The Bar Towel

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that Propeller Extra Special Bitter has been selected for the LCBO's Autumn Ales promotion. We will shipping in 650 ML Bottles.

I haven't heard the other ales that were chosen but we are very pleased to be back in Ontario if only for a little while..

Hope you'll try a ESB if you haven't already in the past.

Cheers!

Good to hear! I enjoyed a few pints of this when it was on tap at the Duke of Argyle a year or two back.

Speaking of which - any chance of getting some of your beers in at the Duke on a more regular basis? It seems a perfect fit, given that they are a Nova Scotia themed pub. They have a couple of other maritime beers that aren't available many other places up here, but they're all mediocre Oland/Labatt products, so it would be nice to see some NS micros on their regular menu.

I love the stuff.

Hopefully we'll get the ESB before they expire this time around!!!

Hey LCBO you listening? Nevermind. I know you're never listening.

Esprit selections for the Autumn promo are;

Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
St. Peter's Old Style Porter
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

...now is that enough of the dark side for ya!

It's always such a blessing/curse when the LCBO repeats beers they've featured in previous years. On the one hand you get the return of some excellent beers that we've seen frequently (the Rogue and Sam Smith's stouts in particular) but then you also end up with others that disappoint (the St.Peter's Porter and the Rogue Dead Guy IMHO). I've never had the Dogfish Head Chicory Stout so that's great...but it doesn't seem there'll be much in the way of new or unexpected selections once again. If they can bring in Dogfish Head from Michigan why not something from Bells in Michigan or Three Floyds in Indiana? If they can yet again order Rogue from California why not Stone or Bear Republic from the same state?? Perhaps those breweries don't want to bother with the LCBO or perhaps the LCBO lacks imagination...maybe both.

I guess I should just be thankful that they still do the seasonal releases at all and just shut my trap.

Bells, Three Floyds and Stone don't want to export so that's why you won't see them here. The good news is Bear Republic does and we'll hopefully being doing a private order with them in the not too distant future as well as presenting some of their products to the LCBO although chances there will be small as we've been told the seasonal beer program will continue to be scaled back. As for your comments about Dead Guy and St. Peter's Old Style Porter....YHO is *&%@ %* #$%)@# %&*^...sorry about that, my keyboard jammed!

Peter I can think of a least a dozen Porters off the top of my head that are better than the St.Peter's... as for the Dead Guy, I don't think I'm alone on that one either. It's one of the weaker beers in Rogue's portfolio...IMHO once again.

It's your job to market your beers, the good and the bad so I get your indignation. As for the keyboard...you should get it checked. I think it might be $*{~ed.

The DFH Chicory is nice. I'll probably pick up a couple of those, same with the Sam Smiths Oatmeal. That's probably one that should be on the general list (though personally I like the Sam Smiths Imperial Stout better)

Hey, I'm not taking offence...Dead Guy is Rogue's #1 selling beer so in Heineken and McDonald's terms, it must be good. Just having a laugh and don't think we're thin-skinned. I love Dead Guy but it's no Rochefort 10. To me, the antithesis of a hophead, Dead Guy is the Rogue I enjoy most. As for St. Peter's, a decent porter and if you don't like it, so be it, many others do like it as we've had some great feedback. Please feel free to criticize any of our products, however, whe you ask me for a price list, you'll be gatting a very special price list reserved for discriminating beer lovers such as yourself....nudge, nudge...wink, wink...the parrot's just resting.

..oh, an if you like Smith's Imperial, get out there and buy a hundred cases or so as it's destined to fall into the ashbin of unsuccessful LCBO seaonal releases. We're looking at a lager from Kazakhstan at the moment which could be the next big thing! They tell us it's the greatest thing since Baltika and Slavutych.

I would donate my extra left nut in an effort to bring Smuttynose Robust Porter back as a sesonal. Any feedback on that Peter (I mean the return of Smuttynose, not the donation of my left nut)

Shits and giggles,
Jeff

I have consumed copious amounts of Sam Smith's Imperial Stout in an effort to make it a general listing. Have my efforts been in vain?

Salut Steve

We've presented various Smuttynose beers on many occasions without any success. The supplier is getting tired of sending us fresh samples as it can cost $100+ for each shipment.

Peter, I am sure you get this all the time, ("bring in this strange foriegn beer, bring in that one"). But I'll put my two cents in anyway:

In stouts, I'd go for the Imperial style more. Sam Smith's is good but there are many that are better, in my view. E.g. Carnegie Porter, even though it is only about 5% abv, has an Imperial-like character. So does Koff's great Imperial Stout which I think is not pasturised. Also, the well-established Rasputin stout from the States.

Or of course Rogue's Imperial Stout, which I know is available sometimes as a private import.


Gary

esprit wrote:Hey, I'm not taking offence...Dead Guy is Rogue's #1 selling beer so in Heineken and McDonald's terms, it must be good. Just having a laugh and don't think we're thin-skinned. I love Dead Guy but it's no Rochefort 10. To me, the antithesis of a hophead, Dead Guy is the Rogue I enjoy most. As for St. Peter's, a decent porter and if you don't like it, so be it, many others do like it as we've had some great feedback. Please feel free to criticize any of our products, however, whe you ask me for a price list, you'll be gatting a very special price list reserved for discriminating beer lovers such as yourself....nudge, nudge...wink, wink...the parrot's just resting.

I liked the dead guys I quaffed in Calgary and I seem to remember them as being very malty (my personal preference in beers) I look forward to revisiting it again this time from the perspective of seeing how well Rogue did in approximating a Maibock with ale yeast and process. St. Peters was a nice porter I can take very easily.

I think my greatest frustration is not the repeat of great beers we are seeing but the lack of the LCBO expanding their capcity for variety. I see we have 15 choices of east block pilsners but we do not have a good Vienna or a rich helles or dortmunder on the shelves....I could stand seeing the Great lakes or victory beers show up more but I realize there are restrictions on how many beers can been introdiced.... and the bottom line is they have to sell to keep the import gate open....I can't blame agents for importing beers that sell well in the previous offerings.....I do wish the LCBO would either expand their craft beer/import inventory or licence a private vendor who is willing to take risks they don't.