Bellwoods Brewery

[Belgian]

Bellwoods aficionados: I bought a bottle of 3 MTM today (there was still lots at the bottle shop this morning, BTW). Do I drink now or age? Unfortunately - mostly due to cost - I only have one.

I hear you. I bought two, assuming ready-to-drink for one now and the other in half a year or whenever. Fruit can sometimes fade, leaving you with unremarkable yet fairly expensive beer, hence the bird in the hand theory.

Was described as "Black Forest Cake in a glass." The woman selling it said it also had raspberry? The BW site claims only 'tart cherries' and 'BOYD barrels.'

HOW LONG THIS STUFF TAKES TO MAKE
1 year

MALTS
Pilsner, Wheat, Oats, Crystal, Smoked, Chocolate, Black, Roasted Barley, Molasses

HOPS
Columbus

YEAST
American Ale

OTHER
Tart cherries, Bring Out Your Dead barrels

[walz22]

^^ this is the special edition of 3 Minutes with raspberries added. The regular edition, with just the tart cherries, was released a few months ago.

[skootles]

Was described as "Black Forest Cake in a glass." The woman selling it said it also had raspberry? The BW site claims only 'tart cherries' and 'BOYD barrels.'

http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/product/3-m ... y-edition/

RASPBERRY EDITION: This special edition release of 3 Minutes includes raspberries, which contribute rich, black forest cake aromatics, and extra fruit flavour on the palate.

[Masterplan]

I hate jam in cakes...

[mahcinesquad]

I wish I'd tried it without the raspberries. I have a feeling I would have liked it better. I'm not a huge fan of raspberry in beer because I find a lot of time it reminds me of jam or medicine.

[atomeyes]

I wish I'd tried it without the raspberries. I have a feeling I would have liked it better. I'm not a huge fan of raspberry in beer because I find a lot of time it reminds me of jam or medicine.

cherries (esp ontario sour cherries) can taste medicinal.
raspberries? first time i've heard someone say that.

[TheSevenDuffs]

I wish I'd tried it without the raspberries. I have a feeling I would have liked it better. I'm not a huge fan of raspberry in beer because I find a lot of time it reminds me of jam or medicine.

cherries (esp ontario sour cherries) can taste medicinal.
raspberries? first time i've heard someone say that.

Yeah, that's an odd one.

3MTM With Raspberries definitely tastes jammy (REALLY Jammy), but not medicinal at all.

[atomeyes]

I wish I'd tried it without the raspberries. I have a feeling I would have liked it better. I'm not a huge fan of raspberry in beer because I find a lot of time it reminds me of jam or medicine.

cherries (esp ontario sour cherries) can taste medicinal.
raspberries? first time i've heard someone say that.

Yeah, that's an odd one.

3MTM With Raspberries definitely tastes jammy (REALLY Jammy), but not medicinal at all.

it's better than the 1st batch. it's a big-ass beer. delicious. great to share a bottle with a friend or 2. perfect end-of-dinner dessert pairing beer. chocolate truffles, red velvet cupcakes, molten chocolate cake, or even a nice raspberry ice cream.

[jeremyg]

absolutely baffled as to why there's still bottles of this left at the shop

[midlife crisis]

absolutely baffled as to why there's still bottles of this left at the shop

Twelve bucks per 500 ml might have something to do with it. I realize that it's very good, and aged, and has some expensive ingredients, but that price will deter some I think.

[portwood]

absolutely baffled as to why there's still bottles of this left at the shop

Twelve bucks per 500 ml might have something to do with it.

My thoughts exactly.
For a brewery who's products have extremely limited reach (zero distribution) its difficult to expect locals to keep buying multiple bottles of multiple releases when the price is so high

I drove from Markham a couple of times last year to try them out - partly because of the hype and partly because I lived in the neighbourhood as a kid ... not going to do it again any time soon

[Belgian]

Twelve bucks? No I thought 3MTM Raspberry Edition was 11 bucks a bottle!
They are definitely playing into the Mikkeller price scale and I don't care so much. If worried about value, try to find an Ontario wine this exotic and small-scale for the equivalent ($16.50 / 750ml.) I would guess Bellwoods have to profit from quality and uniqueness rather than massive scale, and sometimes this really pays off. Supporting it feels almost like a 'club' you can be part of rather than a pure commercial exchange.

Interesting it's the Raspberry edition, thanks for clarifying. If the berry is really at the forefront, I'd be more concerned the fresh raspberry flavor will fade over half a year, or maybe it will integrate more with the base beer. A perfect try now/try later experiment.

[Coronaeus]

I'd buy the price argument if it weren't for the fact that all the other special release beers are around the same price, and don't last this long.

Maybe too many of these releases in quick succession?

[beerstodiscover]

From what I've seen in the past 12 months, I expect many Bellwoods special releases to last at least a week in the bottle shop (though I often don't leave it to chance).

IIRC the original cherry 3MTM (which i much prefer), Donkey Venom and Barn Owl lasted for a week or more. Lambda hung around for about a month. The really quick movers were Montley Cru and BOYD. Maybe there's a couple I've missed.

[BakaGaijin]

There are more and more breweries opening up in the area. This will cause a bit of a glut as more continue to open. This is no big deal for Bellwood's though because they could distribute their product and people in other markets would buy it.