Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.

We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.

Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!

New non-LCBO/TBS beer releases

Discuss beer or anything else that comes to mind in here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

napoleon
Posts: 282
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:37 pm
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Post by napoleon »

Craig wrote:Rainhard Brewing Co. ‏@RainhardBrewing 2h2 hours ago
Today, we release KAPOW!* IPA. A West coast style India Pale Ale. Brewery opens at 4pm. 4 bottle limit.
This IPA is a solid beer...quite enjoyable. I was amazed at how packed it was when I popped in yesterday to pick some up. And people at the bar are always friendly there. Great addition.

User avatar
El Pinguino
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1440
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Downtown TO / Galapagos Islands
Contact:

Post by El Pinguino »

Nothing but good things begin said about Rainhard....had a busy weekend so wasn't able to get up there this time, but plan to soon!

TheSevenDuffs
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2584
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:40 pm
Location: Mississauga
Contact:

Post by TheSevenDuffs »

El Pinguino wrote:Nothing but good things begin said about Rainhard.
I have heard fairly mixed reviews of Rainhard...

User avatar
DeMarco
Posts: 317
Joined: Mon May 04, 2015 2:01 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by DeMarco »

TheSevenDuffs wrote:
El Pinguino wrote:Nothing but good things begin said about Rainhard.
I have heard fairly mixed reviews of Rainhard...
Yeah a lot of meh beers, but they are tweaking.

User avatar
jp_jkl
Posts: 181
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Toronto, ON

Post by jp_jkl »

DeMarco wrote:Yeah a lot of meh beers, but they are tweaking.
I completely agree. The Kapow! IPA is their first beer to really impress me. Everything else I've tried has been just okay.

User avatar
Craig
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1943
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:23 am

Post by Craig »

barhopbar

Our collab with @amsterdambeer & @greatlakesbeer a hop forward lager that uses 100% whole-cone Cascade and Amarillo hops. Debuting on the #indieboathop http://www.universe.com/indieboathop @indiealehouse

User avatar
DeMarco
Posts: 317
Joined: Mon May 04, 2015 2:01 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by DeMarco »

jp_jkl wrote:
DeMarco wrote:Yeah a lot of meh beers, but they are tweaking.
I completely agree. The Kapow! IPA is their first beer to really impress me. Everything else I've tried has been just okay.
I have a bottle in my fridge, excited to hear that.

User avatar
El Pinguino
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1440
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Downtown TO / Galapagos Islands
Contact:

Post by El Pinguino »

jp_jkl wrote:
DeMarco wrote:Yeah a lot of meh beers, but they are tweaking.
I completely agree. The Kapow! IPA is their first beer to really impress me. Everything else I've tried has been just okay.
Interesting, but hey...everyone is different. I've had 3 of their beer so far, and all have definitely been above average for their styles. Maybe I just got lucky and tried the right ones...but these comments are the first I've heard of people saying they weren't impressed.

User avatar
Craig
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1943
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:23 am

Post by Craig »

Rainhard Brewing Co. ‏@RainhardBrewing 13m13 minutes ago
For those that missed the release of Kapow!* IPA at the brewery, we have just bottled up an additional 100 bottles! Available this Friday!

User avatar
jp_jkl
Posts: 181
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Toronto, ON

Post by jp_jkl »

El Pinguino wrote:Interesting, but hey...everyone is different. I've had 3 of their beer so far, and all have definitely been above average for their styles. Maybe I just got lucky and tried the right ones...but these comments are the first I've heard of people saying they weren't impressed.
I didn't love the Asystole as I found it too boozy. I know it's a double IPA, but there's so many good ones out there that are well balanced. I loved GLB's Karma Citra, Left Field's Prospect Citra and Bellwood's Monogamy Citra, but Rainhard's Armed and Citra didn't do it for me. Hearts Collide and Lazy Bones were both good, but not something I'd rush out to buy again. Kapow! was excellent and if I can swing by Friday, I'll definitely get some more.

It's been discussed here before, but I think some breweries gets rave reviews simply because they're craft breweries. I really wanted to love Refined Fool in Sarnia as that's my hometown and seeing an independent business succeed there makes me really happy. That being said, I've tried 7 of their beers over the course of a year and they've all tasted like bad homebrew. My brother-in-law is an occasional homebrewer and everything he's made has been far better than anything I've tried from Refined Fool. Yet you look at reviews on Trip Advisor or Facebook and it's all 5 star reviews for them. I guess it's just not my thing.

User avatar
jeremyg
Posts: 316
Joined: Wed May 06, 2015 4:57 pm

Post by jeremyg »

only had a few Rainhard beers and they were all good, but nothing really stuck out to me aside from the imperial stout, whatever it's called.

napoleon
Posts: 282
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:37 pm
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Post by napoleon »

jp_jkl wrote:
El Pinguino wrote: I didn't love the Asystole as I found it too boozy. I know it's a double IPA, but there's so many good ones out there that are well balanced. I loved GLB's Karma Citra, Left Field's Prospect Citra and Bellwood's Monogamy Citra, but Rainhard's Armed and Citra didn't do it for me. Hearts Collide and Lazy Bones were both good, but not something I'd rush out to buy again. Kapow! was excellent and if I can swing by Friday, I'll definitely get some more.
Very true...I had a few beers that underwhelmed me. However, Kapow and their other IPA were both quite good and stood out. I really love the vibe at the brewery. And they're still so new, I'll happily give them a chance to improve the ones that a bit of a miss.

User avatar
MetalHead
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:20 pm
Location: North York

Post by MetalHead »

jp_jkl wrote:
El Pinguino wrote:Interesting, but hey...everyone is different. I've had 3 of their beer so far, and all have definitely been above average for their styles. Maybe I just got lucky and tried the right ones...but these comments are the first I've heard of people saying they weren't impressed.
I didn't love the Asystole as I found it too boozy. I know it's a double IPA, but there's so many good ones out there that are well balanced. I loved GLB's Karma Citra, Left Field's Prospect Citra and Bellwood's Monogamy Citra, but Rainhard's Armed and Citra didn't do it for me. Hearts Collide and Lazy Bones were both good, but not something I'd rush out to buy again. Kapow! was excellent and if I can swing by Friday, I'll definitely get some more.

It's been discussed here before, but I think some breweries gets rave reviews simply because they're craft breweries. I really wanted to love Refined Fool in Sarnia as that's my hometown and seeing an independent business succeed there makes me really happy. That being said, I've tried 7 of their beers over the course of a year and they've all tasted like bad homebrew. My brother-in-law is an occasional homebrewer and everything he's made has been far better than anything I've tried from Refined Fool. Yet you look at reviews on Trip Advisor or Facebook and it's all 5 star reviews for them. I guess it's just not my thing.
I think it may also have to do with the lack of knowledge and exeperience drinking craft beer of a lot of the population. When you're stuck with molbatts etc.. anything crafty is an improvment.
Beer, not just for breakfast anymore.

User avatar
gordonpeterwiebe
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 7:25 pm

Post by gordonpeterwiebe »

yeah, I fully support Rainhard and will try anything they put out... but, the only thing by them that I've found impressive is their Imperial Stout (coffee if I remember?). It was quite tasty and hid the alcohol well.
I'm looking forward to this Kapow! and them tweaking and learning more to get everything they make up to standard. I think they're on the right track to be a really good brewery (more so than a lot of the other newer local startups).

TheSevenDuffs
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2584
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:40 pm
Location: Mississauga
Contact:

Post by TheSevenDuffs »

gordonpeterwiebe wrote: I'm looking forward to this Kapow! and them tweaking and learning more to get everything they make up to standard. I think they're on the right track to be a really good brewery (more so than a lot of the other newer local startups).
I agree 100% with this statement. They have been way more impressive out of the gate than most Ontario breweries (except maybe Bellwoods)

Post Reply