The Bar Towel

Leaving from Pearson to Portland, Oregon. Try out some past WCIPA favourites and current spontaneous ones. Take the slow train south to Northern California to try the first WCIPA and others that I have heard good things from. Take another slow train to San Diego to try some favourites from the past....

Wish I could have gone, but it's certainly one of the best in the city.

Poutine is crispier than normal and I like it.

First time at the store. I read through the thread and perhaps unsurprisingly, some things never change. As soon as I walked in there was some local character, broad daylight. Selection was a bit better than normal, with large amounts of stuff. Twofours of some stuff. The clearance section was small...

Some of the ones I was thinking of: Montreal to Vermont. DDC, Vices and Verses, Pit Caribou, Dunham, Lawson's, Alchemist, HF, etc. Portland (II) to Vancouver. Too many to list but heard good things about Temporal Artisan Ales and Garden Path. Oregon has so many, including my #1 want to visit in the ...

I personally don't have a strong attachment to 568 mL serving sizes, but I do believe in standardization. This should be called a pint and nothing else. I would actually prefer half of that if it is half the price.

Under 200, now. I was looking at some cellared posts of what things were like in the past and stumbled upon this. Too bad we no longer have a foreign correspondent. From 2003 or so. The Utopias ended up costing us less than we expected, so the retail is now $140US. I know - its still an obscene amou...

Between the two, it seems like a Chevrolet-Cadillac kind of targeting. I think Beertown sounds much less intimidating than Bier Markt.

I’ve never been to Beertown, but it seems like this concept can really give someone that has never had stuff from a small producer a taste for something new and different. Looking at their list, there are some ones that are in Durham region, but also some pretty surprising stuff like Small Pony and ...

I'm getting this from one of the more transparent agents. There are other agents that seem like last updated their online presence in 1997. Perhaps from another agent.

This may be part of the winter or other release, but some more coming soon.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale - Quadruple w/ spices 10% LCBO #34143

Van Steenberge Tasting Pack - LCBO #254136

St. Bernardus Selection Pack - LCBO #385476

Westmalle Gift Pack - LCBO #34145

I stopped by. It's a nice little industrial place. Lots of families. I'd say 50% of people there were kids. I could see how the vibe could sour significantly if nap time was late.

I liked what I had.

Yes, unfortunately the very best stuff is not that easy to find unless you search beforehand. There's kind of a second level of quality that's relatively widely available. I'd say the craft that we're seeing here would be part of that second level. Perhaps that's too generous and it's another level ...

I believe the SAQ gets a slice of every sale of alcohol in the province. At least with ordering from an agent, you need to pick up at an SAQ. From one Quebec Agent: What is the SAQ’s private import channel? → Intro The SAQ’s private import process lets agents import products that are not commerciali...

I never shop at convenience stores, but if there was a handful of somewhat nearby craft beer convenience stores like in Quebec, I'd probably go monthly. Though it seems like prices would never be in that neighbourhood.

LCBO availability kind of in relation to the upcoming convenience store sales. Surprised and delighted to see YoHo stuff in the LCBO. They were part of the early craft beer wave in Japan. While their stuff is not as fancy as Baird, it was always very available, and the best stuff in Lawson convenien...