What're you drinking right now?

[CoolB]

I actually found Fat Tug and Headstock to have some similarities. The difference being Fat Tug is much sweeter and more refined but both have that tropical mango type of thing going on.

Headstock deserves more love. it's quite a good regularly available IPA.

[Craig]

About 2 out of every 3 Headstocks I've had have been that amazing, tropical IPA you're describing. That other 1 out of 3 is why I don't give it more love.

Although that's true of most Ontario IPAs. I think it's hard to get consistency if you're buying such small lots of hops. I imagine the Ontario guys get the leftovers when the Stones of the world are done buying.

[cratez]

Over the last few nights at home:
Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock – to quote markaberrant, "a stone cold classic"
Driftwood Fat Tug IPA - definitely one of the top 5 Canadian IPAs I've had
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale - also drinking fabulous right now

[sofakingdrunk]

Ransack the universe- excellent stuff. Just my type of IPA, nice bitterness and tonnes of tropical flavours. It reminds me of another beer that I can't put my finger on. If I visited the beer store more often, this would be a regular purchase for me. Another hit for CA. The only beer I've had from These guys that I wasn't crazy about was the Saint of circumstance.

Tankhouse from mill st sampler pack- this beer has changed so much over the past couple years. It used to be a solid enjoyable drink. Now I feel it tastes almost nothin like it used to. The hop
Profile on it seems so different, it almost tastes like an English brown ale now......or maybe it's just me

Does Ransack The Universe resemble Headstock IPA at all? I can't wait to get my hands on it.

So I've just had a headstock(for the first time in forever) and a Ransack, back to back. They do have some similar flavours. I find the ransack a bit brighter tasting, while the headstock has a more astringent bitterness. Similar mango/apricot/melon flavours. You can definitely tell they come from the same family tree

[cratez]

Over the weekend at Real Sports Bar and Bar Hop Brewco:
Samuel Adams Boston Lager (draft)
Murphy's Irish Stout (draft)
Goose Island Goose IPA (draft)
Burdock West Coast Pilsener (draft)
Side Launch Mountain Lager (draft)

Very exciting to see Ontario crafters making a range of good hoppy lagers now. To my surprise, the Burdock was even brighter and hoppier than a fresh Prima Pils, which is no small feat. Definitely worth a try, and the Mountain Lager is outstanding too.

I find the ransack a bit brighter tasting, while the headstock has a more astringent bitterness. Similar mango/apricot/melon flavours.

High praise considering Headstock is one of the best IPAs in the province. Will be sure to grab a sixer of the Ransack.

[spinrsx]

Drinking fat tug.. very very good. Reminds me of a smashbomb mixed with a sculpin kind of.

[CoolB]

Had a Lake Effect IPA brewed 01/06 and a Headstock IPA brewed 01/07 last night. Both were insanely fresh but I've got to admit I like the Headstock better. There is just more complexity to the beer. The Lake Effect was so juicy and easy to drink that I almost didn't take the time to enjoy the flavours.

Also had a Rochefort 10. It didn't really match to well with the IPA's but I'm never ever turning down an opportunity to drink a 10. Such a fantastic beer.

Cheers

[walz22]

On Saturday evening at Bellwoods:

Dry-hopped Sour Ale
Farmageddon
Jutsu
3 Minutes to Midnight with Raspberries

The standouts for me were the the Jutsu and 3MM... both were absolutely delicious.

[atomeyes]

good beer night on the weekend. some of what we had:

Westy 12 from 2001 - it was around 6-12 months from its peak but still delicious
Wicked Weed Montmareto
Russian River Damnation
Allagash Cuve D'inustrial
Evil Twi/Two Roads gose
Single Cut BonBon TNT IIPA
Muddy York Simcoe APA
HF/Blaudies La Vermontoise

that's all i can remember

[Coronaeus]

Over the past couple days:

Boulevard Imperial Stout X: Coffee Ale. Lovely!
Burdock Belgian Farmhouse Stout
Great Northern Brewing Tea Pale Ale. (Surprisingly excellent. The bergamot form the earl grey blended beautifully with the northwest hops).
Indie Ale House Zombie Apocalypse
Stone Coffee Milk Stout. This was fine, but I doubt I will buy more. It leaves a burnt grain aftertaste that I find unappealing.

[darmokandjalad]

Over the past few days:

Stone Smoked Porter - Dated Oct 1. Nice restrained smokiness, with lots of roasted malt flavour and a bittersweet aftertaste. Not bad, but at the current exchange rate I doubt I'll buy another bottle.

Stone Coffee Milk Stout - Dated Oct 24. Good milk stout, but I've never been real big on the style. The coffee bitterness provides a proper counterpoint to the milk sugar sweetness. Again, that exchange rate is killing me.

Forked River Grumpy Peasant - Soured rye saison listed at 5.9%. Surprisingly sour compared to most of their other related offerings. The red wine barrel and sourness totally overpowered the rye, which bummed me out. Otherwise it was enjoyable.

Flying Monkeys Matador V 2.0 - Dated from Oct 2014; pulled this one from the cellar on the weekend. I was in the mood for rye, and this one delivered in spades. Peppery accents with mild fruitiness and tons of sappy cedar on the back end. The alcohol was also well-integrated. Seems like the kind of beer one will either love or hate, and I'm definitely the former.

[Belgian]

Stone Smoked Porter - Dated Oct 1. Nice restrained smokiness, with lots of roasted malt flavour and a bittersweet aftertaste. Not bad, but at the current exchange rate I doubt I'll buy another bottle.

The price is absolutely insane for a porter, albeit a very good one. I'm with you there. I recall not that many years ago buying Stone bombers at Wegmans in Amherst NY for US $2.99, I recall clearly because all the Rogue stuff around Buffalo was a dollar or more extra. Anyway not to disrespect Stone's efforts, and I'll buy a few but I sure don't like being told our dollar is worth half what it is. This is not a fun game to be played by.

No way would people pay $26.85 for a six-pack of Stone Porter. This is what they or the LCBO are essentially asking. Something is just wrong. The monopolists running the beer game in Ontario have no sense of the product or where the prices should be, it's an absolute mess.

[MattS]

No way would people pay $26.85 for a six-pack of Stone Porter. This is what they or the LCBO are essentially asking. Something is just wrong. The monopolists running the beer game in Ontario have no sense of the product or where the prices should be, it's an absolute mess.

But that's exactly why breweries (including those in Ontario) like bombers - you can charge far more per ml for them. There were complaints on this board about $5.25 for a 473ml can of Sawdust's RIS, but that's considerably cheaper than $8.95 for Stone's 650ml, let alone the $10+ Ontario bombers we see so frequently.

I think my main point is that it's not just the LCBO making this happen. We as customers are buying these high priced products ("oooo, look at the fancy new bottle"), so you can't fault breweries/LCBO for doing it.

[sofakingdrunk]

Over the past week or so:

Ransack the universe-great
Fat tug- also great
Lake effect- I think it's starting to be past its best unfortunately
London Pride
London porter- great for driveway shovelling
Beaus 80 shilling- every now and then I take a chance on beaus, this was one of those times as I enjoy the style and the good price point(for beaus) I really enjoyed it. Nothing groundbreaking but true to the style and a very tasty drink
Unibroue don de dieu
Unibroue ephemere pear- I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would
Thornbridge smoked porter- I was slightly disappointed by this. Every other product I've had from these guys has been good-great but this was just average. Very subdued flavours
Delirium tremens-delicious
2013 rochefort 8-awesome stuff. Really developing some almost anejo tequila flavours as strange as it sounds.

[sofakingdrunk]

Flying Monkeys Matador V 2.0 - Dated from Oct 2014; pulled this one from the cellar on the weekend. I was in the mood for rye, and this one delivered in spades. Peppery accents with mild fruitiness and tons of sappy cedar on the back end. The alcohol was also well-integrated. Seems like the kind of beer one will either love or hate, and I'm definitely the former.

I almost cracked this myself on Sunday night, but it was late and I wasn't sure I could commit to 750 ml of cedar-y beer that time of night. Sounds great though, looking forward to actually opening one