Muddy York Brewing

[jeremyg]

i'm obviously biased, but i think it's the best barleywine put out in ontario.
i also didn't expect us to age it for 1.5 years. lol.
another batch was made 2 months ago and is already in the barrels. some fun plans for it and the imp stout.

i didn't try any of the regular version in the bottle. i think it's good but there was room for it to be better. the BA version, though? shit, man...it's lovely.

didn't realize you worked there, keep up the good work dude. if muddy york wasn't so dang far from me (i live in oakville) i'd def drink it more on the reg. everything they put out is quality.

[atomeyes]

i'm obviously biased, but i think it's the best barleywine put out in ontario.
i also didn't expect us to age it for 1.5 years. lol.
another batch was made 2 months ago and is already in the barrels. some fun plans for it and the imp stout.

i didn't try any of the regular version in the bottle. i think it's good but there was room for it to be better. the BA version, though? shit, man...it's lovely.

didn't realize you worked there, keep up the good work dude. if muddy york wasn't so dang far from me (i live in oakville) i'd def drink it more on the reg. everything they put out is quality.

i don't work there.
I've known Jeff (the owner) for a long time and he's been open minded and cool enough to do some co-brews together. only beer that i brew with him for now is that barleywine and Inkwell imp stout.
everything else is all Jeff and he's as good of a brewer as he is a person.

[Dennis]

i'm obviously biased, but i think it's the best barleywine put out in ontario.
i also didn't expect us to age it for 1.5 years. lol.
another batch was made 2 months ago and is already in the barrels. some fun plans for it and the imp stout.

i didn't try any of the regular version in the bottle. i think it's good but there was room for it to be better. the BA version, though? shit, man...it's lovely.

didn't realize you worked there, keep up the good work dude. if muddy york wasn't so dang far from me (i live in oakville) i'd def drink it more on the reg. everything they put out is quality.

i don't work there.
I've known Jeff (the owner) for a long time and he's been open minded and cool enough to do some co-brews together. only beer that i brew with him for now is that barleywine and Inkwell imp stout.
everything else is all Jeff and he's as good of a brewer as he is a person.

Right? When I worked at Redline I would always work Muddy into my route, even though I had 0 accounts in that area, just to chat with Jeff and Susan. I also brought some kegs up to Barrie for the guest tap at Redline. I know people might think some of the stuff I wrote in my piece about MY is fluff, but fuck that, it's all true.

[jeremyg]

think barncat still rules ontario with it's barleywine but this is definitely great!

[El Pinguino]

Whoa...what is the barncat barleywine...the cat reactivator what whatever its called? I have a bottle of thatI thinks its a a coffee barleywine?

[MatttthewGeorge]

Whoa...what is the barncat barleywine...the cat reactivator what whatever its called? I have a bottle of thatI thinks its a a coffee barleywine?

You should have drank that already. Coffee is not meant to age and while this beer fresh was absolutely fantastic, it did not age well.

[Blasphomet]

Stopped in yesterday for some beer. Wanted the Roller Boat and Storm Glass IPAs but they didn't have any even though the website shows them as currently available.

I think it is extremely important for a brewery that has a website such as this that it is updated daily. Those beers still show as 'available' on the website. The fact that I cannot trust the website of a brewery will definitely cause me to hesitate next time I want to go there for some bottles. Coming from 30+ minutes away to find out you don't update a website is kind of frustrating. Especially when you really enjoy the brewery.

I get that they could have 'sold out' that day before I got there... but that clearly isn't the case... as I said... the website still shows them as available.

/rant.

[Dennis]

Stopped in yesterday for some beer. Wanted the Roller Boat and Storm Glass IPAs but they didn't have any even though the website shows them as currently available.

I think it is extremely important for a brewery that has a website such as this that it is updated daily. Those beers still show as 'available' on the website. The fact that I cannot trust the website of a brewery will definitely cause me to hesitate next time I want to go there for some bottles. Coming from 30+ minutes away to find out you don't update a website is kind of frustrating. Especially when you really enjoy the brewery.

I get that they could have 'sold out' that day before I got there... but that clearly isn't the case... as I said... the website still shows them as available.

/rant.

That is frustrating, I've been burned on this in the past as well (not with MY) and now I pretty much just assume that websites are out of date. IG tends to be a bit better of a tool for keeping tabs on what's available these days.

[Blasphomet]

Stopped in yesterday for some beer. Wanted the Roller Boat and Storm Glass IPAs but they didn't have any even though the website shows them as currently available.

I think it is extremely important for a brewery that has a website such as this that it is updated daily. Those beers still show as 'available' on the website. The fact that I cannot trust the website of a brewery will definitely cause me to hesitate next time I want to go there for some bottles. Coming from 30+ minutes away to find out you don't update a website is kind of frustrating. Especially when you really enjoy the brewery.

I get that they could have 'sold out' that day before I got there... but that clearly isn't the case... as I said... the website still shows them as available.

/rant.

That is frustrating, I've been burned on this in the past as well (not with MY) and now I pretty much just assume that websites are out of date. IG tends to be a bit better of a tool for keeping tabs on what's available these days.

Yeah I agree. But even then if it's not daily, you don't really know.

[El Pinguino]

Whoa...what is the barncat barleywine...the cat reactivator what whatever its called? I have a bottle of thatI thinks its a a coffee barleywine?

You should have drank that already. Coffee is not meant to age and while this beer fresh was absolutely fantastic, it did not age well.

Ha...ya....that happens. Kind of strange having a barleywine that doesn't age well, no?

Thankfully I'm buying less beer this year...so such travesties will be fewer and farther between.

[roland]

I was intrigued by the Barrel-Aged Plank Road Baltic Porter and was planning to pick up a few until I noticed the price.
$10 for 355ml ?! Good grief, I'll pass.

[atomeyes]

I was intrigued by the Barrel-Aged Plank Road Baltic Porter and was planning to pick up a few until I noticed the price.
$10 for 355ml ?! Good grief, I'll pass.

they didn't use bourbon barrels, which are supercheap. they also didn't blend it, so you're getting "cask strength" beer.
it's an expensive beer to make and i think the price is justified.
shame you didn't pick it up. it's a very nice beer, especially when it breathes for a bit.

btw, burdock's selling Bumo for $13/bottle. Toronto beer, toronto prices. if you're getting a barrel-aged bomber for $10, you might want to question THAT beer

[El Pinguino]

I was intrigued by the Barrel-Aged Plank Road Baltic Porter and was planning to pick up a few until I noticed the price.
$10 for 355ml ?! Good grief, I'll pass.

they didn't use bourbon barrels, which are supercheap. they also didn't blend it, so you're getting "cask strength" beer.
it's an expensive beer to make and i think the price is justified.
shame you didn't pick it up. it's a very nice beer, especially when it breathes for a bit.

btw, burdock's selling Bumo for $13/bottle. Toronto beer, toronto prices. if you're getting a barrel-aged bomber for $10, you might want to question THAT beer

Deja vu...swear I read that exact comment yesterday from a different poster.

Interesting about the bourbon barrels being cheap....as someone who isn't in the know....how do barrels rank price-wise...what is cheapest and what are highest? Is it simply because there are so many bourbon barrels out there? A cognac barrel would be higher....pinot noir barrels....tequila barrels...??

[atomeyes]

I was intrigued by the Barrel-Aged Plank Road Baltic Porter and was planning to pick up a few until I noticed the price.
$10 for 355ml ?! Good grief, I'll pass.

they didn't use bourbon barrels, which are supercheap. they also didn't blend it, so you're getting "cask strength" beer.
it's an expensive beer to make and i think the price is justified.
shame you didn't pick it up. it's a very nice beer, especially when it breathes for a bit.

btw, burdock's selling Bumo for $13/bottle. Toronto beer, toronto prices. if you're getting a barrel-aged bomber for $10, you might want to question THAT beer

Deja vu...swear I read that exact comment yesterday from a different poster.

Interesting about the bourbon barrels being cheap....as someone who isn't in the know....how do barrels rank price-wise...what is cheapest and what are highest? Is it simply because there are so many bourbon barrels out there? A cognac barrel would be higher....pinot noir barrels....tequila barrels...??

yeah. i have my jerk account (this one) and my pro account.

as i've said before, i've been helping muddy york out with their barrel program. Jeff's doing things nicely on his own now, but i give input every now and then when asked.

he isn't interested in bourbon barrels because of their ubiquity. so, think about how much bourbon there is out there and how it all sees barrels...there are lots of barrels to be had. in the US, you can get them as low as $50/barrel.

Cognac barrels are quite large and harder to get, so more $$. think they're close to $500 US a barrel. pinot barrels...you can get them from Niagara, but price varies based on wineries.
the cognac barrel was the most expensive one so far. its size means that beer takes longer to get to the sweet spot than smaller 200ish L barrels. so the beer is, theoretically, more expensive per litre due to the time involved and the barrel cost. he has some sherry barrels as well, which will be interesting and fun.

part of barrel pricing includes: evapouration (you lose a significant % of beer to the wood and to evapouration), the limited # of times a barrel can be used (around 6), the cost of the beer (high abv beer is inefficiently-made beer), the time to age, and the risk of a barrel resulting in shitty beer. plus, the rent for the space the barrels take up and the cost of barrel racks and a forklift to manage the barrels.

hope this explains barrel aging. it's tough and expensive.

[Craig]

One of the reasons there are so many Bourbon barrels is bourbon, by legal definition in the US, must go in unused charred oak barrels and they tend to not age for that long. So you have lots and lots of these barrels that had bourbon in them for less than a year, that the bourbon makers can't reuse. Plus they're relatively close to US and Canadian brewers, unlike say, Scotch barrels.

I'm not aware of the rules for other types of barrels, but I think most kinds can be reused. Some other Whiskeys use virgin barrels, but not the majority. Wine barrels are a bit of a different beast. They'll impart oak flavour for only a couple of years, so wineries use them for that longer than most Bourbon distilleries. Also, even if they aren't imparting oak any more, they're still valuable to a winery as a storage tank for wine, which will continue to mature in other ways. So wineries can hold on to their barrels for longer.

In this particular case, the barrel in question was a port barrel. My understanding is fortified wine barrels like these are in higher demand than regular wine barrels, because they're popular in the making of other things, like Scotch. That'll drive up the prices even more.