thumbs up for the LCBO Summer release!

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 11:05 pm

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been very impressed with the quality of the beers I've tried from the LCBO Summer release.

So far I've tried and enjoyed Raison d'Etre, Curim Golden Celtic, Samuel Smiths India Ale, Hook Norton Haymaker, St. Peter's Summer Ale and St. Peter's Lemon & Ginger. And I know from past experience that Fuller's London Pride and Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen are both excellent as well.

The only dud for me so far has been the Kronenbourg 1664, and I'm not sure if it's even officially part of the release. It may have just been shelved there in my local store. But even if it is, the hit:miss ratio this time around is certainly better than the Spring release.

Any other thoughts?

Greg

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 8:52 am

I agree, 2 thumbs up! I think the LCBO is really trying to service the beer sector better. As for Kronenbourg 1664, its a generic cafe beer that used to be on the general list. Its's OK if your people watching in a cafe in Paris, but it don't cut it on the porch in Fitzroy Harbour!

Mississauga Matt · Post by **Mississauga Matt** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 5:45 pm

Does anyone know anything about Shepherd Neame's Bishop's Finger? It's showing up as being assigned a product number in the LCBO inventory, but not to any stores as of yet.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 9:13 pm

On 2003-06-21 17:45, Mississauga Matt wrote:
Does anyone know anything about Shepherd Neame's Bishop's Finger? It's showing up as being assigned a product number in the LCBO inventory, but not to any stores as of yet.

It's got <a href="http://ratebeer.com/ShowBeer.asp?BeerID=4139">68 ratings at RateBeer.com</a> with a 3.49 out of 5.0 average. The commercial description is as follows:

"A strong premium cask conditioned ale brewed to a traditional Kentish recipe. Only the finest malted barley, Kent hops and fresh water from Shepherd Neame's own artesian well are used in the production of one of Britain's best loved ales. Full bodied with complex fruit flavours, Bishops Finger is exported to more than 30 countries worldwide, and has previously been awarded Silver Medal at the International Brewing Industry Awards."

Looks like it's a pretty respectable bitter. Is it part of one of the upcoming seasonal releases, perhaps?

Greg

Mississauga Matt · Post by **Mississauga Matt** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:50 am

Thanks for the review Greg, but what I really wanted to know is if the beer is really going to be made available soon. The LCBO carried this beer before - '98 or '99, I think - and I'm surprised to see it in the LCBO inventory and yet not mentioned in these pages. Ususally not much gets by this site.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 11:44 am

Kronenbourg is not part of the Summer release...it's back on General List because we in Ontario simply can't get enough of those great canned Eurolagers!

DougShoemaker · Post by **DougShoemaker** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:25 pm

I just spoke with the agent for Bishops Finger and was told this product as well as Spitfire, both from Shepherd Neame Brewery, should be available end of summer early fall.

Hope this helps, Cheers, Doug

JWalter · Post by **JWalter** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 3:11 pm

re: Bottled British Beers from the LCBO

This isn't specific to the beers mentioned here, but just a general 'complaint' for lack of a better word.

I'm curious if my fellow BarToweler's have experienced the same phenomenon...

I find that almost every time I purchase any British Ales, in -bottles- from the LCBO, and trust me, I've tried lots and lots!, they almost are always stale and/or skunky tasting. Most recently it's been the Samuel Smith's India Ale, it's also happened with Belhaven St. Andrew's Ale, Newcastle Brown, Bishop's Finger (which made it come to mind), etc, etc.... I'm thinking it's got something to do with the fact that they are not kept cold, and also often are in clear bottles which certainly doesn't help when they're out on shelves exposed to light.

I'm not sure how else to describe the specific 'bad' flavor I can taste, but it's just a sort of sour, black liquorish/molasses sort of taste, similar perhaps to what you'd get from a Scotch Ale.

Am I crazy, or does this happen to others?

That why for the most part while I absolutely love having these beers fresh on tap, or even in cans (Ruddles' for instance I find it fairly decent), I rarely ever enjoy them out of a bottle - And so even though the labels sound delicious (and I'm sure when it was brewed it was good), I'm skeptical about buying them...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JWalter on 2003-06-23 15:12 ]</font>

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 3:56 pm

On 2003-06-23 15:11, JWalter wrote:
I find that almost every time I purchase any British Ales, in -bottles- from the LCBO, and trust me, I've tried lots and lots!, they almost are always stale and/or skunky tasting. Most recently it's been the Samuel Smith's India Ale, it's also happened with Belhaven St. Andrew's Ale, Newcastle Brown, Bishop's Finger (which made it come to mind), etc, etc.... I'm thinking it's got something to do with the fact that they are not kept cold, and also often are in clear bottles which certainly doesn't help when they're out on shelves exposed to light.

I have had a few bad UK ales from the LCBO, but almost all of them have been in clear bottles. I have yet to enjoy a bottle of Sam Smith's Winter Warmer, for example, since every one I've ever purchased has been skunked.

I don't often have this problem with the darker bottles. All of the UK beers in the current promotion have tasted OK to me. Could just be a difference in palates, I guess.

Greg

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 10:21 pm

It could be a taste thing although you said you've had all these beers on tap and liked them? Maybe I misunderstood. I've had copious amounts of most of the English bottled promo beers offered during the last two years and I've rarely had one that was skunked. Perhaps it is a palate thing as you've stated earlier that you like mostly lagers and unhoppy pale ales...

I suggest you go down to Smokeless Joe's and sample a few English bottles...if you think they're skunked and Joe tastes them and says they're not then you'll have your answer.

JWalter · Post by **JWalter** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 11:03 pm

Thanks for the comments gents...

For the record (and whoever cares...!)

My favorite styles are "Best Bitters" and "Pale Ales", I do like Sam Adam's Boston Lager, but it's probably about the only Lager I ever drink. Other favorites are Black Oak Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Although I can never get it!), Granite's Best Bitter (esp. the Dry-hopped version), Al's Cask Ale, Arkell's Best Bitter, etc. But I also enjoy many other styles - the Kilkenny's of the World (When nothing Microbrewed is available), in general most English Ales, Caledonia 80/-, etc, Over the years I've tried hundreds and hundreds of different beers in pretty much every style so it's not that I'm not familiar with a style or what it should taste like, I don't think that's it. (I don't mean to be coming off sounding like a know-it-all or anything like that

- I know that probably everyone that frequents this boards has a as much, if not more tasting experience than I... Just that I'm certainly not a newbie or not familiar with what these beers should be like).

I guess the problem is I have a problem properly describing this 'flavor', perhaps it's skunky, perhaps it's some other common term that I'm just not familiar with - But if you're all saying that you can go into an LCBO store, pick a clear-bottled English Ale off the shelf, take it home and drink it and it tastes great, then perhaps I do have some whacked out taste buds or something ;^) - Lastly, for the record, while I can't say I've tried all of the specific beers that I've had problems with (due to availability), yes I have had lots of ales on tap - I attended a Real Ale festival in Wakefield, UK in October of 2000 during a trip to the UK specifically for drinking beer and watching soccer... and it was AWESOME, no bad beer there on tap... ;^)

A · Post by A » Tue Jun 24, 2003 10:25 am

I dont think you're crazy. I havent tried any of the UK bottles from this release yet (some are sitting in my fridge) but I think I know exactly what you are talking about. Its that english maltiness that IMO seems to have a shelf-life of nil.

I notice this with almost all UK bottles - the Hopback Summer Lightning from last year was one of the first times I didnt.

WeaselCat · Post by **WeaselCat** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 2:20 pm

Re:
Shepherd Neame- Bishops Finger and Spitfire- Ican help you with those-they are both excellent and have been available down here in Ohio for a few years now. Watch the light. They will skunk up in a heartbeat. I usually order sealed cases if I really want a beer in a clear bottle. Spitfire I like a little better than BF, but both are good.

Someone else asked about Monty Python Holy Grail. Despite the name, it is actually very good as well. A good Yorkshire bitter. Hoever, if you can get Black Sheep ale by teh same brewery, that is better.

I noticed that the LCBO has Marston's Strong Ale, Hook Norton Haymaker, Courage Directors, Daleside Old Legover-all English ales that I can't get in Ohio. Are they widely available at most LCBO's? What about Marston's Pedigree?

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:09 pm

On 2003-07-01 14:20, WeaselCat wrote:
I noticed that the LCBO has Marston's Strong Ale, Hook Norton Haymaker, Courage Directors, Daleside Old Legover-all English ales that I can't get in Ohio. Are they widely available at most LCBO's? What about Marston's Pedigree?

The Hook Norton Haymaker and Daleside Old Legover are both from special limited beers releases that the LCBO does 5 or 6 times a year. The Haymaker is part of the summer release, so there are still some bottles floating around, but you'll probably have a hard time tracking down the Old Legover as it was part of a release last autumn. (If I remember correctly, it wasn't very good anyway.)

I believe that the Marston's Strong and Courage Directors Bitter are part of the general LCBO listing, so they should be available at many of the downtown locations.

I don't think Marston's Pedigree is currently available at the LCBO.

The LCBO website has quite a good search engine that will show you what stores have a particular product in stock. You can find it at http://www.lcbo.com/stores_products/product_search/

Greg

Publican · Post by **Publican** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:33 pm

I had a pint of cask Courage Directors on my trip to England in the fall of 2000 and thought it was the worst real ale I had on the trip. Why anyone would want a can of it is beyond me. If anyone wants a good English ale might I suggest Fuller's London Pride or Sam Smith's India ale. At Least these breweries package these ales in brown bottles. I bet Wychwood and Shepeard Neame drinkers in the UK complain about skunkiness. It dosen't take much exposure to light to make beer skunky

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