The Bar Towel

Muskoka Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.

Somebody really screwed the pooch on this one. Thin, lifeless, and not worth nearly half the $13 or whatever asking price.

BeerIsGood wrote:Muskoka Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.

Somebody really screwed the pooch on this one. Thin, lifeless, and not worth nearly half the $13 or whatever asking price.

To amend my disappointment, perhaps I have a bad bottle. Other opinions appreciated, as in the past I've usually been very satisfied with Muskoka seasonal releases, although, admittedly, it's been more than five years since I've had one.

BeerIsGood wrote:Muskoka Winter Beard Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.

Somebody really screwed the pooch on this one. Thin, lifeless, and not worth nearly half the $13 or whatever asking price.

I haven’t had this in a few years, but your description sounds about right. Overpriced and bland. Cool box though. I think the Shinnicked Stout is decent though.

At C'est What?:
County Durham Red Dragon (cask)
Left Field Greenwood IPA (draft)

At beerbistro:
The Exchange Plum Berliner Weisse (draft)
2017 Founders Breakfast Stout (bottle)
2015 Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'Hiver (bottle)

At home:
Bellwoods Double Dry-Hopped Cat Lady
Great Lakes Harry Porter & The Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Bean
Bellwoods Grapefruit Pale Ale – Simcoe & Amarillo
2017 Mill Street Barley Wine
Great Lakes Harry Porter & The Cherry Hoarder
2017 Founders Backwoods Bastard
Great Lakes & Phillips The Puzzled Huntsman DIPA

Great Lakes 30th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout.

In monteverde, Costa Rica I have stumbled across a delicious tropical stout from Cervezas Artisnales Belmar called Nubosa. Normally, i find stouts a bit boring but this one is an exception. It has notes of brown sugar, fig, plum, and coffee. Lots of esters make this stout complex. If you find yourself in this part of the world, definitely give it a try.

BartOwl wrote:In monteverde, Costa Rica I have stumbled across a delicious tropical stout from Cervezas Artisnales Belmar called Nubosa. Normally, i find stouts a bit boring but this one is an exception. It has notes of brown sugar, fig, plum, and coffee. Lots of esters make this stout complex. If you find yourself in this part of the world, definitely give it a try.

You lucky s.o.b. I stuck to Flor de Cana rum when I was last @ Montedverde.
Glad to know there's some Decent beer to be had down there now. I have been to Costa Rica. In years but used to go quite regularly. One can only drink so much Imperial, no matter the surroundings. Is this brewery out of the Guanacaste region?

sofakingdrunk wrote:

BartOwl wrote:In monteverde, Costa Rica I have stumbled across a delicious tropical stout from Cervezas Artisnales Belmar called Nubosa. Normally, i find stouts a bit boring but this one is an exception. It has notes of brown sugar, fig, plum, and coffee. Lots of esters make this stout complex. If you find yourself in this part of the world, definitely give it a try.

You lucky s.o.b. I stuck to Flor de Cana rum when I was last @ Montedverde.
Glad to know there's some Decent beer to be had down there now. I have been to Costa Rica. In years but used to go quite regularly. One can only drink so much Imperial, no matter the surroundings. Is this brewery out of the Guanacaste region?

The brewery is in Monteverde itself. Not sure which region that is. Yes I am lucky to be here. I am having a blast. I should note that the beer was almost past its expiry, but maybe missing some hoppiness but otherwise good. It is 7.5%.

Overhop Hazy IPA — This is a damn good IPA. I'd say GLB-class. Loads of tropical fruit, floral, pine, not very bitter. Doesn't strike me as a true NE IPA (as it's billed) and not as hazy as it should be, given the name. Still really good and $3.25 at Common Good.

Barrel Aged Rat Queen.
It's quite good and should get better with age.

Canadian Breakfast Stout - remainder of bottle opened yesterday, it's really a fantastic sipper and is better savored than going through a whole 355ml at once. I'd say 1/3 or 1/4 bottle pours are substantial.

Backwoods Bastard - welcome back ya bastard. Nice fullness and complexity, I think there's sufficient bourbon there & this room-temp bottle needs to be colder to balance the generous bready sweetness of the malt.

Steak time... Beretta Farms strip loin, now on sale at Foodland Beaches.

Today...

Omnipollo Zodiac
Left Field Laser Show
Goose Island Sofie

And soon

Thornbridge Eldon Oak Infused Imperial Stout

Barncat's lucent. It's absolutely delicious. If you like hibiscus in beer, this is a must have.

Still chipping away at a backlog of reviews:

-Collingwood Whitney's Vintage Wet Hopped Ale - LCBO tallboy (6.9%). Presumably based upon the recipe of their annual Vintage Ale, I found this to be a solid strong pale ale. Floral hops, mint, honey and orchard fruit on the nose; the flavours are similar, although there is also a sturdy backbone of doughy, bready malts. Earthy, herbal and leafy bitterness at the finish. Pretty darn good, but these cans are three months old now (unless they've done additional canning runs since Sept 8 ) so I doubt this one is still at its prime. I'd return to it next year, though.
-Radical Road Yuzu Pale Ale - LCBO tallboy (5.0%). The lemon-lime-like notes of the yuzu fruit are obvious, both in the aroma and the flavour profile. Very tasty, but I like grapefruit (and most other citrus fruits) in beer, so YMMV because the yuzu overpowers pretty much everything else. I was buying this one semi-regularly when it was still available in town.
-Mill Street Tankenstein IPA - LCBO bottle from their Fall mixer (7.0%). Drinks like a beefed-up version of Tankhouse, which is unsurprising because that's pretty much what it is - it pours the same bronze-amber colour, with a prodigiously long-lasted head. Tastes of toasted malts and caramelized sugars, with orange/grapefruit followed by a resiny, floral hop bitterness at the finish. Nothing too interesting, but fine to drink once or twice.
-Moosehead Pale Ale - TBS bottle from a 12-pack (5.0%). The updated label is what caught my eye and finally got me to purchase this one for the first time. About as much of a pale ale as Keith's is an IPA; drinks like any macro blonde ale, really. Labatt 50 is better, but a tick is a tick.
-DDC Grande Noirceur Russian Imperial Stout - LCBO bottle from a 4-pack (9.0%). Quite tasty, with notes of dark chocolate, fig, coffee grounds, date and plum, with just a hint of vanilla and smoke. Bitter cocoa, licorice root and alcohol in the aftertaste. Not the best of DDC's stouts, but well worth a try anyway.
-Trafalgar Masala Chai Mead - LCBO can (7.0%) in a small, Red Bull-esque format. This wasn't bad, but to be fair I am lukewarm on chai spice stuff. Cardamom, ginger, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg backed by some honey sweetness and a flash of earthy hops at the finish.
-Abe Erb Das Spritzhaus Hefeweizen - LCBO can (4.7%). Smells of wheat bread, clove spice, apples and underripe banana. Tastes of apple flesh, banana and grape with a blunt, spicy back end. The clove and phenols are too strong for my tastes. A mediocre hefe at best.
-Cowbell Brewing Kelly's Contraption Hefeweizen - LCBO can (5.0%). Wheaty grains, banana, clove spice, lemon and orange citrus, with very subtle notes of tropical fruit and a spicy, yeasty finish. This one was considerably better than the Spritzhaus, but still not quite on par with most of the common German exports.
-Big Rig Tartan Pants Scotch Ale - LCBO tallboy (6.4%). A sweet-tasting beer, with toffee, biscuits, raisin, fig and treacle as well as some peated smoke presence. Not as good as their old Scotch Ale (the one that came in the bomber), but still serviceable enough.

At Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Bellwoods Runes - Enigma & Ekuanot (draft)
Godspeed & Brasserie De La Senne Biere De Soif (draft)
Junction Craft Ghost Of Idaho (cask)

Over the week at home:
Great Lakes Winter Ale
Rainhard Armed 'N Mosaic
Black Oak White Out Winter Lager
Great Lakes Lake Effect IPA
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS)