The Bar Towel

Belgian wrote:

Tapsucker wrote:I had their Kellerbier at Bar Hop last night... I hope they continue to tune this one up...

Ahh the Momiji. Will have to see what's in cans at the shop right now.

midlife crisis wrote:

ChrisK wrote:... seems like solid sessionable beers are what Bim is aiming for.

Albeit, served in smaller glasses that are normally associated with sours, saisons and higher abv beers generally. But it's a minor point...

At BeerBistro yesterday we were discussing the lack of half-liter or pint sizes generally nowadays - though there WERE a good handful there eg. Side Launch, Hacker, and Shillow Sass on the Side which sort of HAVE to be sold in classic format. Not all the 'session' beers out there are in wussy 300-400ml sizes. I definitely agree the portion size should be a trade off of other factors like gravity, ABV, flavor impact / diluteness, sippability etc.
I even resent paying $8.00 for a pint of Wellington Arkell bitter I can down in about five minutes, it's mostly water and should be very reasonable & enjoyed in quantity. The steep pricing is a disservice to the existence and appeal of those easier-going styles.

I've found myself significantly cutting back the frequency with which I go out for beers for this reason. I get that the price of everything is rising, but I find it hard to justify the cost drinking out nowadays. Personally I enjoy having a pint on my porch enough that the extra charge to go out is rarely worth it. At $3.25~ or so a glass it's hard to beat.

Tapsucker sorta wrote:I had their Kellerbier / disappointed/ too hoppy and heavy bodied / Or perhaps just the wrong hops.

The hops do have a bit of herbal-medicinal dryness. There's a note of toffee-like sweetness. Very dry grassy finish, leafy almost a bit like willow bark! A bit unfiltered, unexpectedly dark perhaps necessary for the desired malt flavor choice. What if they aged it more? Kellerbier is meant to be well-aged, I wonder how the cans would hold up if I kept a few for half a year.

I agree this could use some better integration depending on what you were going for. The body might be too delicate and alefruity for the hops. It does have a fresh 'country beer' character. With a salty Laugenbrezel or some roast pork & potato dumplings this might play better than by itself.

* Bonus info * they are expecting to can the Smoked Porter soon.

Belgian wrote: What if they aged it more? Kellerbier is meant to be well-aged, I wonder how the cans would hold up if I kept a few for half a year.

I brew my own Kellerbier in Feb/March and lager it in kegs until summer. I add some oak chips, as this style was historically kept in oak casks. I lager at basement temp (~17c). The kegs are obviously light proof as would be cans. I should also add, before lagering, I give the beer a good long secondary fermentation of about 4-6 weeks.
The oak chips help filter some of the yeast out. This style is intended to be unfiltered, but a bit of clean up helps with a cleaner flavour and better stability. I cold crash at the end of lagering and transfer to a clean keg to serve and that gets a result I really like.

The lagering really rounds out the lager yeast as it is intended to and tends to help the beer taste more refined, so It might help with balance, but I don't think it would sort out the issues I tasted with malt and hops in their example. The oak, however, might help, but probably by masking it rather than conditioning it.

Godspeed's collab with Brasserie de la Senne from the Witchstock weekend is out - Bière de Soif (Everyday Lager).

It's not really my jam, but if you've been trying Bellwoods' collabs from that weekend, maybe you'll want this too.

The Bière de Soif might be my favourite beer they have done. I threw a 1/2 cup in the slow cooker for some carnitas and considering I started drinking this at 9am on new years day I was kinda blown away. I'll need to revisit just incase the hair of the dog was alive and well that morning.

Can sale on right now, most cans are $2 and a few are $2.25 or $2.50. (Plus some taxes)

As seen on Facebook, offer at Godspeed brewery store runs till 10pm today.

Belgian wrote:Can sale on right now, most cans are $2 and a few are $2.25 or $2.50.

As seen on Facebook, offer at Godspeed brewery store runs till 10pm today.

Wow! I can't take advantage of this, but great prices!

S. St. Jeb wrote:

Belgian wrote:Can sale on right now, most cans are $2 and a few are $2.25 or $2.50.

As seen on Facebook, offer at Godspeed brewery store runs till 10pm today.

Wow! I can't take advantage of this, but great prices!

LOL....let me revise that to "good" prices. I thought they were 473s.

If you are going, expect the pictured Smoked Porter & Dai Dai to be sold out, but the rest are / were there in good quantity.

The add up was confusing because the store now add sales tax separately at purchase. Basically I got 18 mostly $2 beers (a few cost more) for about 43 bucks. Decent deal and now I can session some Dortmunder, and try a few new ones! My fridge is very happy.

the new dipa is absolutely delicious. a terrific little mosaic bomb.

jeremyg wrote:the new dipa is absolutely delicious. a terrific little mosaic bomb.

I just opened one. Great! It recalls (in a different & bigger way) the enjoyably grapefruit rind / fir tree resin and aromatic qualities of the circa-2006 (pre-Heritage) Scotch Irish Sgt Majors, although that one had more Chinook hops. Sgt Majors in that year was a 'holy cow' discovery for me and pretty much the only 'real' IPA here at the time, and what these two individual beers share is what I would call a certain fresh 'elemental' quality that is special. Mondainai has a very grassy finish and aroma, hints of pale fruit and good bitter finish. Nicely turbid pale gold coat and good white head.

Sgt. Majors was kind of a standard-bearer in its time.

Not having been to Godspeed since their first month of opening, I think they'll be first on my "re-visit" list of breweries when I get back into town.

Seems they're really hitting their stride on a wider range of beers now which is kind of what I hoped would happen!

I've been sampling some Godspeed cans over the past month or so and I'm really impressed. The DDC collab beer is superb. I can't believe it is still sitting in the fridge. I really liked the Dortmunder. I've got a couple of the smoked beers out now in my fridge. Other than the Kolsch (a style I just don't seem to like) I've enjoyed everything I've had. My new number two brewery in the city!

I wish I could share the general enthusiasm about this place, but I went last night with a friend and it really felt like a mess to me.

I was there maybe a year ago, and I was impressed by a couple of the pale ales/summer ales I picked up from the can shop. They've since rebranded all their beer with Japanese names, which is kinda confusing. The tap list last night consisted of maybe ten different beers; an overwhelming amount of them low abv saisons or hybrids. There was one solitary IPA on offer, and it was a nasty seven percent green tea flavoured thing. Just gross. A couple of the saisons I tried were fine, and the smoked porter was good, but I couldn't help but feel a marked transition to style over substance. Maybe it's just me.

Beyond that, the place is just downright ugly. Feels like I'm sitting inside an IKEA toaster oven, or a mechanic shop. A little colour wouldn't kill them.

I'll be sticking to Left Field and Radical Road in the area.

Sorry, but I really can't agree with any of that. I don't go often, but by chance I was also there recently. I find the Japanese minimalist aesthetic quite calming and pleasing, especially on a hot afternoon with the big doors fully open. It's not a place you go if you're hankering for an IPA, to be sure, but I like the various lagers on offer quite a bit. They are very much out of the ordinary for Toronto brewpubs; there's ten other places to go if you're feeling IPAs. The food is quite interesting, too. Courses for horses I guess.