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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
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're you drinking right now?
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- Bar Fly
- Posts: 925
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
- Location: Guelph
the past week or two:
Rochefort 10 from the 2015 release-always outstanding, what else is there to say
Flying Monkeys Matador 2.0 imperial rye ale-this was from around spring 2015 also. I drank my first bottle almost imediately after buying it and i really enjoyed it. This one, not so much. It seems quite unbalanced now....and the cedar is now overpowering. The rye spiciness has seemed to drop off a little, which is a shame. Towards the end of the bottle it was becoming a bit of a chore to drink. Still some nice flavours.
Fullers vintage 2014-really nice beer,drank at room temperature. Smell is lots of vanilla-toffee-oak with a little bit of dried ginger and some typical English leafy hop qualities. Taste is lots of dried fruit,slick mouthfeel with a medium body. Allspice,white pepper,fudge, some slight citrus pith leading to a bit of bitterness on the finish. Quite a complex beer and really lovely, but maybe not one of the better Fullers vintages i've had.
Karma citra- a 6 day old can that was just full of blood orangy tropical goodness. I do love how you can almost always get a fresh can of these great lakes ipa's lately
Fullers London pride- a staple in my fridge that never gets old
Great lakes Saison du pump-i'm not a big fan of pumpkin beers as i feel they tend to be overly spiced, but this is one i enjoy. I've had 2 bottles now, so thats enough for me for a year, but i like how the spicing is more laid back.
Nickelbrook uncommon element-i reallly enjoyed this in the summer as part of their funk lab pack;glad to see it in singles. Really nice interplay between the brett character and the dry hopping. I actually bought 2 bottles, and one of the bottles somehow broke in my trunk. ON the plus side my car smelled fantastic for a day or two.
st ambroise vintage 2013-from the lcbo tri pack from xmas release a couple of years ago-a delicious drink-smelt a bit like earl grey tea,black cherry and warm spices. Taste showed a bit of alcohol heat, blackjack stage caramel,treacle pudding and a touch of star anise. Sticky mouthfeel, medium bodied with a slightly tannic finish, almost like a cup of over-brewed tea gets.
Unibroue a tout le monde-a rare low abv beer from unibroue. A nice refreshing beer,good flavours,quite dry, well balanced. Interestingly, from the few bottles I've drank, I havnt gotten anynod the house unibroue yeast flavours. A first, as far as I can remember. I'm hoping this stays around for next summer.
Rochefort 10 from the 2015 release-always outstanding, what else is there to say
Flying Monkeys Matador 2.0 imperial rye ale-this was from around spring 2015 also. I drank my first bottle almost imediately after buying it and i really enjoyed it. This one, not so much. It seems quite unbalanced now....and the cedar is now overpowering. The rye spiciness has seemed to drop off a little, which is a shame. Towards the end of the bottle it was becoming a bit of a chore to drink. Still some nice flavours.
Fullers vintage 2014-really nice beer,drank at room temperature. Smell is lots of vanilla-toffee-oak with a little bit of dried ginger and some typical English leafy hop qualities. Taste is lots of dried fruit,slick mouthfeel with a medium body. Allspice,white pepper,fudge, some slight citrus pith leading to a bit of bitterness on the finish. Quite a complex beer and really lovely, but maybe not one of the better Fullers vintages i've had.
Karma citra- a 6 day old can that was just full of blood orangy tropical goodness. I do love how you can almost always get a fresh can of these great lakes ipa's lately
Fullers London pride- a staple in my fridge that never gets old
Great lakes Saison du pump-i'm not a big fan of pumpkin beers as i feel they tend to be overly spiced, but this is one i enjoy. I've had 2 bottles now, so thats enough for me for a year, but i like how the spicing is more laid back.
Nickelbrook uncommon element-i reallly enjoyed this in the summer as part of their funk lab pack;glad to see it in singles. Really nice interplay between the brett character and the dry hopping. I actually bought 2 bottles, and one of the bottles somehow broke in my trunk. ON the plus side my car smelled fantastic for a day or two.
st ambroise vintage 2013-from the lcbo tri pack from xmas release a couple of years ago-a delicious drink-smelt a bit like earl grey tea,black cherry and warm spices. Taste showed a bit of alcohol heat, blackjack stage caramel,treacle pudding and a touch of star anise. Sticky mouthfeel, medium bodied with a slightly tannic finish, almost like a cup of over-brewed tea gets.
Unibroue a tout le monde-a rare low abv beer from unibroue. A nice refreshing beer,good flavours,quite dry, well balanced. Interestingly, from the few bottles I've drank, I havnt gotten anynod the house unibroue yeast flavours. A first, as far as I can remember. I'm hoping this stays around for next summer.
- S. St. Jeb
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
- Location: Burlington, ON
Always have a pumpkin beer or two on Halloween. Tonight was Big Rig Tales from the Patch Pumpkin Porter and Flying Monkeys Imperial Pumpkin Ale.
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- Posts: 219
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:04 pm
Stone Enjoy After 07.04.16 Brett IPA
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- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2009
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
Me too. Once a year, always on Halloween while passing out chocolate. I tend to fall back on Grand River Highballer (and did again this year), because the spicing is light and it still largely tastes like beer. Maybe I don't really like pumpkin beer all that much! I do like Highballer though. Great to see it in cans this year.S. St. Jeb wrote:Always have a pumpkin beer or two on Halloween. Tonight was Big Rig Tales from the Patch Pumpkin Porter and Flying Monkeys Imperial Pumpkin Ale.
Bellwoods Jelly King Guava - super nice even though it seems like a summery beer right now.
Founders Mosaic IPA. Hella nice stuff, and enjoying the six pack very much. We are relatively spoiled for IPAs now compared to the more Soviet-like years of Ontario 10-15 years ago.
But man, if you do a product refund as I did yesterday the 2017 LC experience still takes us back over half a century with the tedious filling out forms and dragging-slow service along with far too much dithering & the seemingly implied assumption grown adults in Ontario are entirely suspect and can not be trusted.
Hey LCBO, at least give us Verified Customer Cards that you can scan us into the system in a flash & even put our store credit right on it if it makes returns faster? Unless making the experience less difficult is not on your list of priorities...
Founders Mosaic IPA. Hella nice stuff, and enjoying the six pack very much. We are relatively spoiled for IPAs now compared to the more Soviet-like years of Ontario 10-15 years ago.
But man, if you do a product refund as I did yesterday the 2017 LC experience still takes us back over half a century with the tedious filling out forms and dragging-slow service along with far too much dithering & the seemingly implied assumption grown adults in Ontario are entirely suspect and can not be trusted.
Hey LCBO, at least give us Verified Customer Cards that you can scan us into the system in a flash & even put our store credit right on it if it makes returns faster? Unless making the experience less difficult is not on your list of priorities...
In Beerum Veritas
- darmokandjalad
- Posts: 262
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:04 pm
- Location: Ridgetown, ON
Why would it be? Intentionally making the return/refund process a pain in the ass is in their best interests, because it discourages people from bothering. It's not like they need to worry about you taking your business to a competitor.Belgian wrote:Unless making the experience less difficult is not on your list of priorities...
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- Bar Fly
- Posts: 925
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
- Location: Guelph
Twatsdarmokandjalad wrote:Why would it be? Intentionally making the return/refund process a pain in the ass is in their best interests, because it discourages people from bothering. It's not like they need to worry about you taking your business to a competitor.Belgian wrote:Unless making the experience less difficult is not on your list of priorities...
- cratez
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2284
- Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:29 pm
- Location: Brantford, Ontario
- Contact:
At Bryden's Pub:
Indie Ale House Skyfall Saison (draft)
Indie Ale House Breakfast Porter (draft)
Over the week at home:
Great Lakes What Willis Was Talking About
Bellwoods Runes – Enigma & Ekuanot Lupulin Powder
Beyond The Pale Aromatherapy IPA
Greene King Festive Pudding
Collective Arts IPA No. 4
Collective Arts Radio The Mothership DIPA
Rainhard Standoff IIPA
Indie Ale House Skyfall Saison (draft)
Indie Ale House Breakfast Porter (draft)
Over the week at home:
Great Lakes What Willis Was Talking About
Bellwoods Runes – Enigma & Ekuanot Lupulin Powder
Beyond The Pale Aromatherapy IPA
Greene King Festive Pudding
Collective Arts IPA No. 4
Collective Arts Radio The Mothership DIPA
Rainhard Standoff IIPA
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott
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- Bar Fly
- Posts: 925
- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
- Location: Guelph
cratez wrote:At Bryden's Pub:
Indie Ale House Skyfall Saison (draft)
Indie Ale House Breakfast Porter (draft)
Over the week at home:
Great Lakes What Willis Was Talking About
Bellwoods Runes – Enigma & Ekuanot Lupulin Powder
Beyond The Pale Aromatherapy IPA
Greene King Festive Pudding
Collective Arts IPA No. 4
Collective Arts Radio The Mothership DIPA
Rainhard Standoff IIPA
Just had the festive pudding myself last night. Pretty meh, honestly didn't find it much different than a normal malty British ale. Also a lot thinner than I expected given the name.
How's the CA IPA no.4?? Looking forward to it if it's as good as no 3
- cratez
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2284
- Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:29 pm
- Location: Brantford, Ontario
- Contact:
This was my impression of the Festive Pudding. As English Winter Warmers go, it's not bad. The No. 4 was quite good but the hop flavours & aromas had faded significantly compared to the days-old cans I first tried, and I was more impressed by the other IPAs mentioned (Runes, Aromatherapy, Standoff).sofakingdrunk wrote: Just had the festive pudding myself last night. Pretty meh, honestly didn't find it much different than a normal malty British ale. Also a lot thinner than I expected given the name.
How's the CA IPA no.4?? Looking forward to it if it's as good as no 3
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott
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- Posts: 219
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:04 pm
A Fuller's Vintage Ale 2017. I used to get half a dozen of these every year before missing several years. It's nice to have it back.
Founders Mosaic IPA, a really nice one - with a TRUFF GUI from Descendant Detroit Style Pizza which is at Queen and Jones across from Radical Road (I can highly rec the pizza.)
In Beerum Veritas
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- Posts: 346
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2015 11:36 am
- Location: Toronto
Bellwoods Bring Out Your Dead 2017
While this one will no doubt get even smoother with a bit of age, the higher bottle limit means I can afford to be a little less judicious in deciding when to crack one and I couldn't resist diving in now. The 2017 edition is definitely worthy of its 2014 and 2015 predecessors (I missed out on the inaugural 2013 batch). Lots of chocolate, lots of cognac all very well integrated and a bit of ash . Slightly acidic through the finish. A side-by-side with a 2015 bottle to better assess the impacts of ageing is in the cards, but not on a Sunday.
While this one will no doubt get even smoother with a bit of age, the higher bottle limit means I can afford to be a little less judicious in deciding when to crack one and I couldn't resist diving in now. The 2017 edition is definitely worthy of its 2014 and 2015 predecessors (I missed out on the inaugural 2013 batch). Lots of chocolate, lots of cognac all very well integrated and a bit of ash . Slightly acidic through the finish. A side-by-side with a 2015 bottle to better assess the impacts of ageing is in the cards, but not on a Sunday.
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- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2009
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
Yeah, I thought (on draught) it was hiding it's alcohol very well already. Will only improve I'm sure.
Currently, I am drinking my last 3 Fontanien Armand & Tommy Gueze from the LCBO three years ago to celebrate a new job. It is absolutely delicious. five out of five stars for complexity.
Also, recently I had Bellwoods X Evil Twin Fruit Helmet. 4.5 stars. Strong fruit (passion fruit, guava, raspberry) presence with more hoppiness than I would expect for a pale ale, but that's Bellwoods for you.
Also, recently I had Bellwoods X Evil Twin Fruit Helmet. 4.5 stars. Strong fruit (passion fruit, guava, raspberry) presence with more hoppiness than I would expect for a pale ale, but that's Bellwoods for you.