The Bar Towel

Chimay Gold - Better than expected.
Fat Tug - July 18 bottling, drinking well. Wish I could get it under a month old.

Flying monkeys coast to coast less-this has been sitting in the fridge for about a year. I really enjoyed it, not sure how it was fresh....but this was drinking a bit like a stout. Lots of chocolate,plum,raisin and some black tea The hops have basically completely disappeared however

At Bar Hop:
Folly Rhizome (draft)
Bar Hop Tremelo (draft)
Dieu du Ciel! Péché Mortel (sample)

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Neustadt Scottish Ale (draft)
Forked River Lord Simcoe's Revenge (draft)
Black Oak Triple Chocolate Cherry Stout (draft)

At home:
Smuttynose Finestkind IPA
Great Lakes Raspberry Saison

Are you able to find some relatively fresh finest kind? I've never seen any that's nit a good few months old

sofakingdrunk wrote: Are you able to find some relatively fresh finest kind? I've never seen any that's nit a good few months old

The sixer that I grabbed was roughly a month and half old, based on the "six months from bottling" best before date on the bottle neck. I bought it at the Stockyards Beer Store. I agree that fresh stock is hard to come by, as they still had some lingering six packs that expired today, and the Robust Porter bottles expired in June. So I always check the dates, and if the bottles are too old, I pass.

Well, good to know that there is some hope. I bought one six pack when it first came along, I believe it was about 3 months old at the time....tasty enough but age was beginning to show. At the price point, I'm not going to buy again until I see fresher stuff. The porter, I'm more likely to buy, regardless of age

A 2013 saison DuPont that drank beautifully. One of the better bottles I've had

On consecutive nights this week.

Broadhead Bodacious Blueberry Blonde
Waterloo Blueberry Weizenbier
Lake of the Woods Forgotten Lake Blueberry Ale

If you like this sort of thing, the Broadhead had the strongest, most distinctive blueberry flavour for me.

At Goodlake:
Left Field Day Game Session IPA (draft) - fantastic APA, bright and aromatic nose with citrus and stone fruit flavours and a lightly drying finish; big taste for 3.9% ABV.
MacKinnon Brothers Origin Hefeweizen (draft) - Where to start? A hefeweizen shouldn't be amber-orange in colour; it shouldn't be light bodied bordering on watery; and it shouldn't taste like an EPA. I'm giving up on these guys.

At home:
Goose Island Rambler IPA - decent hoppy red ale; spicy, herbal, and piney hop flavours with a caramel and toasted malt backbone. Not bad, but I probably won't revisit.

Del Ducato Vieille Ville
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere

I enjoyed both, but the Vieille Ville really stood out. It was a little more subtle and nuanced on the palate with some nice minerality and saison yeast spice underlying the brett tartness. Nice lively mouthfeel as well. Although I liked it, I'm not sure how often I'll revisit this one at it's price (roughly $7.50 for a 330 mL bottle - I split a 12 pack with some buddies).

Bam Biere was bolder with more barnyard funk.

Over the past week:

Foolproof Revery RIS
Bellwoods Jelly King
Trou du Diable Baron Noir
Block Three Frankenstout
Driftwood Blackstone Porter
Goose Island BCBS 2015 (Not infected!! Yay!!)
Dunham Deze Monnik is Dronken.

At home:
Great Lakes Limp Puppet Session IPA - solid low gravity pale, though I prefer the Sunnyside to this one (brighter and more robust hop character).
Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale - straightforward but tasty pumpkin ale with a moderate level of spice. Good quaff.
Stone Delicious IPA - bottled July 15th and still holding up well. Aggressive lemony and resinous hop flavour with a boldly bitter finish. Malt profile is a bit sweeter than the draft. A great beer.

Chimay Gold - really nice round yet crisp ale, has a touch of lager 'edge' unexpected but still a gorgeous apple fruit and creamy texture, pale malt, honey. Spicy phenolics are round, barely clovey/peppery, sweet and subtle. Don't overlook this one, it's usually only the Abbaye Scourmont monks get to enjoy it.

I'll reaffirm all of the love that Chimay Gold has been getting. I'm just getting around to trying it now, and it has exceeded my expectations. I think it is more tripel-esque than most Belgian blondes, with a lovely spicy yeast character and crisp, dry finish. As a big tripel fan, it does taste a bit watered down at times by comparison - but that is the whole point of this beer at 4.8% ABV and I think it does a great at maximizing the taste:alcohol ratio. A great option for those looking to toss a few back on a summer's afternoon without feeling the effects. I used to feel bad for the monks, brewing their strongest and beers for the layperson while drinking only patersbier themselves. Maybe they don't have it so bad after all...

Agreed provost, same flavor refinement as a good tripel but without the usual sharp hop bittering and the massive palate from high ABV alcohol.

To me it over-delivers on being a more easy-going beer. It reminds me of some of the really impressive things that hooked me about craft ales back in the beginning.