The Bar Towel

Any more sightings of black?

ercousin wrote:Any more sightings of black?

Drinkvine.com

Blasphomet wrote:... I maaaaaay cave on the Monks Brew, because of the ABV... the Black is in another ballpark though, and I'll have to try it on general principle. The cream ale, kriek, and ipa and go eff themselves.

I hear where that's coming from, but can't see these being cheaper to try anywhere else, ever (maybe clearout.) To buy them I will rationalize that a bottle of inferior beer in a bar can cost that much, and I'd gladly pay the LC price for a similar serving for any of these Mikkeller at a bar (good luck paying less than $8 USD at The Blue Monk.)

BakaGaijin wrote:

ercousin wrote:Any more sightings of black?

Drinkvine.com

Thanks. I'm well aware of drinkvine, its a great site. The reason why I was asking about people seeing on the shelf is because it t took about a day for drinkvine to update after black went on the shelf at cooper st hoping to find it at another LCBO and skip the drive downtown.

Belgian wrote:

Blasphomet wrote:... I maaaaaay cave on the Monks Brew, because of the ABV... the Black is in another ballpark though, and I'll have to try it on general principle. The cream ale, kriek, and ipa and go eff themselves.

I hear where that's coming from, but can't see these being cheaper to try anywhere else, ever (maybe clearout.) To buy them I will rationalize that a bottle of inferior beer in a bar can cost that much, and I'd gladly pay the LC price for a similar serving for any of these Mikkeller at a bar (good luck paying less than $8 USD at The Blue Monk.)

Agreed. I seem to remember seeing no Mikkeller beer going for less than $5 the last time I was at Premier Gourmet so these prices seem to be in line...whether you care to pay that much or not. I picked up all 5 and a couple of the Texas Ranger as it seemed to be going fast.

Any dates on these? How fresh is the ipa? Whats the best before on the quad?

Didn't look too closely for bottling dates, but all beers have the best before date on the bottle cap - quad is 2020, Black is 2024. All BBD are DD/06/YY, so my best guess is that they're all from late June (DD ranges from 19-26 on my bottles). This would also be in line with what R+R said about the beers being brewed for the Ontario market.

Tried the K:rlek and Cream Ale so far and enjoyed both. Not something I'll go back to at the price point, but glad to try both without having to leave the province. Never thought they tasted or smelled old.

wilco wrote:Never thought they tasted or smelled old.

But did they smell/taste fresh?

I'd argue if they don't smell/taste fresh, they're already old.

Anyone enjoying the black?

Noticed the website said they only had ~20 left at Queens Quay so I ran over at lunch and grabbed one. Looked like they only had a box or two left when I was there. Might have to wait a few days until I'm feeling better to give 'er a try though.

Had the Kr:lek last night. It was spectacular. Nice citrus and tropical fruit hops that shine through nice and bright, moderate malt body with a touch of creamy/oily mouthfeel I like in my hop focused beers. Probably a touch too hoppy for style (compared to SN) but a really great beer. I need to buy another few bottles of this.

Anyone have any experience with the IPA, I skipped buying that one due to the June bottling date.

Thought the Kr:lek was very good as well. Looking forward to enjoying the others soon. I've had black before so haven't grabbed any of it, although maybe I should seek it out and stash it away.

Price-wise, it isn't crazy to me. The effort you'd have to go through to find these beers cheaper isn't worth it. Plus I'd much rather give them a try now to know whether the even more inflated bar prices for them down the road should tempt me or not.

Enjoyed Texas Ranger and Green Gold (IPA) so far but the Cream Ale was a bit of a letdown. Not what I expected (slightly dry, no real mouth feel to speak of) and not a whole lot going on flavor-wise compared with the other two.

Excited to try the Kr:lek based on the comments so far. Who's had the Monk's Brew?

Had the Monk's Brew. Tastes more like a slightly more boozy Westmalle dubbel, which is a compliment imo, but for the style they claim, it might be a tinge different than what quad fans are looking for. Good but not superb.

Lukie wrote:Had the Monk's Brew. Tastes more like a slightly more boozy Westmalle dubbel, which is a compliment imo, but for the style they claim, it might be a tinge different than what quad fans are looking for. Good but not superb.

I bet that baby could benefit from a couple years of aging.