LCBO Spring 2014 Craft Beer Release

[atomeyes]

I have to agree Liam. Not a single beer excites me in this release. Hopefully they excite some BTers.

yep. faux sours, so-so belgians, likely-stale IPAs. zzzzz

I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone and I am honestly interested in the response....why is this release boring/poor? It seems like there is a decent mix of styles, many with fairly good ratings.

1. really belgian heavy without any spectacular or really good Belgians, IMO.
2. IPAs are all coming from overseas. not a hotbed of IPAs, plus they'll be nice and unfresh by the time they make it to shelf
3. zero US releases. considering all the wicked things going on south of us, it's a shame that we get nary a sniff of what they offer. like, somehow get us some nice barrel-aged stuff on a consistent basis. or, other than the splash that Founders made, name any top US releases we get up here?
4. if you're going to go sour, then at least choose beer that isn't (literally) saccharine sweet

i won't be spending a single dollar on any of these beer. and the quantity in this release is quite small.

*edit* just saw this posted.

@CNBCBeerNews 1h
The top 5 breweries in the world as named by @ratebeer: 1) @AleSmithBrewing 2) @HillFarmstead 3) @3Floyds 4) Russian River 5) @bellsbrewery

not that i expect RR here, but considering the proximity of Bells and 3Floyds and HF, you would hope a trickle would get up here. well, capacity-wise, not from HF. but they are so close to us that we should really be getting some 3F or Bells.

[midlife crisis]

I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone and I am honestly interested in the response....why is this release boring/poor? It seems like there is a decent mix of styles, many with fairly good ratings. Not defending the LCBO either. I'm just interested in what people want in their the seasonal releases.

The thing that jumps out at me is there is not a single US beer in a release supposedly devoted to hoppy (and sour). I'm not even a hophead compared to most of you guys, but that is still shocking!

For the first time in many releases, for me there is not a single "must buy" on the list (based on my imperfect knowledge of these beers and breweries of course).

[boney]

Good points.

I'm not saying this release blows me away either, but I think it's a good release relative to other LCBO releases. Still much room for imporvement, however.

In recent years I'd say other previously poor APA/IPA regions like Quebec and the UK are catching upto the US, but yeah, freshness is an issue. Alberta gets a ton on New Zealand and UK IPA's that would be as good as any US IPA fresh, but they are stale on arrival, even without lengthy lab testing.

I'm not really let down on the Belgains and Sours and I'm a huge sour and Belgian guy. The St. Feulline saison is a great saison and I certainly don't mind having Liefmans Cuvee on hand, which is great for what it is.

I do get the let down on lack of good (underscore "good") US beer though. I think Bells and Alesmith are absolutely doable based on capacity and distribution. I doubt RR, HF and TF will never ever see Ontario even if we were a buyers market. But that's cool. I just want good beer, I don't care where it comes from and there really is a ton of crap in the states too. More beer from the US would be great, but the LCBO would likely be importing 10 Magic Hats for every Bells.

[TheSevenDuffs]

atomeyes summed up my thoughts on this release very well...

[spinrsx]

oh well, at least the lcbo is getting achel bruin. I'll pretend it's part of this release.

[sprague11]

Expansion outside of state (or much beyond his farm) is not on Hill's Radar, so I wouldn't bank on that. Maybe if he does another collab with DDC or a grassroots bottle somehow finds its way north.

I'd bank on Alesmith here long before 3F. They seem to have expanded their distribution over the last couple of years.

Bells - If Founders is already here and we are supposed to be getting New Holland (Hit and miss) and Arcadia (meh) there's no reason we couldn't get Bells other than they don't want to be here or nobody's tried to bring them in.

[Belgian]

Have we had the St. Feullian Saison before? It seems...familiar?

I dunno, but that's the one I'm probably most excited about

On tap, Ginger Man NYC. Pretty damn tasty but sweet, I wonder if bottle aging a few would be a good idea to balance it out (bottle re-fermentation eating up residual sugars?)

Liefmans Cuvée Brut / 375 / 6 / $5.95 - we had this in 2007 ($4.95) and I drank an aged 2007 in 2011 - it cellars well, opening Goudenband-like in aroma with added long complex cherry replays that build on the palate. A class act with good tartness, not a sugar bomb. Was originally called Liefman's Kriek - the word Kriek refers to the Morello cherries used, not the beer style which is often a Lambic not a Flemish Sour.

PS - I think this is a classy release if not one specifically tailored just to the geek elite. We're holding some solid ground if not breaking new ground, and the hoppy/sour theme is still pretty sophisticated.

[Belgian]

What a coincidence. Source Michael Jackson (he of the beard not he of the glove.)

(b). Bottle-conditioned beers. (The term "re-fermentation in the bottle", used by the Belgians, is perhaps clearer). This term indicates that the beer is unfiltered. Or only partially filtered. Or only partially centifruged. Again, the idea is that some living yeast remains. Alternatively, the beer may have been fully filtered or centrifuged, then given a very small dose of fresh yeast. The original fermentation may have been arrested at a point where there is some residual sugar left to feed this yeast. Alternatively, a small amount of sugar or wort ("unfermented beer") may have been added for this purpose.

How long will such a beer mature? No hard-and-fast rules here. Even a light-bodied beer like a bottle-conditioned Berliner Weisse or Worthington White Shield can develop complexity during three to six months’ cellaring in a cool, dark, place. Bigger-bodied beers, with plenty of residual sugars and living yeast can be matured for years. This would apply to strong brown ales like Liefmans, the stronger Trappist products, and (if they are bottle-conditioned) Barley Wines and Imperial Stouts...

[atomeyes]

What a coincidence. Source Michael Jackson (he of the beard not he of the glove.)

(b). Bottle-conditioned beers. (The term "re-fermentation in the bottle", used by the Belgians, is perhaps clearer). This term indicates that the beer is unfiltered. Or only partially filtered. Or only partially centifruged. Again, the idea is that some living yeast remains. Alternatively, the beer may have been fully filtered or centrifuged, then given a very small dose of fresh yeast. The original fermentation may have been arrested at a point where there is some residual sugar left to feed this yeast. Alternatively, a small amount of sugar or wort ("unfermented beer") may have been added for this purpose.

How long will such a beer mature? No hard-and-fast rules here. Even a light-bodied beer like a bottle-conditioned Berliner Weisse or Worthington White Shield can develop complexity during three to six months’ cellaring in a cool, dark, place. Bigger-bodied beers, with plenty of residual sugars and living yeast can be matured for years. This would apply to strong brown ales like Liefmans, the stronger Trappist products, and (if they are bottle-conditioned) Barley Wines and Imperial Stouts...

since Mr Jackson's been dead for a little while, I'd assume that this quote is also dated.

while it is not written on their label, i swore that one of the issues with Liefmanns has been their use of artificial sweetners. their beer tends to have a saccharine sweet flavor to it. now, i think that you have to list if you use artificial sweetners, but if you read a lot of reviews about its strange sweetness, you'll see a trend.
i also think that the problem is that they may use artificial cherry flavour along with actual cherries?
Idunno...i've seen it discussed before and i know that some of their beer are cloyingly sweet. and unless their beer is pasteurized, i'd think that the sweetness would go away with time and more funk would come out...and you would have gushers, possibly. but that doesn't seem to happen with Liefmans. they are what they are.

[Belgian]

^ can't verify that about Liefman's Brut, can you cite an actual source besides what you 'thought that' or you 'swore that', etc.

I'd just prefer to know, either way. At least about the Brut Kriek, since I usually pick up on artificial sweeteners by taste and I object to their use in consumables. (Maybe it's just in the Fruitesse brand? I'd expect the LC lab rats to tell us what's in stuff to distinguish the real belgian junk beers VS the more 'real-deal' belgians that are more serious and age well.) Thanks.

PS: I have a handful of 2007 Goudenbands - time to pull one out as I love this beer!

[atomeyes]

^ can't verify that about Liefman's Brut, can you cite an actual source besides what you 'thought that' or you 'swore that', etc.

I'd just prefer to know, either way. At least about the Brut Kriek, since I usually pick up on artificial sweeteners by taste and I object to their use in consumables. (Maybe it's just in the Fruitesse brand? I'd expect the LC lab rats to tell us what's in stuff to distinguish the real belgian junk beers VS the more 'real-deal' belgians that are more serious and age well.) Thanks.

PS: I have a handful of 2007 Goudenbands - time to pull one out as I love this beer!

trying to recall the details of this discussion i had with someone. had it a few times. read something once about it, but cannot recall the source. some of the Liefman beer, i cannot drink. sickly suite. same with Morte subite and whatever that sour cherry beer at the LCBO now is.

[Belgian]

trying to recall the details of this discussion i had with someone. had it a few times. read something once about it, but cannot recall the source. some of the Liefman beer, i cannot drink. sickly suite. same with Morte subite and whatever that sour cherry beer at the LCBO now is.

^ heh 'sickly suite' hope you are not in hospital . Well I particularly hate very sweet or fake tasting belgian ales so each his own, I guess I'll go with what works for me - probably cellar some Liefmans Brut and St. Feullian Saison, both brews I will enjoy aged.

[Bull_Schott]

... they are so close to us that we should really be getting some 3F or Bells.

Considering 3F barely satiates their current (limited) market, we really shouldn't be getting any of their beer for a while. No reason why the LCBO hasn't brought in Bell's though, a fantastic brewery with a large capacity and huge footprint. The Bell's type breweries of USA, which are large yet still have awesome, if not necessarily cutting-edge beers, are what I'd like to see the LCBO work on adding to their stores. Founders was great, but that was like 2013.

[spinrsx]

I was hoping we'd get that Brooklyn Sorachi Ace that was supposed to come a few features ago but never did..

[cratez]

Looking forward to trying most of these for the first time. It's not as stellar as the last two seasonal releases and it won't stop me from grabbing my usual cross-border hauls, but there's a decent mix of highly-rated beers and new arrivals to be had with this one.