LCBO Holiday Beers/Gift Packs 2008 Release

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:33 am

That's almost too bad, almost. I'm almost disappointed by that, almost. See, I bought one of the new OCB discovery packs recently, mainly because I wanted to the Black Oak Nut Brown, but ended up getting my mind blown by the bottle of Elora Irish Ale. Not blown away because it was a fantastic beer, but blown away because it wasn't infected, and also didn't completely suck. It's the first Trafalgar product I actually enjoyed drinking, and that, to me, was mind blowing. So I was almost looking forward to the 'VSB' series from them, almost. But not really. Maybe the brewer's conscience finally got to him?

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:12 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:
matt7215 wrote:it looks like the trafalger pack has been dropped, its status has changed to delisted and there is no inventory in any store. can anyone confirm this?
I spoke with the driver from the brewery who was at my store last week, and he said that it wasn't coming out at all now.

First the nutcracker, now this?

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:56 pm

To be honest, I really didn't mind the Critical Mass. It was certainly a sipper, but a little shot of it once and a while isn't too bad. And I was looking forward to having the black bullet. It isn't going to cause sleepless nights for me, but I was at least somewhat enthused about the release of this pack.

nickelass · Post by **nickelass** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:27 pm

I picked up a few of the Mill Street Barley Wine, and would have picked up more if it wasn't for the price. Also the Affligem pack has a rather nice glass, but so far the Westmalle is the best!

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:27 pm

i was planning on having all three of these in a side by side but i guess now ill have to wait. still i wonder why this got pulled?

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:11 pm

I'm not sure if this was accidental or intentional, but both the Affligem glasses I got last year had etchings in the middle of the bottom of the chalice, from which a pleasing stream of bubbles rises for quite some time after pouring, sustaining the head of whatever you're drinking rather nicely. Anyone else noticed that?

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:09 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:
matt7215 wrote:it looks like the trafalger pack has been dropped, its status has changed to delisted and there is no inventory in any store. can anyone confirm this?
I spoke with the driver from the brewery who was at my store last week, and he said that it wasn't coming out at all now.

Who knows what the logistics might have been like? All-new packaging, non-bomber sizing, brewing schedules and profitability concerns (provided a lot of mls alcohol for the cost so there must have been quite a lot of tax in the price.)

Yes, Trafalgar CAN make a decent beer, but they can sure screw one up. I keep hoping they get it right since they do take chances with interesting styles rarely made in Ontario.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:36 am

They had the three pack at the brewery out in Oakville a few weeks ago. No idea why its not coming out though.

sstackho · Post by **sstackho** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:13 pm

D Derry wrote:I'm not sure if this was accidental or intentional, but both the Affligem glasses I got last year had etchings in the middle of the bottom of the chalice, from which a pleasing stream of bubbles rises for quite some time after pouring, sustaining the head of whatever you're drinking rather nicely. Anyone else noticed that?

Quite sure that the etching is there for exactly that purpose.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:40 pm

sstackho wrote:
Quite sure that the etching is there for exactly that purpose.

Probably not a random accident.

Duvel has the little etched circle too, or used to. Makes a little 'Devil Flame' in the center of the beer, very cool. Took me a while to realize the etching, not the glass shape, made the little flame, LOL.

boney · Post by **boney** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:29 pm

I know the Historic Ales of Scotland is a general listitem, but the majority of LCBO's only carry it with other gift packs around Christmas, so I'm psoting about it here.

Does anyone (Peter?) know why the box lists 5 of the Healther Ale Ltd. products under contents (Heather, Scots Pine, Ebulum, Grozet and Kelpie) but doesn't include the Kelpie Seaweed Ale? Are there different 4 packs exported to differnet areas of of the world? All of the beers in the box are interesting, fun new beers to try and I'd love to be able to try the Kelpie.

Magni · Post by **Magni** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:43 pm

I imagine the LCBO thinks we wouldnt want to drink seaweed ale but heck, I love seaweed.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:02 pm

boney wrote:I know the Historic Ales of Scotland is a general listitem, but the majority of LCBO's only carry it with other gift packs around Christmas, so I'm psoting about it here.

Does anyone (Peter?) know why the box lists 5 of the Healther Ale Ltd. products under contents (Heather, Scots Pine, Ebulum, Grozet and Kelpie) but doesn't include the Kelpie Seaweed Ale? Are there different 4 packs exported to differnet areas of of the world? All of the beers in the box are interesting, fun new beers to try and I'd love to be able to try the Kelpie.

I've always wondered this as well.

I was lucky enough to get to try the Kelpie at Derek's place when he lived in London. Our friend Kevin brought someone who supplied the beer. It was an interesting sour, kinda salty porterish beer. Quite interesting.

The_Jester · Post by **The_Jester** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:44 pm

boney wrote:I know the Historic Ales of Scotland is a general listitem, but the majority of LCBO's only carry it with other gift packs around Christmas, so I'm psoting about it here.

Does anyone (Peter?) know why the box lists 5 of the Healther Ale Ltd. products under contents (Heather, Scots Pine, Ebulum, Grozet and Kelpie) but doesn't include the Kelpie Seaweed Ale? Are there different 4 packs exported to differnet areas of of the world? All of the beers in the box are interesting, fun new beers to try and I'd love to be able to try the Kelpie.

I think that, maybe 3 or 4 years ago, it was in there? And the little write up in the package used to say something about "this case includes whatever is available seasonally." Maybe seaweed hibernates in the autumn.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:01 pm

All 5 beers they produce are listed in order to give them the option of interchanging them if they wish. For the first time we poured all 4 of the current beers at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo this past weekend. The hit of the 4 was the ALBA SCOTS PINE ALE. It was my personal favourite and we ended up with all sorts of extra bottles of the other stuff. FRAOCH was a close second and fans of Stout/Porter really liked the EBULUM Elderberry. I've talked to a number of seafood and sushi places and they have expressed interest in KELPIE. I'm arranging for some samples as I have never tasted it. If there is sufficient interest, we may bring some in through Consignment as well as some FRAOCH.