The Bar Towel

Good morning fellas.

Instead of contributing, I decided to go out and find out what is going on. I must admit I did find the Tankhouse a little underwhelming, but I HAVE been drinking a LOT of Stone IPA and other hugely hoppy beers, so I imagine my palate has evolved quite a bit since august. Here is what I found out:

"
[...] I've seen all these posts and think it has something to do with the new bottle. People are assuming we are getting bigger, changing the packaging, and changing the recipes. Completely false.

I spoke with Joel at great lengths about this to get his view. As I expected, we have not altered a single element of the beer or the recipe.
[...]

Steve Thibault
VP, Sales
Mill Street Brewery
1-866-552-BEER
"

I think this makes me happy, as I am sure that Tankhouse on tap will definitely not change until they figure out what hapened with the bottles.

GOOD NEWS! I love the Tankhouse, and we juuuust got it in in Ottawa.

Thanks for posting Ian, that's great news.


I think it must be the bottles?

I had some fresh on tap yesterday, and it was just fine, but the bottle I had last night was still weird.

In any event, this is good news, and we all appreciate your posting on this matter.

I'm having a bottle of the Tankhouse right now...and it's perfect. Just as I know it to be...that is, very good!

I had it on tap a few weeks and it was definitely different, no question about it, very little hops at all. Hopefully it was just an off-batch. I'll try it again when I get an opportunity.

"we haven't changed a thing, the recipie is the same" that's right up there with "the cheque is in the mail" and " I promise to phone tomorrow" .

Same old Creemore, same old Tankhouse..brewer sez so...must all be a figment of your imaginations.

flip wrote:
I don't know how fast the Tankhouse moves off the shelf in Stratford

Surpisingly fast, actually. I'm not sure of the Beer Store's turnover (I don't shop there) but at the local joke of an LCBO here in town the Tankhouse moves at pretty good rate, faster than I expected it would when we first got it. It moves especially fast if I'm going out drinking with friends on a Friday and a Saturday night.

As for Tankhouse changes, I haven't notice any overwhelmingly obvious changes, but I have noticed a small colour change and slight dumbing down of the hop character. Still a pretty good hoppy beer though. This is just from bottle tastings, I haven't had Tankhouse on tap since October.

lagerale wrote: I heard from Stratford Brewing that they are currently working with Doug from Saint Andre on an IPA right now.....I wasn't sure if it would be the Great Eastern or another version, but either way I'll be happy to try it! Look out Mill St.

I wouldn't put too much faith in Stratford Brewing Company making a good IPA. Their beers are incredibly underwhelming.

DragonOfBlood wrote:

lagerale wrote: I heard from Stratford Brewing that they are currently working with Doug from Saint Andre on an IPA right now.....I wasn't sure if it would be the Great Eastern or another version, but either way I'll be happy to try it! Look out Mill St.

I wouldn't put too much faith in Stratford Brewing Company making a good IPA. Their beers are incredibly underwhelming.

Stratford won't be making this beer. Doug from Saint Andre will just be using their facilities to brew, since he doesn't have a brewery of his own. He contract brews his Lager at Cool, and he did a one-off Scotch Ale at Stratford in 2005, and his first batch of IPA was done at Heritage in Ottawa.

GregClow wrote:

DragonOfBlood wrote:

lagerale wrote: I heard from Stratford Brewing that they are currently working with Doug from Saint Andre on an IPA right now.....I wasn't sure if it would be the Great Eastern or another version, but either way I'll be happy to try it! Look out Mill St.

I wouldn't put too much faith in Stratford Brewing Company making a good IPA. Their beers are incredibly underwhelming.

Stratford won't be making this beer. Doug from Saint Andre will just be using their facilities to brew, since he doesn't have a brewery of his own. He contract brews his Lager at Cool, and he did a one-off Scotch Ale at Stratford in 2005, and his first batch of IPA was done at Heritage in Ottawa.

As long as Stratford Brewing has no say in the ingredients and what not, then it should turn out all right. I've never tried any Saint Andre brews, but I have heard good things.

How was that Scotch Ale that was made at Stratford?

The Stratford Marzen that was around in the fall was also a collaborative effort - not sure who's recipe (Stratford or Ste. Andre) was used or who actually was doing the brewing, but I thought it turned out rather well. Looking forward to the IPA.

Dragon: I found the Stratford pils to be OK...better ( more defined as a pils stle) than Steam Whistle but miles out from JR Brickman or King....if it was served on tap as a cheap house pils I'd buy lots of it to session with but as a premium crafted lager it has a way to go to justify the price.

This St. Andre lager has always been an enigma to me it advertises as a Vienna but it's as pale as a Salzburger helles and has neither the color nor toasted malt character and attenuated hops demanded by the accepted traditional Vienna style...it is sharp and peppery like a pils but with some more defined malts....but it is a passable all malt Canadian pale lager..perhaps a tad too carbonated but not bad.

No offence meant but if St. Andre uses the same style dylexia to set out making an IPA we may see a new Cream ale appear

lagerale wrote:The Stratford Marzen that was around in the fall was also a collaborative effort - not sure who's recipe (Stratford or Ste. Andre) was used or who actually was doing the brewing, but I thought it turned out rather well. Looking forward to the IPA.

One I missed Dammit...I had about 4 Canadian craft marzens this fall but missed that one...where was it available??

pootz wrote:No offence meant but if St. Andre uses the same style dylexia to set out making an IPA we may see a new Cream ale appear

Did you miss all the rave reviews that Doug's Eastern IPA got last summer? It was bang-on the style, and fantastic.

As for the lager - I personally think it was a bit better, and closer to style, when it was being brewed at F&M. It might be my imagination, of course, but I think it's lost some character since the move to Cool. But it's still a good lager, especially when it's fresh.

pootz wrote:

lagerale wrote:The Stratford Marzen that was around in the fall was also a collaborative effort - not sure who's recipe (Stratford or Ste. Andre) was used or who actually was doing the brewing, but I thought it turned out rather well. Looking forward to the IPA.

One I missed Dammit...I had about 4 Canadian craft marzens this fall but missed that one...where was it available??

It was on tap at Volo and a couple of other locations. One of the RateBeer reviews mentions it was available at the Alex P Keaton in London.

Did you miss all the rave reviews that Doug's Eastern IPA got last summer? It was bang-on the style, and fantastic.

I read the reviews but didn't connect this to the st. Andre brand....so SA'a brewer/owner is a frelance brewer taking capacity for his beers where he can find it?

GregClow wrote:

pootz wrote:

lagerale wrote:The Stratford Marzen that was around in the fall was also a collaborative effort - not sure who's recipe (Stratford or Ste. Andre) was used or who actually was doing the brewing, but I thought it turned out rather well. Looking forward to the IPA.

One I missed Dammit...I had about 4 Canadian craft marzens this fall but missed that one...where was it available??

It was on tap at Volo and a couple of other locations. One of the RateBeer reviews mentions it was available at the Alex P Keaton in London.

Yup, t'was available for about 2 months!