The Bar Towel

At the Salt Horse in Edinburgh
Beavertown smog rocket - this is an English smoked porter. It has a smokiness between assertive and subtle with a balanced maltiness. Nice.
Mount Saint Bernatd Tynt Meadow - this is an English old ale from a new trappist brewery that has only been available for three weeks. It has an aroma and taste of raisins and fig. It is a bit thin for an old ale, but it has a long and enjoyable aftertaste. Recommended.

Back at the hotel
Top Out the cone - this Scottish IPA has simcoe, Amarillo and palisade hops. It has a malty dash up front with a grape fruit pithy aftertaste. It is really good. Much better than the two craft IPAs I tried in Glasgow: Jester IPA and Gladeye IPA. Both were quite lacking
Also I had a couple of drams. Yummy.

^^^Try and lay your hands on some "Tempest" beers. Their hoppy stuff is fantastic if you can get it fresh. Last time I was gome(2016) they had some decent distribution in some of the local-ish shops(marks and Spencer's,asda,some local garden centres).

At Great Lakes Brewery:
Great Lakes Miami Weiss (draft)

Over the week at home:
Great Lakes First Time For Anything IPL
Bellwoods Hornindal Kveik
Bellwoods Mango Apricot Jelly King

sofakingdrunk wrote:^^^Try and lay your hands on some "Tempest" beers. Their hoppy stuff is fantastic if you can get it fresh. Last time I was gome(2016) they had some decent distribution in some of the local-ish shops(marks and Spencer's,asda,some local garden centres).

Based on this recommendation I picked up a Tempest harvest IPA. This is a nice Belgian IPA with a spicy aftertaste. Cool. Yesterday, I had Brew Dog's jackhammer. At 200 ibup it had plenty of hop flavoured. Right now I am drinking a 6 degrees n triple hop citra. This is a hoppy triple. Sugary sweet, the hop flavour is subtle. It does have a unique hard to describe taste to it.

BartOwl wrote:At 200 ibup it had plenty of hop flavoured.

BartOwl wrote:

sofakingdrunk wrote:^^^Try and lay your hands on some "Tempest" beers. Their hoppy stuff is fantastic if you can get it fresh. Last time I was gome(2016) they had some decent distribution in some of the local-ish shops(marks and Spencer's,asda,some local garden centres).

Based on this recommendation I picked up a Tempest harvest IPA. This is a nice Belgian IPA with a spicy aftertaste. Cool. Yesterday, I had Brew Dog's jackhammer. At 200 ibup it had plenty of hop flavoured. Right now I am drinking a 6 degrees n triple hop citra. This is a hoppy triple. Sugary sweet, the hop flavour is subtle. It does have a unique hard to describe taste to it.

Sounds great. Although I've been hearing some not so good things about Brew Dog quality as of late.
My parents are back home right now and I've got them bringing me back some beers, so hopefully I'll get something nice

S. St. Jeb wrote:

BartOwl wrote:At 200 ibup it had plenty of hop flavoured.

And how was the malted? Or just a plate shredder?

Belgian wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:

BartOwl wrote:At 200 ibup it had plenty of hop flavoured.

And how was the malted? Or just a plate shredder?

The malt profile was what I would describe as a standard IPA with little malt complexity. To be honest, I preferred the Top Out IPA, and I would not describe Jackhammer as palate wrecker. It falls a bit short. Hmm... maybe they added all the hops early on to the boil, but it is hard for me to tell as i can barely detect any level of bitterness on my palate. Also I tried a strawberry lambic from Hanssens. It was fantastic. The earthiness of strawberries really match the earthy complexities of a lambic.

At the Orkney Island Brewey, I was able to sample some real ales including a outstanding bitter, and a very good Dark Island ale. It has been something like 20 years since the Lcbo carried Orkney's brews, but I remember enjoying them then. Right now I am thoroughly enjoying a tasty Drk Isld Rsrv. This is a ten percent dark ale aged in scotch barrels. It hides the alcohol well, and it is light in body. However, the delicate taste profile is complex and well balanced. The scotch taste is not as strong as I expected, but it works well with this beer.

BartOwl wrote:At the Orkney Island Brewey, I was able to sample some real ales including a outstanding bitter, and a very good Dark Island ale. It has been something like 20 years since the Lcbo carried Orkney's brews, but I remember enjoying them then. Right now I am thoroughly enjoying a tasty Drk Isld Rsrv. This is a ten percent dark ale aged in scotch barrels. It hides the alcohol well, and it is light in body. However, the delicate taste profile is complex and well balanced. The scotch taste is not as strong as I expected, but it works well with this beer.

They do make some nice beers, I think I've had that bitter your talking about and loved it....although admittedly I'm a huge bitter fan. Actually, in one of those "time and place" moments; one of the best beers I've ever had was a bottle of Orkney Skull Splitter when I was home a few years ago. Drank the bottle sitting on a bench at Scott's View. Glorious

Ransack the Universe, which along with Life In the Clouds have become my absolute go to summer IPA's. I would say that about 75% of my Ontario brewery summer beer money has gone to Collective Arts. I believe they have created significant separation from the vast majority of breweries in this province.

sofakingdrunk wrote:

BartOwl wrote:At the Orkney Island Brewey, I was able to sample some real ales including a outstanding bitter, and a very good Dark Island ale. It has been something like 20 years since the Lcbo carried Orkney's brews, but I remember enjoying them then. Right now I am thoroughly enjoying a tasty Drk Isld Rsrv. This is a ten percent dark ale aged in scotch barrels. It hides the alcohol well, and it is light in body. However, the delicate taste profile is complex and well balanced. The scotch taste is not as strong as I expected, but it works well with this beer.

They do make some nice beers, I think I've had that bitter your talking about and loved it....although admittedly I'm a huge bitter fan. Actually, in one of those "time and place" moments; one of the best beers I've ever had was a bottle of Orkney Skull Splitter when I was home a few years ago. Drank the bottle sitting on a bench at Scott's View. Glorious

I’ve only had one opportunity to try Skull Splitter, which was at Taps Beer Bar in Kuala Lumpur a few years back. It was spectacular and I would welcome the chance to get more.

BeerIsGood wrote:Ransack the Universe

One of my favs.

Just opened a Bicycle Songbird Pale Ale. Very nice.

BeerIsGood wrote:

sofakingdrunk wrote:

BartOwl wrote:At the Orkney Island Brewey, I was able to sample some real ales including a outstanding bitter, and a very good Dark Island ale. It has been something like 20 years since the Lcbo carried Orkney's brews, but I remember enjoying them then. Right now I am thoroughly enjoying a tasty Drk Isld Rsrv. This is a ten percent dark ale aged in scotch barrels. It hides the alcohol well, and it is light in body. However, the delicate taste profile is complex and well balanced. The scotch taste is not as strong as I expected, but it works well with this beer.

They do make some nice beers, I think I've had that bitter your talking about and loved it....although admittedly I'm a huge bitter fan. Actually, in one of those "time and place" moments; one of the best beers I've ever had was a bottle of Orkney Skull Splitter when I was home a few years ago. Drank the bottle sitting on a bench at Scott's View. Glorious

I’ve only had one opportunity to try Skull Splitter, which was at Taps Beer Bar in Kuala Lumpur a few years back. It was spectacular and I would welcome the chance to get more.

The lcbo had it around Xmas, probably 6-7 years ago, but havnt seen it return since.

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Bellwoods Monogamy Loral (draft)
Halo Day Star w/ Aprocot & Lemon (draft)
Forked River Lord Simcoe's Revenge (draft)

At Storm Stayed Brewing:
Storm Stayed Coffee Break (sample)
Storm Stayed Sunburst (sample)
Storm Stayed Red Dawn (can)

Over the week at home:
Great Lakes Pale Al Pale Ale
Side Launch Dry-Hopped Sour
Nickel Brook Immodest Imperial IPA
Shepherd Neame Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale
Black Oak & Shacklands Angry Neighbour Belgian IPA
Black Oak Ouroboros 2018

Right now:
Coffee