Whither Brussels White and Brakspear Bitter?

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:18 pm

JesseM wrote:I'm sure no where near as loaded as most others on this site.

Depends on what you mean by "loaded".

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:42 pm

Gedge wrote:
JesseM wrote:I'm sure no where near as loaded as most others on this site.
Depends on what you mean by "loaded".

Oh ha-ha

. I can assure you I was not 'loaded' when I made those posts. I generally refrain from mid-afternoon binge drinking.

The_Jester · Post by **The_Jester** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:47 pm

JesseM wrote:
Gedge wrote:
JesseM wrote:I'm sure no where near as loaded as most others on this site.
Depends on what you mean by "loaded".
Oh ha-ha . I can assure you I was not 'loaded' when I made those posts. I generally refrain from mid-afternoon binge drinking.

Why? It's not bad, once you get used to it.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:55 am

Jon Walker wrote:
Bobsy wrote:Jon - is there any rule of thumb that can be applied? Like jesse I'd assume the higher the abv the better the shelf life.
The rule of thumb I swear by is that for every rule there is an exception. Higher alcohol beers should age well but in many cases don't (many complaints about Vertical Epic bottlings not holding up when they're supposed to be improving for a decade or so. The first year of Tankhouse Barley Wine started out pretty good but 18 months later tasted like funk in a bottle). Lower alcohol beers may or may not have a shelf life beyond six months to a year but IMHO a decently made lower alcohol beer that hasn't been light struck or poorly handled should be fine four months after bottling. Will it be as fresh as the day it rolled off the bottling line? Likely not, but I suspect the drop off in taste of such a beer doesn't occur straight away and doesn't happen steadily. It likely declines ever so slightly and then, many months (or years) later, drops off precipitously. My honest guess is that this beer will taste pretty much the same in another four months as it does today. Beyond that timeframe I think it's like a car out of warranty...you just wait for the inevitable break down.

Bottom line, when a half dozen or so reputable reviewers on this site claim the beer tastes in good condition (especially those of us who have had it before) that should be a fairly reasonable basis on which to assume it's still in decent shape.

Thanks. I guess like everything its not simply a case of black and white. I think I'll give the bitter a go based on what I have read, although I am a little skeptical that I'll like it. My luck with British beers since moving here has been pretty bad... the ones that have been really excellent never seen to make it over (with a few notable exceptions).

boney · Post by **boney** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:58 pm

Just noticed Brussel's White come up on the LCBO website for the first time today, but without any cities listed as having any yet. Hopefully it's only a few days away. I've been looking forward to trying this all summer, even if it has been in a warehouse for 2 months.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:38 pm

After having charged us over $7000 to strip label a new alcohol content on this product, the LCBO asked for a further price decrease to meet our projected retail of $1.95 because freight and exchange had gone up. We refused so it's going to go at $2.05 now. Frankly, not a big deal to me as it's worth every penny and it should start hitting stores late this week or early next. The supplier has told us he will not sell to the LCBO again but we're trying to work on that.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:35 pm

I will be quite happy to try it at that price, and if it hasn't suffered any from the delay, pick up quite a few more