Private Orders -Other breweries

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Thu Sep 20, 2001 6:16 pm

Further to my comments regarding the possibility of shipping some Victory beers with their LCBO orders, the other breweries from whom we could do some private orders at the same time are St. Peter's and Brakspear of the UK and Rogue of Portland, Oregon. You can check out their product offerings on their various websites. Minimum orders would be 5 cases of any individual product. Prices would be about 5-10% higher than normal retails if the LCBO was buying (i.e. a 650ml Rogue would normally go for about $5.35 - $5.75 whereas as a Private Order they would be about $5.60 to $6.35. We can't give a firm price in advance as freight costs are variable with each order). We will require deposits for any orders placed. Orders would be placed in late November and delivery would be in late January/early February 2002. Members may want to get together in order to hit the 5 case per product plateau as we would want to put orders for any individual product through under one individual's name.

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Thu Sep 20, 2001 9:34 pm

I HIGHLY recommend the Brakspear Vintage Henley. This is one of the best beers I've had this year and I'm glad to hear that Brakspear is on this list. I'll have to see what else they brew.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 9:09 am

Brakspear, it so happens, is located in my birthplace Henley on Thames in England. I lived a stone's throw from the brewery until I was twelve. My Mum was a barmaid at the Rose and Crown thirty yards from the brewery down New Street. You'll not get a fresher pint of Brakspear anywhere than at the R&C, they literally dolly the fresh kegs down the road.

I was at the brewery just a few months ago when I last went home to visit family. Bottled beers they make that I'd suggest are;

Vintage Henley, Bluebird (an intriguing beer with a floral kind of quality to it), strong ale and Ted & Bens Ale. Brakspear make a number of organic brews as well (T&B being one) with their Live Organic being the best of the bunch (Naturale a close second). The top picks for me though are the fairly rare Vintage Ales. Each year they do a limited bottling of a particular style of beer. The 1998 was an exceptional IPA, the 99 was a very palatable Porter and I believe the 2000 (which wasn't at their retail store when I visited last)is a Stout. If Esprit can ship the vintage I'll probably get some myself.

[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2001-09-21 09:11 ]

Publican · Post by **Publican** » Wed Oct 24, 2001 8:27 pm

Jon, for your information the Bluebird Beer is only bottled at Brakspear, it is brewed by the Coniston Brewing Company in Coniston Cumbria(Lake district). When I was in England in the fall of 2000, I tried the cask conditioned version of Bluebird Bitter at the Black Bull Inn in Coniston which is the tap for the Coniston brewer. If anyone plans to visit the Lake District of England I suggest that you go to Coniston as it is in a beautiful area and is not as touristy as Windermere. If you can't get to Coniston and you are in the Windermere-or Bowness area you can try Coniston Bluebird Bitter at the Watermill Inn at Ings.

[ This Message was edited by: Publican on 2001-10-24 20:31 ]

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Tue Nov 27, 2001 2:55 pm

I just recieved my latest edition of "The Buzz" which is Brakspear's quarterly newsletter. In it a story states that Brakspear's have just recieved the first hop delivery of the 2001 season (Challenger hops) and they will be using them to make Coniston Bluebird at the Henley Brewery.

Minor point but I did want you to know just in case you ever make the trip to the brewery.

[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2001-11-27 14:58 ]

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Tue Nov 27, 2001 10:48 pm

Glad to see you like the Brakspeare ales, even though they are hopped with Goldings, Styrian Goldings ( a fuggle clone), Whitbread Golding Variety and Challenger. They are indeed classics of the Thames Valley.