The Bar Towel

cratez wrote: At the Air Canada Centre:
Batch Porter (draft)
Lagunitas IPA (draft)

Nice to see some decent options at ACC. I haven't been in a year or two. Are these widely available or at a specific bar?

beerstodiscover wrote: Nice to see some decent options at ACC. I haven't been in a year or two. Are these widely available or at a specific bar?

I'm not really sure. All I know is that the bar where I got them from was close to the Nathan's Hot Dog stand and rum bar around Section 112. Agreed that it's nice to finally see some decent - albeit macro-owned - beer options at the ACC. We're still a long way from major sports venues embracing local, independent crafters (like you see in countless U.S. cities), but I was happy to be able to drink something other than Molson Canadian.

Cameron's Where the Buffalo Roam - very good!
Ten Fiddy - Wow! Awesome!
Founder's Backwood's Bastward - meh, not bad.

Founders PC Pils
Founders Mosaic Promise IPA
Founders Backwoods - and a second one. It's a very round beer as a scotch ale but the malt profile and bourbon barrel is nice.

Nice stuff! Dreaming of my next Founders CBS (it's all gone from the LC, don't bother looking.)

Bellwood's Satan's Broadsword — Interesting brew. Ancho chile notes reminded me of Xocoveza, but this beer lacks Stone's balance. Super sweet, potent pepper spice. It kinda grew on my as I drank it, but 500ml of this liquid is definitely too much for one sitting.

seangm wrote:

sofakingdrunk wrote:

seangm wrote:
Chiming in as another ESB fan, I really enjoyed St. Mary Axe Canadian Best Bitter if you happen to come across any.

I grabbed a can of this and wasn't really a fan tbh. I'll have to try one more before making a final decision though as I usually like to have something at least 2 times before ruling it out.

It really grew on me as I drank more of it. The first few sips weren't what I expected, but it really seemed to evolve nicely as it warmed up a bit too. Another bitter I almost forgot about is Henderson's Best, I've been buying it a lot since they started canning it. It's up there with Equilibrium for me.

Having my first St. Mary Axe. Kinda strikes me as a pale ale, but regardless, really like it.

Oud Beersel Oude Geuze — It's really nice having this around. I haven't had enough Gueuze to really appreciate the nuances of the style but this is really tasty stuff. Funky horse-blanket, wood, flowers, grapes, bone dry.

^ I really like that Oude Beersel Geuze!

Now - GLB 25th Anniv Bourbon Barrel Aged RIS
Earlier - a 3 Minutes To Midnight, fantastic.

Flying Monkeys Juicy Ass IPA. Surprised that name got past the LCBO Department Of Social Responsibilty.

BeerIsGood wrote:Flying Monkeys Juicy Ass IPA. Surprised that name got past the LCBO Department Of Social Responsibilty.

Yeah I thought that as well, especially since FM had such issues with "smashbomb" all those years ago. I actually think it's a stupid name, but a really tasty beer, best I've had from FM since smashbomb was first on the scene

beerstodiscover wrote:Halcyon Barrel House Infinity Mirror Brett IPA — Nose to die for, loads of brett and pineapple. Drinks like some Orvals I've had. Clean brett character shines, bone dry finish and bitter edge. Interesting brew.

I picked up a fresher (Nov 22) bottle and it tasted much better than my first experiences with delicate waves of delicious funky peaches and plums. I also stirred up the sediment days before opening, as someone mentioned on here.

On a long overdue brewery/pub crawl. The two with asterisks were standouts.

At Left Field
Bang Bang (Dry Hopped Sour)
Greenwood (IPA)
Laser Show (IIPA)
Sweet Jesus (Mocha Marshmellow Stout)
Wrigley (Oat Pale Ale)

At Godspeed
Biere de Soif (Lager collab w/ Brasserie de la Senne)
Ochame (Green Tea IPA)
Yuzu (Saison w/ Yuzu)

At Rorschach
Dark Adaptation (Dark Saison with Coffee and Cherry)
Sweet Disposition (Plum IPA)
Malevolent Benevolence (Imperial Molé Stout)*

Also worth mentioning
Halcyon Barrel House - Shifting Sands: Peach (Foeder aged sour golden ale with peaches)*

beerstodiscover wrote:At Rorschach
...
Malevolent Benevolence (Imperial Molé Stout)*

Also worth mentioning
Halcyon Barrel House - Shifting Sands: Peach (Foeder aged sour golden ale with peaches)*

You remind me I have to check out Rorschach! So close but just never made it over.
And that new Halcyon sounds great. A brewer to watch plus have a distributor you can't get away from (Beau's.)
The Halcyon Gravity Well I thought was no Goudenband but pretty decent:

Typical of popular examples of style, nice defined acetic and sour apple, apple orchard floor humus. Spicy kola root, warm dark fruit, caramel sweetness. Competent, could be more stony or funky or vinous or something to set it apart.

beerstodiscover wrote:On a long overdue brewery/pub crawl. The two with asterisks were standouts.

At Left Field
Bang Bang (Dry Hopped Sour)
Greenwood (IPA)
Laser Show (IIPA)
Sweet Jesus (Mocha Marshmellow Stout)
Wrigley (Oat Pale Ale)

At Godspeed
Biere de Soif (Lager collab w/ Brasserie de la Senne)
Ochame (Green Tea IPA)
Yuzu (Saison w/ Yuzu)

At Rorschach
Dark Adaptation (Dark Saison with Coffee and Cherry)
Sweet Disposition (Plum IPA)
Malevolent Benevolence (Imperial Molé Stout)*

Also worth mentioning
Halcyon Barrel House - Shifting Sands: Peach (Foeder aged sour golden ale with peaches)*

can you share some thoughts on the non-standouts?

atomeyes wrote:can you share some thoughts on the non-standouts?

It was quite a night and my taste buds were overworked so I don't want to judge anything too harshly.

Rorschach Dark Adaptation was a little disappointing. I only had a sample, but seemed bland and not enough coffee-cherry to overpower the yeast. Sweet Disposition at 4.1% can not really be called an IPA. More like a extra light plum ale. And Godspeed's Ochame (Green Tea IPA) didn't taste like an IPA to me. Green Tea is very subtle, not very hoppy. But again, my palate was a mess. Everything this else was good to very good.

I highly advise anyone to seek out the Halcyon Peach Sour. It was on tap at 3030 Dundas. It's a glorious beer that looks like it's glowing in the glass. Great balance of fresh peaches and sour, dry-ish finish. And Rorschach's Malevolent Benevolence is really creamy, cocoa, cinnamon, decadent, very subtle chilles. For take away they had 500ml bottles of it for $12.