The Bar Towel

Collective Arts IPA #9. The problem with this series (and it’s a good one to have) is that the bar is quite high. This is a very good beer, but a bit lower than average for this series to my personal taste.

Whitewater Icebreaker Brut IPA. Quite a credible shot at a NE-style IPA from the boys in Forresters Falls. Very nice. The challenge for those of us not in the greater Cobden area, of course, will always be finding it fresh, but slightly miraculously I picked up a can "PK ON 04 MAR 19", which obviously helps a lot. Pretty sure I got it at Laird LiCBO.

BeerIsGood wrote:Collective Arts IPA #9. The problem with this series (and it’s a good one to have) is that the bar is quite high. This is a very good beer, but a bit lower than average for this series to my personal taste.

Just got one of these CA #9 & also the new NEPA from Side Launch.

Scanned shelves for new products I have not yet sampled. Is that new Sidelaunch Midnight Lager a rebrand of the Dark (also formerly Denison's Dunkel?)

Reflected that it must be getting hard selling even a single can of Ontario beer to an increasingly discerning market bombarded with options (and fresh marketing.)

Then there's some USA options Bruery Terreux Frucht: Raspberry Berliner (sour style, over 8 bucks, 375 ml) and the Boulevard Plaid Habit imperial brown ale aged in Canadian whiskey barrels ($15 for 750 mls, high ABV.)

Sometimes I feel lazy about trying one of everything. Although it generally pays off - I rarely drain pour any beer unless it's intolerable or simply cheap-tasting.

Belgian wrote:Scanned shelves for new products I have not yet sampled. Is that new Sidelaunch Midnight Lager a rebrand of the Dark (also formerly Denison's Dunkel?)

I think so. In a store last night I saw a flat saying 'Midnight Lager', but I guess I wasn't paying attention when I picked up the can. Wasn't till later at home that I realized I had a can of Sidelaunch Dark.

Side Launch Midnight Lager is just Side Launch Dunkel/Denison's Royal Dunkel renamed.

Northbound Lager is new and replacing Mountain Lager.

Getaway IPA is also new.

Yeah I noted that about the Dunkel in the link of my last post, sorry to confuse.

BeerIsGood wrote:Collective Arts IPA #9. The problem with this series (and it’s a good one to have) is that the bar is quite high. This is a very good beer, but a bit lower than average for this series to my personal taste.

I really like this one personally. Very big complex brew and a decent value in my estimation. A full palate, and lemon and tropical hop effects, wow.

The Project #5 NE DIPA remains the high water mark for the Collective but this is just about as good.
Life In The Clouds is also amazing (and turbidly-named to great effect.)

Belgian wrote:Yeah I noted that about the Dunkel in the link of my last post, sorry to confuse.

BeerIsGood wrote:Collective Arts IPA #9. The problem with this series (and it’s a good one to have) is that the bar is quite high. This is a very good beer, but a bit lower than average for this series to my personal taste.

I really like this one personally. Very big complex brew and a decent value in my estimation. A full palate, and lemon and tropical hop effects, wow.

The Project #5 NE DIPA remains the high water mark for the Collective but this is just about as good.
Life In The Clouds is also amazing (and turbidly-named to great effect.)

I enjoyed the #9 the most out of any of the series since 5. I think I still prefer Radio the Mothership, and Surround Sound(and clouds when it’s good).
The benchmark for me, even though I haven’t had too many Brut IPA is the one that Merit did, about a year ago(i’m quite sure it was Ontario’s first, maybe even Canada’s). It was just so damn crisp/dry and fruity hat I kicked myself for only grabbing a couple.

I also like the Side Launch Getaway, it's a pretty modern West Coast IPA style with nuances of tropical fruit, lemon and a firmer tannic-grassy bitterness so that's a nice package. Hints of Black Oak 10BY in the hopping style here for me. How you guys like it?

Yes, Surround Sound, then Life in the Clouds, are the best CA offerings for me too.

Re-tried Ransack this weekend based on some posts here and nothing at all wrong with it, but I didn't quite love it as much as the ones above, or a few Bellwoods offerings, say.

Unfortunately I have not experienced the Merit Brut - sounds awesome.

At The Monk's Kettle:
Nickel Brook Pineapple Uber (draft)
Big Rig Knickers In A Knot (draft)
Side Launch Getaway IPA (draft)

At Junction Craft Brewing:
Junction Craft Derail #10 Strawberry Rhubarb (sample)
Caribru Mango IPA (sample)
Junction Craft Railbender DDH IPA (draft)

Over the week at home:
Skeleton Park Best Bitter
Collective Arts Surround Sound DDH DIPA - Simcoe & Amarillo
Bruery Terreux Frucht: Raspberry
Propeller ESB
Bellwoods Monogamy - El Dorado
Junction Craft Trainspotter Craft Lager
Bellwoods Runes - Ahtanum & Mosaic
Junction Craft Achterbahn Dunkel

Warming in the glass is a Yummy! NE IPA from Beyond The Pale...
I quietly exclaim:
"Beer has improved so much in Ontario..."

No wonder many consumers are now quite interested in it & also many breweries supporting it. It's just not like 15 years ago... they all assumed no demand for hoppy Pales could possibly exist.

Having a Yummy, canned in March. This is up there with Jutsu for best NE style pale in the province.

I was also very impressed with BTP's Saison Tropicale which I picked up recently (canned in late Feb). This is super hoppy but the saison yeast profile emerges through the hops. Drinks like an IPA-saison hybrid and it works,

Somehow I missed knowing about a place in Burlington called Culaccinno's . Went there tonight; quite an extensive beer list.

Had a couple of beers there tonight.

First, a Dominion Filibuster IIPA. Very good, but with the preponderance of IPAs in Ontario now, I find it somewhat impossible to rank and compare.

Second was a Collective Arts Imperial Stout, the Origins of Darkness series, Black Truffles version. I am amused at myself that I have not ever particularly liked bourbon, but have thoroughly enjoyed bourbon barrel aged beers that I have had. This one is top notch. $20 for a 500 mL bottle, but I am OK with that.

Too Wound Down By Bell City - not a good Session IPA at all
Elijah's Real McCoy By Bell City
Pop Shoppe Pineapple By Breuvages TBSC - nostalgic but too sweet
Pale Rider By Amsterdam
Asahi Super Dry By Asahi Breweries - Disappointing
Boundless IPA By Creemore
Sunseeker Tangerine Pale Ale By Lake of Bays - taste like mouthwash (IPA No. 6)
Dale's Pale Ale By Oskar Blues
Mint & Basil Cider By Brickworks Ciderhouse - Disappointing
Game of Thrones: Mother of Dragons By Ommegang - delicious Cherry Porter

Folly Heist Sour Pale Ale — First time I've seen anything from Folly at the LCBO. This beer was canned March 26 and employs kveik yeast and lacto bacteria for sourness. Citrusy and light, mildly tart, dry. Nice offering.