Hoarding a celebration beer

Discussion in 'Canada' started by Conrad, Nov 7, 2012.

Tags:
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Conrad

    Conrad Pundit (830) Nov 29, 2005 Canada (ON)

    Tomorrow I am officially an old guy. I will celebrate my 65th birthday with a bottle of Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout, made by the now defunct Scotch Irish Brewing company of Ottawa. The bottle has been cellared in optimum conditions for 5 years. Review to follow.
    What a ride. I have been enjoying beer since my early 20's, and have thousands of different brews go down the hatch. And the best is yet to come, thanks to the wonderful world of craft beers.
     
    #1 Conrad, Nov 7, 2012
    libbey, SebD, Rutager and 3 others like this.
  2. AdamP

    AdamP Initiate (0) Mar 26, 2012 Pennsylvania

    Cheers and happy (early) birthday!
     
    #2 AdamP, Nov 7, 2012
  3. hoser

    hoser Initiate (0) Feb 17, 2003 Canada (AB)

    Since it is one in the morning in Ottawa as I post this, Happy Birthday Conrad and yes craft beer is awesome!
    You have a pretty great brewpub Gatineau hope you enjoy it regularly!

    Not to thread jack in anyway there is a way cool beer event on November 23rd in Calgary that happens to be my 50th birthday. Beermail privately and please don't post or ask about in this thread.

    Happy 65th Conrad!
     
    #3 hoser, Nov 7, 2012
    TheSevenDuffs likes this.
  4. rudge75

    rudge75 Crusader (422) Mar 12, 2003 Canada (MB)

    Happy b-day, Conrad!

    Maybe you could share your experience with us a bit:
    What was it that made you a fan of different beers?

    Given that most fellows of your generation have bought in lock stock and barrel to one beer for the rest of their lives, what was the lightswitch for you?
     
    #4 rudge75, Nov 7, 2012
  5. Torontoblue

    Torontoblue Initiate (0) Jun 12, 2005 Canada (AB)

    Happy Birthday, Condrad.

    I opened a bottle of the Tsarina in August this year; bought on the initial release day, from the back of Perry's car, outside Volo!!! The beer is holding up really well, and is still a delight to drink, IMO. I have one bottle left which I am loath to open anytime soon.

    Enjoy your Tsarina. It's sad to see that Perry is no longer in the business; he was a fantastic brewer!!!
     
    #5 Torontoblue, Nov 7, 2012
  6. Conrad

    Conrad Pundit (830) Nov 29, 2005 Canada (ON)

    I got started on beer when I was a young corporal and beer was 25 cents a bottle at the mess. Of course the available brands were limited to Molson or Labatts products, sometimes for variety, Dow, O'Keef, Carling. But it was good cheap beer, and a lot of it went downrange. I didn't have a single beer that turned me on to craft brew though. It was travel. While still in our twenties, my wife and I went to Scotland. We found that the average Scot draft was infinitely better than the best of the big macro crap available in Canada. Having discovered real beer, there was no going back.
     
    #6 Conrad, Nov 7, 2012
    libbey, Zimbo and SebD like this.
  7. Zimbo

    Zimbo Pooh-Bah (2,305) Aug 7, 2010 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    Any good memories of Molson Porter there Conrad? It was my go to beer for quality (I know, I know) in the early to mid 80s. Amazing how far things have come since then.
     
    #7 Zimbo, Nov 7, 2012
  8. markaberrant

    markaberrant Savant (1,043) Jan 9, 2006 Canada (SK)

    I drank a stubby of Labatt Porter 2 weeks ago:

    [​IMG]

    The bottle and label were in excellent condition. Cracked it open to disapointing silence... no hiss of carbonation. Turned out to be quite deceiving as carbonation was more than present, created a nice bit of head, some of which clung around for awhile. Smell was aged fruit, nothing off. Smelled it for some time, then finally got the courage to take a sip. It was quite good, no wet cardboard to be found, beautiful vinous aged fruit notes, hops had completely faded, with a tickle of roast way way way in the back of the finish. Tasty stuff! Pretty awesome that a 5% porter from Labatt held up so well.

    And congrats to Conrad!
     
    #8 markaberrant, Nov 8, 2012
    Zimbo likes this.
  9. Zimbo

    Zimbo Pooh-Bah (2,305) Aug 7, 2010 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    Awesome. Drank multiple tanks of Labatt Velvet Cream Porter years ago. I am AMAZED at how well yours has held up. How old do you figure it was?
     
    #9 Zimbo, Nov 8, 2012
  10. markaberrant

    markaberrant Savant (1,043) Jan 9, 2006 Canada (SK)

    Wiki says stubby's were removed in 82, but other have said Labatt Porter was still bottled in stubbys into the mid-80s. So somewhere around there I guess. I bought it at a garage sale this summer.
     
    #10 markaberrant, Nov 8, 2012
    Zimbo and Rutager like this.
  11. Zimbo

    Zimbo Pooh-Bah (2,305) Aug 7, 2010 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm pretty sure stubbies were around until 1984. Have a recollection that Miller was the first 'non stubby' beer. At least at the Brewer's Retail in Ontario it was.
     
    #11 Zimbo, Nov 9, 2012
  12. Conrad

    Conrad Pundit (830) Nov 29, 2005 Canada (ON)

    Maybe this thread should transfer the the brewerania category. I remember the stubbies from about 1965 to 1984. Brewers didn't order any new ones after that, and it took a while for their current inventories to be depleted. There were some attempts at getting something different. There was a beer called Heidelburg that lasted for about a year around 1974. It came in a different design stubby that is now a collectors item. When the beer laws loosened up a bit, other styles of bottle were introduced and spelled the end of the stubby. Back then, beer could only be sold in the province where it was brewed. So no Kokanee in Ontatio, or Moosehead in BC.
     
    #12 Conrad, Nov 10, 2012
  13. markaberrant

    markaberrant Savant (1,043) Jan 9, 2006 Canada (SK)

    There are piles of Heidelburg bottles available around Regina (many of them still full). You are right, a very unique bottle.
     
    #13 markaberrant, Nov 11, 2012
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.