What're you drinking right now?

[sofakingdrunk]

New stuff over the last week:

-Anderson Brown Ale - From a sixer picked up at the brewery, 4.6%. Decidedly malt-forward, with notes of milk chocolate, toasted nuts, espresso, cocoa and brown sugar. A very good example of what is (locally) an underrepresented style. I haven't tried anything particularly adventurous from Anderson yet, but they seem to have a solid grip on brewing quality session ales.
-Ace Hill Vienna Lager - LCBO tallboy, 5.0%. Toasted grains and bread, caramelized malt sweetness and a brief hint of grassy noble hops on the back end. A pretty decent Vienna; I liked this more than their pilsener, fwiw.
-New Limburg Belgian Blond - LCBO bottle, 7.1%. This is the first New Limburg beer I've tried and I wasn't disappointed. Looks amazing in the glass - very Duvel-esque. Grainy pale malts and white sugar sweetness, with grove/orchard fruit esters mid-sip (banana, apples, lemon). Finishes spicy and yeasty. A little overcarbonated, but otherwise it's a nice, strong blonde ale.
-Mill Street Jigger's Delight - LCBO bottle from their latest summer sampler, 5.0%. Very bland and disappointing. It's supposed to be a steam beer, but it drinks more like a regular pale lager. More hops, plz. Other than drinkability, this has nothing going for it.
-Mill Street Stone Mason Ale - Ditto, 4.8%. Described as an English bitter, this one was also rather underwhelming. Wheat, toasted grains and biscuit, with leafy, earthy hops towards the finish. Watery and thin with some metallic-tasting notes. Passable, but outshone by most of the UK exports we see here.
-Mill Street Honest Bucker Pale Ale - Ditto, 5.9%. A Mosaic-hopped APA, this was easily the best of the bunch IMO. Had an unusual aroma, reminiscent of blood orange, which I really liked. Juicy tropical fruits, peach and citrus, with resiny/floral bitterness rounding out the profile. The only one of their four "brewpub" beers that I want to drink again.

And some repeats:
-Mill Street Walker's Blueberry Wheat - Ditto, 5.0%. I haven't tried this in close to a half-decade. I wasn't impressed back then and my opinion of it is even lower this time. I find most blueberry beers to be lacking, but this one is a genuinely weak effort.
-Radical Road Sling Shot California Common - LCBO tallboy. Bought this specifically to compare to the Mill Street Jigger's Delight (also because I couldn't find any Anchor Steam to use instead). It easily won. Not an exciting beer, but serviceable enough.
-GLB Sunnyside Session IPA - LCBO tallboy. One of the better session IPAs at the LCBO. I agree with those who have been saying that this year's run is tasting a bit better than the 2016 batch. Very citrus-forward - mostly lemon, with some grapefruit.
-Side Launch Wheat - LCBO tallboy. Still an excellent hefe, and the best Ontario-brewed one that sees any real distribution IMO

I've had a decent amount of the new limburg blond....it's not a style I generally go for, but this is a really nice beer.
I picked up their Wit on the weekend(also a style I'm not huge on) and like it a lot. Less sweet than most wit beers, actually quite dry with a. Nice minerality to it. Reminded me a little bit of st Bernardus wit. Solid solid stuff

[Provost Drunk]

I've had a decent amount of the new limburg....it's not a style I generally go for, but this is a really nice beer.
I picked up their Wit on the weekend(also a style I'm not huge on) and like it a lot. Less sweet than most wit beers, actually quite dry with a. Nice minerality to it. Reminded me a little bit of st Bernardus wit. Solid solid stuff

Did you pick up their Wit from the brewery? I thought that their Blond was the only one out at the L, but I'd be curious to try their Wit.

[sofakingdrunk]

No, picked it up @lcbo on Saturday. First time I'd seen it so I assume it's newly listed

[Belgian]

Burdock Brett Lime Light
Bellwoods Ghost Orchid IPA

Amsterdam X Birreria Volo Left Of The Dial North American Mild - had this standout session Mild at Bar Hop on Monday, ie. five dollar pours. You can tell Ralph really schooled in the nuances and layers of great British ales, great.

[sofakingdrunk]

Drinking my first Barncat Bastet now....really really good. Incredibly drinkable, lots of lemony citrus flavours, quite dry, a little bit of funk, a touch of oaky vanilla and a really nice tartness. Awesome beer. I urge anyone who hasn't had the chance, to take the trek out to Cambridge and hit these guys up. There's always
Something good to be had. Another home run.
I hope there'll still be some left next time I'm in, as the other two bottles I have will not be enough.

[sofakingdrunk]

Had a Bellwoods jelly king last night.....pouring it into the glass and there's a fuckload of floaties. Didn't look great, so I smelled it and it smelled just fine, went in for a small taste and was excellent. So I kept going. I've had my fair share of jelly king, and variants and never seen this. Come the end of the pint, 3/4 of the base of the glass was covered. My best guess is that it was yeast, as it had that sort of colour and consistency. TBH this is probably the best(bottled) jelly I've had. So no complaints at all. Anyone else come across this?

[darmokandjalad]

I've had a decent amount of the new limburg blond....it's not a style I generally go for, but this is a really nice beer.
I picked up their Wit on the weekend(also a style I'm not huge on) and like it a lot. Less sweet than most wit beers, actually quite dry with a. Nice minerality to it. Reminded me a little bit of st Bernardus wit. Solid solid stuff

Indeed... I was impressed with the Blond. Other than Unibroue, not a lot of Canadian breweries (at the LCBO) consistently compete with the Belgian competition. I hope to pick up some of that Wit the next time I am in London (probably within a week or two), since I haven't seen it 'round these parts. St Bernardus Wit is my favourite witbier overall so that is a very favourable comparison in my eyes

I really enjoyed [Sling Shot California Common], thought it was a nice example of the style and fares well against Anchor (though Anchor still wins in my books). Your notes about the Mill Street pack are discouraging though, just picked up the summer sampler for myself lol. Oh well, gotta try everything once.

I am also really digging that Sling Shot, and have picked up a few more cans since that original post. It's an underrepresented style and I want to enjoy it while it's fresh and available.

As for the Mill Street pack, hopefully you've had a better experience than I did. The Honest Bucker was pretty good, and I don't mind their West Coast IPA. The rest of it was pretty underwhelming, though.

[cratez]

Over the last little while at home:
Indie Ale House Burning Boat
Great Lakes No Chance With Miranda (Raspberries)
Anchor California Lager
Rainhard Wild Brett Saison
Beyond The Pale Pale Ale Project
Rainhard Drifter Helles Lager
Harviestoun Raspy Engine
Rainhard Redemption Toast Ale

[darmokandjalad]

.

[El Pinguino]

Had a heady Topper and Focal Banger today.
Got a Double Jutsu lined up next.

[Belgian]

Tuesday had a couple of Stiegl at Comrade because happy hour and gorgeous Bar to drop,in for a bit.

Yesterday at Thirsty I had a Black Bellows White, Belgian Witbier (so great!!) and also a can of Evil Twin NOMADer Soured Berliner Weiss (so much more like Gose having been to both Berlin and Leipzig a few times.)

[sofakingdrunk]

Drank a beaus full time IPA last night. Surprisingly good, nothing earth shattering....but solid, and better than pretty much any beaus beer I've had. smells quite citrusy and fresh, the taste is a little less citrus, more tropical fruit;like mango/canary melon kind of sweetness Nicely balanced and very drinkable. I'd actually put it in the upper half of Ontario IPAs right now(is that saying much anymore with so many mediocre ones out there?). A level below Great Lakes/Bellwoods/collective arts/nickelbrook IPAs but good none the less. However, almost 5$ for the stupid format, I highly doubt I'll buy it more than a couple times, when I can get previously
Mentioned beers in a tall boy for ~1.50$ less

[GtownRandy]

I agree it is a good IPA but works out to $3.95 if it was 473ml so definitely not as good value compared to Great Lakes / coll. arts/ sawdust etc

[cratez]

Sunday to Thursday at home:
Bellwoods Cherry Jelly King
Gahan Blueberry Ale
Bellwoods Farmageddon
Central City & Picaroons Restored Hop(e)
Central City & NWT Brewing Miners’ Refresh
Central City & Four Winds Left Of The Divide
Central City & Le Trou Du Diable Bouclier Canadien

Over the weekend at The Craft, Otto's Bierhalle, Bar Hop & Bar Hop Brewco:
Market Bear Hug IPA (draft)
5 Paddles Skull Pucker (draft)
BraufactuM Progusta (draft)
BraufactuM Soleya (draft)
Amsterdam Experiment #09326 - Hoppy Lager (draft)
Bar Hop Miracle Cure (draft)

I agree it is a good IPA but works out to $3.95 if it was 473ml so definitely not as good value compared to Great Lakes / coll. arts/ sawdust etc

I think Beau's stopped focusing on value a long time ago.

[Belgian]

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere,
was bottled very end 2015. Such a treat! Winey with distinct lemony notes and gentle funk. puffy white head over gold coat billowing a mellow herbal and sour funk. The midi-chlorian counts are off the charts in this one.

Bellwoods Weft and Warp - Chardonnay Barrel aged Sour.
Bottle from April or so pours a golden haze because I swirled it up. Wow! This Sour gets the upgrade of the light barely oak character, spicy vanillin, plus some added fruit depth possibly from the chard wine. Tart apricot and fresh sour plum, ripe lemon, balsamic. Impressive body and completeness, slight alcohol warmth is nice. Has a very natural sweaty funk that I really appreciate.