Hop City Brewing Company 8th Sin Black Lager

Hate to say it here but this is probably my least favorite style of beer. Well okay, mass market American swill aside I should say. BLACK Lager. I like lager. I love dark beers. Somehow however I struggle to find merit in dark lagers. No accounting for taste and all that.

Hop City makes some very impressive beer, so I will crack the dark, dank vault of my mind with optimism.

Nah.

Nah.

What is with dark lager? Where abundant, toasted malts enrich ales in ways celestial the same treatment for lager leaves me with sensations of "disappointed", "disappointment",  "disappointing", and "burnt".

55/100

Railway City Brewing Company Orange Creamsic Ale

Before you get all judgey-judgey; be warned. Railway City is a brewer with chops. Fuh reel.

I just have to glance at the ingredient list due to an overwhelming curiosity. Orange zest. Real vanilla beans. Oats.

A proud white sponge of head caps a typically foggy wheat beer. The nose telltales traces of orange and vanilla. Pleasingly smooth and refreshing. I imagine this would make a fine summertime cottage beer. Perfect for sunny days on a deck or a warm evening roasting hotdogs over a bonfire.

79/100

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery 12 Minutes to Destiny Raspberry Hibiscus Lager

Located in a particularly shady district of Milky Way, the Universe, Infinity; Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery has a strong history of producing surprisingly good beer.

Tasting an awful lot like raspberries and an awful little like beer; I fear the Monkeys have descended into the brewing abyss of trying to make something a millennial might drink.

Disappointed. But not to worry Monkeys, I still love you maniacs.

Perhaps as a change up during a long, hot summer day of drinking beer outdoors or while looking for a dimpled white ball. It's not likely to offend, but neither is it likely to impress.

62/100

Left Field Brewery Greenwood IPA

I have heard good things about these folks. Another micro from the international hotbed of craft brewing of Ontario, Canada. Seriously ladies and gentlemen, beer tours in Ontario should really be an international attraction. The beer itself is luxuriously cloudy with a gorgeous thick foam head of bold white.

If you are an IPA fan pull up a stool and welcome to the family. This stuff is lovely. Everything about Greenwood reminds me of a milkshake for some reason. Marvellous citrus hops plated atop a creamy smoothness that is just gorgeous. Imagine if you will a beer that is trying its best to be a milkshake but is simply too powerful and beautifully a beer to really be anything but.

Fabulous stuff. Thanks Jarrett.

98/100

Verhaeghe Vichte Duchesse De Bourgogne

Another beautiful Belgian. Deep copper. Delightfully sour Flemish vapors.

Crikey Moses!

An entirely unexpected mouthful of fresh ripe berries and sour, but not too sour, cherries. Pardon my schoolyard French but fuck me this is brilliant. The dour Flemish parlour maid (or duchess perhaps) with the the crow is a cunning distraction that might well keep the curious beer drinker at bay. Despite containing no fruit, the berries seduce the palate. Despite containing hops only the most discerning drinker would spot it.

If you see a bottle of Duchess; buy, borrow or steal it. It is worth it.

That is all.

100/100

Bobcaygeon Brewing Company Firestarter Saison

Bobcaygeon is a small town in the stunning cottage country northeast  of Toronto in Canada. It's also the title of a popular song by Canada's hometown band The Tragically Hip. So a Canadian microbrewery sporting such a loaded name might be accused of resting on the novelty of the name alone. This example of the brewers offerings though lays waste to that idea.

Saison style beers are traditionally lower on the booze count than this is at 6.8%. The early origins of saison beers being the farms south of Brussels; the history of the style is marked with broad inconsistencies in flavour and appearance. Being Belgian though,  you can count on Saison style beers being both entertaining and satisfying.

The brewers at Bobcaygeon have executed pretty well on a saison in a can. It's golden, happily effervescent and presents the spicy, fruity palate of aroma and flavours found in the saison portfolio.

Not a beer many might want to chain-quaff under most circumstances. Expect clovey, ginger vanilla and candied fruit. Tossing a handful of Firestarters in the cooler to mix things up is a perfect way to mix things up for your next get together.

70/100

Old Tomorrow Monty's Aged Ryed Ale

Monty's Aged Ryed Ale is one of these   products that combines everyone's favourite beverage, beer, with a stay of some duration in an oak barrel whose last occupant was a spirit distillation.  In  Monty's case it is "oak infused with 100% Canadian Rye Whiskey".

Whoa there friend! Colour me surprised! I was expecting a rich, nearly sickly sweet concoction with powerful vanilla notes, but nay! The flavour is very nice. Silky smooth, mildly sweet. By some miracle of fermentation and aging Monty's manages to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable drink. I am reminded immediately of a fine tapioca pudding. Cool, creamy, vanilla and tapioca. I have to say this is entirely unexpected and really very nice.

While the nose is woody and the front of the mouth makes no mistake that this is in fact beer, the back palate is cleverly and friendly tapioca pudding.

If there is anything not to like, I think that the nose can be a bit volatile with genuine oak essence. 

Nonetheless I think that this is the type of experience that a lot of today's beer aficionados are happy to happen upon.

Cheers to Monty's!

81/100

Abbaye St-Remy Trappistes Rochefort 10

This beer has been on my mind for about as long as I have been maintaining this blog (6 years if anyone is curious). It has tempted me for years with it's Trappistes nature and tantalizing 11.4% alcohol by volume. I am not a religious person but I do appreciate the efforts of the devoted brewers of Belgium. I have really been looking forward to this.

The ale is quite dark,  chestnut brown with errant flecks of yeast sediment and a frothy tan head. Spectacular aroma of peerless Belgium Trappist Ale. Unmistakable. Deeply malted. The scent alone is enough to make the mouth water.

Astonishingly smooth and rich. An overall sense experience more in line with ungodly hedonistic luxury than the spartan hallmarks of existence you are likely to expect from a monastery. No linen robes and woolen undergarments here. This is finest Italian leather, fly-in fishing, Lightning Ridge opals, Tahitian surf, Australian vintage Shiraz and Sheffield steel. I may never get to drive an Aston Martin DB9 from Krössenbach to Mörtschach but this beer seems to make that sad reality markedly easier to bear.

I love Belgian beer. I love Abbaye St-Remy Trappistes Rochefort 10 wholeheartedly.

100+/100

Lake of Bays Switchback Pilsner

This post is being forced. It is a nice Friday, early evening and to be honest I would sooner just drink it than think and about it write.

Pilsner. What can one hope to say about a pilsner? It's probably the most standardised style of beer across the world. This one hails from northern Ontario, in Canada. The delightful, wild cottage country of the Greater Toronto Area. Lake of Bays is nestled among probably millions of lakes with bays whose shores are dotted with the "cottages" of Ontario's weekend getaway set. Truly a beautiful place. Let's see how they do with cooking up a pilsner.

Brassy yellow and ever so slightly hazy. It looks every bit a pilsner. Snappy hop bitterness. Marvellous bready fermented grain aromatics.
Do I detect a dash of sweetness? This, dear beer enthusiasts, I will offer is a truly wonderful North American example of a great pilsner.

I would shortlist this for the pilsner I use to stock my own home refrigerator with if I was predisposed to such imprudence.

85/100

Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic

Do you like bold statements? I find them intriguing. This particular beer, presented in a nondescript brown bottle with a brown and chrome label delivers a mix of subtlety and swagger.

14% alcohol is not a subtle thing.

The fine print is as subtle as Trump's twitter account.

"The World's Most Extraordinary Beverage".

I shit you not.

The perforated neck gaiter is a classy touch.

Brewed only once a year on December 6th before being aged for 10 months before bottling. This kind of storytelling never fails to reel me in...

Delightful. I cannot begin to imagine the dose of malts. Quadruple? Quintuple? Is hextuple a thing? Towering alcohol and enough apparent residual sugar to stand a spoon in it. I don't generally go for sweet drinks but the symphony of hops and hop extract with the astonishing malts is, well... extraordinary.

Give it a try. You can't say you don't like it if you don't try it.

I like it. Once a year.

Shepherd Neame Spitfire Amber Kentish Ale

In a world of glow-in-the-dark, Technicolor, tie-dyed extremism in beer label designs this one is a refreshing reinvent of classic British good taste. Royal Blue livery with a Union Jack emblazoned on top, and "By Appointment To His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales" no less...

I am plagued by two thoughts as I wait for the head to settle. First, I feel like I have already reviewed this ale and second that I have a particular bias in favour of English Ales in general. How about you help me out and peruse the blog for a duplicate entry and I will set my bias aside and do my best to be dispassionate and impartial in my review? Deal? Deal. Let me know if I have already reviewed it won't you?

The beer itself is a fine visual example of an English ale. Deeply Amber and calm. Appearing flat to the casual observer a closer look reveals miniscule bubbles zipping quietly to the surface.

Lovely.

If you are interested in trying a prototypical British (Kentish) Ale Spitfire will give you a good idea.

That is all.

Now has anyone seen another version of this story anywhere in this blog? I thought I had one laying around here somewhere...

83/100

Big Rig Brewery Release the Hounds Black IPA

6.2% black IPA. Release the Hounds. Big Rig. Strong beer. Unfiltered. Possibly the most testosterone laden beer in the world.

Tastes not unlike a Thai barbecue. Thai barbecue beer. I struggle to find the IPA features. Smoky. Middling bitterness. Not a big deal.

56/100 

Pardon me. I was being hasty. This is a really crap beer.

34/100 

Collective Arts Lunch Money

Sudsy and yellow and foggy.

I like the lightness of this beer and the way the clever brewer has managed to impart the qualities of the Centennial and German Magnum hops is impressive.

I get more German Magnum than Centennial if I'm honest. In all seriousness however this is a really nicely sesssionable beer that would make ready friends in all circumstances.

89/100

Sawdust City Brewing Co. Midland's Best Maple Butter Tart Ale

I know... I know.

I ask myself the same thing.

Why do I so often feel the need to sample beers that blend the seriousness of Ale with the soul rending characteristics of desserts?

Butter Tarts for those asking "wtf?", are as I understand things, a uniquely Canadian pastry. They are, as one might deduce, a tart. The filling being a sticky mass ranging in consistency from runny syrup to really thick, well... syrup made of sugar and butter that resembles caramel but not quite. Throw "maple" into the mix and you can nearly hear the neighbour kid bouncing pucks off his parents garage door. Generally adorned with raisins and nuts they are the stuff of farmers markets and autumn family get-togethers north of most of the world's longest international border. Zip it Alaska.

Crystal clear orange amber with a quickly dissolving head. The Ale soaks the mouth with maple syrup sweetness, surprisingly civilized and orderly ale malts. The cheat codes of the butter rum, vanilla, maple and caramel extracts don't offend. Impressively and even unexpectedly the overall quality is very much "butter tart".

I can't imagine drinking more than one at a sitting. But again I am not one who ventures beyond two of anything in one sitting very often.

Well done Sawdust.

73/100

Omnipollo Zodiak

What's up with the every chicken? A matte black and vibrant green label bearing alien heads...

Described simply as an India Pale Ale this version of Omnipollo makes civilized promises...

While pouring it is clear that all bets are off. Cloudy to the verge of impersonating yellow milk it is obvious that this isn't a garden variety IPA. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to a yeasty sourdough starter with an active head of billowy white fermented grains.

Aroma of grapefruity-citrusy-goodness accent the classic and even sophisticated IPA palate. It's actually, I like it. It's funny how you can expect one thing then seem to be experiencing the opposite before finally being shown that the initial expectation was pretty bang on. Call it an ironic irony.

83/100

Pint Purists Brewing Company The Answer Helles Lager

Touted by the brewery as throwback German style this beer delivers on the promise. Ever so slightly hazy, The Answer is unmistakably Lager. Bright golden with an airy linen white head. The nose is treated to malt sweetness and the mouth to classic Lager bitterness.

Mated with a lovingly assembled tuna-melt sandwich and a pair of dill pickles lunch might become a big deal.

Handily packed in pint cans The Answer is clearly suited to the question of what beer to stock as an all-purpose go-to for friends and family whose tastes tend toward the macro-beers.

80/100

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery Juicy Ass IPA

Begging your pardon? The clever crew at Flying Monkeys are among my most endeared brewers. Their irreverent approach to craft beverage erm, crafting has always been reflected in the artistic license of the packaging. In this case they've opted to alienate the elder element of the craft beer drinkerage with their nearly vulgar irreverence. On the other hand who isn't honestly interested in the occasional "Juicy Ass"? You're among friends. Be honest. You love it.

Unfiltered. Honey hued. Galloping with six and a half points of booze. Classic IPA tones like pine, citrus and passion fruit (are least according to the Monkeys' marketing department).

I don't know if Babe Ruth always hit a homerun or if Jordan always drained the game winner, I suppose everyone is going to have an average day.

While initially titillating, "Juicy Ass" is an average day for the Monkeys.

77/100