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Nickel Brook Brewing

Discuss anything and everything about craft brewers from Ontario here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

Masterplan
Bar Fly
Posts: 509
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:00 am

Post by Masterplan »

S. St. Jeb wrote:
S. St. Jeb wrote:Mystery Pack Number 2

Liked B the best.
A and C were OK.
Didn’t care so much for D
Masterplan: B is the least offensive offering
JaseWescott: that was the beer I voted for and enjoyed the most
seangm: I've had A through C now, A and B were decent but C was very underwhelming


NB email newsletter today

Tongue Tied, is the newest edition to our diverse IPA lineup and the winner of the Mystery Pack (Beer B in case you're wondering :wink: ).
It good to know, so I can skip that one.

seangm
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Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:44 pm

Post by seangm »

S. St. Jeb wrote:
S. St. Jeb wrote:Mystery Pack Number 2

Liked B the best.
A and C were OK.
Didn’t care so much for D
Masterplan: B is the least offensive offering
JaseWescott: that was the beer I voted for and enjoyed the most
seangm: I've had A through C now, A and B were decent but C was very underwhelming


NB email newsletter today

Tongue Tied, is the newest edition to our diverse IPA lineup and the winner of the Mystery Pack (Beer B in case you're wondering :wink: ).
Just seems weird to me, is it really that much different than Wicked Awesome? I still believe they should've used this opportunity to expand the type of styles offered.

I also noticed NB announced that their Uber series is being rebranded as Jam Stand, and will be "more approachable". I don't know about you guys but to me more approachable means more boring. I quite like Raspberry Uber so we'll see.

sofakingdrunk
Bar Fly
Posts: 948
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
Location: Guelph

Post by sofakingdrunk »

seangm wrote:
S. St. Jeb wrote:
S. St. Jeb wrote:Mystery Pack Number 2

Liked B the best.
A and C were OK.
Didn’t care so much for D
Masterplan: B is the least offensive offering
JaseWescott: that was the beer I voted for and enjoyed the most
seangm: I've had A through C now, A and B were decent but C was very underwhelming


NB email newsletter today

Tongue Tied, is the newest edition to our diverse IPA lineup and the winner of the Mystery Pack (Beer B in case you're wondering :wink: ).
Just seems weird to me, is it really that much different than Wicked Awesome? I still believe they should've used this opportunity to expand the type of styles offered.

I also noticed NB announced that their Uber series is being rebranded as Jam Stand, and will be "more approachable". I don't know about you guys but to me more approachable means more boring. I quite like Raspberry Uber so we'll see.

Yeah maybe not that much different....but slot of them seem to be fine doing that these days.
How often do Great Lakes release a new beer, and it’s a “hazy” or “New England” etc IPA. Same with collective arts, keep pumping out hazieboy after hazieboy

I’d agree with the Jam Stand assessment, They’ll likely dial back the sourness of your trypical Berliner Weiss and pump up more sweet fruit flavour...ass send to be the trend with “sours” these days.

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JerCraigs
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Location: Toronto

Post by JerCraigs »

seangm wrote: I also noticed NB announced that their Uber series is being rebranded as Jam Stand, and will be "more approachable". I don't know about you guys but to me more approachable means more boring. I quite like Raspberry Uber so we'll see.
Yeah that seems more like a replacement than a rebranding to me. Less sour, more fruit.

seangm
Bar Fly
Posts: 632
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:44 pm

Post by seangm »

sofakingdrunk wrote:
seangm wrote:
Just seems weird to me, is it really that much different than Wicked Awesome? I still believe they should've used this opportunity to expand the type of styles offered.

I also noticed NB announced that their Uber series is being rebranded as Jam Stand, and will be "more approachable". I don't know about you guys but to me more approachable means more boring. I quite like Raspberry Uber so we'll see.

Yeah maybe not that much different....but slot of them seem to be fine doing that these days.
How often do Great Lakes release a new beer, and it’s a “hazy” or “New England” etc IPA. Same with collective arts, keep pumping out hazieboy after hazieboy

I’d agree with the Jam Stand assessment, They’ll likely dial back the sourness of your trypical Berliner Weiss and pump up more sweet fruit flavour...ass send to be the trend with “sours” these days.
Fair enough, although those are typically rotational. It's more so using the whole mystery pack idea to release such a similar beer that had me puzzled, and even then they could've pushed the envelop a bit. While I do find a lot of these hazies seem to be the same beer over and over with tweaked hop bills, some are pretty excellent and NB's have fallen behind in that regard. Playing it a bit too safe perhaps.

sofakingdrunk
Bar Fly
Posts: 948
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
Location: Guelph

Post by sofakingdrunk »

seangm wrote:
sofakingdrunk wrote:
seangm wrote:
Just seems weird to me, is it really that much different than Wicked Awesome? I still believe they should've used this opportunity to expand the type of styles offered.

I also noticed NB announced that their Uber series is being rebranded as Jam Stand, and will be "more approachable". I don't know about you guys but to me more approachable means more boring. I quite like Raspberry Uber so we'll see.

Yeah maybe not that much different....but slot of them seem to be fine doing that these days.
How often do Great Lakes release a new beer, and it’s a “hazy” or “New England” etc IPA. Same with collective arts, keep pumping out hazieboy after hazieboy

I’d agree with the Jam Stand assessment, They’ll likely dial back the sourness of your trypical Berliner Weiss and pump up more sweet fruit flavour...ass send to be the trend with “sours” these days.
Fair enough, although those are typically rotational. It's more so using the whole mystery pack idea to release such a similar beer that had me puzzled, and even then they could've pushed the envelop a bit. While I do find a lot of these hazies seem to be the same beer over and over with tweaked hop bills, some are pretty excellent and NB's have fallen behind in that regard. Playing it a bit too safe perhaps.

Couldn’t agree more.

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S. St. Jeb
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1096
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

Nickel Brook bought the Big Rock facility in Etobicoke, and will be moving to a new location in Burlington.

https://www.canadianbeernews.com/2021/0 ... -location/

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S. St. Jeb
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1096
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

I stopped by Nickel Brook recently and was told they expect to move to their new facility in Burlington sometime in October.

sofakingdrunk
Bar Fly
Posts: 948
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
Location: Guelph

Post by sofakingdrunk »

Anybody had this years Kentucky(RIP bastard)?
I’ll usually buy a couple each year. I’ve just been drinking my first this year and it’s a huge let down. There’s a decent amount of bourbon on the nose…but in the palate is is lacking big time compared to previous years. There’s a touch of that heat you usually get from this beer when it’s fresh but that’s really it, maybe a hint of bourbon on the finish.
Worse still, is that it is incredibly thin. Maybe this has something to do with the bourbon flavour not coming through, I’m not sure. I’d say this is hands down the least body I’ve ever experienced in an impy stout.
Definitely will not be buying any more of this years vintage, especially with so many better similar options out there.
Curious to see what others have thought of it this year.

cboden
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:32 pm
Location: London
Contact:

Post by cboden »

sofakingdrunk wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 8:49 pm Anybody had this years Kentucky(RIP bastard)?
I’ll usually buy a couple each year. I’ve just been drinking my first this year and it’s a huge let down. There’s a decent amount of bourbon on the nose…but in the palate is is lacking big time compared to previous years. There’s a touch of that heat you usually get from this beer when it’s fresh but that’s really it, maybe a hint of bourbon on the finish.
Worse still, is that it is incredibly thin. Maybe this has something to do with the bourbon flavour not coming through, I’m not sure. I’d say this is hands down the least body I’ve ever experienced in an impy stout.
Definitely will not be buying any more of this years vintage, especially with so many better similar options out there.
Curious to see what others have thought of it this year.
This used to be my seasonal staple. I found the quality going down year over year. I still have a few 2017 left, which I consider the last good vintage. I'm speculating here, but this might have to do with brewmaster Ryan leaving.

seangm
Bar Fly
Posts: 632
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:44 pm

Post by seangm »

I've felt the same thing, re. Kentucky going downhill. Last one I had was 2020 and even back then I thought there was a significant drop in overall quality. It was thin, lacked nuance and balance. I haven't tried it since as I have little appetite for spending that much money on a beer, unless I know it's going to be top grade. Seems I'm not missing much.

I haven't tried the other variants lately either, Cafe or Winey. I imagine the same goes for them? To be honest I haven't really been impressed by NB for quite a while now. For me they really peaked in the mid to late 2010s.

cboden
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Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:32 pm
Location: London
Contact:

Post by cboden »

oh man...I forgot about Cafe...repressed memory. 2018 was the GOAT, 2019 (v1 and v2) were really good, and then downhill. I forget if it was 2020 or 2021, but one of them was a drain pour. I've only drain poured 2 beers, that weren't infections, in my life.

User avatar
distr0
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:48 pm
Location: St. George

Post by distr0 »

WTF, they dropped the 'bastard'? that's the word that all the variant's played off of!

I had a 2016 recently and was blown away by how good it still was. Ditto with a 2017 Cafe earlier this year.

I wonder if their move to a new location this year affected the quality? They make that beer in pretty large quantities, how does one go about transporting that many full barrels?

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S. St. Jeb
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1096
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

Nickel Brook has another voting contest. This one isn't about four 'mystery' beers, but about three proposed new labels for Naughty Neighbour.

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S. St. Jeb
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1096
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

Nickel Brook has re-branded their No Bad Daze Easy Going Lager to simply Easy Going Lager.

Hmmmm. Can't think of why.

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