The Bar Towel

Unibroue Éphémère Fraise & Rhubarbe / Strawberry & Rhubarb - bottle from LCBO pours good ripe field berry aromas, slightly hazy amber coat tinged with pink and tall white head.
Flavor leans to sweet with the wheaty/spicy underpinnings of an essentially Belgian-style blonde ale. The rhubarb notes carry in there somewhere with hints of fresh green tartness and a hint acidity.
This iteraton of Éphémère captures summer in the way pomme captures Autumn orchards, true to the ephemeral seasonal theme. Enjoy this well-chilled with a hard pour into a beer tulip or a white wine glass so it presents less sweet and fizzy.

Belgian wrote:Unibroue Éphémère Fraise & Rhubarbe / Strawberry & Rhubarb - bottle from LCBO pours good ripe field berry aromas, slightly hazy amber coat tinged with pink and tall white head.
Flavor leans to sweet with the wheaty/spicy underpinnings of an essentially Belgian-style blonde ale. The rhubarb notes carry in there somewhere with hints of fresh green tartness and a hint acidity.
This iteraton of Éphémère captures summer in the way pomme captures Autumn orchards, true to the ephemeral seasonal theme. Enjoy this well-chilled with a hard pour into a beer tulip or a white wine glass so it presents less sweet and fizzy.

Based on this I will give it a try, as I noticed a few bottle at my local today.

Goose Island Gillian - Feb. 2016 bottling, to continue the Strawberry theme.

Clearly this ($35, yikes!) cellar champ is evolving nicely, maybe now even more on the side of balsamic tartness than residual fruit. But the tart field berry / honey / white pepper & wine barrel depth is still there. It's just all become harmonized and so much more than the sum of its parts.

I have seen Gillian at LCBOs in Toronto this year, but it's not on the system now... I think I will buy more bottles again it if reappears. Gillian's saucy palate is quite the mouthful. Excellent beer.

At Henry VIII Ale House:
Hacker-Pschorr Münchener Gold (draft)
Newcastle Brown Ale (draft)

At Bellwoods Hafis Road:
Bellwoods 100 w/ Hallertau, Tettnanger & Simcoe (draft)
Bellwoods Motley Cru 2018 Black Raspberry (sample)

At Eastbound Brewing:
Eastbound Revealed Constellations (draft)
Eastbound Midnight Cow Tipper Milk Stout (draft)
Eastbound Let's Go Exploring IPA (draft)

Over the week at home:
Saison Dupont
Bellwoods Hoppy Kolsch
Bellwoods Wizard Wolf Mosaic

beerstodiscover wrote:De Ranke Simplex — Grassy malt, herbal Euro hops (lots of them). Reminds me of a cross between Pilsner Urquell on steroids and Chimay Gold. Firm herbal bitter bite which lingers in the mouth. Frothy bubbles, quenching and keeps me wanting more. Bottled Dec 2017 but drinking very well right now (2 year shelf life).

It's been while since I've had anything really bitter but this one exploded my taste buds. Ranks 96 in the Belgian Ale category on RB. Well deserved and available at LCBO.com for $5.15.

I just picked up a few of these. Looking forward to trying it!

darmokandjalad wrote:

JaseWescott wrote:

BeerIsGood wrote:Cuvée Sœur’ise from Brouwerij De Leite. Exceptional.

that beer is so good

Ditto. I don't even blink at the 5 bucks a bottle. Considerably better than the Kriek des Jacobins that was here earlier this year.

I snagged another one of these, and it's good. Has some depth for a 'commercial' beer. I prefer Sœur’ise to a lot of semi-sour ales & fruit brews - this one has Kriek cherry making it extra fine IMHO.

(Friday) Exchange Flanders Red Ale, this time from bottle, not freezing cold on draught. This one for me is subtle. Having it cool room temp this time does reveal the red wine barrel notes, which I do like. Kind of a cranberry cassis effect. Sippable. I would not mind some added stone cellar or earthy or slight cheesy funk to introduce more complexity. But it's good. The small bottles are great looking I think.

(Sunday) Godspeed AKI Smoked Dunkel Weizen - Good, very consistent brewer. As expected from GS not very dark-wheaty, there isn't a ton of sweet rich dark fruit or breadiness or spice here, also not extremely smoky, but solid dry and balanced. The spicy-fruity-chocolate nuances emerge slowly. If you got six you could very nicely session this. I believe that's the ethic of most of Luc's approach.

Still I wonder what an Aventinus blended with an Aecht Schlenkerla Maerzen Rauchbier would be like. I'm very inclined to try this now the weather is cooling off.

At Modern Times Flavordome:
Modern Times Fortunate Islands (draft)
Modern Times Blazing World (draft)

At The Smoking Goat Restaurant:
Societe The Apprentice (draft)

At Underbelly North Park:
Abnormal Boss Pour IPA (draft)

At Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens - Escondido:
Stone Escondido - Moxee Gold IPA (draft)
Stone Pilot Series: Sanctimonious IPA (draft)
Stone Liberty Station - Berubade IPA (sample)

At Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey:
Lost Abbey Farmhouse Lager (sample)
Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale (sample)
Lost Abbey Devotion (sample)
The Hop Concept Hop Freshener Series: Citrus & Piney (draft)

At AleSmith Observation Room:
AleSmith Evil Dead Red (sample)
AleSmith Decadence 2017 (sample)
AleSmith San Diego Pale Ale .394 (sample)
AleSmith Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee (sample)

At our hotel room:
Stone Tangerine Express IPA (can)

Karlovaçko pretty typical euro lager
St Ambroise Citroiulle from can (now lists pumpkin as an incidental but actual ingredient, I bet you for LC labeling standards they added it.)
Godspeed HANABI Smoked Saison - the degree of wood smoke is moderate and very nice in balance, a tribute to the original need to kiln malt over beechwood fire, this is a super nice brew sold at the brew pub right now.

At Newport Pizza & Ale House:
Second Chance Seize The IPA (sample)
Second Chance & Maui Brewing Imperial Pilsner w/ Jasmine Flowers (draft)

At Pizza Port Ocean Beach:
Pizza Port The Jetty (draft)
Pizza Port Athena's Beer (draft)
Pizza Port The Fish IPA (draft)

At Toronado San Diego:
18th Street Brewery Dank Diesel (sample)
Kern River Just Outstanding IPA (draft)
Russian River Pliny The Elder (draft)

At Waypoint Public:
AleSmith Oktoberfest (draft)
Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale (draft)

At Tiger! Tiger! Tavern:
Craftsman Peachy Keen (draft)
Burgeon Double Tree (draft)

Belgian wrote: St Ambroise Citroiulle from can (now lists pumpkin as an incidental but actual ingredient, I bet you for LC labeling standards they added it.)

Interesting. Never knew that pumpkin wasn't listed as an ingredient before, but I could see that being the case, as I've always found this one to be spice forward and a bit cola-like, with not much pumpkin coming through. I wonder if they've actually changed the recipe?

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 40, bottled in 2009....forgot about it for a while. But tasting amazing.

Heller Trum Aecht Schlenkerla Maerzen (Smoked German beer.)

It's SO good. Josh Oakes was talking about his time staying in Bamberg and I may have to do that next spring or summer. Such a pretty old place too.

Hacker Pschorr Münchner Gold.
Great-looking bottle & is a simple malt-sweet beer for $3.50. I probably enjoy Hofbräu München Oktoberfestbier more. The wild honey note hangs on for a bit. More 'cereal' aspect which isn't bad just different.

HaandBryggeriet Haandbukk
Nice Dunkler Bock from Norway. You can still get it here and there. At $6.65 this is probably double what Asam-Bock Doppel used to sell for. However Haandbukk has loads of character & the bready dark thing was for a time my favorite style of German beer.

Edit - Wednesday - Hofbräu München Oktoberfestbier right now, similar style but liking it slightly better than HP with this silkier malt and hop profile, almost a nice white grape aspect to it. Slight lemony notes to hops.

6 more nights to party it up Auf'm Wiesen. Prost.

At The Hopping Pig:
Left Hand Death Before Disco (draft)
Artifex Bye Felicia (sample)

At Petco Park:
Pizza Port Swami's India Pale Ale (draft)
Karl Strauss Aurora Hoppyalis IPA (draft)

At Neighborhood San Diego:
Half Door #Hypemachine (draft)
Almanac Proof Of Concept (draft)
Alpine Beer Company Nelson IPA (draft)

At Ballast Point Little Italy:
Ballast Point California Kölsch (draft)
Ballast Point Fathom IPA (sample)
Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter (draft)

At Hamilton's Tavern:
Nickel Beer Star B Wet Hop Pale (draft)
Nickel Beer & South Park Brewing Stay Inland (sample)
Societe Brewing The Pupil (draft)

At Far Bar (Los Angeles):
Enegren Oktoberfest (draft)
Fremont Field to Ferment - Centennial (draft)
Sierra Nevada & Weihenstephaner Oktoberfest 2018 (draft)
Beachwood Brewing Hoppler Effect (draft)

At Smog City Brewing in Torrance, CA:
Smog City One Step Removed (flight sample)
Smog City Brix Layer (flight sample)
Smog City IPA (flight sample)
Smog City Saison De Miel (flight sample)

At Monkish Brewing:
Monkish Somewhereness (flight sample)
Monkish Beats Is Infinite (flight sample)
Monkish Feminist (flight sample)
Monkish Swap Meets (flight sample)

At Firestone Walker - The Propagator:
Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion Revolution No. 010 (draft)
Firestone Walker Propagator Generation 1 IPA (draft)

To my surprise, the quality of beer in LA has impressed me much more than the offerings I had in SD. Waiting to see if that holds up (approaching final stretch up trip), but so far the Los Angeles beer bars and breweries are vastly exceeding expectations.

Left Field Prospect (single hop) Simcoe - seriously one of the best fresh local IPAs currently available. Citrusy and pale tropical fruit hop nuances. Grab one or six at the LCBO if you see it.

Now a Side Launch Wheat - for the new BT'ers, this is Denisons Hefeweizen re-branded, namely a top-rated beer for the style & produced in Ontario. Has some nice banana-Popsicle flavors that I like in a Hefe in addition to hints of clovey spice and restrained lemon and vanilla.

And an Otsukaresama Dortmunder from Godspeed Brewery. Reliably dry and sessionable with marked herbal and mineral character.

Port City Optimal Wit — This one is new to the LCBO via Alexandria, Virginia. It delivers on the fruity-ester front. It's softly carbonated and very gulpable. There is a dearth of Belgian wits at the LCBO, so it's nice to have this one around.