The Bar Towel

bomber from Bellwoods. bottled Jan 18, 2013. hazed golden, lasting white head, minimal carbonation, gorgeous. saturated, dank nelson nose. the malt body is lean but supportive, the hop flavour is huge, bitterness is moderate making this endlessly drinkable. this is a masterpiece. my first stunner from bellwoods, my expectations have been raised.

gettin way too much hype around here.

talkin bout no where near the quality Summit was

heebes wrote:talkin bout no where near the quality Summit was

Guess you need to be a fan of the Nelson character. This one is easily in my top 5 APAs.

matt7215 wrote:bomber from Bellwoods. bottled Jan 18, 2013. hazed golden, lasting white head, minimal carbonation, gorgeous. saturated, dank nelson nose. the malt body is lean but supportive, the hop flavour is huge, bitterness is moderate making this endlessly drinkable. this is a masterpiece. my first stunner from bellwoods, my expectations have been raised.

Really lovin' this one too. Brought some Monogamy, Roman Candle IPA (superb) and Lost River Baltic Porter to a party last night and all three were huge hits with those who tried them. I bought two more Monogamy today and have some RC still and am looking forward to trying the new (to me, at least) Belgian IPA tonight. Gonna be a nice evening. So stoked that the Bellwoods Bottle Shop is now fully operational.

Yeah I've chalked it up to that, just not big on the Nelson hop. Don't get me wrong its another stellar Bellwoods beer, by far my fav brewery in ontario, It just didn't strike me as more impressive than the Summit or Centeninial Monogamys.

heebes wrote:Yeah I've chalked it up to that, just not big on the Nelson hop. Don't get me wrong its another stellar Bellwoods beer, by far my fav brewery in ontario, It just didn't strike me as more impressive than the Summit or Centeninial Monogamys.

So bummed I missed out on these - the Summit in particular seems to garner lots of effusive praise from within the community. Did you get a chance to try the Calypso?

Totally agree on Bellwoods - since the opening of the bottle shop, they've become, if not my favourite Ontario brewery, certainly in the top 3 (along with Amsterdam and Great Lakes). Absolutely love what they're doing.

Yeah I tried the Calypso, it was one of the middle ground APAs in my estimation. Although to be honest I can't recall what specifically limited it to that at the moment...

The Roman Candle is light years ahead of "lcbo" IPAs (ontario) imo. That should be getting major praise...too bad tje best brewed ipas aren't so readily available (*s above and Karma Citra)

+ agreed on Great Lakes and Amsterdams special releases being the best brewed offerings coming from ON

Now Bellwoods just needs to use the talents they possess to warm up Ontario so I can have some bottles shipped my way.

Seriously, sounds top notch. Can't wait to try it.

I wonder if being a Nalson Sauvin fan is like being a fan of Cabernet Franc or Grenache grapes in single-varietal wines - unblended versions are a challenge to some, and pure heaven to others.

It's real magic to make a good beer from one hop, is it not?

Belgian wrote:It's real magic to make a good beer from one hop, is it not?

It seems like it. I did a quick check and looked at some clone recipes of the top 10 IPA's on RB. Bell's Two-Hearted is the only single hop IPA of the bunch using Centennial. I was also surprised to see that I have had 8 of the top 10, missing out on Hill Farmstead Susan, and Town Hall Masala Mama.

Belgian wrote:I wonder if being a Nalson Sauvin fan is like being a fan of Cabernet Franc or Grenache grapes in single-varietal wines - unblended versions are a challenge to some, and pure heaven to others.

It's real magic to make a good beer from one hop, is it not?

Interesting analogy - I'm a huge fan of well-crafted Grenache, and I am also a fan of this single hop.

I really need to get down to Toronto. I love that hop variety!

I'm loving this one! it's great living a few blocks away from Bellwoods, especially now that the bottle shop is open!

Gotta agree with Matt's review. I was really impressed by the massive tropical, catty, and slightly grapey nose on the cask pint that I quaffed at Bar Hop. Their US Brown Ale is equally stellar; right up there with the best of the style IMO. Only mediocre beer that I've had from them so far is the Bootknife Belgian brown ale (muddled, overly spicy, and undrinkable for me). All in all they're definitely cranking out some doozies.