The Bar Towel

With all the talk on the forum I had to try it. I did, at Volo recently. While the hyper-American pale ale/IPA style is not my favourite, I have to tip my hat to this beer. It is beautifully made: richly malted but with a big unrolling taste of fine American hops on top. Very Chinook "fresh hop" in style (whether Chinooks are actually used I don't know but it is in that style). Not a hint of oxidation or off-taste, just stellar in presentation: it has the cleaness (absence of faults) I admire in some commercial lagers but in an intensely flavoured microbrewed context. Well done, the acme of the American microbrewing art as applied to this particular style of beer.

Gary

P.S. Sampled at the same session: Plain Porter of Scotch-Irish, just lovely even on nitro dispense. It is exactly on song for the style, a perfect session beer. Also, Michael's (Publican) Dunkel tasting better than ever: perhaps a little lighter than I remember from before but with an intriguing pepper-like aftertaste. Also superb for sessions.

One note on Perry's Plain Porter - it is on nitro at Volo, as you note, but on regular keg dispense at C'est What. It would be interesting to compare - see if the nitro knocks any of the flavour out of it, as the CAMRA types claim.

I'll chime in on the Dogfish Head 60 Minute, which I tried last Friday night at Volo (hmm....I've been to Volo three times in just over a week....must....resist!). My taste runs to malty porters and stouts, so my experiments in hop-land haven't always been happy ones, but this is an outstanding beer. Complex and without any bitterness.

Now, how much is this selling for at the LCBO?

jmcnally wrote:Now, how much is this selling for at the LCBO?

2 bucks a bottle. Easily the bargain of the season at the LC.

jmcnally wrote:I'll chime in on the Dogfish Head 60 Minute, which I tried last Friday night at Volo (hmm....I've been to Volo three times in just over a week....must....resist!). My taste runs to malty porters and stouts, so my experiments in hop-land haven't always been happy ones, but this is an outstanding beer. Complex and without any bitterness.

Now, how much is this selling for at the LCBO?

Quite a bit less.

One hoppy Pale a day is often enough for my tolerance... but my take on the 60 minute (barely cooled down, from a Duvel tulip) was simply "wow, this is just really good, PERFECT beer." Finely balanced extremes in a way only Craft beer can do it.

The body IS fairly malty, not sweet but just almost. Maybe I'll cut it with a little Sgt. Majors & then bear witness to: the world's first Quadruple India Pale...

Lotsa love to DFH and all Micro Brewers with heart!

jmcnally wrote:My taste runs to malty porters and stouts, so my experiments in hop-land haven't always been happy ones, but this is an outstanding beer. Complex and without any bitterness.

Maybe I'll give this a one bottle try afterall. I can't take high hoppiness. If I find it too high I'll chuck the remainder of the bottle in a stew. My girlfriend is always on me for wanting to cook a stew.

I am very impressed with this beer. I grabbed a six pack on the way back from the U.S. last spring and found it very tasty. I'm glad to revisit this once again. I think the beer has a fine balance between the fresh hop bitterness and the malt. I have already bought two cases as I feel @ $2 each this beer is one of the best values I've seen at the lcbo in a while. This will certainly be my staple throughout the summer. By then I will also have a case of Titan ipa to enjoy as well.

RyanWright wrote:I am very impressed with this beer. I grabbed a six pack on the way back from the U.S. last spring and found it very tasty. I'm glad to revisit this once again. I think the beer has a fine balance between the fresh hop bitterness and the malt. I have already bought two cases as I feel @ $2 each this beer is one of the best values I've seen at the lcbo in a while. This will certainly be my staple throughout the summer. By then I will also have a case of Titan ipa to enjoy as well.

Well we might not have the GD order in until the fall, actually right? So that's still an IPA in the sky.

So don't hold back buying Dogfish for all the summer. Do the math! You need cases of it!

Well, the 2 stores that carry most of the seasonals in St. Catharines are not scheduled to get any, at this point. I put in a request for 2 cases, but they were unsure whether they could actually get it. I should know next Wednesday.

I sent an appreciative email through the Dogfish web site and got two nice responses, one from Claus Hagelman, National Sales Manager, and the other from Sam Calagione, the President .

I told them about the good writeup in the Star and emailed the link to the article and a scan of the article itself. Sam is arranging to email me a bottle each of the 90 and 120 Minute as thanks. Great guy!

jmcnally wrote:Sam is arranging to email me a bottle each of the 90 and 120 Minute as thanks.

If he can't email the bottles to you, maybe he can fax them instead

jmcnally wrote:I sent an appreciative email through the Dogfish web site and got two nice responses, one from Claus Hagelman, National Sales Manager, and the other from Sam Calagione, the President .

I told them about the good writeup in the Star and emailed the link to the article and a scan of the article itself. Sam is arranging to email me a bottle each of the 90 and 120 Minute as thanks. Great guy!

I got an e-mail from Claus as well but no offer to send along 90 or 120 bottles...maybe he'll be "e-mailing" us all free samples!

<slaps forehead>D'oh!</slaps forehead>

I sent them a short email as well, just thanking them and telling them again of the great market response up here. I got a very kind and quick, almost within the hour, response from Claus Hagelman.

Before trying their beers, DFH really impressed me. After trying a small handlful of their stuff (especially the WWS) I could taste first hand what they were capable of. I'm even more impressed now, what a great brewery!

Great that you're congratulating the brewery but even better to congratulate the LCBO as they'll decide whether you ever see this beer again!!!