The Bar Towel

Getting back to the original topic...

So we're getting Trafalgar Maple Bock, an as-yet-unnamed beer from Great Lakes and...what else? I contacted the LCBO a few weeks ago and was told that the spring list was still unavailable. Anybody else have any info?

I was told the same and that they would forward as soon as it was finalized.

The Hockley Stout's part of it.

tuqueboy wrote:The Hockley Stout's part of it.

The brewer confirmed this to me....and I'm interested to see what Great Lakes has whipped up for the spring release....the las 2 specialty offerings were damn good.

the great lakes is supposed to be some kind of pale ale with orange peel. odd combination, but could be interesting.

tuqueboy wrote:the great lakes is supposed to be some kind of pale ale with orange peel. odd combination, but could be interesting.

Given the citric hop character that is found in many pale ales, I can see this working very well.

Here's the description of the Great Lakes Orange Peel Ale - sounds very interesting:

"In our quest to bring you the most flavourful and unique beers possible, we are proud to release this tasty spring beer. Handcrafted with five specialty malts and five varieties of hops, along with just a touch of honey, we added heaps of fresh oranges and peels into the boil. A little different, you say? We sure hope so. Orange Peel Ale balances the unique flavour of oranges with generous amounts of hops to achieve a slightly fruity and refreshing taste. We are proud to offer this limited edition beer as we celebrate our 20th anniversary of brewing excellence. Orange Peel Ale will be available at over 100 LCBO's from Ottawa to Niagara Falls beginning in the second week of April until the end of July as part of the spring seasonal beer program. And as always, it will be available at our retail store and on draught at a select number of licensees shortly."

GregClow wrote:Here's the description of the Great Lakes Orange Peel Ale - sounds very interesting:

"In our quest to bring you the most flavourful and unique beers possible, we are proud to release this tasty spring beer. Handcrafted with five specialty malts and five varieties of hops, along with just a touch of honey, we added heaps of fresh oranges and peels into the boil. A little different, you say? We sure hope so. Orange Peel Ale balances the unique flavour of oranges with generous amounts of hops to achieve a slightly fruity and refreshing taste. We are proud to offer this limited edition beer as we celebrate our 20th anniversary of brewing excellence. Orange Peel Ale will be available at over 100 LCBO's from Ottawa to Niagara Falls beginning in the second week of April until the end of July as part of the spring seasonal beer program. And as always, it will be available at our retail store and on draught at a select number of licensees shortly."

It will be ready next Wed. (April 11) at the brewery store.

The Great Lakes offering looks interesting, but I think the key to spicing is restraint, so I'm just a little concerned about that "heaps of fresh oranges and peels" business. That's a darn nice label, though; sure to stand out against the dismal and dull efforts of most everybody else.

any news? kinda odd that we are mid April, and still no news about the release. Seems to me, in years past, the line-up was revealed alot earlier than this year.

I suspect the LCBO has been scrambling to put it together properly, since it all got bungled up when they decided to reject Esprit's stuff.

I was just at the LCBO in Ajax and (un)fortunately found a couple of what could very well be part of the spring release:

-Atlantic Au Pineau (with only 5 reviews, all from Ontario people already)
http://ratebeer.com/Beer/atlantic-au-pineau/65047/

-Duchy Original Organic Ale (hooray)
http://ratebeer.com/Beer/duchy-original ... ale/26234/

Looks promising so far!
Glad to see the LCBO is consistent in their commitment to good beer.

I think that Duchy one is the same one found last year called Organic English Ale. Quite nice if I can trust the me I was back in 2006.

biegaman wrote:I was just at the LCBO in Ajax and (un)fortunately found a couple of what could very well be part of the spring release:

-Atlantic Au Pineau (with only 5 reviews, all from Ontario people already)
http://ratebeer.com/Beer/atlantic-au-pineau/65047/

-Duchy Original Organic Ale (hooray)
http://ratebeer.com/Beer/duchy-original ... ale/26234/

Looks promising so far!
Glad to see the LCBO is consistent in their commitment to good beer.

Good find...anyone now have the complete official lcbo list of spring releases??

No, but I can confirm that the same two beers that appeared in Ajax are also in at Wilson and Dufferin. The Atlantic beer/Pineau des Charentes mixture sounds slightly horrific, but the Duchy Organic (appears to be contract brewed by Wychwood) looks promising.

Also at Dufferin this evening they had a new Ontario micro: Barley Days Brewery Harvest Gold Pale Ale. I gather this is from the re-branded Glenora Springs brewery. Funny, because there is still plenty of Glenora Springs product on the shelves there as well, which must be getting a bit long in the tooth.