The BEER thread

[Mike]

Never been a Lake of the Woods guy. Their beers are so inconsistent.

[Noeller]

As far as "deck beer" goes, I love the Sultana Gold.....the Tippy Canoe isn't bad either. The Blueberry thing can get ******....but I wish I got them in AB. Shame. 

Winnipeg, tho, as a city, is really getting a lot of breweries...lotta stuff seems to be popping up. Last summer we hit up Barn Hammer and really enjoyed it. I still haven't been down to that place at The Forks that has a solid beer line up...that'll be on the list for this summer, for sure.

[Mike]

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

As far as "deck beer" goes, I love the Sultana Gold.....the Tippy Canoe isn't bad either. The Blueberry thing can get ******....but I wish I got them in AB. Shame. 

Winnipeg, tho, as a city, is really getting a lot of breweries...lotta stuff seems to be popping up. Last summer we hit up Barn Hammer and really enjoyed it. I still haven't been down to that place at The Forks that has a solid beer line up...that'll be on the list for this summer, for sure.

Check out Half Pints on a Tuesday if you can - they do test batches every Tuesday now and Miguel has been cooking up some gems.

Torque will have some of the best "deck beer" offerings. They're going to be doing a summer pack with ... if I remember off the top of my head ... their helles, mango gose, pale ale and session ale?

[Noeller]

You know who's really pissed me off? Farmery. Making a ******* Hard Iced Tea. Jesus Christ.......but then they did a Red IPA or some **** as their last thing.....so I dunno what's up with those guys. They were never any hot hell to begin with, but still.....hard iced tea....get ******.

[Mike]

Just now, Noeller said:

You know who's really pissed me off? Farmery. Making a ******* Hard Iced Tea. Jesus Christ.......but then they did a Red IPA or some **** as their last thing.....so I dunno what's up with those guys. They were never any hot hell to begin with, but still.....hard iced tea....get ******.

Farmery doesn't even register as craft beer to me, to be honest.

It's cool that you were impressed with Barn Hammer. My friends and I do not like them whatsoever. It's a shame, because they have an AWESOME space, but their beers are just so mediocre in my opinion. They don't really seem to have a whole lot of quality control, they did a few test batches and yeah, I get it ... it's a test batch. But maybe if your test batch doesn't even come close to what you're aspiring for, don't pass it off as "your take on a particular style"

PEG Beer on the other hand ... man, if they could actually just get their business straightened out, they'd be KILLING it. Their beer is incredible. But for whatever reason, the ownership seems so focused on the restaurant side of things that they constantly run out of beer and have delays in getting it up because they literally have no funds for ingredients. They'll have 38 different flatbreads a week with all kinds of fresh ingredients and then two or three beers on tap. But man ... when they do have beer, it's awesome. It's just down the road from where Ray and I play hockey on weekends and we always hit up their taproom before, after or ... during () games. They had a sour black cherry stout a month ago and it was up there for one of the tastiest beers I've ever had.

[17to85]

I gotta agree about Lake of the Woods, Their beers are nothing special and I always come away wanting more from them. 

I haven't had a chance to try enough of the newer Manitoba ones and I do want to so we'll see what happens next time I am out that way. Had a few from Torque and I quite liked them. 

 

And can we all agree though that **** this trend for Gose and Sours? Get that **** out of here. 

[Mike]

3 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I gotta agree about Lake of the Woods, Their beers are nothing special and I always come away wanting more from them. 

I haven't had a chance to try enough of the newer Manitoba ones and I do want to so we'll see what happens next time I am out that way. Had a few from Torque and I quite liked them. 

 

And can we all agree though that **** this trend for Gose and Sours? Get that **** out of here. 

Wrong.

[17to85]

5 minutes ago, Mike said:

Wrong.

That'd be a first. 

[Mike]

Just now, 17to85 said:

That'd be a first. 

Some of them are very much not beery enough for me, but I've had some awesome ones. Both simple and not so simple.

I've also had some that are just an absolute mess. Brought back a couple from Minneapolis when I was there over the new year and man, one was just an absolute disaster. I want to say it was like a cucumber lemon sea salt gose? Come on.

 

[blue_gold_84]

Torque Brewing takes the cake as my favourite local craft brewery. Love their spot, love their offerings, and the owner is a beauty. The first time we stopped there after work, he showed us around the entire facility. It was awesome!

[Noeller]

Barn Hammer's "Grandpa's Old Wool Sweater" might be my favourite name for an Oatmeal Stout....one of the all time best beer names ever, IMO. Loved their space and when we did a sampler flight last summer, it was real solid. Definitely possible you guys got a bad batch when you were there, Mike. 

I'm a fan of Torque...the old lady gets that every chance she can. Haven't been to their shop yet...it's on the docket for this year, for sure. 

[Mike]

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Barn Hammer's "Grandpa's Old Wool Sweater" might be my favourite name for an Oatmeal Stout....one of the all time best beer names ever, IMO. Loved their space and when we did a sampler flight last summer, it was real solid. Definitely possible you guys got a bad batch when you were there, Mike. 

I'm a fan of Torque...the old lady gets that every chance she can. Haven't been to their shop yet...it's on the docket for this year, for sure. 

Wait until you see their couch at Torque. I won't ruin the surprise.

I won't change my mind on Barn Hammer. I want to like them so bad. Their space is amazing, their branding is awesome ... their beer just sucks to me. It's like the one place my beer friends and I will just not go anymore. PS - they changed the name, it's only Grandpa's Sweater now. See? They ruin everything!

[Noeller]

18 minutes ago, Mike said:

Wait until you see their couch at Torque. I won't ruin the surprise.

I won't change my mind on Barn Hammer. I want to like them so bad. Their space is amazing, their branding is awesome ... their beer just sucks to me. It's like the one place my beer friends and I will just not go anymore. PS - they changed the name, it's only Grandpa's Sweater now. See? They ruin everything!

ha! No kidding...we'll have to head back and see if it's shitty now. Full disclosure: I am a taproom fanboi, and can be swayed on a beer by a really cool taproom. I *LOVE* the vibe of a good taproom. The gf and I have a plan for our next house, to have a basement that basically looks like a really cool taproom. So there is definitely a possibility that I've been my opinion on a beer gets skewed positive if I loved the taproom. That's on me, and something that would likely change if I was drinking a beer in a neutral site, for sure. 

[Mike]

If you somehow find yourself with an extra six hours, head down to Junkyard in Fargo.

 

The coolest taproom ever. (oh and the beer is incredible)

[17to85]

Have you guys out there had a chance to try anything from Coulee Brewing out of Lethbridge? Stopped by their tasting room a few weeks back and they have some solid stuff but I know you like your IPAs and I'd be curious to see what your thoughts were on their IPA, was really something I didn't expect, way more citrusy than I had expected and not really bitter at all. 

[itchy]

If any beer fans are interested. Last year's event was a great way to chat with some of the brewers and sample a wide variety of their products. Should be well represented by some of the new breweries soon to open, as well as newly opened.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/meet-your-local-brewers-20-tickets-34473371783

Have to agree with a lot that's been said already.  LoW is all over the place with their quality, PEG doesn't seem to be concentrating on beer, I can't get into Barnhammer, and Torque is my personal favorite drinking beer taproom (Matt knows what he is doing). As the old group on the block, I love half Pints as well.

 

 

[itchy]

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

ha! No kidding...we'll have to head back and see if it's shitty now. Full disclosure: I am a taproom fanboi, and can be swayed on a beer by a really cool taproom. I *LOVE* the vibe of a good taproom. The gf and I have a plan for our next house, to have a basement that basically looks like a really cool taproom. So there is definitely a possibility that I've been my opinion on a beer gets skewed positive if I loved the taproom. That's on me, and something that would likely change if I was drinking a beer in a neutral site, for sure. 

I know what you mean about a good tap room making beer seem to taste better. A group of friends head to a beer convention in Minneapolis each year. Convention is on Saturday, but we leave on Tuesday, and hit as many tap rooms and breweries on the way as we can.  Our record is 20 in one trip, one DD each day thank goodness!

Sisyphus in MLPS and Titletown in Green Bay are among my top places.

[Mike]

Last time I went to Minneapolis, along the way I hit up ... Junkyard, Disgruntled, Modist, Fulton, Dangerous Man, Indeed, Fair State, Sisyphus, Wild Mind, Surly, Dayblock and Town Hall ... all in a three day weekend.

I love Uber.

[Mark H.]

So - for someone just getting into to this - what would you guys recommend? As far as mainstream beers go I like Heineken, Guinness, Carling 

[Noeller]

7 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

So - for someone just getting into to this - what would you guys recommend? As far as mainstream beers go I like Heineken, Guinness, Carling 

Try a Fort Garry Dark or a Half Pints Bulldog Amber.......to me, those are two solid craft beer options that can get your foot in the door. Once you've gone down the road, you can start experimenting with different styles you might like. 

[Mark H.]

6 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Try a Fort Garry Dark or a Half Pints Bulldog Amber.......to me, those are two solid craft beer options that can get your foot in the door. Once you've gone down the road, you can start experimenting with different styles you might like. 

Yep, Fort Garry I actually did try and liked. Waterloo Dark I enjoyed as well out in Ontario 

[Noeller]

1 minute ago, Mark H. said:

Yep, Fort Garry I actually did try and liked. Waterloo Dark I enjoyed as well out in Ontario 

Don't quote me, but I believe those are the same beer.....I want to say Waterloo and FG both owned by the same company (or used to be) and it's essentially the exact same beer. @17to85 is that right? Seems like it is....

[17to85]

I dunno about Waterloo, fort Garry used to be owned by Russell brewing in BC but might have sold the brand since.

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

So - for someone just getting into to this - what would you guys recommend? As far as mainstream beers go I like Heineken, Guinness, Carling 

Try as many things as possible and figure out what you like and go from there. Really is trial and error and given people have different tastes what some one else loves might not do it for another person. 

[itchy]

15 hours ago, Mark H. said:

So - for someone just getting into to this - what would you guys recommend? As far as mainstream beers go I like Heineken, Guinness, Carling 

I'd start with sample packs, There's a "social pack" out right now that's bottles from MB breweries, including a pink lemonade beer (ugh) from Farmery. There's also that sample pack that I mentioned earlier in the thread.

Another good thing to do is go to the breweries and tap rooms. You can get a flight of 4 sample sized beers, to see what you like. You can also chat with the brewers, as there is a wealth of information on the types of beers out there.