The Bar Towel

Gedge wrote:

Orval_Al wrote:

Cshh wrote:About 7 cases of CBS at King and Spadina. 530436.

Surprised you guys like this so much. I had it at The Jim during the Founders tap takeover last Friday. Found it sickly sweet. Much prefer KBS or Kentucky Bastard.

Loved the CBS and the Better Half at the Jim. The free glasses were a nice touch.

Booo I didn't get a free glass! Maybe they ran out of supplies.

I only tried the CBS, but my lady friend had the raspberry beer from Founders there. Also found it very sweet.

Belgian wrote:Possibly a terrible bar beer, but much better as a home sipper enjoyed quietly over 2-6 hours (not exaggerating this time frame in the least.) This is the pace I would enjoy über-rich things like ice wines, Sauternes, sweet Pedro Ximinez sherry and the like. A slippers and housecoat brew, if you will.

I think you have something here. There are many drinks (also applies to Single Malt Scotch, Straight Bourbon, vintage wine, etc) that are best consumed in quiet settings when one has plenty of time to drink them. Bars, restaurants, parties, etc are best suited for simple stuff, otherwise the environment, conversation, noise gets "in the way".

portwood wrote:

Belgian wrote:Possibly a terrible bar beer, but much better as a home sipper enjoyed quietly over 2-6 hours (not exaggerating this time frame in the least.) This is the pace I would enjoy über-rich things like ice wines, Sauternes, sweet Pedro Ximinez sherry and the like. A slippers and housecoat brew, if you will.

I think you have something here. There are many drinks (also applies to Single Malt Scotch, Straight Bourbon, vintage wine, etc) that are best consumed in quiet settings when one has plenty of time to drink them. Bars, restaurants, parties, etc are best suited for simple stuff, otherwise the environment, conversation, noise gets "in the way".

While I like our bars, I sometimes find Toronto overly serious and business-like, even in a social setting. Work, money, career - it's not life and death stuff. Makes the vibe at bars very 'loud' sometimes but not in a fun way.

Xocoveza now showing stock. Wish it was 330ml like last time.

Belgian wrote: While I like our bars, I sometimes find Toronto overly serious and business-like, even in a social setting. Work, money, career - it's not life and death stuff. Makes the vibe at bars very 'loud' sometimes but not in a fun way.

While I also enjoy and respect our better beer bars, I have to agree with this statement. I travel quite a bit for work and often find myself flying solo at bars in other cities. IMHO, one of the best ways to gain insights into the character of a city is to see how easy it is to strike up conversation with random patrons at a bar/brewery/etc. In places like Montreal, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and virtually anywhere in the US, I've had no problem doing this. But in Toronto I rarely ever go to the bar alone, as in my experience patrons and bartenders are usually uninterested in conversing (especially with strangers). There are a few exceptions to what I'm saying - Bellwoods Hafis, Great Lakes, and Monk's Kettle come to mind, and I'm sure others have at least one local they like - but overall the self-centred, business-like, don't-talk-to-me-stranger thing is very real in T.O.

Really depends on the location. Most of the good hoods in the city have local joints where conversations are struck up. Other places, not so much. Toronto's definitely not the friendliest city around though, that's for sure.

Like in Leslieville, where I live, I've struck up conversations in The Roy, Radical Road, AAA plenty of times.

Definitely location. It's the quieter places that have this feel. I've had the best personalized experiences at Lansdowne/Lot 30 and Laylow because of this. Also Left Field, but more because of my dog than me.

More recently, Rosedale Diner. Was my first time, and my waitress was insanely knowledgeable and was all about chatting about the brews as I ordered. Flip side, as much as I love Bar Hop, very quick and efficient but not as interactive. Caveat in Toronto is, aside from a few exceptions, if one as the customer starts the interaction, the servers are almost always welcome to be open to chats.

To respond to the earlier inquiry, I did find CBS very similar to last year, but sweet stouts aren't my thing so my judgements are swift. Luckily, I do enjoy CBS because as Belgian pointed out, this is a sipper. Versus Xocoveza which I had once as a 4oz in San Diego and refuse to ever drink again as to how sweet it felt to me.

Craig wrote:Really depends on the location. Most of the good hoods in the city have local joints where conversations are struck up. Other places, not so much. Toronto's definitely not the friendliest city around though, that's for sure.

Like in Leslieville, where I live, I've struck up conversations in The Roy, Radical Road, AAA plenty of times.

Yes, I'm speaking in general terms, to be sure. I mentioned some of my favourite spots where friendly service and conversation can typically be had, and you and Napalm have yours (totally agree about Rosedale Diner), but for every Hafis/GLB/Monk's I can name 7 other spots where these elements are lacking, especially if you're flying solo. More often than not I'm with my wife when at T.O. bars, so none of this is usually an issue, but the friendliness of other places has struck me particularly when compared to Toronto and its pubs.

Picked up a bottle of Stone Xocoveza. Didn't know we were receiving this again, or if it was mentioned in any of these threads, but granted I don't pay enough attention to them anymore.

So if you were unaware, it looks like it's around.

I don't understand how a beer can be for sale in the LCBO, but not show up in their (publicly available) inventory system.

Saw Longslice Aloha Friday HPA at King/Spadina yesterday. Doesn't show up on either the main LCBO site, or the old foodanddrink site. Mind you, there's no word of it on the Longslice website either, although photos can be found on-line.

S. St. Jeb wrote:I don't understand how a beer can be for sale in the LCBO, but not show up in their (publicly available) inventory system.

Ditto Bench Citra Grove. Absent from LCBO and drinkvine sites, but currently in stock at multiple locations

S. St. Jeb wrote:I don't understand how a beer can be for sale in the LCBO, but not show up in their (publicly available) inventory system.

Remember I asked something similar about LCBO stocking Dominion City? This is how you responded... "Not trying to be dickish, but why don't you just go to the LCBO website and check. I just did. They have no listings."

-Liam- wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:I don't understand how a beer can be for sale in the LCBO, but not show up in their (publicly available) inventory system.

Remember I asked something similar about LCBO stocking Dominion City? This is how you responded... "Not trying to be dickish, but why don't you just go to the LCBO website and check. I just did. They have no listings."

I've never said the LCBO site was perfect, but my experience with it over the years has generally been good. I think your point is that not seeing a listing doesn't prove the product is not carried somewhere. OK. My question this time is more about not understanding how their system works operationally. I bought the beer in question, and the cashier had no problem scanning it in, so it must be in "the system". So why doesn't it show up when looking for it.

As I typed this, a thought came to mind. I checked my receipt, and search the sites (lcbo.com, and foodanddrink.ca) using the product number. No results. Strange. Maybe I'll be nice guy and let the folks at Longslice no.

Addendum: I've ranted before about the inconsistency in which products are entered. I think this is more of a problem on TBS website, where sometimes on the 'beer name' is used, and not the brewery. Anyway, on my receipt, this beer has a misspelling. It shows as "Lonslice". Sigh.

Samichlaus just hit the shelves. Man the LCBO sucks.

Anyone tried 'Bring out the Imp'? http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/product/bring- ... imp/618603