The Bar Towel

I post this in request that when people see this at the Beer Store, they post us where they have found it

northyorksammy wrote:I post this in request that when people see this at the Beer Store, they post us where they have found it

Are we talking about the Indian stout here Sam? Would this not come into the LCBO?

pootz wrote:

northyorksammy wrote:I post this in request that when people see this at the Beer Store, they post us where they have found it

Are we talking about the Indian stout here Sam? Would this not come into the LCBO?

It's Sri Lankan, actually.

And Sammy is correct about the location - it is being added to the general list at the Beer Store soon.

It's about bloody time the LCBO stocked the shelves with a beer of this quality. Instead of carrying every welfare lager from this region of the world, I rejoice at the arrival of a foreign stout.

I have not tried the beer, so maybe I shouldn't get all drooly and stuff. I have heard and read more than a half dozen good reviews of it.

I've heard that we'll be getting for about $2.50 a bottle. That's crazy good news if it's true.

David.

I got an email from the importer, Fine Beers, and it is indeed coming to the LCBO. He sent me the press release, see below:

----

We are delighted to announce the arrival of the Sinha Stout our export drive brand to Ontario. Sinha Stout has been brewed in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) since 1881 under the brand name “Lion stout”. Sinha stout is brewed to exactly the same recipe as Lion stout but trademark restrictions in Canada necessitated branding under the Sinha trade name which we have registered in Canada. In its country of origin this product is branded as “Lion Stout and is also exported to all other markets under the Lion brand name, with the exception of Australia where it is also sold under the Sinha trademark.

Sinha Stout is a hearty, traditional stout, very aromatic, with lots of chocolate, coffee and toffee flavors. It is a wonderful accompaniment to spicy food and creamy coconut deserts. This fine dark beer was originally brewed by British tea planters up in the central hills in Sri Lanka in their quest for a beer which complemented the local spicy curries. Today Sinha Stout is brewed at the state of the art Lion brewery which is located close to the capital city of Colombo and rated as one of the best in Asia. The brewery exports to several countries around the world including USA, UK, Japan, United Arab Emirates, France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Maldives and Australia.

Michael Jackson the No. 1 beer hunter in the world has endorsed Lion stout and listed it in the Great Beer Guide which features the top 500 classic brews in the world describing it as a tropical stout of distinction. The brand has won Gold Medals for 5 consecutive years at the Monde Selection Awards. This is the same product which you will enjoy in Ontario, albeit under a different brand name.

Sinha Stout is available at selected LCBO stores throughout the Province (item # 676072) The brand is sold in 330 ml glass bottles in open basket type packs contains 8 % alcohol by volume .

This Press Release was issued by The Lion Brewery Ceylon Ltd and Fine Beers Agency Limited, Exclusive marketing representative for The Lion Brewery in Canada.
For more information please contact Fred Lavon Telephone 416-443-2020 E-mail finebeers@sympatico.ca

This is good news, thanks, Cass, and to the earlier posters.

It doesn't matter if the name is different, as long as the beer is the same, which evidently it will be.

This is, in my view, one of the best beers in the world. I have had it a couple of times, once in New York and once in England. It has a big soft character, with a creamy, coconut-like taste. I think originally it was only lightly filtered for the bottle and hopefully that will continue since residual yeast character adds a lot to beer (in particular to stouts, I find).

While such lists are to a degree ever-changing, here is a top five best beers ever for Gary Gillman:

i) Lion Stout of Sri Lanka (to be called Sinha Stout in Canada)

ii) Cask Fuller's ESB, various London pubs, 1990's

iii) Cask Everard's Tiger, Leicester, early 1990's

iv) Zum Uerige's Sticke Beer on draft, flown to Baltimore, MY last year for a local fest

v) Lagunitas Pilsener on draft, sampled in Portland, OR recently (an amazing nod to draft Pilsener Urquel)

Here is an alternate top five:

i) Niagara Falls Eisbock in its early years

ii) La Choulette Ambree sampled in a former garrison town (Stenay) in Lorraine, France (alternate Garde choices are the black beer of Ch'ti or Templiers, a top-fermented version of Jenlain)

iii) Michael's Dunkel sampled at Volo recently - it was from the original batch and the months of cold maturation - lagering, in effect - had softened and matured it to perfection

iv) Southampton's Imperial Stout (Long Island, NY) on cask at The Gingerman, New York City (alternate: Ridgeway ESB brought in fast from England, cask again, brewed by the former head brewer at Brakspears)

v) various Belgian beers including Rochfort 10 sampled not long ago at beerbistro, Cantillon framboise sampled in Brussels a few years ago, various draft lambics and gueuzes sampled at Mort Subite in ditto

Okay one more, all-Canadian this time:

i) Wellington County Ale on draft (cask) at the old Foster's in Toronto and still at the Warwick Arms (I believe it is called) in Guelph

ii) Various draft beers (the basic bitter in particular) at a great Regina brewpub whose name escapes me for a moment, in a former warehouse-type area

iii) The Urquel-style pilsener at Amere a Boire on St-Denis Street in Montreal, also its Imperial Stout

iv) Ron Keefe's Peculiar Ale in cask form sampled at Volo during the winter

v) Upper Canada Dark Ale sampled along various spots on Queen Street including Rex Tavern (which happens to be one of the coolest bars in Toronto which results in part from it being completely natural and unmanufactured) - UCDA is the ultimate Queen Street beer, with Amsterdam Nut Brown in close pursuit

Gary

old faithful wrote: ii) Various draft beers (the basic bitter in particular) at a great Regina brewpub whose name escapes me for a moment, in a former warehouse-type area

Wasn't Bushwakker, was it?

Bushwakker's indeed. One of the best brewpubs I've ever been to.

Gary

Did this ever come in? Its not on the Beer Store website

It is listed on the LCBO site but not actually in any stores...

Lion Stout will be available Friday at the LCBO. Fred (the agentt for Lion Stout) phoned me yesterday. He said that it will not be available at the Beer Store. I think the price will come in about the $1.65 range for a bottle. Great price. As Doug says Happy Hunting

Sac wrote:Lion Stout will be available Friday at the LCBO. Fred (the agentt for Lion Stout) phoned me yesterday. He said that it will not be available at the Beer Store. I think the price will come in about the $1.65 range for a bottle. Great price. As Doug says Happy Hunting

Website says $1.85 but thats still quite good. Thanks for the news Joe!

Is this available yet?

A wrote:Is this available yet?

Apparently not, Friday is the day that comes 3 days after Tuesday.

A wrote:Is this available yet?

LCBO website claims that there are 48 bottles at the Gerrard & Parliament location, and has several other locations listed with 0 in stock. Their online inventory is usually a day or two behind reality, so I'd guess that it's probably sitting on lots of shelves now, or will be in the next couple of days.

Belgian wrote:

A wrote:Is this available yet?

Apparently not, Friday is the day that comes 3 days after Tuesday.

Yes, except that posting was *last week*.