What're you drinking right now?

[portwood]

Indeed; I love variety as much as any other, but wider distribution does not exactly guarantee the best result for the end consumer. There are actually a couple of beers being sold in Sarnia that I think would be better off if they evacuated Lambton county entirely and focused instead on their local markets. Having your pale or 'lagered' ale available in the opposite corner of the province isn't especially beneficial if it has already begun to fade by the time the LCBO puts it out on the shelf.

Valid point, if we were still living in 1990.
HOWEVER, modern distribution methods (e-commerce) should allow these small breweries to deliver FRESH product to consumers anytime, almost anywhere! The LCBO itself now has a method of accomplishing this rather quickly. I should be able to get a beer delivered to my local store in less than 2 weeks of bottling/canning (1 wk from brewer to LCBO warehouse, 1 week from whse to store - much less within GTA).

Problem is, the monopoly is more interested in marketing foreign wines than local beer.

[cratez]

Over the weekend at Birreria Volo:
Crooked Stave Petite Sour Rosé (sample)
Burdock Té (draft)
Cascade Blackcap Raspberry (sample)
Amsterdam South Pacific IPA (draft)
Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Blueberry (sample)
Left Field Laser Show (draft)

Over the week at home:
Great Lakes Blonde Lager
Great Lakes 30th Anniversary Barrel-Aged Belgian Style Quad
Rainhard Neon Wasteland Belgian Pale Ale
Rainhard True Grit Brett Saison
Rainhard Bock
Rainhard Dry Hopped Sour Saison

[darmokandjalad]

Problem is, the monopoly is more interested in marketing foreign wines than local beer.

You're preaching to the choir, my friend. I simply operate the best I can within the constraints of our current beer-retailing reality, and try to give brewers the benefit of the doubt where LCBO handling is a plausible detracting factor.

Since it's listed in the LCBO, you should be able to order it in to you local store, but you may have to get a full case. Depending on your beer drinking habits, that may be doable.

70 bucks for a full flat is technically doable, but I don't usually buy beers by the 2-4 (unless I'm camping). Maybe I'll consider it when the Uerige stock has dried up

[cratez]

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Fuller's Jack Frost (cask)
Great Lakes GLB 06927 (draft)
Black Swan Apricot Wild Child (draft)
Left Field Wrigley Oat Pale Ale (draft)

At London Brewing Co-op:
London Brewing Local 117 (sample)
London Brewing Norfolk Red (sample)
London Brewing Workhorse IPA (sample)
London Brewing Ode To The Wick (sample)

At Anderson Craft Ales:
Anderson Spring Black Lager (sample)

Right now:
Anderson IPA

[darmokandjalad]

Within the last week, give or take a few days:

-Stone Xocoveza - LCBO. An excellent sipper. Unrepentant sweetness, but the spices, roasted malts and chiles help to blunt it. I think this might be my favourite Stone beer to date, of the handful that I've tried.
-Refined Fool Say NO! To Rugs - Bomber purchased at the brewery back in November; an English barleywine (11.9%). Mostly brown sugar sweetness and dark fruits, with an earthy, herbal back end drenched with booziness. Not my cup of tea, but a decent stab at a style that I rarely seek out.
-Beau's Collabrrrewnaut Coffee Pils - LCBO. That Best of Beau's pack from late last year was marked down by like 25% so I decided to give it a try. This was a disjointed beer that looked amazing in the glass, but kind of smelled like an ashtray. Tolerable flavours at best.
-Beau's Bush Fire Rooibos Honeybush Beer - Also from the Best of Beau's 4-pack. I usually find their gruits interesting, and this was no exception. Leafy, herbal and floral, with a tisane-esque flavour profile. Didn't mind it at all, though I doubt I'd seek out more.
-Beau's Dark Helmüt - Also in the Best of Beau's. I've had this beer a few times and have always felt that it's one of Beau's' better products.
-Block Three The Loneliness (BBA) - 500 mL bottle from the brewery. It was listed at 8.7%, but I think it might have been a little higher than that. The bourbon flavour was admittedly more intense than I was expecting, and it got to be a bit much for me by the end of the bottle. Pretty good.
-Collingwood Rockwell Pilsner - LCBO tallboy. Sampled prior to a can of PU, and I must say it compared surprisingly well. Not sure if it's as good as King Pils (Pick-up Truck) but it's a decent local alternative to stuff like PU and Czechvar.
-Pint Pursuits Lord of Lupulin - LCBO tallboy. A couple fresh flats of this showed up locally so I decided to revisit it. The huge, flaky sediments that were in the last batch were absent this time around, but the flavour was about the same. It's a decent hoppy pale ale, but not a stand-out.

[boney]

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Fuller's Jack Frost (cask)
Great Lakes GLB 06927 (draft)
Black Swan Apricot Wild Child (draft)
Left Field Wrigley Oat Pale Ale (draft)

At London Brewing Co-op:
London Brewing Local 117 (sample)
London Brewing Norfolk Red (sample)
London Brewing Workhorse IPA (sample)
London Brewing Ode To The Wick (sample)

At Anderson Craft Ales:
Anderson Spring Black Lager (sample)

Right now:
Anderson IPA

So, what's the verdict on the CO-OP? Worth making the trip over to the ol' L-spot?

[cratez]

So, what's the verdict on the CO-OP? Worth making the trip over to the ol' L-spot?

Right now the beers range from decent to very good, but none are outstanding. Most are well-made takes on English and European styles (EPA, Brown Ale, Belgian IPA), though the Norfolk WC Red Ale and Workhorse IPA lean towards the hoppy/American side of things. The Tolpuddle (Robust) Porter is their best beer IMO.

Would I recommend making a special trip there? Probably not, since they have yet to make anything that I would rate above a 4/5. But I'm encouraged with what they're doing (including their partnership with The Root Cellar Cafe), and the direction they seem to be heading (the beer keeps getting better). And the brewery itself is a really cool space with a great community vibe, for what that's worth.

I was in town visiting friends and family and had some time to kill during the day so I went to check out LBC and Anderson Craft Ales, which are basically right beside one another. Anderson has great branding and the brewery is a fun and popular spot, but compared to Forked River, LBC, and even Toboggan the creativity is not there. Launching with an "Amber" and "Cream Ale" should be illegal in 2017, but that's what Anderson has decided to do. And that's unfortunate because they know to brew. The IPA, Brown Ale, and Black Lager are all really good takes on their respective styles, and they recently made a Dubbel and Tripel that I'm told were quite tasty, so I'd like to see them move more in that direction. But I get the sense that they won't, because they seem to be catering to the masses. We will see what happens.

I guess the "big picture" story is that London's beer scene has changed dramatically for the better over the last few years. Four new breweries have opened since 2013 and nobody talks about Railway City anymore. Milos' has become a top destination in Ontario while some of the weaker places, like the APK and Black Shire, have fallen by the way side. Beertown, Root Cellar, Morrissey House, and the King Eddy are viable alternatives to Milos'. The Forest City Beer Fest is actually worth going to, and the organizers are now doing pop-up events in the lead up to the festival. But the real game changer will be when Beerlab opens their brewery and retail space later this year. Nick and Adil really know what they're doing when it comes to making flavourful, interesting, and experimental beers, and I think Beerlab has the potential to light a fire under the ass of the city's other breweries and push them to do better. So when they open (expected Spring/Summer 2017), that's when it'll be worth making a trip to London.

[boney]

Great overview of what's happening in London. Thanks! It's been a few years since I've explored London's beer scene, despite being so close. Work might bring me that way this summer, so will be keeping an eye out for Beerlabs opening.

[midlife crisis]

Yes, good summary. Only thing I would add is The Bungalow is a bit of a hidden gem with a decent tap list (for London) - nice neighbourhood place if you're in the Old North area.

[cratez]

Great overview of what's happening in London. Thanks! It's been a few years since I've explored London's beer scene, despite being so close. Work might bring me that way this summer, so will be keeping an eye out for Beerlabs opening.

Sounds good. I'm usually down twice a month so if you think you'll be there on a weekend shoot me a PM. Would love to meet up for a pint and there's a 50% chance I'll be around anyway.

Yes, good summary. Only thing I would add is The Bungalow is a bit of a hidden gem with a decent tap list (for London) - nice neighbourhood place if you're in the Old North area.

So I've heard. Haven't been there since 2010-ish, but plan to stop by soon to see what's changed.

[S. St. Jeb]

I've just never been able to develop a strong like for wheat beers / saisons/ farmhouse ales and the like. But I keep trying them.

Had a Stalwart Down By The River American Wheat Ale tonight. Had one a few months ago too. This is one I really like.

Curious what those that really like this style feel about this one. Maybe it's a poor entry for the style?

[Belgian]

Bench 20 Mile Farmhouse Ale, well worth having two pints at Thirsty et Miserables.

Lots of nice dry herbal character setting off the gently sweet and slightly sour fruit profile, some peppery and piespice phenolics, just a little funk. I hope it's always this excellent.

[S. St. Jeb]

Oast House Barn Raiser Country Ale. I've had this for awhile, but just got around to trying it tonight. It was over-carbonated, but once that dissipated, it was quite good.

Also, Jack Daniel's 1866 Classic Amber Lager.
http://www.bartowel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6977

[S. St. Jeb]

Enjoyed all of these over the weekend.

Nickelbrook Winter Porter
Stonehammer Continuity Baltic Porter
Clifford Porter
Collective Arts IPA No. 1
Big Rig Canadian Amber

[darmokandjalad]

Within the last week:

-Beau's Quads and Rockers - Last of the Best of Beau's 4-pack. Not bad, but a little too sweet for me. Cherries, raisins, dates, and syrupy sugar. Texture is a bit flat. Decent for a domestic, but paled in comparison to all of the imported quads we can get in ON.
-Beau's Tyrannosaurus Gruit - LCBO bottle. Flowery/floral with tree bark, soil and vegetal beet flavours. Herbal and a tad resiny; a weird one all around, but I didn't hate it.
-Cuvée des Jacobins Rouge - LCBO bottle. Fantastic. Sour red fruits and red wine vinegar notes nicely complement the oak and subtle vanilla flavours. Puckeringly acidic and quite tart. A real pleasure to drink.
-Samuel Adams Rebel IPA - LCBO bottle from a six-pack. Very resiny/citrusy, with floral, earthy bitterness and sturdy caramelized malt backing. Drinkable, but mundane, and definitely not as good as the more popular ON-brewed IPAs.
-Flying Monkeys SuperCollider 2.0 - LCBO tallboy. Unabashedly bitter. Citrus, tropical fruit, stone fruit and strawberry, with a viscous texture and a brutally resiny, earthy finish that half-assedly masks the abv. Not one of the better Ontario DIPAs I've experienced recently; these guys used to be pioneers in this province, but they are struggling to keep pace lately.
-Steamworks Jasmine IPA - LCBO bomber. I didn't mind this one, but nothing stood out especially. Grapefruit, grassy hay, berries, and a nectar-y background sweetness, with the jasmine blossoms giving it a nice, flowery, somewhat herbal note.
-Trooper Red 'N' Black Porter - LCBO bottle. A decent, traditional sort of porter. The hop profile is very reminiscent of their ordinary Trooper; tea-leafy and earthy. It was ok, but I wouldn't buy another.
-Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor - From that 4-pack that showed up at the LCBO in late 2016. A pretty darn good BIPA.
-Gouden Carolus Tripel - Ditto. Even better than the Hopsinjoor.