Shepherd Neame Spitfire Review

Tonight I am taking a break from the cheap beers and trying a bitter. This is Shepherd Neame's Spitfire and comes in a fantastically chubby, yet big bottle. It costs an even $3.00 CAD for 500 mL.

The beer has a very attractive deep copper color with subtle red and brown hues. It pours with a short, creamy and lacy head. The aroma is quite nice with sweet hints of toffee and dried fruits with subtler biscuity notes. It is similar to that of Wychwood Bah Humbug Christmas Cheer Ale, only not as potent and sweet. The beer is mildly carbonated and its taste is rich. I detected roasted malt with a hint of dried fruits and spices. The finish is medium, bitter and very hoppy. Excellent bitter with rich character. I find it a better overall beer than the Wells Bombardier I had recently. The price is lower too.

Scores:
Cost - $3.00 CAD for a 500 mL bottle
Taste - 8.5/10

Overall - 8.5/10...rich taste with a great, hoppy finish

Gösser Beer Review

Tonight I am having some sausages so I decided to pair my meal with a cheap Austrian beer. I would have gone for a German one, but it was late and I did not feel like going out. The can of Gösser cost me only $1.95 CAD.

As expected, the beer is light to medium yellow in color and pours with a creamy and lacy head which recedes quickly. It has the common light and malty aroma, but with a slight citrus twist and a touch of hops. Its taste is malty and much lighter than expected. The taste does not come in until the finish, which is hoppy and on the bitter side. Towards the end of the can I was experiencing a sour taste build up, similar to the one you get from drinking beverages with citric acid. This really helped the clean aftertaste, but it was a very weird thing to experience from a beer. Overall the beer is very light and easy drinking, but lacks character.

Scores:
Cost - $1.95 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 6.5/10

Overall - 6.5/10...I would sometimes give beers 0.2 extra if they are cheap and deserve it, but this is nothing exceptional. It is still better than many of the domestic brews

Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable Review

Today I have an IPA from a Montreal microbrewery called Dieu du Ciel. This is an India Pale Ale in the craft brewed style, with a high ABV (6.5% here) and plenty of hops. These beers are very bitter, and are definitely not for everyone. I love the overpowering hops, but judge for yourself. They offer a unique sort of flavor and are great for sipping slowly.

This one pours with a thin beige head that dissipates to leave behind a thin layer of foam and long-lasting lacing. The color is a little different from other IPAs. It's a rich rust-colored beer, quite dark for this type.

The nose lets you know that this is something good, if a little different. There is a strong pine-like scent of hops, very resinous and spicy. This beer delivers a rather heavy mouthfeel with a medium amount of carbonation.

The taste is powerful, like you would expect from an IPA. There is an immediate burst of pine resin, caramel, and sweet malt, followed quickly by intense bitterness from the hops, with a slight grassy flavor. It's a great combination, and a little bit different from the intense resinous IPAs like Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA and Southern Tier's IPA. The finish is long and bitter, with more of that resinous pine taste.

Scores:
Cost - $3.10 CAD for a 341 mL bottle
Taste - 9.5/10

Overall - 9.5/10...a great IPA that is not just a bottle of hop juice. Terrific for sipping, and a fine example of Canadian brewing. One of the best.

Lech Premium Review

Continuing the cheap beer reviews, I have Poland's Lech Premium. This is a lager, which is a style of beer that I generally dislike. It tends to be very light and bland.

This beer pours with a thin head that quickly disappears leaving no lacing. It's got an attractive straw color, a little darker than I expected. The nose smells like malt and grain. The taste is very light but surprisingly pleasant, tasting like malt and hops. The finish is slightly bitter and quickly disappears, but it isn't as watery as you usually get with this type of beer. There is little more to say about this beer. It has a generic light taste, but for a 5.2% ABV beer, it is quite competent. There is no skunky taste, and the ingredients list no rice, corn, or any other mystery ingredients. It's exceptionally drinkable. This has become my new favorite for a light-tasting day-to-day beer.

Scores:
Cost - $2.05 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 7.5/10

Overall - 7.7/10...really a surprisingly drinkable (+0.2!) beer with a pleasant, albeit light taste. A great find, could be the best lager I have had.

Magner's Original Irish Cider Review

I've decided to switch things up a bit here, and take a little detour from beer into the world of macrobrewed cider. Ciders are refreshing on a hot day and offer something sweet. Today I have Magner's Original Irish Cider, which I found to be a popular choice in England. It's called Bulmer's in Ireland.

The can suggests serving it over ice, so this is what I have done. It's a nice orange color, a little darker than I'm used to seeing from this type of cider. The taste is a little different from what I'm used to as well. It is quite sweet and doesn't have much of the tartness that you'd expect from cider. It's certainly quite refreshing and there is no hint of the 5% ABV. It can't be directly compared with beer on the taste scale, but it's good for what it is. I could see myself drinking a few of these, since it has a light taste. I will be scoring it based on the refreshment and lightness, not on our usual expectations for beer.

Scores:
Cost - $2.95 for 500 mL can
Taste - 7.5/10

Overall - 7.5/10...refreshing and delicious, but a little too sweet and lacking any complex flavors.

Faxe Premium Review

Tonight I am trying another cheap beer to populate the "cheap beer" section. This is Faxe Premium, a $2.00 CAD Danish lager.

The beer is golden in color and pours with a medium head which lingers for a bit and then recedes without much lacing. The aroma is not a very pleasant and inviting one. It is skunky with a strong alcohol scent. It has a watery mouth feel and a weak, alcoholic taste. There isn't much flavour other than malted cereal. The finish is hoppy, slightly bitter and more enjoyable than the taste. I don't know what it is about this beer, but half way through the can I was feeling more drunk than I usually do from a 5% beer. Towards the end of the can I was experiencing a slight headache and some skunk taste build up. Overall the beer is passable and would pick it over some domestics, but for the price I can find better ones at LCBO.

Scores:
Cost - $2.00 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 5.7/10

Overall - 5.7/10...beats most domestics, but one can do better for the same price

Wernesgrüner Pils Legende Review

We here at What I Drink At Home decided that we should try some cheap beers, something around the $2 CAD mark, something that can be easily found. I would like to start today by reviewing a can of Wernesgrüner Pils Legende, which is actually a very old brew, dating back to 1436. A can of this retails for only $1.95 CAD, which is only 10 cents more than Pabst Blue Ribbon. Watch out for the future reviews of cheap beers and the new "cheap beer" tag we just added.

The beer is light gold/pale straw in color and pours with a thick head which forms relatively slowly when pouring and takes a bit of time to recede leaving some lacing behind. The aroma is quite strong for a beer this cheap - hops with some spiciness and a hint of corn. The taste is a bit weak at first, but hops come in strong at the end and help create a bold taste. The finish is dry and relatively clean. Well, I am quite impressed with this cheap brew and this got me thinking. How can an Pabst Blue Ribbon cost $1.85, but taste awful and how can the Germans make a beer almost just as cheap that tastes like a proper beer?

Scores:
Cost - $1.95 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 7.5/10

Overall - 7.5/10...great start of our new quest to review some cheap beers that can be found in most LCBO stores

Leffe Brune Review

Continuing on with the Belgian trend, I have the Leffe Brune to review. You may remember our Leffe Blonde review from a while back. This is the dubbel version. As with Maredsous, this beer is not a real abbey ale - the Leffe name is just used under license. Like many of the beers we review here, this is a strong beer, at 6.5% ABV. It is a very nice color - a dark brown with some red showing through. It pours with a thick tan head that goes down and leaves a fair amount of lacing.

The nose is interesting, with some yeast, typical for this style of beer. It also offers rich roasted malt, molasses, and what smells to me like autumn leaves on moist earth. It's a pleasant smell. The taste is full, sweet, and smooth. There are notes of caramel, malt, brown sugar, coffee, and toast. A very roasted-tasting beer, very nice.

The finish is long and continues the pleasure. There is a slight cocoa-like bitterness that takes over from the sweetness, and some spice with a touch of banana to round out the experience. Again, like the Maredsous Tripel, this is definitely a beer to sip and enjoy. One of my favorites.

Scores:
Cost - $2.70 for a 330 mL bottle.
Taste - 8.7/10

Overall - 8.7/10...a very enjoyable beer.

Maredsous 10 Tripel Review

Continuing from my earlier review of the Maredsous beers I had purchased, today I have the Maresous 10 Tripel. As with the previous beer, the 10 refers to the alcohol content. This is a 10% ABV Tripel, which is a light-colored and strong ale.

This beer pours with a nice dark gold or amber color, on the dark side for a tripel. The head is rather small, but lingers as a thin layer of foam with delicate lacing. It continues to bubble visibly, so you can tell it is a fairly carbonated beer.

The nose is slightly sweet, with aromas of roasted malt and yeast. There is a hint of the high alcohol content, as you can smell some alcohol. The flavor is interesting, but not very complex. Yeast is the main flavor, with some malt, hints of grape and apple, and alcohol. It is quite carbonated and becomes somewhat foamy in the mouth. I should note that the alcohol flavor is not unpleasant, but rather quite warming. It's a good ale on a cold day like today.

The finish is quite resilient, with a strong taste of yeast that quickly fades to be replaced by a dry and slightly bitter taste of hops. You definitely feel the alcohol content in this beer. It warms you up quickly. This is a beer to sip slowly, as the rich taste is quite satisfying, and the alcohol taste can build up unpleasantly if consumed too quickly.

Scores:
Cost - Part of a set, 3 bottles and a glass for $15.95
Taste - 8.3/10

Overall - 8.3/10...a pleasant beer with a satisfying taste. Great for sipping during the cold days of late fall.

Erdinger Dunkel Review

I felt like having a Dunkel tonight and I picked up one of few that were available in the local LCBO. Unlike the Warsteiner Dunkel, which I reviewed a few months ago, this one is more expensive, at $3.15 CAD for a 500 mL glass bottle.

The beer pours with a thick and creamy head which has large bubbles around the edges and small ones in the middle. The ones near the edges disappear first leaving a short, creamy island of foam in the middle. The island forms in several minutes leaving some lacing. As you would expect from a dunkel, the color is dark brown, almost black and the beer is hazy. The aroma is very sharp but neither sweet nor bitter. Mild hints of bananas become apparent after a long whiff. The taste is medium bold with hints of roasted malt, dried fruits and hops and a bit of chocolate at the end. The finish hoppy, not too bitter and slightly dry. The taste of wheat does not accumulate, at least with for one bottle. Great dunkel, better than Warsteiner Dunkel, but with a slightly higher price tag.

Scores:
Cost - $3.15 CAD for a 500 mL bottle
Taste - 8/10

Overall - 8/10...not a bad dunkel, a little too carbonated for my liking

Wells Bombardier Review

Last week I had Wells Bombardier Burning Gold, a limited run beer, and I found it quite good but with a slightly steep price for it was. Today on my way home I picked up Wells Bombardier, which also has a similarly high price at $3.55 CAD for a 500 mL bottle.

The beer pours with a thick, creamy and lacy head, which recedes in a few minutes down to a centimeter thick foam island in the middle of the glass. The color is medium to dark brown with some red hues. The aroma is quite malty with hints of fruits, which makes it a bit sweet. The taste is bold, bitter with hops at the front and some fruity sweetness in the background. The finish is medium to long, spicy and bitter. This beer is bolder than the Burning Gold one and I think almost deserves the higher price.

Scores:
Cost - $3.55 CAD for a 500 mL bottle
Taste - 8.3/10

Overall - 8.3/10...a great English beer with all the right characteristics for me to fall in love with, but with a high price, which leaves me expecting more

Chimay Triple Review

Finally, the last of the Chimays from the gift box I bought last week. Unlike the other ones (Red and Blue), you can find this at the LCBO under the name of Chimay White Cap.

The beer pours beautifully into the supplied chalice. I managed to pours the contents of the entire bottle at once and the foam came up to just over the rim the glass without spilling. It was a thing of beauty. The beer is golden and cloudy with a very sweet, flowery, wheaty aroma. It is well carbonated and the taste is rich, bitter and of hops with some wheat undertones. The finish is brilliant. The hop taste and the bitterness get carried over from the taste into the finish, which ends dry. The higher alcohol content is masked quite nicely in this one. A wheat taste does accumulate over the course of the bottle, but not as much as the other Chimay beers. This is my favorite Chimay. This one combines several characteristics which I absolutely adore - the boldness of the taste as well as the bitter and dry finish.

Scores:
Cost - $3.30 CAD for a 330 mL "White Cap" bottle or $14.95 CAD for the gift box
Taste - 8.6/10

Overall - 8.6/10...my favorite Chimay

Mill St Barley Wine 2009 Review

The Mill St Barley Wine comes out around the holidays and can be stored for years. The container is stunning - a ceramic bottle with a swing top, worthy of your display case or a spot on the mantle. I will be placing mine on my shelf next to a empty bottle of Woodford Reserve and probably keeping it there until next holiday season when the next batch will come out. The Barley Wine is not cheap. In fact, there has been a price hike to $11.95 CAD per bottle. For that price you can get a 6 pack or several good beers. This is also one of the strongest beers you can find at LCBO at the moment. The strongest I have ever had prior to this was a can of Faxe 10%.

I decided not to drink the entire bottle in one sitting so I grabbed a 2 oz glass and proceeded to open the Barley Wine. Like any other swing top, the beer opened with a satisfying pop. The beer poured with a very short head into the 2 oz glass, which quickly receded and left an off-white ring around the edge of the glass. The color is beautiful - medium brown with some amber and red hues. The aroma is strong. It is sweet and flowery with hints of caramel and honey in the background. The beer exhibits light to medium carbonation. The taste is as complex as the aroma. It is very malty, sweet and spicy all at the same time. Hints of caramel and fruits come up but are quickly drowned by the bitter and hoppy finish. The finish takes some time to develop and you are left with an overwhelmingly pleasant sensation and taste which last for quite some time. This is the strongest beer I have had, but the 11% ABV has been masked beautifully. Drink the Barley Wine too fast and you will experience the 11%. Take it slow and you will enjoy the complex aromas, taste and finish of this fantastic beer. Either way, the 11% will get you so be careful.

Scores:
Cost - $11.95 CAD for a 500 mL ceramic bottle
Taste - 9/10

Overall - 8.8/10...an absolutely fantastic extra strong beer. The high ABV has been masked extremely well with a complex taste and finish. The only con is the high price, for which I had to deduct some points

Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Review

Today I have the Innis & Gunn Rum Cask beer, aged for 107 days in barrels previously containing rum. I have enjoyed the Innis & Gunn original beer, and I am hoping that this one delivers more of that slightly oaky and malty taste. At 7.4% ABV, this is a strong beer, and I am expecting something unique.

This beer is a very deep red color, not unlike a brewed black tea. It pours with a very foamy head which recedes rather quickly, leaving behind a thin layer of medium-sized bubbles. There is little lacing. The nose is somewhat sour, suggesting fermented rye or overripe pears. It reminds me of kvass, a fermented bread drink. The taste is surprisingly refreshing and there is no hint of the high alcohol content. It is suprisingly light, with a taste of malt. There is a very slight astringency from the oak, but it is not nearly as present as in the regular Innis & Gunn beer. Again, it reminds me of kvass. The finish is quite malty without being too sweet.

It's not a great beer, but it is very unique. I never know what to expect from the Innis & Gunn beers.

Scores:
Cost - $14.95 for 3 bottles and a glass
Taste - 6.8/10

Overall - 6.8/10...it's not bad, but I was expecting something more. The taste and smell put me off, and I did not enjoy this as much as I expected.

Chimay Blue Review

I have been looking forward to this one for a while now. Chimay Blue has been discontinued at the LCBO so if you come across this one, you better snatch it. I got mine as part of the Chimay Gift Box I bought last week.

The bottle opened with a geyser of foam. How I hate bottle conditioned beers since I don't have the necessary reaction times to properly open and pour them. Once I cleaned up my mess, I returned to the beer which has a dark brown color with red hues and is a bit cloudy. It poured with a medium head, which receded fairly quickly leaving a small, thick island of foam in the middle. The aroma is flowery with some sweet hints in the background. The taste is sweet and very alcoholic. Hints of dried fruits are present and add to the flavour. The finish is medium, spicy and of hops and is fantastic once fully developed. To be completely honest, I am a bit disappointed as I was expecting a lot more from this beer. Don't take this the wrong way, this is a great strong beer with an amazing finish, but it failed to deliver what I was expecting.

Scores:
Cost - $3.30 for a 330 mL bottle if you can still find it
Taste - 7.4/10

Overall - 7.4/10...it is good, but the Westmalle I had a few weeks ago was a much better overall beer

St-Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale Review

Tonight I am reviewing the one flavoured beer that I saved from last night's 6 pack. If you don't want to read the review, I will save you the time and tell you that the beer is good for a flavoured one.

It pours with a short head, creamy in the middle with larger bubbles on the outside. The color is very rich for a flavoured beer - on the border between amber and brown. The aroma is strong and of apricots with hints of roasted malt in the distance. The taste is just as good - malty with a fruity background and hops on the finish. An apricot taste remains for some time providing pleasant sensation. If you don't like wheat beer as much, don't worry, you barely taste the wheat. It took me 3 bottles before the wheat taste started settling in the back of my mouth. By the end of the third bottle a slight skunk taste was also accumulating. Great flavoured beer.

Scores:
Cost - $12.35 CAD for a 6 pack
Taste - 7.4/10

Overall - 7.5/10...I give it an extra 0.1 for the fairly low price of roughly $2.06 per bottle

Creemore Springs Traditional Pilsner Review

When I bought the Pabst Blue Ribbon, I thought it would be a good idea to get something else and boy am I glad I did. I barely had a quarter of the beer when I decided it wasn't worth it and dumped it down the drain. I refilled my glass with a pint of Creemore Springs Traditional Pilsner, brewed in Creemore, Ontario. The beer retails for $2.60 CAD, which is in a very competitive price range.

The beer is gold in color and pours almost without a head. It doesn't have a very rich aroma, just some hops with a touch of malt in the background. The taste is similar - very hoppy but flowery with hints of honey. The finish is the same, but the hop taste is much bolder. I am not a huge fan of these kinds of beers, so I cannot give it a high score. I admit that this is an OK brew, but for the price you can get some excellent beers with a lot more to offer.

Scores:
Cost - $2.60 for a 473 mL can
Taste - 6/10

Overall - 6/10...decent local brew, but the price is a bit steep for what it really is

Pabst Blue Ribbon Review

Why did I buy this? Oh yeah, I wanted to try some really cheap beers. This beer costs just $1.85 for a 473 mL can.

The beer is light yellow in color and pours like a soft drink with a thick, very bubbly head, which recedes in no time. The aroma is not very beer-like, I would say that it smells more like a cider than a beer. Hints of corn and rice with a very distant, very weak hints of malt. The taste is worse than the aroma - like a diluted mediocre beer. I could say the taste is malty, but I would be lying. There is a bitter hop taste towards the end, but it is so bland that the finish barely qualifies as hoppy. On the plus side, the finish takes a few minutes to develop into an OK one. Overall the beer is very bland and it gets worse with every sip. If you can afford to pay $1.85 for a can of this beer, I am sure you can afford another $0.10 or $0.15 and get something that tastes like a beer, not this crap.

Scores:
Cost - $1.85 CAD for a 473 mL can
Taste - 3/10

Overall - 2/10...what was I thinking giving this a 3/10?

Maredsous 6 Blonde Review

In keeping with the Belgian theme, today I have the Maredsous 6 Blonde up for review. Although it is labeled as "Maredsous Abbey", the name is used under license. This is a beer from the makers of Duvel, so I still come into this review with fairly high expectations. The Belgian styles of beer are some of my favorites, since they offer a rich and satisfying flavour.

This beer is bottle-conditioned, and has sugar added. I don't mind a little sediment in my glass, so I'm usually not too gentle during the pour. However, this bottle had very little sediment.

The beer pours to a golden color with a resilient head, which stays behind as a thin layer and intense lacing, lasting longer in the glass than the beer does. The nose is slightly flowery, very pleasant, and very promising. There is perhaps a very slight hint of baked bread from the yeast. The taste is quite good, if a bit brief. The initial flavor is very full, with lightly roasted malt, some sweetness, and a very subtle hint of alcohol, as this is a strong beer at 6% ABV. It is quite carbonated due to the bottle conditioning, but not to an excessive level. The finish is average in intensity, somewhat dry with a hint of apple and the slightest bitterness. The flavor fades fast, and it's a little uncommitted - I feel like it should either be more intense or more refreshing, but it is rather in the middle.

Scores:
Cost - Part of a set, 3 330 mL bottles and a glass for $15.95
Taste - 7.3/10

Overall - 7.3/10...not as pleasant as I expected. Pick Leffe Blond over this.

Chimay Red Review

Well what do we have here? A gift set!


I picked this up from the near-by LCBO for $14.95 CAD. LCBO stores are starting to get their holiday packs and samplers and there was an abundance of beers one wouldn't normally find in Ontario. I bought the Chimay gift set was because I have been looking for a Chimay Blue for some time now. It has also been a while since I have had Chimay Red so this gift set presented a great opportunity for me to experience all three at once...well...not really all at once. I was also happy to get the Chimay Chalice.

You are supposed to store bottle of Chimay Red in a cellar at 10 to 12 degrees centigrade, but the closest thing I have to a cellar is a cool basement and that is where I stored the bottle overnight and waited for it to cool down a bit. I could have placed it in the fridge and taken it out 40 or so minutes prior to consumption, but I decided not to. The temperature where I left the bottle was 16, close enough.

The beer opens with foam just exploding from the bottle. Yes, this is a bottle conditioned beer, and be careful opening it. The pour is very smooth with a medium thick, creamy head, which takes little time to recede to a nice beige island in the middle of the glass. The color is brown with some red hues, and cloudy. The aroma is spicy, fruity and quite strong. Hints of apples and pears are noticeable. The taste is of roasted malt, dried fruits and some spices with hop bitterness at the end. The finish is short to medium and similar to the end taste - hoppy, bitter with a bit of sweetness from the fruits. The one thing I don't like about this beer is how the wheat taste gradually builds up. The first third of the bottle is great, all the flavours come together to create a fantastic experience, but then comes the second third where the wheat becomes dominant in the finish. The last third ruins the experience from the first third by making the wheat taste even stronger. This is still a fairly decent beer that you can find at some LCBO stores, but I
think that the Westmalle Dubbel is a better, overall, beer. The problem with the latter is that it is hard to find.

Scores:
Cost - a part of a gift set costing $14.95 CAD, 750 mL bottle of "Chimay Premier" is $6.60
Taste - 7.1/10

Overall - 7.1/10...I prefer Westmalle Dubbel

Beck's Review

I'm a new reviewer here at What I Drink at Home, and I thought I'd start off with something easy to drink and easy to review before moving into the heavier flavors. Beck's is a mass-market pilsner produced by Anheuser-Busch InBev. It's one of a few lighter beers that I like, since it offers a clean and refreshing taste with some decent flavor. It's also widely available at the LCBO, so it's a nice beer to fall back on. At $2.45 for a 500 mL can, it's not the cheapest beer out there, but it provides a nice balanced break from the fuller flavored beers. At 5% ABV, it's in the average range.

The beer pours with a very thin head and a pale straw or light gold color. The aroma is typical for a pilsner, reminiscent of barley or other grains. It's not a wheat-like smell, and there is no sense of malt or hops in the nose. The taste is a good balance of malt and hops, and not overwhelming. I find that it tends to get watery near the end of the pint, as you get used to the taste, so I avoid drinking more than a pint at a time. The finish is bitter and fairly refreshing. Overall, it's a decent mass-market beer that is easy to find, with a balanced flavor. It is crisp and not heavy.

Scores:
Cost - $2.45 for a 500 mL can
Taste - 7.0/10

Overall - 7.0/10...a fair beer, but doesn't offer anything special

Wells Bombardier Burning Gold Review

Bombardier Burning Gold is a seasonal beer in Ontario. I saw it right next to the regular Wells Bombardier with a slightly lower price tag - $3.45 per 500 mL, rather than $3.55. It looked absolutely magnificent in the well lit beer section and I fell for it right away. Just look at that bottle. I should have picked up the regular one for a direct comparison.

Pours with a thick, creamy head which takes a few minutes to recede leaving bits of lacing behind. You can see the color of the beer quite well in that photo, it is light gold. It has a malty aroma with some hints of corn and citrus. The taste is malty and slightly sweet with hints of fruits. The finish is bitter and hoppy. The hop finish lingers for a while, which is a pleasant sensation. The only downside is that it loses its flavour as you drink it. The finish remains, but the taste fades. Overall, this is not a bad beer, but at that price, it is nothing too exciting.

Scores:
Cost - $3.45 CAD for a 500 mL bottle
Taste - 8.1/10

Overall - 8.1/10...great beer, but the price is too high for what it is

Wychwood Bah Humbug Christmas Cheer Ale Review

I absolutely love the label and the name of this beer - Bah Humbug! You can enjoy the beer and treasure the label for only $3.45 CAD.

The beer is medium brown in color with red hues. It pours with a medium head which takes a couple of minutes to recede. It has a very warm, sweet aroma that reminds me of sponge cake and those dense Christmas cakes with dried fruits in them. Some roasted malt makes its way as well. Wow, it actually tastes a lot like cake, like very moist fruit cake. It is sweet with hints of fruits and a bit of roasted malt. Some cinnamon is detectable, but I was expecting a lot stronger taste. Great medium to long finish. It starts off fruity and ends on a slightly bitter, hoppy note. Great beer, a perfect conversation starter. I would definitely get some more of these for the holidays.

Scores:
Cost - $3.45 CAD for a 500 mL bottle
Taste - 8.5/10

Overall - 8.6/10...I give it an extra 0.1 because I absolutely love that cake taste

Faxe 10% Extra Strong Beer Review

This is it, this is the most alcoholic beer I have every consumed. The Urbock 23 came close, La Fin Du Monde was strong, but this beats them all. I am always on the lookout for strong beers in Canada, but there aren't that many really strong ones. I have yet to come across a Sam Adams Utopia. The high ABV comes at a price - $3.15 for a 500 mL can and you should be able to find it at most LCBO stores.

The beer is light gold in color, not what I was expecting. It pours with a very thick head, very creamy in the middle. The head takes a few minutes to recede leaving some lacing behind. The beer has a very strong, sweet, slightly spicy aroma with hints of corn and apples. You can really taste the alcohol with this one, which by the way leaves a very warm feeling. The alcohol taste really shows itself towards the end of the can which is something I should warn you about. If you can stand the taste, drink the whole can by yourself, if you cannot, split it with someone. Alcohol aside, the first few sips are great - roasted malt and a little bit of sweetness with hops at the end. The finish is medium and bitter and does not change as you continue drinking, which is a big plus in my book. Great overall taste for such a high alcohol content. I would buy it again if I ever feel the need to get intoxicated quickly on something that tastes great.

Scores:
Cost - $3.15 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 6.9/10

Overall - 6.9/10...OK taste, great finish, but the alcohol taste is a bit strong, especially towards the end

Muskoka Dark Ale Review

I got this beer a few weeks ago actually. I drank it back then and wrote down my thoughts, but I never got around to posting the review online, until now.

The beer is dark, walnut brown in color and pours with a two finger thick head, which is creamy in the center and lighter around the glass. On the nose are hints of roasted coffee, chocolate and a bit of caramel. Wow, an excellent chocolate/coffee, slightly fruity taste with a little bitter, hoppy
finish and a full mouth-feel.

Scores:
Cost - $2.60 for a 473 mL can
Taste - 8.3/10

Overall - 8.3/10...excellent dark ale, well balanced with an affordable price

Holsten Premium Review

It has been a while since I have had a lager. Today I found a 6 pack of Holsten in the fridge and decided to have one. I was surprised to find out that a 6 pack is only $9.95 CAD, that's cheaper than most 4 packs of bitters.

This beer has a typical lager color - pale yellow/straw. It pours with a very short head which is creamy in the middle. It has a weak hop, slightly spicy aroma. I also detect a weak roasted malt scent with a very distant citrus note. The taste is similar to the aroma, but richer in flavour. There is a certain bitterness that comes alive in the finish which is rather pleasant. I was not expecting much from this beer, but I was a bit surprised. It is certainly not an award winner, but at this price, the taste is great. I think I found myself a new party beer.

Scores:
Cost - $9.95 CAD for a 6 pack, $1.60 CAD for a 330 mL bottle and $2.00 CAD for a 500 mL can
Taste - 7.1/10...there isn't much character, but I like the bitter, hoppy finish

Overall - 7.2/10...I give it an extra 0.1 for the price/taste combo