted an eye at Bellwoods' pricing of their IIPAs at 6.25 or 6.50 for a 500 ml bottle. How is that any worse than a $6 473ml can? I don't like the pricing on either but given how our dollar is in the states right now, it's really not much more than what we have to pay at premier to get good IIPAs.

Bolshevik was a steal at 9.99 for a 4 pack, so a price change was due. it's tough to not compare it to its previous pricing, but compare it to the market of other RIS and it's perfectly in line.

And I'd love Kentucky Bastard to not have gone up in price as well, but business is business and I can't imagine their costs to make it stay the same each year. Still, even with their increase they are still lower per ML (15.95/750 = .021/ml) than either Amsterdam's Double Tempest ($15/650ml = .023/ml) or Bellwoods' BA stouts (13/500ml = .026/ml).

Craft beer isn't a staple, you can't be gouged on this product since you can simply choose not to buy it. Just be thankful we are not in the states where breweries are regularly charging $20-$30 USD for bombers of BA stouts!

I think people don't really complain about bellwoods pricing because you know they are almost always excellent, this justifying the price. Similarly, I don't think many folks around here are realistically going to complain about Bolshevik or Kentucky/winey price increases since we know they're also wxcellent