- Obviously, the LCBO underestimated demand and the hype machine, but I find this somewhat incomprehensible since I predicted months ago it wouldn't last a day in stores, reducing my own estimate to hours after Josh Rubin's first Toronto Star article. Why this wasn't distributed by lottery, I do not know - yes, that would still be random, but equalized random.
- The subsequent explosion of inquiries at the LCBO main contact line must have tipped them off, yet several things happened:
- They seemed to have no-or-little information, and grew increasingly annoyed at the calls, such that they changed their FAQ page to list this as the #2 concern (after store hours and locations for the last few weeks).
- That FAQ page changed and said call the stores (as of Monday).
- Upon beginning my own calls to stores Monday evening, the first two told me I was "without exaggeration" over their thousandth and seven-hundredth call that day and none had legitimate information, but told me to call back each day despite growing increasingly annoyed each day at my calls!
- At this point the LCBO had another opportunity to coordinate release dates and times, but again they randomized it.
- Though the vast majority of staff I dealt with were friendly and cordial, and helpful beyond the call of duty, some deserve mention for the pros and cons:
- 2 stores (one Wednesday, one Thursday) lied to me at 8:30 in the morning claiming it wasn't available when they had (small) lines outside and plenty of chance to still procure it
- Many were friendly yet lamented the download of call to individual stores themselves, though one person I spoke with (twice) was extremely angry and rude. I get being upset with your employer over the mishandling of this release, but that doesn't necessitate extreme rudeness to customers (once rudely saying no and hanging up before hearing my follow-up question).
- That said, most staff ran a tight ship, came to work early, were super-friendly, and did an admirable job of dealing with a difficult situation imposed on staff and consumers alike
- One amazing manager, at a tiny LCBO in small-town Ontario (closest to my home), not only spent many hours on calls for me, provided me more information than others, and tried her hardest to make me a special order (that the head office and the importer both told me they could/would do). When this didn't happen, she even offered to have her son stand in line for me to procure me a pack! Having never met this woman, I will be bringing her a beer sometime! I called her to tell her I'd gotten a pack and she was genuinely thrilled for me and my sincere thanks made her day. That was truly heart-warming.
- Allegedly, the discrepancy between the 1404 packs for public sale and the 2000 the LCBO purchased is for licensees. However, as far as I know, these monks have insisted none be provided for markup and wanted signed agreements from places as they do with individual buyers. There may have been an exception here, but with this demand I am pretty disappointed that nearly 1/3 of the entire LCBO purchase goes to bars who will be charging anywhere from $30-$60 a bottle for this and profiting immensely from the hype for quite some time.
- However, this does open up options for people who never got a case and wish to try it, but can I recommend that those who caught into the hype, but don't know the beer style, try the following first:
- Wait until the new year, when the LCBO will allegedly begin regularly stocking Trappistes Rochefort 10 (for probably less than $4/bottle). Try it and see roughly what you'd be getting. Otherwise, come into Quebec or the United States, or go to one of Toronto's better beer bars (Volo, Sin & Redemption, BeerBistro, Bellwoods, Burger Bar, The Only Cafe, etc) and buy a Rochefort 10 or a St. Bernardus Abt 12 first
- If you like those, you'll probably like Westy 12, and if you don't you probably won't.
- If you do, then go shell out the bucks to a bar for Westy but let's drive their prices down by buying it only from the cheaper folks - which so far looks like Bellwoods at a promised $30/bottle (maybe share one!)
Showing posts with label LCBO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LCBO. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 December 2012
On ONs Great Westy Debacle of 12/12/12
Here are some semi-disjointed observations on the Westvleteren insanity of the past week and I will finish with some tips for those who missed out, or at least would like to know what they were missing:
Thursday, 13 December 2012
How to Drink a Westvleteren XII
I have been prompted to write by a line-waiter's observation that, "Only one person I met today had heard of the beer before this week. I heard more than one person ask if it was a dark beer. One person talked about the beer being from a monestery in Amsterdam. All very innocent, and the people were quite nice."
I appreciate if people discover the breadth of flavours beer allows, but if you were fortunate enough to score one of these packs and have no idea how to drink a bottle-conditioned Belgian strong dark ale, may I offer the following to ensure this beer gets the respect it deserves and a proper chance to enliven your experiences?
1) Please don't drink it right away. The living yeast in these bottles needs to settle for at least 24 hours, if not a week or more.
2) This beer is not meant to be drank ice cold. Drink it at cellar temperature - 14 or 15 degrees celsius. This means, perhaps either about 20 minutes in the fridge or out of the fridge for 30 minutes or thereabouts.
3) Please, DO NOT drink it from the bottle! Pour at a reasonably quick speed at first into a goblet, chalice or wine glass (or the glasses that came with it!) so as to allow a substantial head to develop (which allows expression of the aromas).
4) Slow down towards the end of the pour and watch carefully so as not to pour the yeast into the glass which changes the taste when mixed in. It is not bad, per se, even if different and drinking the yeast can be a learning experience (you can perhaps add it to your last sip or two just to see). Though the yeast is remarkably high in B vitamins, it also tends to give one extreme gas! You have been warned!
5) Sniff it, enjoy it! Realize this is a unique and special beer, but there are others that are very similar and are at/will be at the LCBO in the near future for a much lower price. Check out my earlier posts on drinking a beer in a new way to many, and finally...
6) ... consider yourself extremely fortunate. If you don't like it, sell it, trade it, or gift it to someone who might, but for Darwin's sake please DO NOT down this 10%er with your nose plugged for a good buzz!
I appreciate if people discover the breadth of flavours beer allows, but if you were fortunate enough to score one of these packs and have no idea how to drink a bottle-conditioned Belgian strong dark ale, may I offer the following to ensure this beer gets the respect it deserves and a proper chance to enliven your experiences?
1) Please don't drink it right away. The living yeast in these bottles needs to settle for at least 24 hours, if not a week or more.
2) This beer is not meant to be drank ice cold. Drink it at cellar temperature - 14 or 15 degrees celsius. This means, perhaps either about 20 minutes in the fridge or out of the fridge for 30 minutes or thereabouts.
3) Please, DO NOT drink it from the bottle! Pour at a reasonably quick speed at first into a goblet, chalice or wine glass (or the glasses that came with it!) so as to allow a substantial head to develop (which allows expression of the aromas).
4) Slow down towards the end of the pour and watch carefully so as not to pour the yeast into the glass which changes the taste when mixed in. It is not bad, per se, even if different and drinking the yeast can be a learning experience (you can perhaps add it to your last sip or two just to see). Though the yeast is remarkably high in B vitamins, it also tends to give one extreme gas! You have been warned!
5) Sniff it, enjoy it! Realize this is a unique and special beer, but there are others that are very similar and are at/will be at the LCBO in the near future for a much lower price. Check out my earlier posts on drinking a beer in a new way to many, and finally...
6) ... consider yourself extremely fortunate. If you don't like it, sell it, trade it, or gift it to someone who might, but for Darwin's sake please DO NOT down this 10%er with your nose plugged for a good buzz!
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Best Beer in the World at the LCBO? The Pending Arrival of Westvleteren 12
Just what makes Westvleteren 12 so special? Well, really there are two things both tied tightly to those ever-present economic 'laws' of supply and demand.
Part of the demand comes from the fact that this beer is delicious and often rated as the best in the world. See my original review here, though this is a living, bottle conditioned ale of evolving complexity and it will likely seem different the next time around as it matures. It is, though, assuredly excellent and, if you get the chance to drink it, please do it at cellar temperature (or just above) with a pour into an ideal glass (chalice, goblet, tulip, or snifter ideally, wine glass otherwise) that allows the growth of a full head, and don't pour the yeast sediment from the bottom into the glass (at least at first unless you want to explore the changes the yeast creates afterwards!).
But, really, despite being a solid beer, it is certain that its scarce supply drives up its stature, though this doesn't take away from its delicious sweet complexity. Normally, procuring a case of this beer - outside of the grey market - means purchasing it from the monastery itself or its associated cafe; it means having called in advance - and lucked into an answer; it means scheduling your pickup date; it means getting whichever of the three beers they are making available the date of your pre-scheduled pickup; it means signing a waiver promising not to resell it; and it means not being able to use the (recorded) license plate or phone number for a certain varied amount of time (2-6 months) for any other purchases at the monastery. Yes, I am serious.
You see, the monks of St. Sixtus (where Westvleteren 8, 12, and Blonde are brewed) brew beer one day a week. When asked why they don't step up production, their reply amounted effectively to [paraphrasing here] 'we are in the beer business to sustain our devout life, not to make beer.'
This excellent Belgian strong dark ale normally sells for the very reasonable price of 39 Euros for 24 bottles at the monastery, but grey market cases in Canada (which must be sold by the case by law through private import in Ontario - when even available) sell for $400.
However, the foundational disrepair of the aging monastery is to the (potential) benefit of many a beer drinker! You see, for a limited time, the monks brewed twice a week to make 163,000 extra 6-packs (plus two special edition glasses) of their beer for what is likely the only time for off-site legitimate sales. 93,000 of those gift packs sold out in hours upon their release in Belgium. Of the other 70,000 - bound for various markets in North America - between 1400 and 2000 have found their way into a pending LCBO release.
At $75.40 per six-pack, the price isn't cheap, but these beers will age, make for an excellent gift, and are probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Most folks I know who are fans of good beer, but know little about it have probably come closest (and not immensely close) to tasting something similar when drinking a Chimay Grand Reserve ("Chimay Bleu"). If you like that, this bodes well for you!
However, as exciting as this opportunity is, the LCBO neglected to use a lottery system as they did with Sam Adams Utopias and I (and many others) will be remarkably shocked if stocks of this remain in any store through the end of a single day upon the unknown time of their arrival on the shelf.
The exact date of release is unknown - though it could/should be any time within the next two weeks.
Watch for it in their online inventory database if interested - and if you wind up finding a cache before sell-out, please let me know in case my odds fall through! It'll be your ticket into my pending blind quad tasting that will be complete with Westy!
Part of the demand comes from the fact that this beer is delicious and often rated as the best in the world. See my original review here, though this is a living, bottle conditioned ale of evolving complexity and it will likely seem different the next time around as it matures. It is, though, assuredly excellent and, if you get the chance to drink it, please do it at cellar temperature (or just above) with a pour into an ideal glass (chalice, goblet, tulip, or snifter ideally, wine glass otherwise) that allows the growth of a full head, and don't pour the yeast sediment from the bottom into the glass (at least at first unless you want to explore the changes the yeast creates afterwards!).
But, really, despite being a solid beer, it is certain that its scarce supply drives up its stature, though this doesn't take away from its delicious sweet complexity. Normally, procuring a case of this beer - outside of the grey market - means purchasing it from the monastery itself or its associated cafe; it means having called in advance - and lucked into an answer; it means scheduling your pickup date; it means getting whichever of the three beers they are making available the date of your pre-scheduled pickup; it means signing a waiver promising not to resell it; and it means not being able to use the (recorded) license plate or phone number for a certain varied amount of time (2-6 months) for any other purchases at the monastery. Yes, I am serious.
You see, the monks of St. Sixtus (where Westvleteren 8, 12, and Blonde are brewed) brew beer one day a week. When asked why they don't step up production, their reply amounted effectively to [paraphrasing here] 'we are in the beer business to sustain our devout life, not to make beer.'
This excellent Belgian strong dark ale normally sells for the very reasonable price of 39 Euros for 24 bottles at the monastery, but grey market cases in Canada (which must be sold by the case by law through private import in Ontario - when even available) sell for $400.
However, the foundational disrepair of the aging monastery is to the (potential) benefit of many a beer drinker! You see, for a limited time, the monks brewed twice a week to make 163,000 extra 6-packs (plus two special edition glasses) of their beer for what is likely the only time for off-site legitimate sales. 93,000 of those gift packs sold out in hours upon their release in Belgium. Of the other 70,000 - bound for various markets in North America - between 1400 and 2000 have found their way into a pending LCBO release.
At $75.40 per six-pack, the price isn't cheap, but these beers will age, make for an excellent gift, and are probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Most folks I know who are fans of good beer, but know little about it have probably come closest (and not immensely close) to tasting something similar when drinking a Chimay Grand Reserve ("Chimay Bleu"). If you like that, this bodes well for you!
However, as exciting as this opportunity is, the LCBO neglected to use a lottery system as they did with Sam Adams Utopias and I (and many others) will be remarkably shocked if stocks of this remain in any store through the end of a single day upon the unknown time of their arrival on the shelf.
The exact date of release is unknown - though it could/should be any time within the next two weeks.
Watch for it in their online inventory database if interested - and if you wind up finding a cache before sell-out, please let me know in case my odds fall through! It'll be your ticket into my pending blind quad tasting that will be complete with Westy!
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Tasting Dieu du Ciel's Route des Épices, while Garrison Arrives at the LCBO
So, in the desire to have something different, I cracked open my Route des Épices from Quebec's excellent Dieu du Ciel. This is one unique beer - as if you couldn't tell from the style listing on the label! This is a red rye ale brewed with peppercorns and is, as far as I'd imagine, alone in this category! That said, however, we could call this a Rye Beer or even a Spiced Beer with no problems.
The beer itself is a gorgeous deep copper red with a thick, white head. I'll even note the beautiful, smooth, seamless transition from body to head as the fineness of the bubbles and flowing thickness of the initial carbonation seem so noteworthy. Head retention is fair and the lacing is fine, though not incredibly long-lasting in lacing. On the nose this beer has a malty primacy, exemplified by brown sugar, alongside fainter hints of bread, nuts, oak, smoke, and a trace of toffee. I detect no pepper on the nose, but I devour pepper and may well be immune! Flavourwise, though, this beer begins like a sweet nut brown with toffee, nut and bread flavours most discernible, yet finishes with a bold, spicy, peppery kick that has a lingering finish and gets stronger with every sip! This is complimented by a sufficiently balancing hoppy dryness. On the tongue, it is primarily crisp, tingly, lively and medium bodied, while warming from the sharp spices (but not the moderate 5.3% ABV). This is a very nice beer, but is assuredly not for everyone. If you like spices and love pepper, as well as beers with a kick, grab one when you can! Grade: A-
And, in Ontario beer news, those Garrison brews (mentioned by me here) are about to arrive on LCBO shelves and will last until the end of March or until we devour them! Apparently, according to The Bar Towel, these beers will only be available at 25 select LCBOs and the list of which can be found in that link. Let me know if you try any - though I hope to get my hands on all five and write about them shortly thereafter!
But, for now... Cheers!
The beer itself is a gorgeous deep copper red with a thick, white head. I'll even note the beautiful, smooth, seamless transition from body to head as the fineness of the bubbles and flowing thickness of the initial carbonation seem so noteworthy. Head retention is fair and the lacing is fine, though not incredibly long-lasting in lacing. On the nose this beer has a malty primacy, exemplified by brown sugar, alongside fainter hints of bread, nuts, oak, smoke, and a trace of toffee. I detect no pepper on the nose, but I devour pepper and may well be immune! Flavourwise, though, this beer begins like a sweet nut brown with toffee, nut and bread flavours most discernible, yet finishes with a bold, spicy, peppery kick that has a lingering finish and gets stronger with every sip! This is complimented by a sufficiently balancing hoppy dryness. On the tongue, it is primarily crisp, tingly, lively and medium bodied, while warming from the sharp spices (but not the moderate 5.3% ABV). This is a very nice beer, but is assuredly not for everyone. If you like spices and love pepper, as well as beers with a kick, grab one when you can! Grade: A-
And, in Ontario beer news, those Garrison brews (mentioned by me here) are about to arrive on LCBO shelves and will last until the end of March or until we devour them! Apparently, according to The Bar Towel, these beers will only be available at 25 select LCBOs and the list of which can be found in that link. Let me know if you try any - though I hope to get my hands on all five and write about them shortly thereafter!
But, for now... Cheers!
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