The Bar Towel

I'm curious about Muskoka's Winter Beard vintages. I've been putting one away for safe keeping each year and now I've got one from the past three releases:

- Muskoka Winter Beard 2012 vintage (released in 2013)
- Muskoka Winter Beard 2013 vintage (released in 2014)
- Muskoka Winter Beard 2014 vintage (released in 2015)

My question is - was there a 2011 vintage released in 2012, or was the 2011 vintage released as Winter Jack. Everything I've read simply says that Winter Jack is a barrel aged version of the 2011 Winter Beard... but I can't find anything about if there was also a Winter Beard released that year. Does anyone know? I'm trying to track down either a Winter Jack or 2011 vintage Winter Beard for a 4 year vertical.

The beer was sort of renamed to "Winter Beard" probably in 2011....maybe earlier. Before that it as simply called Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout. But my memory is a bit hazy on this...I just remember thinking they had released a whole new beer when people started talking about "Winter Beard" and was sad it was just the same beer....albeit a good one.

Winter Jack, which I love....and would like to get more of (is it produced every year?) is a totally different tasting beer. I still have a bottle kicking around, and it would be from the 2011 or 2012 vintage I imagine. Comparing the Winter Beard with Winter Jack would not be a fair comparison...I'd simply find as many Winter Bears as you can, then save the Winter Jack for the end. The older DCCS beers may be hard to find...but good luck!

Found this little bit of a gem...what the beer looked like in 2010.
http://www.muskokabrewery.com/php/beers_DCCS_video.php

skootles wrote:I'm curious about Muskoka's Winter Beard vintages. I've been putting one away for safe keeping each year and now I've got one from the past three releases:

- Muskoka Winter Beard 2012 vintage (released in 2013)
- Muskoka Winter Beard 2013 vintage (released in 2014)
- Muskoka Winter Beard 2014 vintage (released in 2015)

My question is - was there a 2011 vintage released in 2012, or was the 2011 vintage released as Winter Jack. Everything I've read simply says that Winter Jack is a barrel aged version of the 2011 Winter Beard... but I can't find anything about if there was also a Winter Beard released that year. Does anyone know? I'm trying to track down either a Winter Jack or 2011 vintage Winter Beard for a 4 year vertical.

There was a 2011 released in 2011, there was a 2012 released in 2012.

At that time (2012) they ALSO released a 2011 in a balsa wood sleeve which SAID VINTAGE 2011 right on it. You could get that ONLY at the retail store, or order online (my wife got me one for Christmas 2012).

In 2013 they started this foolishness of ONLY releasing the vintage to the LCBOs, in the box with a higher price tag (and, I believe, you CAN get it fresh at the brewery, but I've not been inclined to check).

For what it's worth, a year's age on this makes it worse, which is why this is an absolutely infuriating practice. When I got into the 2011 at two years of age (in 2013) I noted:

I think this is both better and worse than the 1-year aged. It's got some fruity sour cran/cherry back, only because chocolate is now fading

meaning that, from memory, the fruit component of this beer really took a dive after a year, and all that stood out was the chocolate.

TL;DR:

Not really impressed with them taking the cellaring decision out of consumers hands, especially at a higher overall cost to us.


edit - Further to this:

Everything I've read simply says that Winter Jack is a barrel aged version of the 2011 Winter Beard... but I can't find anything about if there was also a Winter Beard released that year.

Winter Jack was (first) released in 2013, and was 2011 aged in JD barrels for a year or so. If you want to know about vintages, Untappd has it all.

Thanks for the clarification guys. I'll just enjoy these soon as opposed to trying to find more then. I started cellaring the original two by accident (as in, I just put them in the fridge and forgot about them). It'll be nice to get rid of these guys so I can have more room for my other bottles.