The Bar Towel

BeerIsGood wrote: ... the other 14-16 I had were delicious.

Leave some IPA #5 for the rest of us!

Over the week at home:
Modern Times Fruitlands - Passion Fruit & Guava
Modern Times Black House
Modern Times Fortunate Islands
Storm Stayed Daybreak Blonde Ale
Great Lakes Johnny Simcoe Pale Ale
Great Lakes & Half Hours On Earth Beard of Zeus Barrel-Aged Barleywine

Heard back from Collective Arts regarding my bad cans. Improperly packaged is what they felt. Anyway, there going to make it right.

I had... Err... A whole 2-4 of improperly packaged cans...they like wouldn't stay full..

beerstodiscover wrote:

BeerIsGood wrote: ... the other 14-16 I had were delicious.

Leave some IPA #5 for the rest of us!

LOL! I get a bit obsessive when I on something I love. I drink it until it runs out or until I find something even better.

Waterloo Brune

It says on the can "...and has a slightly sweet full-flavoured finish".

Too sweet for my personal preference.

S. St. Jeb wrote:Waterloo Brune

It says on the can "...and has a slightly sweet full-flavoured finish".

Too sweet for my personal preference.

Yeah, "slightly" is not the descriptor that should've been used there. I picked up their winter sampler pack (containing the Brune) back in either Nov or Dec, as I was bringing back empties to TBS and it was the only thing that looked halfway interesting. Cracked the first can of Brune open that night and it was just a sweet mess.

2-3 months later, the second can of Brune is still sitting in the back of my fridge. It's hard to go out of my way to review a beer that I already know I don't like much.

Northern Monk mocha Porter-great coffee nose and flavour. Like a handful of freshly roasted high quality beans. If anyone has been to Costa Rica and drank Cafe Rica....this is like the beer equivalent. If this was a stout and had a touch more body to it, it would be phenomenal. GraEat stuff

Driftwood Black stone Porter-another great Porter. Tonnes of bitter chocolate flavour, medium body, incredibly smooth and easy drinking.

Barncat Pulp-brilliant! Perhaps a bit less clementine flavour this year, and a little sweeter, but man oh man it's great.
**anyone in Guelph area that missed out in this @ the brewery, Baker Street station tapped a keg yesterday. Glad I was able to make it in and get some.**. Also, the rest of the tap list was looking pretty good today as well.

S. St. Jeb wrote:

sofakingdrunk wrote:CA IPA 5-my last can I've got of this stuff and I need to get more. Love it.

You'd better move fast and be prepared to travel. This stuff is selling fast.

I know I'm late to the party, but yeah, this is great.

Big Rig Brewery Release The Hounds Black IPA, which is quite good. Haven't had a lot of black IPA's, but Founders Dark Penance and Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous are two that jump to mind as being excellent. Ah, also BrewDog Black Hammer, which was exceptional. Only brewed once unfortunately.

Birrificio Birranova - Roccia Scura (Russian Imperial Stout aged in Laphroaig Quarter Cask Barrels)

I spent a couple of glorious weeks last summer in Sicily (stay tuned for my review in the "Local Beer Guides"; one day I'll get around to that...) and sitting on the shelves of the Water & Beer in Catania in a slightly ostentatious bottle was Roccia Scura. I had never heard of the brewer or the beer, but a Russian Imperial Stout aged in Laphroaig barrels grabbed my immediate attention. It wasn't Sicilian craft, but hailed from a suburb of Bari, Puglia (and so still incredibly south; I'm not sure that the temperature Sicily or Puglia ever reach what we would call "imperial stout" weather in Canada). I had no appetite to drink this beer under the Sicilian sun, but knew that it had a lot of potential. So I hedged my bets and bought two to bring back - the first of which I cracked today. Frankly, I would have grabbed a couple more had I tried it first.

From the first whiff, I was hooked. It was unapologetically Islay scotch heavy on the nose and through the palate. The underlying stout was decent, though somewhat suppressed. There were definitely some underlying chocolate malt characteristics and some subtle roast in the finish, but overall the peaty presence of the scotch barrels was dominant. There was a pleasant warming embrace of alcohol (un abbraccio, if you will) but still remarkably smooth. Overall, this beer wasn't as full bodied nor as refined as a BCBS, KBS or BOYD. If it was bourbon barrel aged, I probably would have chastised it as being too reliant on the barrel. But, given the choice, a fine pour of Scotch (particularly from Islay) will always resonate more than a good bourbon and I would look on this beer favourably compared to virtually any Ontario brewed BBA IS.

Mill Street Vanilla Porter. First and last time for this one. Thin and nondescript. Just OK.

At Union Local 613, Wellington Gastropub, Brothers Beer Bistro, and Beyond The Pale:
Beyond The Pale Breaking Bitter (draft)
Collingwood Arrowhead Ale (draft)
Beau's Ninho Do Corvo (draft)
Dominion City Drop Bear IPA (draft)
Two Roads Clementine Gose (draft)
High Road Bronan IPA (draft)
Beyond The Pale & Indie Alehouse Twins (draft)

Also tried to hit Bar Lupulus, but similar to my experience at Town, there were no seats available. They're doing something right!

At home:
Thornbridge Eldon
Beyond The Pale Rye Guy IPA

Just had a Lone Pine by Sawdust City for the first time in a long time (LCBO purchase; month old can). Crazy to think that this west coast IPA style is now the "old school" thanks to the NEIPA craze. So much has changed in a couple years.

Quotashun wrote:Just had a Lone Pine by Sawdust City for the first time in a long time (LCBO purchase; month old can). Crazy to think that this west coast IPA style is now the "old school" thanks to the NEIPA craze. So much has changed in a couple years.

I haven't had one in a long time either....must get another one soon, this is one of my favourites. The NEIPA craze hasn't captured me. I like them OK, but they're not my favourite.