The Bar Towel

I picked up some Great Lakes Lake Effect at the brewery last weekend (now In stores). Very delicious, close to a perfect IPA.

Belgian wrote:

seangm wrote:[On the what're you drinking note, I've been enjoying the return of Uerige Altbier- this is a world class beer in my humble opinion, makes me want to book a trip to Dusseldorf right now.

Same here, a very unique style - although of course props to Godspeed's wonderful version. Ueriger has maybe a deeper fruiter / toasted dark sugary note that I think sets it apart. Enjoying this with Real Jerk chicken dinner, the kind of nourishment that makes one sigh deeply...

Excellent, I'll be at Godspeed this weekend so hopefully it's still around. It's been far too long since I've visited.

BeerIsGood wrote:

seangm wrote:IPA No. 12. Quite nice, lots of citrusy tangerine along with melon, white grape and berry notes. Hazy and smooth, liked it a lot better than 11 which I found had a cloying and gross amount of lactose sweetness.

That said, $4.95 for a non double IPA seems steep. As much as I liked 12 I'm finding a lot of these hazy/NE-style IPAs kinda blend into eachother from a taste perspective. Hard to justify the price point on the No. Series, especially when Life in the Clouds is pretty similar and just as good.

I have yet to sample the 12, but like you, I found the 11 overly sweet for my preferences regarding the style and I only had a couple of them, which was plenty. For me personally, this series peaked between 4 and 6 and hasn't quite recaptured that level since. I'm hoping for a significant rebound with 12.

12 might come across as a bit boring in that regard. It reminded me a lot of 7, in fact looking through my notes I have very similar remarks between both.

BeerIsGood wrote:

Belgian wrote:

BeerIsGood wrote:Duvel. A classic. It truly stands the test of time and is always one of the world's great beers, regardless of the flux, fads and fickleness of the beer market at the time.

I forgot a few 750ml bottles for a while, the stuff ages like a champ, kind of winelike. Plus the cool glass with it!

My current Duvel glassware comes from those gift packs. I’ve never aged it, but based on your comments I might pick up a few of the currently available smaller format bottles and give it a try. In your opinion what might be the peak aging time? Thanks.

Two to four years sounds like a safe bet to me for White Cap (cool dark quiet storage). Corked caged bottles probably longer? The Blue Cap held up pretty well for 13 or so years, that was pushing it for this small format but goes to show.

seangm wrote:

Belgian wrote:

seangm wrote:[On the what're you drinking note, I've been enjoying the return of Uerige Altbier- this is a world class beer in my humble opinion, makes me want to book a trip to Dusseldorf right now.

Same here, a very unique style - although of course props to Godspeed's wonderful version. Ueriger has maybe a deeper fruiter / toasted dark sugary note that I think sets it apart. ...

Excellent, I'll be at Godspeed this weekend so hopefully it's still around. It's been far too long since I've visited.

Cool! To my knowledge, they just have other stuff now - I'm very much liking the quintessential Czech-style Svelty 12º, the OTSUKARESAMA Dortmunder, and the IBUSHI Smoked pilsner style. The Oi! ESB is a good representation of a maltier-leaning sessionable beer in place of the Dortmunder.

Cascade Brewing Sang Royal 2016. This is an outstanding beer and a relatively rare opportunity for someone living in Ontario, yet at $26.75 or whatever for a 750ml bottle it will definitely be one and done. I also have one bottle of the Vitis Noble 2016.

St Bernardus Extra 4 Belgian Pale

Mikkeller San Diego That's A Paddlin NE DIPA

Collective Arts Collective Project: IPA Project #12 Hazy lookin' IPA

Honestly they are all good and the CA is well worth the five bucks - it's the most complex and layered, with the NZ hops adding dimensions of gooseberry and tart wild berry, white grape skins. Has the gentlest peppery resin burn and pale fruit and lemon drop dust.

The Mikkeller was just solid and delivered what you'd expect, and the St. Bernie was nicely dry-sweet with more hops than the Pater 6.

Blood Brothers Unify or Die — Love drinking this one around the holidays. Medium-full bodied, full of cinnamon/coffee stouty goodness, a touch over carbonated, but remedied with some in-glass agitation. This reminds me, I must go fetch some Balam before it's gone.

Great lakes lake effect. Hard to believe this has been around for almost 7 years! Still a great IPA, but it doesn't stand above the crowd quite like it used to. Definitely something I always get when I can get it fresh.

Uerige Alt. Simply put, the best beer of the style. I think this was brewed August 21st if I'm interpreting the label correctly, but it's still pretty good. Some day I'll have to get it fresh.

Nickel Brook Café Del Bastardo, which is outstanding and which I greatly prefer to the Winey Bastard I had about Christmas time last year. As I recall, the wine aspect was more pronounced than would have been ideal.

De Dolle Oerbier and Dulle Teve — Both lived up to the hype. Oerbier is world class and has me thinking about pulling quads out of the cellar. Dulle Teve is perhaps the most potent tripel I've had. In many ways (including abv) it drinks like a quad. Both gushed mildly out of the bottle.

Bell's Blackbeard's Bear Hug (rum barrel aged IS with cinnamon, vanilla and coconut) — Nose is molasses and rum barrel with a coconut/cinnamon flourish. All the flavours are perfectly integrated and it’s a bit warming on the way down at 14.4% abv. Cinnamon specks float on top of the beer and leave a lacing on the glass. For me, this is a masterpiece stout.

The Musketeers Brouwerijcafe Troubadour Westkust.

Over the holidays:

At WVRST Union Station:
Bellwoods & Other Half Jelly King Daydream (draft)

At Beerlab! London:
Beerlab! Float Farmhouse Ale (sample)
Beerlab! Clearer Than Never - Noble & Amarillo (sample)
Beerlab! Spiced Chocolate Stout (cask)

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Godspeed Silný Ležák 17° Czech Premium Strong Pale Lager (draft)
Short Finger Maus Melon Gose (draft)
Black Oak Nutcracker Porter Cinnabomb (cask)

At Wolfe Pack Company Bar:
Merit Good Things (draft)
Dominion City Something Beautiful Pale Ale (draft)

At The King Edward Restaurant & Pub:
Fuller's Brit Hop (draft)
MacLean's India Pale Ale (cask)
Anderson Craft Ales IPA (draft)

At The Monk's Kettle:
Collective Arts IPA No. 12 (draft)
Big Rig Legends West Coast IPA (draft)

At Birreria Volo:
Gueuzerie Tilquin Mûre Tilquin (draft)
Hair Of The Dog Fred - Golden Special Ale (draft)
Jester King Spon Muscat 2019 (draft)

At home and some gatherings:
Beau's Countdown Pale Ale
Brasserie Dupont Moinette Blonde
Garrison Ol' Fog Burner
Storm Stayed Nebulose: Amarillo & Galaxy
Beerlab! Glow Saison
Beerlab! Hello World Pale Ale

Now taking a bit of a break for the New Year

Lindemans Cuvée René 2017 — Goes great with grilled salmon. Bone dry, funky, white grape/green apple. I've been grabbing these each year since 2015 and have an nice little collection. And it's somehow inflation proof at $6 a bottle again this year.

Got out to Town Brewery for the first time this weekend. Had their Square Wheels from the LCBO previously, which is a great hazy IPA, and I've gotta say the whole lineup was great:

-Couch Full of Dads: Even better than Square Wheels, amped up juiciness with lots tropical/citrusy hops and a smooth, creamy body.
-Keller Instinct Pilsner: Maybe a bit of a misnomer since it's not a kellerbier but rather a nice, crisp and cleanly executed pilsner with a nice citrusy hop bite.
-Lil' Sebastian Double IPA: I remember enjoying this one too, notes are from memory but I believe it leaned more west coast.
-Ruby's Arm Stout: Solid sessionable stout, for the style maybe the weakest offering but by no means a bad beer. Above average, maybe a notch below Great Lake's Shinny Stout.
-Fruit Dart: Blackberry, lemon and vanilla sour. Reminded me of Collective Art's recent sour with vanilla, but better (for my tastes anyway). It wasn't as sweet and viscous as the CA Sour which I greatly appreciated.
-Chase the Stars APA: Again, solid for the style APA. Like a mellower version of Square Wheels.
-Wait for the Sun: Good no frills imperial stout. Roasty and rich, along the lines of Wellington's RIS. I appreciated that they went the simple route with no additions/barrel ageing/etc since I love a good straight up RIS.

Great space too, well worth a visit if you're near or visiting Whitby. Durham in general is really coming along as far as the beer scene goes.