Beers You Can Actually Buy: Lagers and Such

Every once in a while I drink something obscure with someone who, whether or not they enjoy it, says, "but it doesn't really taste like a beer!"

By this, they mean that it doesn't taste like that which has come to monopolize the market of what the general public knows of as beer: pale lagers, light lagers, and American pilsners.  This is like saying "White wine is good, but it doesn't really taste like wine," if the drinker has only ever imbibed fermented red grapes.

Beer, of course, is a fermented grain beverage in contrast to other alcoholic beverages (spirits that are distilled) and others that are comprised of fermented fruits.  And there are over 100 styles of beer, many vastly different from others, yet many people have limited their understanding to simply a few of these diverse profiles.

Typically beer is made of fermented malted barley (or occasionally wheat, though all too often corn or corn syrup in macro adjunct lagers), hops, water, and the yeast, who - in eating fermentable sugars and emitting by-products - give the beer much of its flavour, alcohol, and carbonation.

When that carbonation expresses a crispness, coupled with a light body and grainy and grassy notes in a beer best served at a cooler temperature, many are inspired to dream of summer and patios.*  Thus, as the weather warms and in the continuation of my Beers You Can Actually Buy Series, I turn to the world's top-consumed style of brew.  (With one final aside, to note that Saisons are also well-suited to - and meant for - summer consumption, as are IPAs, so I encourage you to check out my other Beers You Can Actually Buy notes on the widely available marvels of these styles here and here, respectively.)

Ontario:

Insofar as macro inroads into the craft sphere often result from takeovers of existing breweries and, insofar as macros dominate in the widely popular styles of adjunct lagers, pale lagers, amber lagers, and pilsners of all stripes (Czech, German, American), the macro path to craft entry seems to be this very route of procuring solid pre-existing craft lager options.  Thus, many are probably familiar with the highly drinkable, never flawed, Creemore Springs Premium Lager (5% ABV, 24 IBU).  Many of you, however, may be less familiar with Creemore's experimental line under the Mad & Noisy branding, such as their delightful and brazen Hops & Bolts "India Pale Lager" (5.3% ABV, 60 IBU).  This brew blends the best of the Czech pils tradition with the herbal tea-like hops qualities of an English IPA.  Not for strict IPA lovers or mild lager drinkers, but for a crossover segment of those who can appreciate nuance and hybridity in this unique fusion.

Another macro-owned, but craft produced product of note, and with less familiarity to most is Hop City's Barking Squirrel Lager (5% ABV, 24 IBU).  This amber/red lager is malt-forward with a nose of biscuits and caramel.  Though the taste is similar, it dries up nicely for a quenching and refreshing finish.

In the more traditional 'craft' vein, two staples of popular note are worth mentioning, even if your familiarity with them makes their mention less than crucial.  However, the strengths of Steamwhistle (5% ABV, Czech Pils) and Beau's Lug Tread (5.2% ABV Kölsch - technically a hybrid lagered ale) are praiseworthy, and their popularity is most deserved.  The delicacy of the Kölsch is exemplified by Beau's, while Steamwhistle offers a nice grainy dryness exemplary of the style, but necessitates freshness in the green bottles that encourage skunkyness rapidly.

However, I will reserve my highest prompting for you to grab some cans of the following for your next barbecue, not simply because they are likewise stellar representatives of this North American standard idea of beer, but because they also exemplify smaller scale and less well-known delights of brewing prowess.

I am speaking here of Nickel Brook Premium Organic Lager (5% ABV, 25 IBU) and Neustadt Lager (5% ABV).  Whereas the former offers some classic German grassy hops alongside some sweet honey, the latter hybridizes with some New Zealand hops and offers a delectable crispness as best advertised by macros and best delivered by the micros.

Quebec:

Unlike Ontario, Quebec tends to lag in the readily-available lager delights.  Don't get me wrong, its harder-to-procure examples are phenomenal, but staple offerings (outside of adjunct-laden, macro junk) are sparse at best.

Topping my list would be two delights from Brasserie Dunham.  The first, a collaboration with Anders Kissmeyer, Snowy Spring Royal Pilsner (6.7% ABV), screams INDIA PALE PILSNER as it offers some mineral notes coupled with a noble-hops/American hops hybrid assault.  The other is their standard Dunham Pils (5.4% ABV) which is closer to the norms of the style, while still assertively hopped alongside some pleasant cereal graininess.  The drawback here, however, is that Dunham's small scale business cannot even meet the demand of its small retailer list, and has no plans to expand distribution in the near future, while which product hits shelves at any given time seems to be determined by the gods of chance.  However, their product is so consistently solid that whatever Dunham you see should be picked up as it is always fresh and always delightful!

Though Hopfenstark's Ostalgia Blonde (5% ABV) is another gem in the Kölsch tradition, its relative bottled scarcity (with even less frequent availability and fewer retailers than Dunham) complicates its spot on this list, but I nonetheless figured it deserved mention before the true winner of the category in Quebec for myself personally.

The Quebec winner: Le Trou du Diable's La Pitoune (5.5% ABV).  This fine Kölsch is now regularly available in countless stores, at a solid price, in both 341 ml and 600ml formats.  It pulls off the subtle complexity of a finely fragile, yet complexly delightful brew offering a fair grassy hops bitterness that dries off the cereal grain presence of the beginning.  It's ready availability offers it few true challengers as the majority with such widespread reach lag far, far behind, but La Pitoune deserves this position not only for lack of competition, but for exemplifying the tastes of terrace season!

I hope you find yourself enjoying the warming invitations of the great outdoors, and that you responsibly enjoy new-found beer tastes regardless of what you imbibe this summer.  Hopefully this guide helps you move beyond the tasteless representatives of a delicate subset of beer styles!

* Note that even these beers need not be served ice cold AND, moreover, should show better as they warm in contrast to the imperfections seen in poorer examples of the style. Imperfections come out as a beer warms, such that your disgust at a warmer brew indicates disgust more with the beers you may be drinking as the cold simply numbs us to these off-flavours.

Ontario Craft Beer Week Collaboration Brew Night at C'est What

This is the first of my less-than-detailed reviews of some beers and venues during my last visit to Toronto at which too many were consumed/great company was present thereby limiting elaborate reviews, but hopefully some general thoughts are welcomed!

OCB Collaboration Brew Night took place at Front Street's C'est What on Thursday, June 21st and offered seven unique (presumably) one-off collaboration brews - all of which were good!

For those who have never been to C'est What, the craft only bar and brewpub offers excellent food to go along with their craft beer menu, and made for an excellent dinner and drinks location - as always!

Having consumed several beers, as well as having many companions to catch up with meant my notes were negligible, so I will offer the following in brief.

The three that really stood out to me (see list in above link) follow, though all were enjoyable.

How Do You Say Monkey in Latin?  (6.8% ABV), brewed jointly by Black Oak, Sawdust City, and Charlevoix combined the Belgian dubbel style with an IPA and led to a blend that seemed somewhat like a tripel: fairly golden with fruity, fermenting pear notes, alongside some citrusy dryness.  It was, simply, excellent and I do hope they brew this again!  Grade: A+

Having been to Beau's for the start of OCB Week and being disappointed at the sell-out of Pan Ontario (8% ABV)  I was thrilled to try it!  This beer blends individually barrel-aged versions of Beau's Beaver River IPeh?, Flying Monkey's Smashbomb Atomic IPA, Grand River's Curmudgeon IPA, Great Lakes' Robust Porter, and Wellington's Russian Imperial Stout.  It is also remarkably enjoyable with a great oak nose with vanilla hints (from both the bourbon barrels and the stout presumably) yet it offers an IPA-like piney flavour predominantly, yet mixes these two styles quite well!  Grade: A-/A

Finally Pepparazi (5.2% ABV) made by F&M and Wellington combines roasted red peppers, fresh red peppers and three types of hot peppers into a rye ale.  This too was quite enjoyable for me, with a growing - then diminishing (as you 'acclimate') - spicyness not unlike Dieu du Ciel's Routes des Epices.  It wasn't excessively spicy, but was satisfyingly so as this well-balanced the maltiness of the rye style.  A fantastic beer I'd love to procure again!  Grade: A


Sorry for the brevity, but hopefully you got to try these, else perhaps you can join me in petitioning these brewers to make them again!

Mondial Beer Review #2: Pale and Brown Ales

In this second review of beers I tasted at Mondial, I will cover Pale Ales, IPAs, Old Ales, Vintage Ales, Scotch Ales, Barley Wines, Amber/Red Ales, and Brown Ales.  For the sake of categorization, I will be lumping together: 1) Bitters, Pale Ales, IPAs and Rye IPAs; 2) Imperial/Double IPAs and Black IPAs; 3) Old Ales, Scotch Ales and Barley Wines; and 4) Brown Ales and Amber/Red Ales.  I am lumping some (slightly) diverse categories together just for organizing my 55 or so ratings from the fest and do realize I am not fully comparing apples to apples.  Now, without further ado:

Bitters, Pale Ales, India Pale Ales, and Rye IPAs

Personal Best of the Fest: Lagunitas IPA (6.2%).  This well respected brewery here offers a very well balanced American IPA that pours a dark golden colour.  The head was lacking, but was poorly poured, so I won't comment on its usual head.  Aromawise, this beers presents a toasty grapefruit primacy with some faint floral piney notes.  Tasting notes are similar, but the up front grapefruit is somewhat sweet with a more orange citrus-ness, before a finely drying estery finish.  It seemed only lightly carbonated (had the bottle sat a while?) with a medium body and was quite pleasant to drink.  Not my favourite American IPA, but a very good one!  Grade: A-


Microbrasserie Charlevoix's just launched La Vache Folle RyePA (6%) was a very close second in this category.  As I tasted this beer at the media launch, the poured glasses had been sitting for a short while and the aroma was faint and had mostly dissipated, so my assessment here may be slightly off, but it seemed to be more dominated by malty fruitiness with a VERY faint hint of smokiness that was primarily sweet.  Though it didn't smell bad, I would have presumed greater hops and will have to try this again after a fresh pour to be certain.  Despite sitting for a short while, though, the rocky white head was excellently retained with a thick, foamy lacing that looked simply gorgeous.  Flavorwise, the hops characteristic is predominantly piney and it is well (im)balanced, by which I mean it is fairly dominated by the imbalance of the style, yet without going over the top.  Only very faint traces of bready, smoky, peaty rye are present, but enough to add to the enjoyment of this fine brew.  With a medium body and a light-medium carbonation, there is ample 'crispness' to this beer and it is quite enjoyable indeed!  Grade: A-  (A promotional release photo follows with more reviews after the shot)

Central City Red Racer ESB (5.6%) is a bit of an oddity in this category that otherwise includes IPAs, but this isn't a traditional English ESB and is a bit more of an American styled Pale Ale, or at best a hybrid as it offers scents of mild-to-moderate grapefruit with a dominant bitterness present beyond what an English ESB would exude.  It is light amber in colour with a nice head and retention, though no lacing to speak of.  It is only malty sweet up front for a brief moment, before a nicely drying finish of toasty citrus and rind.  With a medium body and medium carbonation, this is a decent and enjoyable, if not exemplary offering, but a unique one and gets some marks for that, even if pushing the style boundary.  Grade: B/B+


For the last in this category, I had Swiss brewer, Birrificio Ticinese's Bad Attitude Hobo IPA (6% ABV) (which came highly recommended by "Beer Hunter" Phillippe who has rated 7600 beers at http://www.bov.ch/) yet failed to overly impress.  It had a great piney nose and a fine deep amber colour, with an excellent faintly off-white head that had great retention but poor lacing.  The bitter nose led to to think this would be hop-head heaven, but though dry it was almost equally bready sweet (almost like french toast) and a bit of almost yeasty spice with equal parts grapefruit.  It was more balanced than it smelled like it would be, but didn't really work for me perhaps due to bordering on the style characteristics of many divergent styles.  Some might call it complex, but besides the nose it just didn't work for me.  It was crisp and tingly, yet probably excessively carbonated perhaps muting the hoppiness of the style for me.  Grade: C+/B-

Double/Imperial IPAs and Black IPAs

Personal Best of the Fest: Dogfish Head Burton Baton (10% ABV) is actually made by blending an English Old Ale and a Double IPA and then aging the blend in oak barrels.  The nose is dominated by oaky vanilla notes, while traces of pine are muted by this sweetness if still present.  It is clear and golden amber in colour with only slight head and retention, but nice glass-trailing lacing.  Though the flavour is quite dry as it finishes with a quite bitter citrus, the excessive dryness doesn't linger as it is tempered from beginning through end by the vanilla-citrus combined sweetness of the oak.  No it is not sweet, but it is complex, nuanced, and pleasant beyond what a 'normal' imperial IPA might offer.  The carbonation is fairly substantial making it crisp and tingly to the tongue, though with a lighter body than is characteristic for the style.  Grade: A-/A

In a close second is Dieu du Ciel's Chaman (9% ABV) which is cloudy amber in colour with just a slight creamy white head, though with good retention.  On the nose, the flavour is predominantly citrus hops with a touch of bread, though the taste is nicely nuanced characterized by both grapefruit bitterness and a peaty/earthy dryness that, despite also drying, adds a pleasant complexity.  Fairly full bodied with moderate carbonation, yet fairly smooth on the tongue.  Grade: A-


In a close third is Founders Double Trouble (9.4% ABV) which presents aromas of fruity esters, predominantly citrus, but also floral and with hints of rind.  It pours a golden colour that seems a bit light for the style, but offers a nice frothy white head with good retention and lacing.  Floral and citrus hops dominate the tongue and leave a substantive bitterness yet one without any lengthy lingering.  Medium bodied with only low carbonation makes this beer feel smooth - which to me detracts slightly from a bitter IPA which I, personally, find benefits from some crispy, tingly carbonation, but I am well aware this is an opinion open to much debate!  Still, a fine beer!  Grade: B+


Yet again, there isn't a huge distance between third and fourth in this category, but next is Le Saint Bock's Black Jesus (9.3% ABV) which pours a dark, dark brown with a fine mocha head, good retention, lace, and surface spotting.  Oddly, this beer smells like mocha, chocolate, and sweetened coffee much like a milk stout and without any style characteristics - but it smells nice!  Conversely, as there is nothing on the nose suggesting black IPA, there is nothing on the tongue resembling this sweetness, as the flavour is bitterly piney with hints of pepper and rind.  With a medium body and fair carbonation, this beer otherwise feels style appropriate.  I actually love the sweet stout aroma even if it is inappropriate, but though good, the taste isn't quite enough for me, but it is still enjoyable enough.  Grade: B/B+

Next, I come to Black Moon from Vermont's Rock Art Brewery (10% ABV), which pours jet black with a good frothy white head and solid retention, though negligible lacing.  It smells of pine up front with a trace of floral esters.  It is quite piney/earthy bitter and borders on astringency in flavour - which is certainly style appropriate - but it is a bit much for me and lingers a bit too long, though hop-heads are sure to love it!  It is full bodied with slightly low carbonation levels and doesn't tingle the tongue as it dries its way down!  Good, very stylistically quintessential, yet perhaps a bit too bold in that regard at the same time!  Grade: B


Finally, for this category, I come to the Black Rye IPA offering from Brazil's Cervejaria Bodebrown (7% ABV) which pours a gorgeous jet black, with a lightly cream-coloured thick, rocky head with good retention and lacing.  Aromas are slightly smoky and peaty, as well as offering faintly fruity hints, but are not very dominant and are faint at best and not exactly conforming to the style.  Flavourwise, it is more approrpiate as it is but faintly sweet up front in a citrusy way that dries out quickly with grapefruit, pine, and spice notes that linger excessively.  It is light-to-medium bodied and equally carbonated.  Aside from the aroma, it well fits the style descriptors, but pushes to the point of astringency.  Grade: C+/B-


Old Ales, Scotch Ales, and Barley Wines


Yes, there is fair disparity in this category, though strength, malt, body, and (rough) geographic origin offer some useful categorization and, since I only had one of each, perhaps we can lump these together into an arbitrary category!

Personal Best of the Fest: St. Ambroise Vintage Age Millésimée 2010 (10% ABV).  This aged ale (called both a Barley Wine and an Old Ale depending on the source) certainly ages well though I have never had a fresh one!  It shows unfiltered cloudiness with a dark red colour, while the head is fair, off-white, frothy and offers decent retention and trailing lace.  It smells quite boozy, yet also offers nice aromas of plums, brown sugar, and molasses.  To the tongue, the booziness remains present but is tempered by sweet caramel maltiness that makes it nicely drinkable, with only a slight-to-moderate drying finish (tempered by age perhaps?).  It is warming and fairly full bodied, but with a creamy, low carbonation that makes this fit the Barley Wine tradition and 'wine' inspiration quite well.  Grade: A


Next best for me would be the oddity of the grouping: Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale (8.5% ABV) from Founders Brewing.  This strong Scotch Ale pours a dark brown with quite nice head and retention, though with no lacing to speak of.  Faintly smoky earthy aromas meet the nose while the flavour is similar yet the peaty illusion is sweet in its toasty/woods maltiness.  With medium carbonation and a light-to-medium body, this beer is also fairly warming but not boozy.  Nice, but despite its commanded level of respect, I actual found it to be sweeter than desired and good, but perhaps not as good as many find it, though you should try it for yourself!  I'd like to try it again alongside the Dieu du Ciel Scotch Ale that I so thoroughly adored on draft.  Grade: B+/A-

Finally, I come to the Vermonster (10% ABV), a Barley Wine from Rock Art Brewery that meets the nose with piney/floral hops.  It pours a nice brown with excellent off-white frothy head and noteworthy retention.  There is some malty fruit up front, with very faint notes of raisins, plums, and caramel, but it is wiped out promptly by a very drying floral estery finish with a lingering aftertaste.  As typical of the style, it is fairly full bodied with negligible carbonation, such that it would likely show well on cask.  It was decent, but there wasn't enough barley for me... as the hops shut it down and I would have liked a few more malty aromas and or tastes.  Though I understand that hop heads love it - as one would expect.  Grade: B+

Browns, Reds and Ambers

Personal Best of the Fest: The winner for me is a rare hybrid oddity that almost shouldn't qualify: Beau's 2011/2012 incarnation of Winterbrewed (5% ABV) which is infused with brewed coffee and changes slightly year to year.  This Winter's batch had Guatemalan coffee rather than last year's Nicaraguan and was as delicious as I recall!  Pouring a dark amber-to-light brown with nice rocky mocha head full of lacing with remarkable retention.  Just gorgeous and then you smell it: freshly brewed gourmet coffee (and, with fair-trade Bridgehead organic coffee, it truly is quality!).  The nose has faint hints of earthy hops and caramel malts, but trying to smell anything other than the coffee seemingly brewing beneath your nose is difficult!  The flavour is toasty and nutty, but primarily offers a thick and lingering coffee goodness that is met with just enough hops to dry out the finish that maintains that lingering coffee for quite some time (though not long enough!)  Medium bodied, with slight carbonation, this is fairly oily (as per the coffee) but just a delight to drink!  Grade: A+


It may be somewhat unfair to let my coffee love name the Personal Best of the Fest for one whose "Amber" qualities are nearly indiscernible, so I offer the Backup Best of the Fest here as Wilco Tango Foxtrot (7.8% ABV) a so-called "Imperial Brown Ale" from Lagunitas.  This beer is golden brown in colour and a bit lighter than anticipated with a nice off-white head and decent retention and lace.  Oranges and drier citrusy hops aromas meet the nose while the taste is simply complex and remarkably balanced.  At times, I felt like it began with malty toasted grains before a piney drying finish that didn't last, yet on other sips felt the inverse, being met by floral citrus hops before the malty sweetness and drying end (without any lingering bitterness).  The complex balance is very, very good.  It is very creamy, nearly chewy, and medium to full bodied with medium carbonation.  Not boozy at all.  Very drinkable.  Grade: A-/A


Beau's Strong Patrick Irish Red Ale (6.7% ABV) comes in next, though I would love to try this again and offer more.  I adore good Irish Reds, but they must be consumed before Barley Wines and such and, for various reasons, this didn't happen and its subtleness was lost a bit on me at the time.  It was easy drinking for it's ABV, had nice caramel and toasty notes on the nose and tongue and finished with the lingering sweetness one expects from an Irish Red.  Saying more than that will require a second tasting, but I did enjoy it and I am sure I would again!  Grade: B+/A-


Next, is Maracaibo Especial (a 7.5% ABV American Brown) from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales.  It pours a deep amber with a decent, creamy, whiter-than-expected head of moderate retention and pacing.  There was also a remaining brown yeast sediment visible in the glass.  It has two-part aroma beginning with sweet-and-sour dark malty fruits and finishing with a slight citrus hoppiness.  Tastes like slightly smoky camp toast with a rindy/citrus finish.  It is good, but not exactly like expected in aroma or taste for the style.  It had a nicely drying finish, but more in an American Pale Ale manner than that of a Brown.  Good, but not legendary to me.  Grade: B/B+


Finally, I come to BarbaRoja Barrel-Aged Red Ale (9% ABV) which pours a gorgeous deep amber with an excellent frothy beige head with thick bubbles that remain and leave a fair trace.  It has but a faint aroma merely of sweet citrus and lightly toasted malts.  Tastes are of spicy fruit with a piney finish and they somehow seem to clash rather than complement each other.  Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, though a bit oily and fairly warming.  Good, enjoyable, but not something I'd go back to often.  Grade: B


Well, that's it for now.  Remaining posts about Mondial: Stouts/Porters, Lagers and Wheat Beers, Sours and Unique Oddities, and finally a wrap up post with some concluding remarks - stay tuned as I keep re-living this phenomenal event!

Winter Beer Fest @ The Only Cafe: Day One

So I spent a brief while at The Only Cafe's Winter Beer Fest this evening and had eleven samples.  Before getting to those, I'll just add the following: Yes, I will go tomorrow too and rate some of the different beers that then appear; no, like today, I won't get elaborate on the ratings since the cold (yes, it is mostly outdoors), the quantity, the socializing, and the whole event atmosphere complicate that, but in rough I give you the following from today:

Beau's Treading Water: This is apparently a (seasonal) blend of the Lug Tread Lagered Ale (Kolsch) and the Bog Father.  It is neither as cloudy as the Bog, nor as funky as the Lug, and seems unique in their union.  It has a sweet biscuity nose, a nice balance, and is, ultimately, smooth and very drinkable. Grade: B+

Beau's Beaver River IPeh? This is a very unique IPA with some malty biscuit aromas alongside piney hops.  It is not overly hoppy, though has some pine notes.  That said, it is a bit visibly cloudy and a bit funky/murky in flavour (if that can be a flavour - not off, but neither crisp nor dry, if you catch me?).  Odd, not bad, but not fantastic either, though I'd drink it again.  Grade: B

Wellington IPA: Part of the Welly One-Off series, tis is basically a hopped-up version of their Special Pale Ale (according to the rep).  It was served on cask and was additionally dry-hopped therein.  Typically, neither dry hopping nor cask IPAs are my thing, but this one was very creamy and smooth (as the cask offers) yet showcased a very fine IPA that is not excessively imbalanced. I would like to try this again and take my time with some notes, but I think it was a one-time thing.  Grade: A-

Wellington Russian Imperial Stout:  I had been looking forward to trying this, but had not been able to get to it, yet, despite my current Imperial Stout kick, this is kinda mellow and bland, malty sweet but no real bitter notes and, though good enough, it just didn't stand out for me, though I would like to try this again and take more time with it in different conditions.  Grade: B

St. Ambroise Scotch Ale: I had this one once before, but forgot everything I ever knew about it.  While the cold (and small sample sizes) muted the aromas of most, this offers a superb nose, with nice smoky aromas and a pleasant warming mouthfeel alongside a nice smoky taste.  Better than I remembered - and I remembered liking it, as I like most of this brewery's offerings.  Grade: A

Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA: Readers will know I like an IPA with a bit of balance and this lacks it, but does offer that complex nuance that fits the US style, even if not always to my taste.  It is nice, but bitter in the piney/citrusy sense, though with a very good nose, though the taste has a lingering dryness bordering on astringency for me.  If that's your thing, it does it well.  Grade: B

Sawdust City Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus: Yes, I just rated this and just had it on cask at the Only the other day, but I had to try the artificially carbonated version (if not to say the 'regular' offering... I mean, would the 'real' ale not be 'regular,' even if irregular???)  Needless to say, it is still excellent.  The head retention is still phenomenal, if a touch less so than from the cask in a full pint.  I was able to discern more of the vanilla notes on the nose today, though whether the difference had to do with me, the day, or the cask I couldn't say.  Less drying than the cask, but just as good, if a slightly different experience.  Grade: A

Flying Monkeys Dry-Hopped Barley Wine: Mmmm, mmmmm, mmmm.  My favourite of the event.  In a nutshell, this was excellent, with a great malty/bitter-sweet nose with a well hopped piney taste.  Yes, it was aggressively hopped, which is not always my style, but to me it works better with some malty balance in such styles as this.  That said, I might even prefer it without, but would drink it anytime regardless. Fantastic.  Grade: A

Railway City Dead Elephant Ale: I had this once before too, but had a bad experience due to LCBO issues I won't repeat here...  Anyway, it is fairly nice.  Drying, yet quite drinkable.  For an IPA, it is not too bitter at 'only' 48 IBU offering a nice piney but not excessively hopped thirst-quench.  Grade: B

Railway City Pomegranate Ale:  This one-off that may become a staple is quite good too - odd to drink after a Barley Wine and its sweetness was a shock indeed.  I do prefer others on the list generally - as beer styles go - but for its style this is very, very well done.  It works well as a beer a 'beer geek' could order and enjoy alongside a non-beer pal who wants the fruit beer to hide the hops and malt.  It is quite smooth and creamy, with a complex malt taste alongside the pomegranate sweetness.  As I said, it is a very nice fruit beer for both the beer fan and the fruit fan who may accompany them!  On fruit beer terms, this is an A+, but in my standards of the night assessment, Grade: A-

An excellent event, with some excellent beers all around!  I look forward to doing it again tomorrow!  New breweries (with some overlap), new beers, same venue!

My Ride is Slow: Doublewide IPA for Beer #416

As I dwell in the 416 area (Toronto), I drink rated beer number 416 while I await my slow ride and comment quickly for my second post of the day.

Since my technical installation of non-linux software on a linux system has been so slow (amidst mostly half-pints), and while I began with a 48 IBU beer, my options were negligible towards the end.  Furthermore, having previously tasted 23 of the 24 beers on tap, I decided to try the Beau's Doublewide IPA even though I don't usually enjoy excessively hopped IPAs.

Yet, I was pleasantly surprised!  This solid offering pours a slightly cloudy amber color with a medium white head with light retention and a slight lace.  Aroma-wise, the hops is hidden beneath a malty, bready, herbal, caramel sweetness, but don't let that deceive you: this is a double IPA without a doubt.  The taste starts a bit sweeter on the piney-citrus front, but ends with a strongly puckering dryness.  It is 'hoppy-as-hell,' but somehow bittersweet despite an excessively dry lingering finish.  The middle of the taste sensations is actually fairly sweet - indicating a fair maltiness - even though this beer is very far from balanced.  It has a fairly thin body for the style with only a slight carbonation and though the alcohol is well masked in taste, I can certainly feel it!  This is probably one of my favorite IPAs despite its extremely bitter nature!  Grade: B+


This is a very nice beer, and my favourite Beau's offering so far, but it is surely not for the faint of heart!