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Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
WHat a great time! Thanks to the hosts and all who attended. A great event. I just got back to L-dizzle after a a 3.5 hour ride on the Gayhound. I got to meet lots of people who I really wanted to meet. Plus I killed that Mortel on cask yo! Shit son!
Cheers everyone, I gotta get up in 3 hours and I am not well!
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
Great event last night. Thanks to Ralph, his whole family and the staff for going alll out for the beer community again. The highlight for me was definitely the cask Isseki Nicho Dark Saison. I found that to be absolutely outstanding. I'm not a rater but it would likely be in my top ten beers I've ever had. Terrific stuff.
Popped in on the way home to grab a quick nightcap of the barleywine and left over 5 hours later. It was an insanely good time and a huge success. Congrats to all the Volo team and DDC on kicking it up a notch!
This was a fantastic event. It is hard to make sure an event like this even appear to be organized. Considering the line up of 100+ people, a small space with limited seating, everyone still waited patiently in line and the service was great. Props to Volo for this.
The Imperial Dark Saison was very interesting. It was very similar to Unibroue's Trois Pistoles but it had a lighter fruit flavour going on. Grapes, apricots, even a little apple type crispness with all of the dark roasty malts, and bitter coffee-esque characters. It was bold and ever changing as it warmed. A little thin on the body, but it made for a clean drinker. Mildly Medicinal to the nose, sour cherry. I think this is just one huge step for the craft beer scene. I don't know if I'd regularly buy it, but I would indeed like to try it on tap or from a bottle to see how the brew would differ. Cask conditioning really lent the alcohols to blossom and over all I felt it was very noticable and warming... red cheeks anyone?
The high light for me by far, hands down, thumbs up, etc. etc. was Peche Mortel on cask. This beast was a whole new ball game. I over heard so many mixed reviews on this one. Looking at this beer, it taunted me. Rich black velvet with a creamy mocha head that resembled a fire roasted marshmallow... maybe a little burn on it. ha. The aroma sang me a song... a melody so bitter sweet. I could have just put my nose on top of the glass and have been very happy without even sipping... luckily I gave into temptation and drank some, as it was a symphony of flavours. Complex! Controlled chaos in it's body. Every sip could bring out a new characteristic. Roasted nuts, espresso (and I mean dark, bitter espresso), cream, bitter chocolate, a little vanilla and caramel sweetness, smokey, inviting ... beautiful. The cask conditioning was perfect for this... it really was a thick silky milkshake of a beer. Not often head retains like that from a cask conditioned beer.
... I'm drooling. Could someone please put one of those kegs in my room.
I think of this beer and I say... "this is MY beer!"
This event was worth it just for this one beer. However, I did get to at least sample most of the others. All very beautiful. Each outstanding and unique.
It was awesome to sample them with various cheeses and chocolates and other fried goodies. goat cheese and barely wine... yes please!
Great event overall. Corne de Diable was my favorite of the night I think. Cheese was delicious, snacks were a steal and also tasty. The line for beer got to be a bit epic at times but it flowed quickly and people were in good spirits so it was not a big deal at all. Kudos to the Volo crew.
The cask Mortel is an entire seperate beast than the keg and bottle versions. To me, it was like smelling and tasting freshly ground coffee beans that were very earthy and musty, but very inviting. I sampled both versions last night side by side and the cask was a clear favourite. Both were great, there is no doubt. But the complexity and overall deliciousness that was lent to the cask version, completely kicked the shit out of the regular version. Of course, those who don't like coffee probably wouldn't like either, but for those folks, I am more than happy to supply my address to them and they can just forward it to me if need be.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
Yeah, the cask Mortel is very different from the keg, isn't it. Deliciously, insanely, coffee flavoured with all of the other complexity mentioned above as well. But for me, the Isseki Nicho was preferable. It was consistently "more-ish", perhaps because of the dry finish from the dry-hopping. In any event, both were world class cask ales.
It was a most amazing time, with the incredible lineup of beer from DDC, the excellent selection of cheese, great nibblies and the most amazing chocolate. The entire event was superb! It was also very nice seeing the regular faces, some old friends, and meeting new people.
