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!
Showing posts with label Sawdust City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sawdust City. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Saturday, 4 February 2012
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 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
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-
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!
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Beer News Roundup
Today, I mention and link to three interesting news items.
The first... well, it's kind of my duty to mention even if I am a bit reserved about it. Beer Smith 2, software for home brewers, has been released as an open beta .deb for users of Debian Linux variants (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc) (and is already available for users of the two big-name OSes). It is always excellent news when niche software comes to GNU/Linux, and I am thrilled to hear it, so why am I reserved? It isn't exactly standard practice to release shareware for Linux (since it isn't exactly philosophically akin to the FOSS movement), nor to release open beta tests as shareware. I don't oppose charging (or paying) for the final version (or for its creator to profit from his labour) and, when I get around to home brewing - which I will assuredly eventually do, and you will assuredly hear about - I will try this software before making any such decisions, but I am not sure that its features are that much more substantial than those offered by the entirely free (in both senses, as in beer and speech) Brewtarget and a few web searches. I will, one day, however try both and report back, but unless Beer Smith truly wows me, I can't see paying money for closed-source software if it is only marginally better than a free and open source alternative (that is more in line with my vision of software) that should suffice to fulfill necessary tasks (though I also can't see not trying it out to see since it is free to try!) But, admittedly, my gut impression might be wrong, and Beer Smith could be the software of my dreams when I turn my learning about home brewing into practice and, if so, I will eat my words, but in the meantime, don't take my skepticism to mean that I don't appreciate this Linux offering, nor that I don't wish to hear from Beer Smith users generally - and Linux ones specifically - about the reasons it is indispensable. Let me know! I realize this sounds more negative than I intend it and, to the makers of Beer Smith, it is greatly appreciated that such niche software is available for Linux and, even if I prefer FOSS, I truly do value the availability of wider user choice in software for Linux. I encourage any brewers out there to try both - and others - and to use that or those which fulfill your needs.
Up next, we have a Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus... Ummm, yes, that is actually the name of a new so-called "Uranal Imperial Stout" from Gravenhurst, Ontario's upstart Sawdust City Brewing. At 85 IBU and 8.5% ABV this beer, like most imperial stouts, seems extreme for the casual beer drinker! The brewery says so itself, saying the beer is "2.57 billion SRM... is loaded with rich, sinful flavors of chocolate and espresso... [and] has a big bitter kick... not for the faint of heart." Yet, they are only brewing 500 litres and it will only be available while supplies last at select beer bars (such as Toronto's barVolo, Burger Bar, and Smokeless Joe's, amongst some venues elsewhere as noted in Sawdust's blog). There is a hint in the announcement post that it may appear at The Only Cafe's Winter Beer Fest - let's hope since, if you have been reading along, you should be well aware that I love a good Imperial Stout!
Finally, the new Ottawa location of Mill Street's Brewpub (complete with unique beers not available at the Toronto brewpub *sniff, sniff*) has opened it's doors ahead of its official opening Friday. If you live in Ottawa, you should check this place out for the beers and the view!
That's all for now folks!
The first... well, it's kind of my duty to mention even if I am a bit reserved about it. Beer Smith 2, software for home brewers, has been released as an open beta .deb for users of Debian Linux variants (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc) (and is already available for users of the two big-name OSes). It is always excellent news when niche software comes to GNU/Linux, and I am thrilled to hear it, so why am I reserved? It isn't exactly standard practice to release shareware for Linux (since it isn't exactly philosophically akin to the FOSS movement), nor to release open beta tests as shareware. I don't oppose charging (or paying) for the final version (or for its creator to profit from his labour) and, when I get around to home brewing - which I will assuredly eventually do, and you will assuredly hear about - I will try this software before making any such decisions, but I am not sure that its features are that much more substantial than those offered by the entirely free (in both senses, as in beer and speech) Brewtarget and a few web searches. I will, one day, however try both and report back, but unless Beer Smith truly wows me, I can't see paying money for closed-source software if it is only marginally better than a free and open source alternative (that is more in line with my vision of software) that should suffice to fulfill necessary tasks (though I also can't see not trying it out to see since it is free to try!) But, admittedly, my gut impression might be wrong, and Beer Smith could be the software of my dreams when I turn my learning about home brewing into practice and, if so, I will eat my words, but in the meantime, don't take my skepticism to mean that I don't appreciate this Linux offering, nor that I don't wish to hear from Beer Smith users generally - and Linux ones specifically - about the reasons it is indispensable. Let me know! I realize this sounds more negative than I intend it and, to the makers of Beer Smith, it is greatly appreciated that such niche software is available for Linux and, even if I prefer FOSS, I truly do value the availability of wider user choice in software for Linux. I encourage any brewers out there to try both - and others - and to use that or those which fulfill your needs.
Up next, we have a Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus... Ummm, yes, that is actually the name of a new so-called "Uranal Imperial Stout" from Gravenhurst, Ontario's upstart Sawdust City Brewing. At 85 IBU and 8.5% ABV this beer, like most imperial stouts, seems extreme for the casual beer drinker! The brewery says so itself, saying the beer is "2.57 billion SRM... is loaded with rich, sinful flavors of chocolate and espresso... [and] has a big bitter kick... not for the faint of heart." Yet, they are only brewing 500 litres and it will only be available while supplies last at select beer bars (such as Toronto's barVolo, Burger Bar, and Smokeless Joe's, amongst some venues elsewhere as noted in Sawdust's blog). There is a hint in the announcement post that it may appear at The Only Cafe's Winter Beer Fest - let's hope since, if you have been reading along, you should be well aware that I love a good Imperial Stout!
Finally, the new Ottawa location of Mill Street's Brewpub (complete with unique beers not available at the Toronto brewpub *sniff, sniff*) has opened it's doors ahead of its official opening Friday. If you live in Ottawa, you should check this place out for the beers and the view!
That's all for now folks!
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