What're you drinking right now?

[AugustusRex]

Old Rasputin. I'm going to stock up on these.

[GtownRandy]

Old Rasputin. I'm going to stock up on these.

At the moment there are 4 bottles in stock in the province - all at summerhill

[Belgian]

I will get some too, I believe the last time was May in 2009 New York... you know those times when you are tasting several single beers in the hotel because there are only so many you want to lug back in your suitcase? Well I recall Rasputin being great.

The Goose Bourbon County Stout was also outstanding, small 12oz bottle (either first edition 2007 or 2008) and somehow way better than future editions - deliciously bourbon-oaky. This was back in a time when many of these beers were FAR from ever being available up here... The Bowery Whole Foods & New Beer Distributors were mythical places for a Toronto beer hunter. I might even give the BCBS another shot some day...

[sofakingdrunk]

Side launch dark-my favourite dark lager from Ontario, always delicious.
Side launch pale- I always love this too. Every time I buy it, I ask myself why I don't have it more often. For me, the perfect balance between English and American style pale ale
Tempest's long white cloud- a lovely fruity NZ style pale ale from my hometown in Scotland, also winner last year of Scottish brewery of the year. A super tropical tasting pale ale that tastes quite a bit above the 35ibu they claim.
Stack impact altbeir-really disappointing, as I feel this style is under-represented.....but this was fucking horrible. Almost flat, carbonation wise, overly sweet,tinny,just nothing good about it.
Great Lakes lake effect- awesome just like the last dozen cans I've had from this batch have been.
Barncat pulp iipa- had this immediately after the lake effect... I'm gonna say it, this was quite a bit better, and I do love me some lake effect. Really juicy, so much citrus flavour, the body, and mouthfeel in pertivular are rediculous. It's not pretty to look at, but fuck me up the ass with a chainsaw is it ever tasty. Best Canadian IPA I've had, possibly best ever IPA I've had. Oh, and the 8.1% is completely hidden

[El Pinguino]

Trillium Sunshower
Casita Cervecería ¡Super Sorpresa!

Just felt like some tart, hopped up saisons today.

[beerstodiscover]

Bellwoods — Prince Edward County IPA w/ Mosaic & Simcoe

This is the very, very good. A real Vermont-style juicy hop bomb, reminds me of the stuff I've tried from Trillium and Barncat's The Juice, Armomatherapy. Hopefully we can get some local hazy IPAs regularly available in cans for under $4 at some point in the near future.

[spinrsx]

You would compare BTP aromatherapy with Trillium?

Bellwoods — Prince Edward County IPA w/ Mosaic & Simcoe

This is the very, very good. A real Vermont-style juicy hop bomb, reminds me of the stuff I've tried from Trillium and Barncat's The Juice, Armomatherapy. Hopefully we can get some local hazy IPAs regularly available in cans for under $4 at some point in the near future.

[beerstodiscover]

You would compare BTP aromatherapy with Trillium?

They're the same style. I haven't seen any other Vermont-style IPA at the LCBO.

[darmokandjalad]

New beers over the last two weeks or so:

-Block Three Hello My Name is Brett - 4.5% brett pale ale with Amarillo and Simcoe hops. Gorgeous pour, with a lovely aroma of orchard fruits and spiciness. Very refreshing; the Brett-derived notes are a bit on the mild side, but still a tasty brew. Reminds me of their Drie Hop from a while back.
-Wellington Cereal Killin' Stout - 7.6% oatmeal stout. I liked this one much more than their IRS. Very well-rounded and flavourful, with a silky-smooth texture.
-Forked River Golden Chard - 6.2% wild ale, their Golden Boy (Belgian Golden Ale) aged in Chardonnay barrels. Pretty decent; along the lines of most of their other soured Belgian pales, but not one of their better examples of such. Vinous, fruity flavour with limited oak/funkiness.
-Frank Brewing No Nonsense Lagered Ale - 5.4% tallboy from the Beer Store. Never heard of these guys up until now. In a growing sea of "Ontario lagered ales", Frank's No Nonsense is probably in the top half. Basic, but drinkable; think Lug Tread.
-Elora Borealis Citra Pale Ale - 5.1% from the LCBO; already two months old. Citrus, peach and tropical fruits. It was fairly good, but I think I need a fresher sample to assess this one fairly.
-Mill Street Bob's Bearded Red Cream Ale - From their winter mixed pack. I don't like their Vanilla Porter much, and Cobblestone Stout is just OK. Bob's Bearded Red is a little better than either one of those, at least IMO, but still nothing interesting. Reminds me of a maltier, less-bland version of Kilkenny.
-Prearis Quadrocinno - 9.5% quad brewed with coffee. I really liked this one; the coffee works as a nice complement, but the underlying quad is not as rich or complex as the big names in this style.
-Mad Jack Suckerpunch Strong Lemon Lager - 7% "flavoured malt beverage". Remember Mike's Hard Lemonade? This is pretty much the same thing.
-Not Your Father's Root Beer (4.5) - Picked up a six-pack of this from TBS over the weekend. Sweet, but not annoyingly so. It's the best hard root beer I've tried so far (not that that's saying much), but at nearly 3 bucks per bottle, I don't think it'll be a regular purchase.

[cratez]

At The Root Cellar Organic Cafe:
London Brewing Co-op Pound Galena (sample)
London Brewing Co-op Tolpuddle Porter (draft)
London Brewing Co-op Zee Brugge Of The North (draft)

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Cheshire Valley Mildly Amusing (draft)
Forked River Catch 23 IPA (draft)
Omnipollo Prodromus (sample)

Over the week at home:
Nickel Brook Naughty Neighbour APA
Bellwoods Lost River Baltic Porter
Bellwoods Prince Edward County IPA w/ Mosaic & Simcoe

Bellwoods — Prince Edward County IPA w/ Mosaic & Simcoe. This is very, very good. A real Vermont-style juicy hop bomb, reminds me of the stuff I've tried from Trillium and Barncat's The Juice, Armomatherapy. Hopefully we can get some local hazy IPAs regularly available in cans for under $4 at some point in the near future.

I did not have the same impression. Found this one to be a bit green with an astringent peppery spiciness that lingered in the back of the throat. Aroma was also quite muted. Maybe just an off bottle?

[beerstodiscover]

I did not have the same impression. Found this one to be a bit green with an astringent peppery spiciness that lingered in the back of the throat. Aroma was also quite muted. Maybe just an off bottle?

Maybe it was a bad bottle or environmental factors. I found the aroma to be quite potent. Also some of my perception may be coloured by how the Bellwoods salesperson hyped it up, talking of oats and hop oils binding to emulsified materials. Had another bottle today and still loved it.

[portwood]

Drinking remainder of the Boulevard BBA Quad, AMAZING...

Last bit of a bottle you opened before? How did you seal it after opening?

Yes drank bottle one over three days, sealing it with a champagne cork.

Tried this method with Boulevard BBAQ. works like a charm.
Opened a bottle on Sunday, drinking 2nd third just now. Nice carbonation, cherries are less pronounced on the nose but all the flavour is still there.

Bodes well for future purchases of large bottles (that are not IPAs)

Thanks again

[Belgian]

Yes drank bottle one over three days, sealing it with a champagne cork.

Tried this method with Boulevard BBAQ. works like a charm.... Thanks again

Yeah YVW, over a few days it's not bad right? Glad it works for you.
Of course handling the bottle gently seems to minimize carbonation loss & oxygen exposure. The opposite of 'aerating' a wine, essentially.

I've noted with some 'hard' tasting beer (RIS for example) they seem to smooth out and develop with a day or so in the re-sealed bottle, so for 'bigger' beers it may be both convenient and also change the beer in a good way. Especially when you go 'I don't like this right now' and set it aside and come back to it, I think Murder of Crows BIPA was a bit like that for me, the fresh bottle was too 'sharp' and it got less so! YMMV

Besides all of this our modern beer production & packaging is so controlled and sterile, anything that allows a tiny hint of 'nature' to fool with it is kind of a throwback to earlier, less fussy times before we had refrigeration or even good bottling technology. We still appreciated beer back then just as it came to us. I like that.

[cratez]

Maybe it was a bad bottle or environmental factors. I found the aroma to be quite potent. Also some of my perception may be coloured by how the Bellwoods salesperson hyped it up, talking of oats and hop oils binding to emulsified materials. Had another bottle today and still loved it.

Can definitely rule out environmental factors since I consumed the beer at home, on the same day of bottling, with proper glassware, and I wasn't eating anything. It was decent but the lingering and astringent peppery spiciness ruined it for me (almost like it was brewed with chipotles, peppercorns, or some other pepper/spice, which it wasn't), and the beer struck me as being a bit green and/or unfinished. I'm still holding out hope that this was just a single "off" bottle, though, as I've enjoyed most other hoppy offerings from Bellwoods.

[beerstodiscover]

Stone Xocoveza — This will be a love it or hate it beer for most people. I was worried it might be too sweet or to spicy, but I loved it. You can pick out all the flavours, chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, nutmeg, peppers, vanilla, and they all work well together and are balanced. A nice serving size for when you're in the mood for an hour long liquid dessert. Shame it wasn't around for the holidays.