The Bar Towel

rejtable wrote:KBS at Rideau in Ottawa today.

As well as Bank/Walkley. I picked up 4 bottles around 5pm and there was still another 10 or so on the shelf.

portwood wrote:... From past observations I believe Summerhill manipulates inventory of high demand products... (so they sometimes cleverly don't show) accurate on-line numbers.. * parentheses added *

I notice Summerhill does seem to have very 'insider' beer staff, with up-to-the-minute info on desirable stuff that's just been put out, what's almost gone that they recently put out, and what's going to vanish by the case once people realize it's out.

So could certainly speculate coping tactics, as when they were confiscating already-claimed bottles of Goose Island Gillian from the hands of customers trying to pay for them at the checkout. Growing pains probably.

To those that think KBS is head and shoulders above everything in Ontario, give your tastebuds a shake. I'm drinking the KBS right now (it is breakfast!) and while it's a lovely beer, I've had many stouts from Ontario that are in the same league as this, and for my tastes, even better.

Summerhill has replenished their KBS. They have 20-30 cases on the floor as of about 2PM today. See my post in the Coming Soon thread for photos.

MatttthewGeorge wrote:To those that think KBS is head and shoulders above everything in Ontario, give your tastebuds a shake. I'm drinking the KBS right now (it is breakfast!) and while it's a lovely beer, I've had many stouts from Ontario that are in the same league as this, and for my tastes, even better.

agreed

jeremyg wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:To those that think KBS is head and shoulders above everything in Ontario, give your tastebuds a shake. I'm drinking the KBS right now (it is breakfast!) and while it's a lovely beer, I've had many stouts from Ontario that are in the same league as this, and for my tastes, even better.

agreed

k.
go ahead and name 'em

Not answering for the above posters, but the only things I can compare this to locally would be Bellwoods BYOD or Skeleton Key. Maybe some of Amsterdam's barrel aged stuff ('13 or '14 Double Tempest, or collabs like Coup de Grace). Nickelbrook's Bastardo (or winey) is just a smidge below for me.

Anything else I can think of are all American (BCBS, 10 Fidy, Speedway, Prairie's Bomb, Lost Abbey's Bat Out of Hell, Dragon's Milk, etc). Or Peche Mortel, a bit more accessible, too.

Not sure why, but Bellwoods BA stuff almost NEVER did it for me...Farmagedon the exception...and I was a huge fan of Hellwoods from the start!

I remember the first time I tried BYOD, I was underwhelmed big time and thought, is this it? I assume the fault was with me though.

Regardless, these arguments seem silly, petty, and makes us sound insecure - we should be able to enjoy KBS without feeling threatened about our own beers.

We've been blessed with THOUSANDS of bottles of a beer that a few years ago would have blown people's minds if we had this in at all!

Enjoy this while it lasts...

I don't think it's a matter of feeling threatened. I think this has much more to do with the inferiority complex some have toward Ontario/Canadian products. We make some fantastic beers here, but because they're from Ontario and/or are common, we have a tendency to think they're not on par with our American counterparts. I honestly believe Blood of Cthulhu in a Deschutes bottle would receive more love, and KBS in a Amsterdam bottle would receive less.

Don't get me wrong, KBS is delicious and I'm glad I have more. My point is that I'm equally glad I have Blood of Cthulhu, Titania, BYOD, Skeleton Key, Double Tempest, Winey Bastard, Cafe Bastardo, Kentucky Bastard, The Imperial Bout, Solstice, Rat Queen etc etc and that for me, I prefer some of these more so.

MatttthewGeorge wrote:I don't think it's a matter of feeling threatened. I think this has much more to do with the inferiority complex some have toward Ontario/Canadian products. We make some fantastic beers here, but because they're from Ontario and/or are common, we have a tendency to think they're not on par with our American counterparts. I honestly believe Blood of Cthulhu in a Deschutes bottle would receive more love, and KBS in a Amsterdam bottle would receive less.

Don't get me wrong, KBS is delicious and I'm glad I have more. My point is that I'm equally glad I have Blood of Cthulhu, Titania, BYOD, Skeleton Key, Double Tempest, Winey Bastard, Cafe Bastardo, Kentucky Bastard, The Imperial Bout, Solstice, Rat Queen etc etc and that for me, I prefer some of these more so.

to be fair, i think Deschutes is overrated

BoC is a good beer, but not great, IMO. Titania? the same. KBS is definitely 1-2 notches above those.
haven't had the recent Nickelbrook offerings, so it would be unfair to comment on it. but the 1st batch of Winey Bastard (3 years ago?) was world class. have heard that, since then it's not the same, but i haven't had it in a while. and i thought that the KBS from 2-3 years ago was a hot mess fresh and very good with 2 years age, but not mind blowing.

this batch? it is indeed excellent as is.

know what's overrated? CBS. had it on tap last year. it was a mess.

MatttthewGeorge wrote:I don't think it's a matter of feeling threatened. I think this has much more to do with the inferiority complex some have toward Ontario/Canadian products. We make some fantastic beers here, but because they're from Ontario and/or are common, we have a tendency to think they're not on par with our American counterparts. I honestly believe Blood of Cthulhu in a Deschutes bottle would receive more love, and KBS in a Amsterdam bottle would receive less.

Don't get me wrong, KBS is delicious and I'm glad I have more. My point is that I'm equally glad I have Blood of Cthulhu, Titania, BYOD, Skeleton Key, Double Tempest, Winey Bastard, Cafe Bastardo, Kentucky Bastard, The Imperial Bout, Solstice, Rat Queen etc etc and that for me, I prefer some of these more so.

KBS is around the same price as Kentucky Bastard, Winey and Bastardo. It's also an import as opposed to a domestic product. So my apologies, I know you work for them, and I'm not saying those beers aren't good, but I feel one makes me want to part with that kind of scratch more than the others.

KBS has a trio of wonderful ingredients. Chocolate, coffee, bourbon barrels. I've not had any local option with this trifecta to compare oranges to oranges.

I would say KBS is probably one of the best barrel aged beers I've had. The balance of all the flavours is just perfect. Bastardo has the coffee and barrel, and I liked it, but it just wasn't as smooth and no chocolate (also it's more expensive and in a less convenient format).

atomeyes wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:I don't think it's a matter of feeling threatened. I think this has much more to do with the inferiority complex some have toward Ontario/Canadian products. We make some fantastic beers here, but because they're from Ontario and/or are common, we have a tendency to think they're not on par with our American counterparts. I honestly believe Blood of Cthulhu in a Deschutes bottle would receive more love, and KBS in a Amsterdam bottle would receive less.

Don't get me wrong, KBS is delicious and I'm glad I have more. My point is that I'm equally glad I have Blood of Cthulhu, Titania, BYOD, Skeleton Key, Double Tempest, Winey Bastard, Cafe Bastardy, Kentucky Bastard, The Imperial Bout, Solstice, Rat Queen etc etc and that for me, I prefer some of these more so.

to be fair, i think Deschutes is overrated

BoC is a good beer, but not great, IMO. Titania? the same. KBS is definitely 1-2 notches above those.
haven't had the recent Nickelbrook offerings, so it would be unfair to comment on it. but the 1st batch of Winey Bastard (3 years ago?) was world class. have heard that, since then it's not the same, but i haven't had it in a while. and i thought that the KBS from 2-3 years ago was a hot mess fresh and very good with 2 years age, but not mind blowing.

this batch? it is indeed excellent as is.

know what's overrated? CBS. had it on tap last year. it was a mess.

I was going to ask if anyone here had tried CBS, and what they thought about it, as all I've ever heard is people raving over it.

I still think the GBS 25th anniversary BBA RIS is one of the best beers I've ever tasted. Maybe it just hits all the right taste notes for me.

BOYD is one of my other favourites and I really enjoy Skeleton Key and (at least early batches) of Winey Bastard, but none of those are BBA beers...so while they're all great, they're not an apples to apples comparison. They're also more readily available, where KBS is a treat...not necessarily much better, but I'll go out of my way for the novelty of it.

Jerk_Store wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:I don't think it's a matter of feeling threatened. I think this has much more to do with the inferiority complex some have toward Ontario/Canadian products. We make some fantastic beers here, but because they're from Ontario and/or are common, we have a tendency to think they're not on par with our American counterparts. I honestly believe Blood of Cthulhu in a Deschutes bottle would receive more love, and KBS in a Amsterdam bottle would receive less.

Don't get me wrong, KBS is delicious and I'm glad I have more. My point is that I'm equally glad I have Blood of Cthulhu, Titania, BYOD, Skeleton Key, Double Tempest, Winey Bastard, Cafe Bastardo, Kentucky Bastard, The Imperial Bout, Solstice, Rat Queen etc etc and that for me, I prefer some of these more so.

KBS is around the same price as Kentucky Bastard, Winey and Bastardo. It's also an import as opposed to a domestic product. So my apologies, I know you work for them, and I'm not saying those beers aren't good, but I feel one makes me want to part with that kind of scratch more than the others.

No need to apologize. Yes I work for them and yes that could come across as subjective, but I've been on here a long time with 3 different breweries and I believe I've been fairly objective across the board.

Also I have no issue with anyone preferring KBS over NB or anything else Ontario. My issue is when people thinking Ontario can't make top tier beer. You prefer KBS, no problem, but that doesn't mean Ontario doesn't make world class stuff too.