Fell behind on this one, but a lot of the LCBO stores are still sorting out inventory anyways, so this is probably just in time. The full listing of beers is available in a fair few places (Bartowel, for one), so I won’t rehash it here. I’m just going to recommend the bottles I like and think you should be getting. Notes are a bit abbreviated this time, as we were in a bit of a hurry.
Must Try:
Lindeman’s Kriek and Cuvee Rene (Gueuze) – Lindeman’s is a great Belgian brewer, know for it’s sour beers. Both the kriek and the geueze are tart, but not inaccessible. The kriek is bursting with cherries and hints of honey and black tea. The gueuze is slightly vegetal and sharp, reminiscent of horseradish. Very cool.
Southern Tier 2XIPA – Hopefully you’ve sampled some of Southern Tier’s other brews. The 2XIPA is their phenomenal Imperial IPA. Boozy and hoppy, with a heap of sweet malts. Very good balance between the heat of the alcohol, bitterness of the hops and sweetness of the malt. Buy lots.
Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum Blanche – Zowie! Charlevoix in the LCBO. God bless HMH Negotiants. Or shall I say “The Lord be with you, HMH”. Possibly the best Blanche I’ve had from Quebec. Delicate spices in balance with a floral sweet herbal tea flavour. Great carbonation, it will be hard for me not to buy a case of this.
Dieu du Ciel! Rosee d’Hibiscus – I’ve reviewed it before, and it’s still lovey and wonderful. Just go buy some.
Worthy:
Hall and Woodhouse Badger Golden Champion Ale – There are 3 golden English ales in the release (I love that the LCBO often bring in a few examples of one style). Badger was my favourite of the three. Leafy hops with a warm cereal grain aroma and taste. Very British, and massively sessionable.
Samuel Smith’s Organic Raspberry Ale – A returning bottle from last year’s summer release. Again, lovely and tart, stacks of raspberry and a touch more hop than I noticed last year. Excellent, though a little pricey (it is organic, but so is Beau’s and they manage to keep reasonable prices).
Christoffel Beir – Another excellent brew from The Netherlands’ Christoffel brewery. Huge floral and spicy hops, with subtle sweet malts keeping things in check.
Schofferhofer Hefeweizen – A nice German wheat beer I hadn’t had before (always nice). Nice dose of expected yeasty spices and a very lovely dried tropical fruit sweetness. A good beer at a great price.
I’m not saying don’t try the others (I’d be very interested in laying hands on a bottle of the Wells and Young’s Banana Bread Beer that wasn’t skunked. Damn clear bottles….), but definitely do yourselves a favour and pick up some of these (heck, all of them).
Thanks to the LCBO, another good release with a great selection of beers!
