The Bar Towel

I have been loving the bigrig alpha bomb lately, available now at lcbo and also grocery stores. I tried it a couple of times months ago and was disappointed. Maybe they were old cans? But the current batch of sept 18 is hazy hoppy and bitter, with grapefruit tastes. At $2.95 for a 6.6%, 84ibu ipa its a good value.

Over the week at home:
The Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale
Firestone Walker Pivo Pils
Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen
Wells Banana Bread Beer
Collingwood Whitney's Vintage Ale
AleSmith Old Numbskull

De Ranke XX Bitter — Damn this a fine ale. Does anyone make anything like this (or Simplex) locally? I may have to order a whole case.

Side Launch Wheat (AKA the original world-champion Denison's Weissbier) - fantastic as always, it's much more consistent compared to years ago when they were contract brewing it at Cool / Mill Street / etc. I'd say it's generally less lemony that it sometime could be, but theres a hint of citric tartness over the banana and clove sweetness. A local / Ontario favorite.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout - wow, the oak barrel and bourbon and maple on this is just working with the coffee and chocolate and dark roasty malts. It's a ridiculous beer, it's the Bentley automobile of Imperial Stouts because everything you could add to it to optimize the luxury and decadence is just there. My second-last bottle.
Also I voluntarily paid full price for my stash but I recall the store were trying to give me a 24 case for the price of six bottles, as they were assuming the bottle price must be the 4-pack price, haha.

Hanabi Smoked Saison by Godspeed Brewery
Hanabi = smoked. One of my favorite Luc creations, ever.



Godspeed Nonbe Style Oktoberfest / Märzen. Very solid! Still love the Dortmunder but this brewery is kicking it.

Godspeed Kurayami Mysterious Stout - loving this new one. Belgian ale yeast, full but not heavy, hint smoke, black fruit and bit of chocolate. It's the Black Album of beers.

Head to head wet hop showdown.

Bellwoods Bine Hunter
500ml bottle
$7.50 (IIRC)
5.0% abv
For sale on Oct 20

Amsterdam Autumn Hop
473 ml can
$3.25
5.6% abv
Canned Sept 21

Where is Nickel Brook this year?

Drinking the Bellwoods first I thought it was just nice. Solid hop pungency on the nose. Dank and herbal, fruity too. Very easy drinking and tasty.

Switching to the Amsterdam and all I notice is the much heavier malt presence. Sure, it's hoppy — pine, grapefruit — but the sweet grainy malt is very present. Perhaps it was better a few weeks ago or may be due to its 12% more abv. However, this is by no means a bad beer, but the Bellwoods is clearly better in my view. And it aught to be for double the price.

Beyond the Pale Yummy! IPA

By gosh this is tasty. I hope the canned LCBO version of this maintains the fullness, cloudiness and the nice tropical fruit tones.

Belgian wrote:Beyond the Pale Yummy! IPA

By gosh this is tasty. I hope the canned LCBO version of this maintains the fullness, cloudiness and the nice tropical fruit tones.

A very good beer. Not widely available though, unfortunately. Better than their Aromatherapy, imo.

beerstodiscover wrote:Head to head wet hop showdown.

Bellwoods Bine Hunter
500ml bottle
$7.50 (IIRC)
5.0% abv
For sale on Oct 20

Amsterdam Autumn Hop
473 ml can
$3.25
5.6% abv
Canned Sept 21

Where is Nickel Brook this year?

Drinking the Bellwoods first I thought it was just nice. Solid hop pungency on the nose. Dank and herbal, fruity too. Very easy drinking and tasty.

Switching to the Amsterdam and all I notice is the much heavier malt presence. Sure, it's hoppy — pine, grapefruit — but the sweet grainy malt is very present. Perhaps it was better a few weeks ago or may be due to its 12% more abv. However, this is by no means a bad beer, but the Bellwoods is clearly better in my view. And it aught to be for double the price.

I had these both recently too, and I agree that the Bine Hunter had more hop flavour. The Bellwoods info on Bine Hunter states that they use Fraser Valley hops. I don't know how they ship them so quickly from BC to do a wet hop beer, but I guess anything is possible. On the other hand, the Autumn Hop uses Ontario hops, which I would think would make the most difference in the two. I had fun chasing down wet hop beers at Cask Days. Is there a defining taste/aroma characteristic of wet hop beers? Perhaps, they are fresher tasting then regularly hopped ales, but I find it hard to tell. A few years back, I had an ale at a beer festival that had over 20 varieties of Ontario hops in it. It was very delicious.

BartOwl wrote:

beerstodiscover wrote:Head to head wet hop showdown.

Bellwoods Bine Hunter
5.0% abv
For sale on Oct 20

Amsterdam Autumn Hop
5.6% abv
Canned Sept 21

I had these both recently too, and I agree that the Bine Hunter had more hop flavour. The Bellwoods info on Bine Hunter states that they use Fraser Valley hops. I don't know how they ship them so quickly from BC to do a wet hop beer, but I guess anything is possible. On the other hand, the Autumn Hop uses Ontario hops, which I would think would make the most difference in the two.

I would think the fact the Amsterdam was canned a month before the Bellwoods would mitigate any advantage of shorter shipping distance for the Ontario vs BC hops.
I bet if the two were brewed/packaged at the same time the Amsterdam would probably win out on "wet hop" aroma/flavour.

portwood wrote: ...shorter shipping distance for the Ontario vs BC hops...

Bellwoods says it "overnighted" the hops from BC. So the difference in shipping time would really have been a matter of hours. That would definitely add to the cost of production though.

2018 Bellwoods BOYD - This year has more cognac notes than previous years. Lot's of fruity notes and barrel. Super smooth going down with a slick mouthfeel.
2017 Bellwoods BOYD - Compared to the 2018, this has less cognac and barrel presence, especially on the flavour. Retains more traditional stout character.

Both are delicious.

portwood wrote:

BartOwl wrote:

beerstodiscover wrote:Head to head wet hop showdown.

Bellwoods Bine Hunter
5.0% abv
For sale on Oct 20

Amsterdam Autumn Hop
5.6% abv
Canned Sept 21

I had these both recently too, and I agree that the Bine Hunter had more hop flavour. The Bellwoods info on Bine Hunter states that they use Fraser Valley hops. I don't know how they ship them so quickly from BC to do a wet hop beer, but I guess anything is possible. On the other hand, the Autumn Hop uses Ontario hops, which I would think would make the most difference in the two.

I would think the fact the Amsterdam was canned a month before the Bellwoods would mitigate any advantage of shorter shipping distance for the Ontario vs BC hops.
I bet if the two were brewed/packaged at the same time the Amsterdam would probably win out on "wet hop" aroma/flavour.

What I was getting at is the terroir of the different hop regions would make the most difference in taste. Although I am not as finicky as some about getting hoppy beer fresh, I realize that hoppy beers don't have a shelf live forever. A few years back, i made the mistake of stocking up on NB's wet hop ale. After a few months the hop flavour was almost gone with a tinny metallic taste left. I don't know if it was just this wet hop beer or all of them suffer from greater than average deterioration after a while. Having had the Amsterdam Autumn Hop several times over the years, and now the Bine Hunter. I still prefer the Bine Hunter, but at half the price, I would be quite satisfied with Autumn Hop.

Right now: Fuller's Imperial Stout - I like this one a lot.
Recently: Bellwoods regular Skeleton Key -nice balance in something with a lot of flavour
MacLean's Cherry Porter - another winner from this brewery

BartOwl wrote:Right now: Fuller's Imperial Stout - I like this one a lot.

Yes, that Fuller's is a good one, especially for the price.
Boulevard Whiskey Barrel Stout is excellent, cheaper than the KBS.
Also tried Bring Out the Imp. I had it right after Boulevard, so my taste test may have been compromised. It was OK and sweeter.
Anyone had Ommegang Rosetta?

BartOwl wrote:Right now: Fuller's Imperial Stout - I like this one a lot.
Recently: Bellwoods regular Skeleton Key -nice balance in something with a lot of flavour
MacLean's Cherry Porter - another winner from this brewery

This years Fullers Vintages is quite lovely, as well