Forked River

[ErkLR]

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/10/26/forke ... -expansion

It may be a minor thing (the retail is in a different unit of the same plaza), but it took > 6 months for AGO to approve it with pressure from local and provincial gov't. All because the store is not *directly* attached to the brewery. Good for FR for finally getting it approved.

[S. St. Jeb]

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/10/26/forke ... -expansion

It may be a minor thing (the retail is in a different unit of the same plaza), but it took > 6 months for AGO to approve it with pressure from local and provincial gov't. All because the store is not *directly* attached to the brewery. Good for FR for finally getting it approved.

Sad case of bureaucracy.

[darmokandjalad]

I remember reading about this when the news dropped earlier this year. If you have ever been to the commercial park where the brewery is located, you'll probably agree that the government's stance was a load of red tape horse shit based entirely on a technicality.

Hopefully this means they'll have better hours in the future. Currently they are closed for three days a week, and they are always closed before 6. There have been a few times where I've wanted to stop by, but life/traffic/etc. got in the way. Also, they just put out a new batch of Hansel & Brettel, which (if it's anything like the 2014) is well worth trying.

[beerstodiscover]

I'm actually surprised the authorities were so flexible. Hopefully this leads to a slippery slope where brewers have more retailing opportunities.

[ErkLR]

I remember reading about this when the news dropped earlier this year. If you have ever been to the commercial park where the brewery is located, you'll probably agree that the government's stance was a load of red tape horse shit based entirely on a technicality.

Hopefully this means they'll have better hours in the future. Currently they are closed for three days a week, and they are always closed before 6. There have been a few times where I've wanted to stop by, but life/traffic/etc. got in the way. Also, they just put out a new batch of Hansel & Brettel, which (if it's anything like the 2014) is well worth trying.

Yeah, pretty much what most people thought about the situation. I'm in the same boat for their hours, I usually work until 6 or 7, so I have to find time on the weekend to go if I can manage it.

[Craig]

Weendigo is coming back. Retail store now, 'select' LCBOs shortly.

I quite liked this last year. I tossed a couple in the cellar and popped one a week or so ago. It was still good.

[darmokandjalad]

Weendigo is coming back. Retail store now, 'select' LCBOs shortly.

I quite liked this last year. I tossed a couple in the cellar and popped one a week or so ago. It was still good.

I'm holding onto a 2014 Weendigo to see how it compares with this year's batch. Wonder if they used Jack Daniels barrels again for the 2015 or if they're switching it up? EDIT: Just checked; it's Wild Turkey this year.

They also released a new soured red-wine BA rye saison, but I believe it's brewery-only. I'm going on a pre-Xmas brewery run to a few places in SW Ontario (St. Jacob's, Guelph and KWC), but I'll have to remember to take a quick detour into London to pick these two up. Hopefully they still have some Hansel & Brettel left, too.

[Masterplan]

Grabbed a Capital Blonde Ale tonight, not impressed.

[Provost Drunk]

Grabbed a Capital Blonde Ale tonight, not impressed.

I'm not a huge fan of Forked River's regular offerings (Capital Blonde, Rip Tide) but I have enjoyed some of their seasonals/one-offs a lot more.

[TheSevenDuffs]

Weendigo is coming back. Retail store now, 'select' LCBOs shortly.

I quite liked this last year. I tossed a couple in the cellar and popped one a week or so ago. It was still good.

I had very mixed feelings on last year's version. The base state tasted great but there was next to no barrel characteristics present. If the label hadn't said so, I would never have guessed that it was barrel aged. Anyone I know that tried it shared the same thoughts. I will give it a try again to see if they've made some improvements.

[Craig]

That's funny, I remember it being a Whiskey bomb.

[El Pinguino]

Ya, Weendigo was average to me.

[darmokandjalad]

I tried a bottle of the 2015 Weendigo not long after it showed up in the LCBO (late 2015) and wasn't especially impressed. Not a bad imperial stout, but nothing special. The bourbon barrel didn't provide much oomph.

I didn't try the 2014 Weendigo fresh, but I did pick up a bottle while it was available and stuffed it into the cellar. I then opened it only a few weeks after trying the aforementioned fresh 2015 version. The aged one was much better. The bourbon really came through; much closer to Craig's description and not much like the fresh 2015. It convinced me to buy a second bottle of the 2015 and hold onto it. Obviously that's just my anecdote, and YMMV.

Forked River doesn't make a whole lot of superlative beers, but they also don't have any stinkers that I can recall. Most of their stuff ranges from ok to good. The blonde and Riptide Rye are two of their most uninteresting beers, and as a rye beer enthusiast I feel RR is probably one of their worst products. I'm also not real big on their IPAs.

If I had to recommend any 3 of their beers I'd probably go with a trio of soured ales. Oracle (tripel aged in Chard barrels), Wicked Wench (soured stout aged in bourbon barrels) and Hansel & Brett'el (saison aged in Chard barrels) are all excellent IMO.

[Napalm Frog]

Also note different barrels were used. The 2014 was Jack Daniels, and 2015 was Wild Turkey. I remember enjoying the 2014 one, but didn't bother with the 2015. Still debating to pick one up, though.

[Craig]

The one I posted about before was the 14. I don't recall if I got to try the 15 or not.