The Bar Towel

sofakingdrunk wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:This caught my eye.

Bear Russian Imperial Stout

An award-winning Scottish brewery crafting conversational beer. This full-throttle stout is aged for four months in ex-whisky casks. It pours black, revealing the whisky's influence with coffee, chocolate, fig, vanilla and orange preserve notes. It's full-bodied and roasted with a long, rich finish. Try with chocolate cake.

They had a beer early last year that had been aged in a whisky cask, I don’t think it was a stout, just a dark ale. I remember it being really quite good, and stupid cheap price wise.
I’ll give this new one a shot for sure.

It was an old ale. Wolf of glen moray. Agreed, it was quite enjoyable.

BartOwl wrote:Yes. I did notice the Orval was not as strong as I remembered it. Still a great beer, but being inconsistent isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Not as strong in what way? Taste, alcohol, funk? For me, it didn't have as much of the barnyard funk as I remembered. It was still a good beer, though I would not buy it as often as Rochefort 10 at nearly the same price.

S. St. Jeb wrote:This caught my eye.

Bear Russian Imperial Stout

An award-winning Scottish brewery crafting conversational beer. This full-throttle stout is aged for four months in ex-whisky casks. It pours black, revealing the whisky's influence with coffee, chocolate, fig, vanilla and orange preserve notes. It's full-bodied and roasted with a long, rich finish. Try with chocolate cake.

There are remarkably few reviews on this one. I liked it. It's on the lighter side of barrel-aged stouts, but the vanilla and wood are definitely in there. It's not a heavy bomb in terms of mouthfeel or flavour.

Lukie wrote:

BartOwl wrote:Yes. I did notice the Orval was not as strong as I remembered it. Still a great beer, but being inconsistent isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Not as strong in what way? Taste, alcohol, funk? For me, it didn't have as much of the barnyard funk as I remembered. It was still a good beer, though I would not buy it as often as Rochefort 10 at nearly the same price.

Not as strong in overall taste. While my taste buds can identify a lot of subtle tastes in general, I have a very weird palate that doesn't always pick out things others notice. For example, funkiness can largely escape me, unless I am drinking something like Drie Fountanien or Orval and some other Belgians.

While most individuals can taste up to about 100 IBUs in bitterness before it begins to be the same level of bitterness, I reckon I top out at about 15 IBUs. Bitterness is largely binary to me: not bitter or slightly bitter. Every beer is a session beer to me.

Saltiness and sweetness are muted to me as well, and sourness probably is as well. Umami I have yet to identify.

Having said that, I can often distinguish the flavour of hops from different regions, and sometimes even varietals.

But I digress. The Orval I had may have been a one off thing (I still have two in the fridge), but I remember noticing that it didn't have as much overall flavour as usual. Beers of great complexity can tend to vary from batch to batch, so I wouldn't start to worry about it yet.

Lukie wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:This caught my eye.

Bear Russian Imperial Stout

An award-winning Scottish brewery crafting conversational beer. This full-throttle stout is aged for four months in ex-whisky casks. It pours black, revealing the whisky's influence with coffee, chocolate, fig, vanilla and orange preserve notes. It's full-bodied and roasted with a long, rich finish. Try with chocolate cake.

There are remarkably few reviews on this one. I liked it. It's on the lighter side of barrel-aged stouts, but the vanilla and wood are definitely in there. It's not a heavy bomb in terms of mouthfeel or flavour.

I agree, it’s very understated on barrel flavour compared to what we usually see. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Sometimes there’s something to be said for subtlety

Came across Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo at my local, Courtice LCBO. Don't recall hearing about this one on the release list, and didn't come across it at Vic Park/Ellesmere which I also frequent. Only a handful of bottles. Looking forward to trying it, sounds like a quality brew.

seangm wrote:Came across Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo at my local, Courtice LCBO. Don't recall hearing about this one on the release list, and didn't come across it at Vic Park/Ellesmere which I also frequent. Only a handful of bottles. Looking forward to trying it, sounds like a quality brew.

Here is website I look at to see new LCBO listings. Quite sure I became aware of it from somewhere on the BarTowel a few years ago. Sorry for not being able to give credit if the person who runs this is a regular Bartoweller.

https://lcbo.watch/new-releases

I think it may have missed the odd new listing on occasion, but it's quite good. It noted the Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo on April 27.

S. St. Jeb wrote:

seangm wrote:Came across Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo at my local, Courtice LCBO. Don't recall hearing about this one on the release list, and didn't come across it at Vic Park/Ellesmere which I also frequent. Only a handful of bottles. Looking forward to trying it, sounds like a quality brew.

Here is website I look at to see new LCBO listings. Quite sure I became aware of it from somewhere on the BarTowel a few years ago. Sorry for not being able to give credit if the person who runs this is a regular Bartoweller.

https://lcbo.watch/new-releases

I think it may have missed the odd new listing on occasion, but it's quite good. It noted the Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo on April 27.

Oh that's excellent, thank you! Especially helpful since it doesn't seem like a spring list has been posted yet/if at all.

Cheers.

Liefmans goudenband

Not really a new arrival, but a new price? $32.00 a bottle $384.00 a case 14% ABV.

I'm confused is this the Flemish sour brown ale we have had before or a higher octane version or a LCBO mistake?

https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... N5qC-j0nIU

Ukie wrote:Liefmans goudenband

Not really a new arrival, but a new price? $32.00 a bottle $384.00 a case 14% ABV.

I'm confused is this the Flemish sour brown ale we have had before or a higher octane version or a LCBO mistake?

https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... N5qC-j0nIU

$11.95 / 750ml would be right on the mark for a few years ago.
Maybe a bit more now.

Belgian wrote:

Ukie wrote:Liefmans goudenband

Not really a new arrival, but a new price? $32.00 a bottle $384.00 a case 14% ABV.

I'm confused is this the Flemish sour brown ale we have had before or a higher octane version or a LCBO mistake?

https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... N5qC-j0nIU

$11.95 / 750ml would be right on the mark for a few years ago.
Maybe a bit more now.

I bought a case back in January 2014 I believe it was $8.75 for 750 ml , BB Jan 2022 still have 3 bottles left. I was going to drink them up to clear space, not sure if I want to now that the current price is $32.

Ukie wrote:

Belgian wrote:

Ukie wrote:Liefmans goudenband........ Not really a new arrival, but a new price? $32.00 a bottle $384.00 a case 14% ABV.
I'm confused is this the Flemish sour brown ale we have had before or a higher octane version or a LCBO mistake?
https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... N5qC-j0nIU

$11.95 / 750ml would be right on the mark for a few years ago.
Maybe a bit more now.

I bought a case back in January 2014 I believe it was $8.75 for 750 ml , BB Jan 2022 still have 3 bottles left. I was going to drink them up to clear space, not sure if I want to now that the current price is $32.

Thanks. Yeah, it's still $12 USD in the USA retail stores, so I doubt it'll be $32 here becasue nobody pays that. Maybe around $10-11 CAD with 7-8 years of inflation at 15%, plus some rounding up / matching the beer price trending?

Those Goudenbands you still have keep well, but don't improve forever... I have a few dusty remainders and I will use them up.

[quote="Ukie"]Liefmans goudenband........ Not really a new arrival, but a new price? $32.00 a bottle $384.00 a case 14% ABV.
I'm confused is this the Flemish sour brown ale we have had before or a higher octane version or a LCBO mistake?
Look at the ABV on the listing. It's an LCBO error. Likely a wine profile connected to it.

It's been a couple weeks since the announcement, but I grabbed some Rouge River Holy Trinity IPA at a nearby LCBO. From my humble perspective, it's one of the best regional NEIPAs you can get.

This, combined with Bellwoods Double Jutsu's availability at the lickbo, is damn good news for IPA lovers in the GTA.

shintriad wrote:It's been a couple weeks since the announcement, but I grabbed some Rouge River Holy Trinity IPA at a nearby LCBO. From my humble perspective, it's one of the best regional NEIPAs you can get.

This, combined with Bellwoods Double Jutsu's availability at the lickbo, is damn good news for IPA lovers in the GTA.

Absolutely agree. Both these beers are on a slightly higher level than any of the other NEIPA at LCBO in my opinion. I’ve been buying lots of the double Jutsu in perticular. I was a bit surprised, as I haven’t been overly impressed with the normal Jutsu for a a few years now.