Spring release

Manul · Post by **Manul** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 12:50 pm

You can find all the spring release beers at Weston & 401 LCBO. Cheers.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 10:15 am

All of the Pale Ales and Bitters are on the shelves of Queen's Quay as well....get out there and buy lots of Victory Hopdevil, Rogue Brutal Bitter, St. Peter's Best Bitter, Brakspear Bitter and Samuel Smith India Ale and show the LCBO that there is a demand for this type of product!!!!

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 1:30 pm

Outstanding. I ran out long ago of my HopDevil stock from Buffalo. Can't wait to enjoy that one (and others) again.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Feb 23, 2002 1:25 pm

I'm anxious for some of you guys out there to post some reviews of the Pale Ales and Bitters....good, bad or indifferent.

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sat Feb 23, 2002 6:17 pm

I've been able to find everything except the Rogue in Hamilton (though I haven't been to the Dundurn Store yet). Is there a reason this one might be held up?

I tried the Brakspear. It was nice. Unassuming, not overly bitter, but nicely balanced. And, at 3.4%, not too strong.

I must say, though, in terms of bitters, I think I prefers Perry's Session Ale and Dry Hop Bitter to most of others I have tried. I know we've been talking about importing and all, but we do have some excellent products brewed here. Strangely, all of my favorite beers are Canadian: Perry's, St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Wellington County Iron Duke, Creemore, and, of course, Unibroue's almost everything. Not, however, that I would want to see the importing stopped.

Cheers, Joe.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Sat Feb 23, 2002 11:24 pm

Thanks Joe!!! I truly appreciate your comments. They make my struggle seem more worthwhile.
Dry Hop Bitter and a cask conditioned version of Black Irish will be going to Chicago's Real Ale Festival next weekend. That is if we can resolve all the customs and shipping B.S....
Maybe we can bring more gold back for Canada
Perry

skaghevn · Post by **skaghevn** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 2:44 am

Went down to the Crossroads, and was able to find most of the spring release. A brief note to whoever bought the entire stock of Hop Devil: not all of us can afford to drink at Smokeless Joe's. By all means grab a bunch for yourself, but don't be a hog, eh?

Mildly peeved, Rob

Manul · Post by **Manul** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 7:07 am

We had a couple of bottles of Samuel Smith IPA last night. Kind of disapointing. No way this is an IPA... even by british standards. If you want get a load of good hops don't even bother with this one, go straight for the Hop Devil.

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 10:46 am

Good Luck in Chicago, Perry!

To keep on topic, I tried the HopDevil last night. What a beer! Very, very nice. Aromatic and spicy with a beautiful finish. (Gee I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about).

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:52 pm

For those who are having a hard time finding HopDevil, give the LCBO a call at 416-365-5900 and ask where you can find item #909887. You might even be able to reserve some over the phone.

As for Crossroads, I don't know why they only got 2 cases of HopDevil for one of the largest stores in the LCBO. Their distribution allocation continues to be frustrating.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 12:57 pm

Joe: No reason I know of why Rogue would not be in Hamilton. I must say that all of these products are being released early as the promo wasn't supposed to start until March 6 so there may be stores out there following the rules and not putting out the products, however, if they've put out some of them then I assume that they've put out all that arrived. Try the LCBO Infoline at 1-800-668-5226. Rogue Brutal's CSPC number is 909770 and they'll be able to track down the closest store that has it. If you find out that no one in Hamilton has it, let me know.

Rob: Although I'm glad to hear that HopDevil has sold out in that store, I understand where you're coming from. Give the Infoline a call. HopDevil's CSPC number is 909887. Also, there may still be warehouse stock and the Infoline can tell you that. If so, you can ask any store to order you a case if you wish.

Manul: Sorry to hear you weren't impressed with Samuel Smith's India Ale (they don't use the word Pale in the name). Many others feel differently. There are some very good consumer reviews on the beeradvocate.com website, it has won a Gold Medal at the World Beer Championships and U.K.'s Barleycorn Beer Newspaper called it "England's finest IPA". Having said that, any hophead comparing HopDevil to Smith if of course going to pick HopDevil hands down. In this case, a fairer comparison would be Smith against Brakspear or St. Peter's Best Bitter or one of the other UK products.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 1:03 pm

Anyone wanting to pass on any comments about Victory HopDevil to the brewery can e-mail their President, Bill Covaleski, at drink@victorybeer.com. This is their first export venture and I'm sure he'd be happy to get some feedback from Canada.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 1:10 pm

Cass, you must have been on while I was writing my posting so sorry about duplicating the Infoline advice. The fact is that the LCBO is nervous about buying large quantities of "expensive" U.S. micros and only ordered 200 cases of HopDevil. Most stores will probably only see one case. I can say that Queen's Quay had it on the shelves as well as an end of aisle stack of about 4 or 5 cases but that's small consolation to anyone who does not regularly visit that store. All I can say is, the quicker we sell out of HopDevil, the better argument we have as an agent that future orders should be larger.

Manul · Post by **Manul** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 7:30 am

Brakspear Bitter - one class above Sam Smith. The attack is mild but the finish... WOW! This is what I call english bitter. The malty character is clearly overcome by the hoppiness but this works for me. I think it's a much better buy than S.S. IPA.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Manul on 2002-02-25 07:30 ]</font>

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 7:26 pm

Esprit, have you noticed any problems with cloudy (very) bottles of Brutal Bitter? I looked over 6 bottles in an Ottawa LCBO and all were heavily sedimented. Any other reports of this? The flavour is still excellent, but a beer like this, not bottled conditioned, looks unappetising when it is this cloudy.