The Bar Towel

MattS wrote: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.

Yes. In a weird way, the effectively $105 per 24x330ml case price for Stone Smoked Porter (it's almost a session drinker at 5.9%, not a heavyweight) makes the bigger beers like well-priced Imperial stouts actually a comparative steal. Dragon's Milk, Bolshevik Bastard, Amager Sundby, Bottle Imp, and St Ambroise Oatmeal all represent better values at least relatively, if not also by volume. Heck, Stone's own Coffee Milk Stout is 35% cheaper and it's less than one per cent ABV shy of the Porter.

One of the shortcomings of LCBO stores is POP (point of purchase) the support is minimal to nonexistent. I would like better descriptions to be universal, and I would like price-per-100ml comparisons on ALL products posted right there, to defeat all the smoke-and-mirrors hiding of information! How come grocery stores are forced to disclose a standardized comparison of confusing packaging sizes, while the LC with all its overwrought bureaucracy are not? This would be a real value to the consumer no?

Again, far from hating on the Stone Smoked Porter & will buy a few just because it's here in Canada, which is so novel in a way we are most familiar with.

Belgian wrote: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.

It's definitely a bummer. If money were no object then I'd certainly buy another bottle or two just to support their continued presence in this province, but there are simply too many other reasonable alternatives for that to be justifiable. E.g. I could get 3 tallboys of Stranger than Fiction for what that bomber cost.

As a related aside, the dismal value of the CDN$ could actually be an inadvertent advantage for Ontario brewers, should they decide to take advantage of it. Bottles like GLB's T10 IPA bombers or Cameron's RPA at 6-7 dollars a pop (to say nothing of that 6 dollar Fat Tug!) look pretty darn attractive when compared to most of the competition (imported or otherwise).

sofakingdrunk wrote: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

It was much better than I was expecting it to be. I've never had any other cedar-aged beers, but that particular type of wood just seems to pair wonderfully with the spiciness of the rye.

At home:
Thornbridge Beadeca’s Well Smoked Porter - very good
Collective Arts Ransack The Universe IPA - excellent
Stone Smoked Porter - as tasty as I remember (but perhaps not worth $9 a bomber)

Belgian wrote:

MattS wrote: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.

I would like price-per-100ml comparisons on ALL products posted right there, to defeat all the smoke-and-mirrors hiding of information! How come grocery stores are forced to disclose a standardized comparison of confusing packaging sizes, while the LC with all its overwrought bureaucracy are not? This would be a real value to the consumer no?

That is an excellent idea.

darmokandjalad wrote:As a related aside (poor pricing linked to poor exchange), the dismal value of the CDN$ could actually be an inadvertent advantage for Ontario brewers, should they decide to take advantage of it.

Could be a great time for Ontario and other Canadian brewers to take over and dominate in both value and quality. Unless some of them decide to just match prices with causally-overpriced American imports & coast on the extra profits, of course not in every case but may sometimes happen! It should be an opportunity to challenge foreign competition before the Canadian dollar rises again.

Incidentally, I do recall when Headstrong Pale Ale was a bomber for 2.95… why not bring back the working-man's craft beer at some level of every brewery's lineup? Porter, Bitter and Pale Ale are excellent value-category styles.

Drinking Stone Coffee Milk Stout, I'm always impressed with the great flavors and (how can I put it?) the exact structure of Stone's Stouts. Not to hype this one too much since it is on the easy-going side, but it's really well put together and exactly the kind of thing I hope to see from Stone.

Belgian wrote:Drinking Stone Coffee Milk Stout, I'm always impressed with the great flavors and (how can I put it?) the exact structure of Stone's Stouts. Not to hype this one too much since it is on the easy-going side, but it's really well put together and exactly the kind of thing I hope to see from Stone.

That's good to know. I tried to buy a single of it the other day to check it out, but was thoroughly rebuffed at checkout. They seem to get very upset that I don't know which beers I can take a single out of the six pack and which ones I can't.

Love my local LCBO. Every time I take a single out that cant be scanned they run it through as a domestic single and charge me $2. They just did it last night with a single of La Fin Du Monde.

Yesterday while watching the AFC and NFC Championships:
Great Lakes Harry Porter & The Cherry Hoarder - probably the best iteration yet as the cherry tartness is perfectly balanced and, unlike previous versions, this one isn't too sweet.
Great Lakes Behind The Wavy Wall - roasty, chocolatey, some molasses-like sweetness, big hop bitterness and a velvety, full-bodied mouthfeel. No discernible booziness despite the 12% ABV. Lovely.

Over the weekend:

- Beau's Le Cœur Noir Black IPA - Not bad. The mouthfeel is silky-smooth and satisfying, with lots of earthy, resiny hop flavours. A good introductory black ale but a tad too pricey for multiple purchases.

- Beau's New Lang Syne - I cracked and decided to purchase this one despite its steep price tag. It's very good by Beau's standards, but the wine/barrel flavours are relatively subtle. Wouldn't pick up again.

- Forked River Holy Hand Grenade (Quadrupel) - Picked up at the brewery back in Sept. Not an especially great example of this style, but still fine to drink. Very sweet and fruity - date, cherry, fig, that sort of stuff, and a hint of chocolate flavour. Not as warming as I'd expect an 11% quad to be. Hope to try the soured red wine BA version in the near future.

Over the weekend:

BDT La Corne et la Muse Wee Heavy.
Wild Rose Switch Hitter IPL.
5 Paddles Hommel Bier. This was thinner than water, and tasted flat and stale, not just low or under-carbonated. A big miss from a brewery that is almost always either hit or miss for me.
Burdock North East Brown Ale. I liked this a lot.

Fat tug-figured get a few more, while the gettings good
Bolshevik bastard
Ddc aphrodisiac- awesome stuff
La chouffe

sofakingdrunk wrote:Fat tug-figured get a few more, while the gettings good
Bolshevik bastard
Ddc aphrodisiac- awesome stuff
La chouffe

Is aphrodisiac at the lcbo yet? They have a listing 442723 but the page returns an error when you click on it...the vintages, drinkvine, and foodanddrink.ca don't have it listen yet. Why does it gave to be so difficult?

Masterplan wrote:

sofakingdrunk wrote:
Is aphrodisiac at the lcbo yet? They have a listing 442723 but the page returns an error when you click on it...the vintages, drinkvine, and foodanddrink.ca don't have it listen yet. Why does it gave to be so difficult?

I'm not sure, this was actually from a trip to Montreal in the summer. Hopefully when it does arrive they have a decent amount and good distrubution

sofakingdrunk wrote:Fat tug-figured get a few more, while the gettings good

so happy to hear that this is a regular listing. Hopefully the next batch comes in fresh