RAFTMAN ON SPECIAL AT THE BEER STORE

[unibroue 11]

Raftman is on LTO at all Beer Stores across the province at $10.95 instead of its regularly listed $11.50. This special is in effect until Monday, May 5th.

[cirrosis]

note to everyone, when the Beer Store has a sale on anything other than the big brewery swill, that means you should check the freshness date.

[Belgian]

I generally think Unibroue beers in the maudite/pistoles category of strength aren't damaged by ageing, yet the blanche and raftman may indeed be more fragile.

Can you date check anything at the communist bureau-like Beer Stores before paying (ie. at the ones with all the stock hidden out back?) Staff often act as if the MolBatt guy in line behind you is far more important than you and your selectively-minded inquiries. Wanks.

Okay, Unibroue kicks ass and we should all support them at least once every month or two because it's easy to forget how GOOD their Belgian Strong ales truly are. Have you actually drank Maudite/TP/FDM lately?

[tupalev]

I was stunned to find Maudite on tap when I went out for Valentine's dinner at Vesuvio's in the Junction. In additon to having a great meal, I had 2 fantastic glasses of a beer I haven't had in a while! They also had Steam Whistle and Mill St. Tankhouse, fyi.

[iguenard]

Can you date check anything at the communist bureau-like Beer Stores before paying (ie. at the ones with all the stock hidden out back?) Staff often act as if the MolBatt guy in line behind you is far more important than you and your selectively-minded inquiries. Wanks.

Jeez tell me about it.

The worst Beer Stores are the counter-kind that seem to be out of stock on every single non Molbatt beer that they proudly show on their 'menu board' thing.

Whoever thought up that counter system needs to be packed up and sent to God for a re-imbursement.

Sorry, my 2 cents.

[Iceman]

I just joined this forum after reading the article in the Toronto Star yesterday. Looks like a great place from what I've seen so far.

I work for The Beer Store as a second job (2 days a week) and while I agree that the new design of the store is a complete and utter joke (no one hates it more then the employees), the Beer Store does not put a product on sale because of it's freshness date. Individual stores do not decide what products go on sale.

As for stores being out of stock on products, that falls on the manager of said store. The store I work at has a problem with keeping stock on products because our manager doesn't pay close enough attention to how products are selling or if a product is going on sale. But the manager is not fully at fault, it's also an issue of space. Because Molson, Labatt's and Sleeman owe the stores most of the space is taken up with their product, which leaves less room for the smaller breweries.

With regards to the shelf life of unibroue beers, most have a minimum shelf life of 6 months, some (Fin Du Monde I think) is good for 18 months.

[Belgian]

The Iceman Cometh, welcome.

The Unibroue site claims the beers have a pretty indefinite shelf life, so those date codes may be mere formal requirements. You can age the bigger ales in a nice dark cellar for some time, with wonderful results.

I may try ageing a 750 of Blanche just to see what it does.

[Iceman]

I may try ageing a 750 of Blanche just to see what it does.

I believe I once read that Blanche turns into a nice port if left to age for a set number of years (sorry I can't remember the exact number).

[iguenard]

I have a 2003 Blanche, 2003 Cranberry, and 2004 Trois Pistoles in my cellar, give me 1 week and I'll let you know if it's worth it.

But grab a Quelque Chose, Fringante and Terrible, these are 3 years aged now and have held up pretty nice so far.

[inertiaboy]

But grab a Quelque Chose, Fringante and Terrible, these are 3 years aged now and have held up pretty nice so far.

I tried a Oct 99 Quelque Chose last April (5.5+ years) and think I waited too long. The flavour was significantly thinner and it seemed to have lost what what makes Quelque Chose something special. I did move twice in the interim and storage conditions may not have been ideal at all times, so that may have contributed.

I also tried a Terrible after about 1 year and it was stellar. It's difficult to leave that one in the cellar long enough to age!

[skaghevn]

But grab a Quelque Chose, Fringante and Terrible, these are 3 years aged now and have held up pretty nice so far.

I tried a Oct 99 Quelque Chose last April (5.5+ years) and think I waited too long.

Well, I know what I'm pulling out of the cellar tomorrow night; will let you know how mine compares. Both the Fin and the Maudite are still beautiful after 6 years of aging.

[Belgian]

I may try ageing a 750 of Blanche just to see what it does.

I believe I once read that Blanche turns into a nice port if left to age for a set number of years (sorry I can't remember the exact number).

I aged a 750ml of Duvel (Esprit Agencies has them) for at least a few years - in my fridge vegetable drawer, didn't know better! - and I can't tell you what amazing crisp appley"white wine-fruit" expressed itself in the flavor and aroma.

But I digress... inertiaboy, yes the Terrible is truly a great 750ml to lay down. All these big U-beers are for us an amazing value also - we pay a lot less for a big bad 750 of these than Americans pay for one 330 of Rochefort or something!!

So the answer to your dilemma is, why not keep enough to drink AND to age!

[Shiner]

note to everyone, when the Beer Store has a sale on anything other than the big brewery swill, that means you should check the freshness date.

LTO's have noting to do with The Beer Store or the LCBO. Each brewery decides if and when they want to place a product on LTO for a special price. Product from both The Beer Store as well as the LCBO that past date or are about to past date are destroyed (although sometimes, as we all know, there are cracks in the system).
When The Beer Store places an order to the LCBO, they base it on their normal sales for the month using previous monthly and yearly sales figures. When a product is put on LTO, they will INCREASE their LCBO order to accomodate the increase in sales volume. This is not a stock blowout to clear inventory because of date issues.

[HogTownHarry]

Raftman BETTER not be stale at the Beer Store ... I just picked up a six. In fact, I want to show how I'm supporting craft brewing, so here's what I bought sixes of in the past week:

- Wellington Imperial Stout
- Wellington Iron Duke
- Wellington County Dark Ale
- Scotch Irish Sgt. Major's IPA
- Black Oak Nutbrown
- Black Oak Pale Ale
- Mill Street Coffee Porter
- Mill Street Tankhouse Ale
- Unibroue Raftman
- St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout (damn, DAMN fine beer!)

I have to visit the LCBO to pick up sixes or multiples of
- Ste. Andre Vienna Lager
- Hockley Dark
- Magnotta Wunder Weiss (if I can find it)


Tasting party at my place!

(don't look in the cupboard, I'm not ready to share my Stone/AleSmtih/Bear Republic/Weyerbacher/etc. bombers, I'm afraid)

[Gunny]

note to everyone, when the Beer Store has a sale on anything other than the big brewery swill, that means you should check the freshness date.

LTO's have noting to do with The Beer Store or the LCBO. Each brewery decides if and when they want to place a product on LTO for a special price. Product from both The Beer Store as well as the LCBO that past date or are about to past date are destroyed (although sometimes, as we all know, there are cracks in the system).
When The Beer Store places an order to the LCBO, they base it on their normal sales for the month using previous monthly and yearly sales figures. When a product is put on LTO, they will INCREASE their LCBO order to accomodate the increase in sales volume. This is not a stock blowout to clear inventory because of date issues.

I always keep an eye out for St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout when it is offered up at $11.45/ six pack and the BB Date is usually a year out from the purchase date.