The Bar Towel

cratez wrote:At Académie de La Bière:

Cool you were there, glad it's still an OK (but far from leading-edge) place. Also sensible that you knew when to capitulate to wine, for how much beer does Paris really have>

@ The Only Café:
Nickel Brook - Pissed-off Pete's Pumpkin Porter. A malty sweet Porter that tastes straightforward.
Revel Cider - Lemon Meringue Cider with lemon, sea salt and vanilla. Leaving aside the name, has many layers of tart and sweet pale fruit, amazing flavor depth makes a 330ml pour of this sip for a good long time.

Over the course of the long weekend:

St. Feuillien Tripel - an absolute textbook example of a "spicy" Belgian tripel. Glad that I still have a handful in my cellar, but now wishing that I had bought even more when it was at the L last spring.

Del Ducato Winterlude - this one I may have held on a bit too long. The hops have faded but the distinct floral/herbal flavours in this beer persist. Maltier than most tripels. Not my favourite offering from Del Ducato but enjoyable all the same.

Lariano Tripe Tripel - almost a saison/tripel hybrid with some distinct funk. It's pretty clear that brett was used for the secondary fermentation, though there's no such indication on the label. Reminds me a little of Oro de Calabaza, but with a much less profound tartness.

New Limburg Tripel - I'm enjoying this more now that the bottle has a almost a year of age on it compared to the bottle that I cracked shortly after visiting the brewery last December. Remains a very passable Ontario attempt at the style.

Gouden Carolus Tripel - easily one of my top 3 all-time favourite tripels. Hoping to see this one return to the LCBO one day soon.

Rounding out our trip to Paris:
Naparbier Mad Clown (draft)
Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break (draft)
Sori Investor IPA (draft)
Young’s London Stout (draft)
Wells Bombardier Reserve - The Colonel's Choice (cask)
Vedett Extra White (draft)

Fared a lot better on the beer front than I expected thanks in no small part to the Paris guide on this forum. That said, a half a bottle of wine over a three or four course dinner was the norm as good beer is hard to come by at most restaurants/cafes/creperies. Ended up being a nice change of pace though.

Belgian wrote:

cratez wrote:At Académie de La Bière:

Cool you were there, glad it's still an OK (but far from leading-edge) place. Also sensible that you knew when to capitulate to wine, for how much beer does Paris really have

Agreed on all counts. Thanks again for the reco.

At home, a bottle of "Happy Couple - Marriage IPA," the one-off beer that Kyle Teichert from Half Hours On Earth brewed for our wedding. Made with Simcoe and Mosaic hops, this beer pours a hazy amber gold with two fingers of bright white foam and big globs of lacing on the glass. Strong aromas of mango, orange zest, lemon, nectarine, and grapefruit present themselves with a light waxy note as well. Taste follows the nose and the malt profile is almost non-existent. Medium-bodied mouthfeel with a juicy-oily middle and long, drying finish. Low bitterness for the style. This beer is all about the bold hop flavours and aromas, and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Half Hours is known for their sours - which are well worth driving to Seaforth for - but they clearly know how to nail hoppy beers too. Thanks again Kyle!

cratez wrote:Agreed on all counts. Thanks again for the reco.

Of course. Hey I was also finally at Amsterdam Harbourfront which I guess is local to you? It's a pretty good spot when it's not overcrowded - great service and some amazing lake views, food also respectable on this visit yesterday. Kellerbier was not bad at all. I would do again. Cheers.

Belgian wrote:Of course. Hey I was also finally at Amsterdam Harbourfront which I guess is local to you? It's a pretty good spot when it's not overcrowded - great service and some amazing lake views, food also respectable on this visit yesterday. Kellerbier was not bad at all. I would do again. Cheers.

Bought a house in the west end, so no more downtown living for me, but I agree that the BrewHouse is well worth a visit and I still pop in there from time to time.

Samichlaus bottled in 2012, hence brewed on its traditional annual date of Dec 6, 2011.

Liquid bread! You can really sip this stuff, and the flavors and aromas permeate and linger. Has just enough bittering to help set off the corpulent malt richness. Warming alcohol is not sharp.

Five years ago today they were just lining up the grain bill to make this brew; it has arrived in good form.

Rochefort 10 2013, nice dry-ish bottle. The kind of beer that sets you hunting for other things in your cellar / beer stash.

St. Ambroise Vintage Ale 2012, seems kind of wrecked to be truthful. Drinkable still.

Soft DK from Evil Twin...right up my alley for what I wanted. Deep, dark beer that makes you sip it slow.

Collingwood Vintage Ale - Really enjoying this one. Lots of unique herbal hoppiness and the honey works well. Not too sweet.

A vertical of Fayston Barrel Aged Stouts with a friend visiting from Vermont. In order of best to very good:

Coffee Fayston
Rum Barrel Fayston
Bourbon (Pappy) Barrel Fayston
Regular Fayston

I had coffee at #1 while he had Rum at #1. The Pappy was still very good but the other two were a couple steps above.

Side Launch Mountain Lager, a nice crisp Keller/Zwickelbier.

JP Bam Biere, second bottle and using about 300ml in the pot to braise some Sauer Kraut and Bratwurst. I think the sour-dry-fruity aspects of the JP will work in the Kraut along with the apples, juniper, bay and caraway also added (besides the browned onions, carrots, garlic and bit of celery.)

Over the last two weeks in Toronto and Ottawa:

At Halo Brewery:
Halo Pipe Dream - Dry Hopped Saison (draft)
Halo Magic Missile - American Pale Ale (draft)
Halo Black Knight - Black IPA (draft)

At Birreria Volo:
Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus (sample)
Thin Man Black Francis Robust Stout (draft)
Hair of the Dog Blue Dot Double IPA (draft)

At Bar Hop Brewco:
County Durham Signature Ale (cask)
Omnipollo Zodiak IPA (draft)

At The Arrow & Loon Pub:
Amsterdam Edel Helles (draft)
Beau's Embittermint IPA (draft)
Whiprsnapr Backbeet Wheat Ale (sample)

At The Manx Pub:
Muskoka Harvest Ale (draft)
Beyond The Pale Pink Fuzz (draft)

At home:
Hitachino Nest Saison Du Japon
Half Hours On Earth Mingus Dew

2011 Unibroue '17' Grand Reserve - these according to UB peak at 5 to 8 years, showing a lovely matured mellowness and full interesting flavors, maybe you'd like to drink up your '11s of the 17s now if you got 'em!

I also want to try an older Gouden Carolus Cuvée Van De Keizer Blauw. I don't think I've gotten any new ones for some time.

GL karma citra. I almost passed on it after reading on here, others thoughts that this is the worst batch there's been. I'll say that karma citra probably wasn't in my top five IPA/pa from Great Lakes, I found it good but not great. Until now.....for me, this is by far the best karma I've had. I'd say it's almost as good as the first go-around of lake effect from about 3-4 years ago. Glad I picked one up after all, and I'll have to pick up a few more.