New 'loons in the Bay Area

I hope some of these are still around on Saturday when I make it to SF. I'd definitely get some more LP Gueuze or Vigneronne. At these prices it seems cheaper and more convenient to order online though...

Maybe some of it will actually make it to Sonoma County?

 

They might be talking about Southern CA. I haven't seen Cantillon bottles in stores here in over a year...

 

*shrug* it's been a drought for me - but maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

 

I've been thinking the same thing as well. I made one big order for some Cantillon last year and price per bottle after shipping is factored in would have been cheaper than the prices Healthy Spirits listed.

 

Yeah, my experience was probably somewhat unusual, but the point is that it comes out here, you just need to know the places that get it and get a bit lucky.

Hold off until like August when I've moved to Oakland and can stop by every day

 

Agree 100%. Its not a drought just because it doesnt rain all the time. I dont know why people dont understand that Cantiloon isnt brewed and released all the time and it just doesnt stay on the shelves like it did 10 or even 5 years ago. Its here when its here.

 

Going to stores really frequently is pretty important too.

 

I have a hard time paying the inflated prices that shops around here charge for the stuff. Most of the time, I'd rather get multiple different beers than one Cantillon. Especially when a lot of domestic stuff is almost as good for a fraction of the cost.

 

Price list at Cantillon brewery last week - in euros so add another 30% approx.

 

Is there a single domestic beer that compares to a good lambic and is readily available? I'm unaware of any.

 

Tossing in the tap prices at Cantillon...

 

I think Beat is a pretty good gueuze, but still worse than Armand's. But the non-sonambic beers just aren't there, I think (although for whatever reason temptation seems to work as a base for a sour fruit beer, I enjoyed this year's FfaC. But my guess is that it won't age like a real Framboise).

 

Cascade in Portland and Upland in Indiana make some good lambics and are quite a bit cheaper than Cantillon. My earlier comments were just more of my dissatisfaction with the ridiculous markup we see on the beer, which is far greater than you'd see with other Belgian beers.

 

What he said, and the same is true for Upland. I actually wish that Upland wouldn't use the word "lambic", because they're just not lambics in any meaningful sense. Don't get me wrong, they're nice beers, but they're not lambics. They're also not readily available, so even if they were my point would still stand.

 

You're right! The beers I was thinking of weren't lambics, sorry! Yeah, there really aren't any US-based breweries who can match Cantillon or Drie Fonteinen's lambics. But they're still overpriced.

 

Oh well, if you compare Cantillon or 3F prices (even after the hefty markup) with RR or LA sours, they are not that bad. Beatification is $15/375ml while Red Poppy/Framboise De Amorosa are about the same.

 

Russian River, Allagash, and Lost Abbey are really the only US breweries that make beers on a level that (I feel) compete with the better Belgian lambics. And none of those beers, save Temptation and Sanctification, are much, if any, easier to get than said lambics.

EDIT: To clarify the inevitable questions, I don't consider Consecration or Supplication as being comparable to Belgian lambics.