Double IPA is a style I love to drink, but not something I necessarily want to have a keg of at a time when it’s just me and my wife doing the majority of the drinking in our socially distant present. Double Kapi from À la Fût is really doing it for me these days. The hops (Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic) are well handled and it has an underlying acidity (not the first thing you notice, but noticeable) that I think makes it way too easy to drink for 7.5% abv. I can also pick it up at my local IGA when I do my grocery shopping.
Homebrewing side note: In the past, I have played with adding a small dose of lime juice at packaging to dial down pH and add some citrus flavor for hoppy citrus-forward beers, and I think this is inspiring me to try it again on something like a hoppy pale ale.
I’m also a fan most hoppy things out of MaBrasserie (e.g. 3 balles 2 prises, Momo, etc.), and I’ve found myself going to back to Unibroue for the classics (la Fin du Monde, Don de Dieu. etc.).
Anyone have any other recommendations for good, easily accessible (especially in COVID times), commercial beers that you’d rather buy than make?
Other than Guinness and Murphy’s, I was a fan of mix packs from Archibald as my go to summer beers when I was out of homebrew. They’re available in most deps and grocery stores.
I’ve been picking up “Luth” an irish red from my local microbrewery Le dispensaire. When I walk by I check their list and 50% of the time pick up Luth or their wit. I was hoping they would do their butternut squash brett saison again but I don’t think its happening this year.
I quite like Le Dispensaire. Whenever I’m in the area I pick up a couple of bottles. They’re running a simple but interesting business model. I wonder why they haven’t expanded elsewhere.
I’ve found their IPAs & APAs to be decent, thanks in no small part to their freshness. I haven’t tried Luth but I have a bottle of their Wit in my fridge. The challenge, in covid times, is to drink a 1L bottle by yourself.
I’ve got a few of those Les Trois Mousquetaires 750ml strongboys haunting the fridge… seems like wine stoppers don’t hold the carb super well so it’s tempting to drink em all in one go.
Incidentally, I was talking to the owner of Diablo’s BBQ a year back, and he was saying that he was partnering with Le Dispensaire to open a gastropub-type place on St. Laurent. I was excited for Le Dispensaire, since I thought it would be the perfect supplement to their business model. But then COVID happened - I wonder where their plans stand now.
