Neustadt Cask Porter?

[JerCraigs]

Just saw this in the Cest What Newsletter. Anyone know anything about it?

[JWalter]

I tried just a half-pint the other day (it was midday and I was driving - had already had a pint of Camerons'). And it didn't jump out at me as being special, I was actually a bit disappointed, it certainly didn't have a Cask 'character' about it. I'll certainly give it another go, but first impression was rather blah...

[biegaman]

I also tried it. I detected some cask character, but agree, this porter wasnt anything outstanding. It was good dont get me wrong, but rather familiar.

[Derek]

I tried their porter (Bull dog?) at the Keaton in London, not sure if it was cask-conditioned.

I thought some of the flavours were similar to the 10W30, but it had a definite burnt flavour (not roasted, just burnt). Also, it finished quite dry... similar to a dry English Stout.

I hate dry English Stouts!

I do like Neustadt though, and I'm glad their expanding. The 10W30 is quite good, and their Scottish Ale (4.5%) was my staple session beer for a while (when the UWO grad club had it on tap).

[tupalev]

I stopped by last night to try this, but they were out, along with a few other taps (they said they had a busy weekend - 4 days ago). Fortunately, the Iron Duke was tasty on tap, and I got to try the Upper Canada Pale finally (a truly awful beer). I can't wait to try the Red sometime...

This was my first visit to C'est What in 8 months. It was crowded and noisy as expected before a Raptor game (I'm guessing - do people still go to those?) and the service was just as awful and full of attitude as usual (every time you tried ordered something, you felt like you were really bothering your server). At least we had food so we got a table...I stopped going because of the attitude and lousy service and I certainly will not be back any time soon. I want to support Ontario micros as much as anyone here, but you have to draw a line and pick your spots to do this...

Gary, you'll like this one, we also had a pint of the Amsterdam Stout, which was just about as awful as the Upper Canada Pale. We didn't really want to finish either, so we dumped them in together - and created a third truly awful beer, a Pale and Tan if you will. Some of the negatives (smells mostly) cancelled each other out, and we were left with a light black glass of nothingness that still tasted like crap...

[Belgian]

My condolences, I remember when Upper Canada could be pretty good! (If really inconsistent.)

[lister]

Fortunately, the Iron Duke was tasty on tap, and I got to try the Upper Canada Pale finally (a truly awful beer). I can't wait to try the Red sometime...

I've had the red a month or two ago and found it no better than Rickard's which I will drink if only macros are available.

This was my first visit to C'est What in 8 months. It was crowded and noisy as expected before a Raptor game (I'm guessing - do people still go to those?) and the service was just as awful and full of attitude as usual (every time you tried ordered something, you felt like you were really bothering your server). At least we had food so we got a table...I stopped going because of the attitude and lousy service and I certainly will not be back any time soon.

From what I've seen on the flip by on TV, people still do go to Raptors games. I've never liked basketball so I've never understood the draw. Same with soccer.

I haven't had that experience at CW yet. I have experienced slightly slow service when seated eating. Our last two visits were earlier this month ahead of dinner at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar (a Saturday night) and last Saturday afternoon. We were playing pool both times. On the JK night our server (a blonde girl) was quite friendly and attentive even though she brought me Steamwhistle instead of Stratford Pilsner (no biggie, she probably misheard me as it was a little loud in there.) Last Saturday's server however was less attentive requiring a trip to the bar for a round of drinks (which I hate doing.) The place wasn't even that busy. That's the server's loss though as we would have likely had another round or two.

[tupalev]

From what I've seen on the flip by on TV, people still do go to Raptors games. I've never liked basketball so I've never understood the draw. Same with soccer.

I used to love basketball when I was in high school and played, but have grown very very tired of it over the past 10 years. My statement was more a comment on how the Raptors were doing this year. I'll leave the soccer comment alone, suffice to say I disagree.

My Upper Canada Red comment was obviously quite sarcastic; I'll be ok if I never try another "red" again!

Glad to hear you're having better luck than I am at C'est What. I'd like the place a lot better if I could go in for a drink or two, sit at a table, and order my own drinks from the bar, thus completely bypassing the shitty service. Oh well, their loss of my beer drinking dollars...

[Steve Spong]

I have to admit, I've had the same problems with the C'est What service. They do tend to pack a great deal of attitude, and I've had a hell of a time ordering before, even when sitting at the bar. The wait staff are often too busy socialising with each other to bother with actually doing their job. Nevertheless, it is still the place for a pint of Canadian micro. Having said that, I still prefer BeerBistro.

[antirealist]

I raised these same points almost exactly a year ago in this forum, only to be told that

C'est What deserves our praise and our business.

[GregClow]

I raised these same points almost exactly a year ago in this forum, only to be told that

C'est What deserves our praise and our business.

IIRC, some people agreed with your points as well.

Taking a single quote from a single person and inferring that they represent the views of the forum as a whole is a little off-base...

[tupalev]

I remember the post anitrealist, and actually just went back and revisited the topic. I stayed out of the discussion at the time mainly because it seemed like some people don't have an issue with the place and some do. So be it. I've made my choice not to go there for reasons discussed and part of me wants to see the worthwhile micros supported, and I know C'est What is an important place for just that. But honestly, a place doesn't deserve anything if it doesn't appreciate your business and treats you like shit. Consistently. So I'll go to places like Volo and Joe's where the staff and the owners truly appreciate my business. I'll stop in at C'est What once a year just to see if anything has changed. I'd be more upset if it was my only choice in this city but thankfully it isn't. I'd like to think the people that run the place would read comments like this and maybe make an effort to be friendlier, but I'm not going to lose any sleep if they don't.

[biegaman]

I have gone to Cest What a good number of times and without exception have each and every time had a positive experience. Very, very friendly and helpful service especially. An excellent rotating tap collection (never had a problem finding a new beer to try) and I liked their food too!

We frequently go after Raptor games (yes, some of us still support the team through these dismal, dismal times) and even have a little betting system to determine who pays for the beer.

Anyhow, my positive experiences have compelled me to give my two cents about this. Also, to sneak in this Steven Wright quote;
"Why is it that its 'a penny for your thought', but you have to 'put your two cents in'? Someone is making a penny."

[HogTownHarry]

Food is ... decent.

But I'm sorry, three not-good experiences and I'm not likely going back any time soon either.

They have a lot of taps, yes, but frankly most of them are pedestrian beers - at best you can say a lot of them are "interesting" and "not macro" but I've been to tasting festivals there, had 20 beers and barely enjoyed 6 of them.

And sorry, the service is at best indifferent. They are inattentive, distracted, and they always make it seem like you're interrupting something more important to take your order, or to remind them (again) for the glass of water you politely asked for. Reminded me a bit of Paris, actually, just better hygiene and fewer sneers.

And the whining and pontificating in their newsletter gets old really fast too.

[Blankboy]

And I will add my voice to the "dissapointed by C'est What" choir. I recently went despite the really bad times I'd had the last few times and once again, the staff treated us like crap. When we arrived we had to wait 10 minutes for a table (despite the tables that were "reserved" before we got there and still "reserved" when we left 2 hours later) so we grabbed a small table near the bar and ordered 2 pints. When we ordered we told the server we'd be moving to a table to eat and he said "no problem". When the server finally came by to bring us to our table she said something along the lines of "you guys can settle your bill or work something out with the bartender before you go to your table or something". I said to HogTownHarry, "Fuck that" and went up to her and said "Can you go up to him and arrange for him to put those drinks with the rest of our bill" and she said ".........O.K.? I guess." Why the hell should we do all the work for them, it's their job? Then throughout the night everytime we'd ask for a glass of water or try to get theit attention to order they would make it seem like they had much better things to do then serve us. The customer service there is ridiculously bad. I'm certain they train their staff that way because it's been constantly bad now for years regardless of who you get. I'm done with the place for another two to three years.