Red Racer Sampler Pack Review

Aaaah, Red Racer....the makers of my favourite IPA. Well, they finally brought a new whack of beers to the LCBO in the form of a cool looking sampler pack. I say cool looking because it is the only 355 mL sampler pack you can get at the LCBO at the moment.

Red Racer Pilsner

Just a touch hazy, light golden in color and pours with almost no head. The aroma is mostly of sweet malt with just a subtle hint of citrus. The taste is crisp and refreshing with a light toasted malt flavour and just a little bit of hops at the end. In addition to the hops, the finish has a subtle citrus note that lingers alongside the malt.

Refreshing, crisp with no adjuncts...very drinkable, I like.

Taste - 8/10
ABV - 5%

Red Racer Craft White Ale

Straw colored, hazy and pours with a very thick and creamy head. Immediately you get a noseful of tropical fruits and spice...heavy on the banana and citrus. The mouthfeel is creamy, the flavour is of a very smooth wheat beer with a lot of fruits and spice. Banana, papaya and citrus are predominant with a little bit of spice coming in towards the end.

Pretty damn good wheat ale. I wish these were sold on their own so I can get more.

Taste - 8.5/10
ABV - 5%

Red Racer Pale Ale

Copper/golden color, pours with a short to medium head. As expected hops are dominants in the aroma and are the source of the inviting tropical fruits notes. The taste is a a toss between a British and American style pale ale since it is not as heavy on the hops as I thought it would be, but there are plenty of malty notes. Sure, some tropical fruits are present here and there and there is a bit of hops near the finish, but I was expecting the flavour to be as hop heavy as the aroma. Oh well, this is still a very good pale ale, just the aroma is a bit misleading.

Taste - 8.2/10
ABV - 5%

BC Craft Brewers Guild Natural Selection Review

Finally, an interesting variety pack at the LCBO. Just look at that selection. Well, why the heck am I still looking at it? I am ready to drink it.

Steam Works Pale Ale

Unsure where to start, I just grabbed one nearest in the line...also the tallest in the line. No wonder why one of the box corners had a bulge.

First off - I love the design of this bottle and I especially love the list of ingredients on the side:

Malts: Pale, Carapils, Crystal and Caramalt
Hops: Zythos, Cascade
Colour: Copper
IBU's: 35

OK, these are not all ingredients, but you get the idea.

So how is this one? Well, pretty good. It has a copper color (obviously) and pours with a short head that quickly recedes. The aroma is subtle with a bit of sweet malt, caramel, nuts, light citrus and a touch of hops. The taste is bittersweet and heavy on the malt with notes of caramel and roasted nuts appearing here and there. The hops come out in the end and linger well into the finish along with some of the caramel. The flavour starts off rich, but towards the end it thins out and I thought the beer felt watery at times. Odd.

Though the bitterness is nice at first, it tends to quickly build and towards the end of the bottle, I thought it was too much. I liked the malt/hop balance, though.

Russell IP'eh!

OK, not sure who started it, but someone should be suing someone because when I first saw Russell's IP'eh!, all I could think of was Beau's I.P.Eh?.

Russell's has a dark copper color and pours with almost no head. The aroma is sweet and full of caramel, but has very little hop aroma. The taste is quite opposite - more bitter (and watery) than sweet. The hops do not jump out and punch you in the face, but if you taunt them for long enough, they will come out (I mean if you have a few sips, you will start noticing the hops). The beer is a bit watery, but fortunately that keeps all the bad players in check - you know, the ones that can ruin the flavour if they are allowed to take the lead - the caramel sweetness, the hops, the grassiness, etc. The watery flavour actually mellows out the IPA and turns it into a pretty good session ale...except it does feel a bit heavy.

I was a bit disappointed, but I guess I was expecting a hop bombed concoction...so I guess I should be disappointed with myself because I was automatically expecting this to be an American IPA and it didn't even cross my mind that this can be an English one...I have been ruined.

Whistler Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale

Aaah, I remember the days when I made a pomelo ale. Why? Because I love pomelos, that's why. So how does this stack up against my own brew?

Well, it is hazy and has an amber color and pours with no head. The aroma is malty with some bitter/citrus grapefruit notes. The taste is pretty darn good. It has a strong grapefruit flavour upfront, followed by a bit of not-too-sweet malt, followed by more grapefruit, followed by a touch of hops, followed by more grapefruit, followed by...well, you get the idea. The grapefruit comes and goes, but it is always there somehow. The flavour seems very real too. The finish is of grains, with subtle grapefruit base and a touch of hops. Man, the grapefruit is well done. Did not expect this, but yeah, I am quite impressed.

Dead Frog Pale Ale

Amber color, thick and creamy head, fills the room with a strong hop aroma. Up close caramel malt and a light citrus note. Oh Dead Frog, you had me at the hop aroma.

The taste....well, not as good as the aroma, but still very tasty. It is a bit watery, but a very nice bittersweet malt flavour is present along with a light citrus note. Have a few sips and the flavour starts to feel a bit less watery. The finish is similar - bittersweet with light hop and citrus notes.

Overall, the beer lacked the body, but because of that it was easy to drink and would make for a decent session ale with decent flavour.

Sea Dog Amber Ale

This one has a dark amber color and pours with a short head which recedes quickly. The aroma is heavy on the malt and roasted nuts with very little hops lurking underneath. The taste is a bit less malty and a lot more nutty, especially near the end. This is a lot bolder than I thought, but overall it is pretty simple...but bold. The finish is also nutty, but has a touch of coffee and some hops.

Pretty good this one is and that's a lot coming from me because I am not huge on ambers.

Switchback IPA

Whoa, for an American IPA, this one has a super pale color...or am I too used to the amber/copper color of 99.9% of the other IPAs? The aroma carries a load of hops, pine and citrus notes, but that color?

The taste? Pretty damn good. It is a bit dry, extra hoppy with delicious pine and citrus notes, but this is where you see that the color carrying malts are also the color carriers and their presence lacks. Sure there is a bit of sweetness, but this IPA is less sweet (and drier) than most others of the same style. The finish is long and very hoppy. I feel like this is a pretty good "session" IPA since the sweetness will probably not build up that much after a few...I just wish I had a few more to test this hypothesis with.

Bottom line - excellent sampler pack that is a few notches above the Ontario ones available in Canada. I don't mean that BC beers are better than Ontario beers, it is just the variety and what has been assembled is much better than the standard packs at the LCBO. If someone wants to make a few bucks, they should reach out to the non-LCBO retailers and get a bottle from each...aaah, one can always dream.

Mike's Shandy Hard Lemonade and Lager Review

The weather is perfect for an ice cold shandy right now, but I just wish I knew about this earlier in the year when the summer was starting. Still, better late than never.

Mike's Shandy comes in 355 mL cans and is available in packs of 6 or 12 at The Beer Store for $11.75 and $21.95, respectively, and it is out NOOOOOOW (or has been out for some time depending on when you are reading this).

So, the taste! Well, the aroma is a bit raunchy at first, but if you give it a moment or two, you will pick out 2 distinct notes - beer (OK, some grains) and lemon. Give it a taste and you will find that the two notes continue on. At first the taste was also raunchy but I soldiered on and after a third of the can, it grew a little bit on me, but I do have a few things to say.

The marriage between the beer and the lemon juice is not quite there yet. Mike's Shandy has a bright future, but right now I don't think the right type of beer, or lemon juice has been picked. I found that quite often the two flavours battled for dominance rather than compliment one another. I think with such strong lemon flavour, the beer base should have been a hefe or something similarly mellow. On the other hand, if Mike's insists on using a lager, then maybe the lemon should be dialed down a bit.

Aside from the balance issue, Mike's Shandy is super easy to drink, not too sweet and at 4.2% (I was expecting something a lot higher to be perfectly honest), you can keep on drinking these. The finish is very refreshing and feels like you just had a lemonade and not an alcoholic drink. I really enjoyed this at the end of the second can...very surprised. Definitely a good product, but not quite there yet for my taste.

If Mike's are reading this, try using a hefe as a base...or give me a call, I would love to drink a bunch of experimental brews for you guys...if they are free, of course.

Roundhouse Craft Beer Fest

So this was a bit poorly planned, but I decided to write a quick review of the Roundhouse Craft Beer Fest and compare it to the Toronto Festival of Beer, which I went to for the last time a couple of years ago.

For those who don't want to read - the conclusion is go to the Roundhouse Craft Beer Fest instead of the Toronto Festival of Beer - less crowded, there are actual good beers, it is much cheaper and the food is better....also the crowd is more mature and I don't mean in terms of age, but in terms of behavior.

ENTRY COST

Roundhouse

Entry to the Roundhouse fest cost me $20 for 2 tickets, which I got in advance online. The tickets included a sampling cup each (so 2 in total) and entry into the festival (weekend long I might add). The cups are made of glass and feel great. In fact they remind me of a small measuring glass I have so using that I was able to estimate that the sampling glasses hold around 4 oz. You may think it is not much, but each sample only costs $1...soooo...for about $4 you can get a pint of a very decent beer.

Total cost for 2 - $20 (+ tax and service fee if buying online) = ~$24

Toronto Festival of Beer

Ticket prices haven't changed in the past few years (though there are expensive packages you can get now). The cost was $39.50 per ticket, but you did get 5 tokens. I opted for the "hoptimized" tickets, which cost an extra $10 each, got you an extra 5 token per ticket and allowed you to enter an hour earlier. Again, you get a sampling cup (4 oz), however, this one is plastic (last time I went).

At the time I thought hoptimizing will be awesome - "hey, I get to beat the crowds and come in an hour early, why not?" WROOOOOONG. Everyone else had the same idea so when we showed up an hour early, there are already hundreds of people waiting in line. Great - $20 down the drain.

Also, the tickets were only good for a single day.

Total cost for 2 - $99 (+ tax) = $111.87 (no service fee when buying online when I went)

BEER SAMPLING COSTS

Roundhouse

Unfortunately your entry fee does not get you any tokens, however, they are $1 each and you can get them in bundles of 10s and 20s. Any unused tokens can be sold back to the organizers. I got a bundle of 20 for $20 and that was enough for a single day.

Almost all samples were only 1 token. The stronger brews (near or above double ABV digits) were 2 tokens for a full sample or 1 for a half sample.

Total cost for 2 - $20

Toronto Festival

We got 20 tokens in total with our tickets but we had to get an extra 10 for $20 due to reasons outlined in the following "food" section.

Samples cost anywhere from 1 to 4 tokens each. The mead was the most expensive at 4 tokens per sample, but some of the cheaper beers (like Blue) were 1 - 2 depending on the sample size.

Total cost for 2 - $20

FOOD

Roundhouse

This year (2013) there were a bunch of food trucks selling AMAZING items for anywhere from $6 to $10. Tokens are not accepted so you have to bring some extra cash. We spent $15 on 2 slices of pizza (wood oven baked) and a fried chicken-triple waffle stacked sandwich. Though this will satisfy you for a couple of hours, I would probably budget an extra $10 if you want to stay longer.

Total cost for 2 - $15

Toronto Festival

Last time I went there were only a handful of food vendors, some of which did accept tokens, while others only cash. There was BBQ, which was pretty good, but pricey at around $9 for a rack of ribs. There were also some hamburgers and fries, but last time the food felt just so generic and overpriced. This year I heard there was some grilling event, but again, not much variety.

So here is where we spent a good deal of tokens - 6 and $9.

Total cost for 2 - $9

BEERS

Roundhouse

At first I was a bit skeptical because the exhibitors included larger local craft brewers like Amsterdam and Great Lakes Brewing, but fortunately they weren't only selling their most popular brews - they had a lot of one-offs and experimental brews. I noticed that 50% of what all brewers were offering were rare brews that you can only find in some pubs for limited time, or one-offs. The other 50% were the flagship beers, some of which you can get at the LCBO and others you can always get at most pubs.

I tried over 10 new brews and had some of the flagship ones.

Toronto Festival

Though there were over 100 brewers, they were brewers that sell their products at the LCBO and The Beer Store. It took a lot of walking around to find the "smaller" craft brewers and try the 1 or 2 "rare" beers they had on tap. Larger craft brewers like Flying Monkeys had a decent presence, but at the time they only had 1 non-flagship beer they were offering (they also had another one, but had run out already - Saturday morning).

There were some interesting brews, like a bunch of meads I was able to try (I was nice to the guy at the booth so he let me have a couple of sips of each without asking me for tokens).

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS AND TOTAL COST

Roundhouse

Roundhouse Craft Beer Fest is geared more towards those who want to venture out and find unique beers. There were some interesting brews that would have not appealed to the general audience, but there were also some staple craft beers. The audience is mature, the atmosphere is very laid back and the place didn't start to get crowded until 3 hours after the gates opened. We managed to get a picnic table since we were one of the first ones in and we shared it with various people that came and went. The beers were good, the food was good, the entertainment was OK. I would definitely go again.

Total Cost - $59

Toronto Festival

This one is geared more towards the general public and though the organizers try to get folks who enjoy Blue and Bud to try something different, the macro brews have such a large presence that the craft brewers get lost. The macro brewers also have tons of contests and give away so much free swag, that I noticed people hovering around their booths waiting for free stuff so much so that there were no lines at most of the craft brewers.

The audience going to this event was largely people who would wait for 2 hours at a crowded club, pay $20 to get in and get a watered down $10 cocktail or a crappy $10 beer...you know who you are. No wonder I refuse to go back to the festival.

The macro brewers were crowded, but there was plenty of room near the craft brewers. One place I didn't go to was the caskapalooza tent, which cost another $20 per person to get in and there were only 10 casks for which you had to pay even more money to sample.

Total Cost - $140.87

$140.87 VS $59!!!! Not to mention that the Roundhouse passes are weekend long.

Weekend Tastings - Ugly Beer cans and Shandys

The title says it all, yes, I am trying a beer that caught my eye because of its ugly label. Well, it worked. What also caught my eye was the Hockley 100 and Rickard's Shandy that were sitting beside it. Who says you have to make an attractive label when this ugly one got me to buy this product.

Old Style Pilsner

So lets start off with the ugly can, because...well...you are probably most interested in it. Before I get into the beer, I have to say one thing - this beer is made by Molson! This isn't a small mom and pop shop (err...brewery) brew, this is something made by a giant corporation.

So the label is ugly, so what? You know what is not ugly? The price! That's right, this beer was only $1.90, which is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest tall boy you can get at the LCBO, it is even about the same price as a PBR.

The beer itself has a pale straw color and pours with a bubbly head that recedes very quickly to a thin ring around the glass. The aroma is typical of such macrobrews - sweet and malty with a hint of adjuncts. The taste is what I was expecting - malty, very sweet, some adjuncts and boozy. Tastes a lot like a regular Molson, except a little sweeter I think. Over time a grassy taste builds up as well as an odd sweetness at the back of my throat.

I wasn't disappointed by this one, but I wasn't expecting much so...you know it is drinkable and some may enjoy it, but...blaaaaargh. Even if I wanted to have more than one, the sweetness will easily stop me.

Taste - 4/10
ABV - 5%

Hockley 100

Here is another light beer for the hot summer nights...except that this one tastes like sweet malt water with some adjuncts tossed in there. The aroma is veeery strong with a lot of sweet malt and butter. The flavour is similar, but with more of the buttery flavour and the finish is more of the same.

I like Hockley, but this just isn't a good brew. Sorry guys. But hey, on the plus side there is no nasty build up of any flavours like the beer above.

Taste - 4/10
ABV - 4.3%

Rickard's Shandy

Sooo, saving best for last? Best by comparison to the previous two.

The beer is slightly hazy (from the lemonade I assume) and pours with a lingering bubbly head. The aroma is strong and veeerry lemony. You can tell there are lemons in this thing from miles away (OK, like many, many centimeters). Also a little bit of sweet malt pokes from underneath.

The taste is disappointingly light and mediocre. The aroma led me to believe I was going to get a lot of lemons and some beer, but what I got instead was a watery beer taste at the start with a light lemon flavour. The finish is refreshing with the medium length lemon notes...and some sweet malt. Overall the beer is light and easy to drink, but the aroma was so misleading. I can see this being hugely improved by squeezing half a lemon in the beer.

Taste - 5.5/10
ABV - 4.5%

Weekend Tastings - Cheap Cider and Fish....ish

How about that GTA storm on Friday, eh? Aside from the fallen trees and some damages the weather got really nice after and stayed cool and sunny for the entire weekend. Sunday was especially nice so I thought it would be to have a few drinks outside on the patio.

Tempt No. 9

I found this one at the LCBO across Sherway Gardens and it took no time for it to win me over with its cool and catchy matte label...and its $1.90 price. 

Well, for $1.90 you do get what you paid for. The aroma does have a healthy dose of sweet strawberries but it also does carry an unpleasant medicinal undertone. The flavour is a bit unbalanced with a mixture of apple and strawberries at the start and some artificial tasting lime right after. Soon after the flavours go away comes a boozy note which lingers well into the finish before it makes way for more of the sweet strawberry flavours...which at this point are a little too sweet and feel a little odd, not quite fake, but odd.

After a few sips I added some ice to the cider, which not made it colder and easier to drink, but also helped turn down the sweetness a little. Though refreshing on a nice sunny day, I think the flavour could be much better or the cider could be improved by adding juice, ice and fresh fruits.

Not the best you can get at the LCBO, but the price is good.

Cost - $1.90 from LCBO

Taste - 6/10

ABV - 4.5%

Kensington Brewing Company FishEye PA

FishEYE PA is not a new beer, but it is new to cans and new to the LCBO. I first had it at the Burger Bar in Kensington Market where it originated last year. In cans, the beer has the same hazy, deep amber color and the same thick, creamy and lacy head.

The aroma is sweet, floral and buttery with a lot of tropical fruits. The taste is similar without the over sweetness or overhoppiness you might find in some similar IPAs. Up front you get a nice tropical fruit flavour with some hops while at the back you get some bittersweet pine, malty and hoppy notes. The finish is bittersweet, but it does seem to lean more towards the bitter side. Some tropical fruits remain, but the majority of the finish is of piney hops. Towards the end of the can some grass notes emerge which tend to add up faster if you have another one.

Overall, a very decent canned version of a pretty good IPA.

Cost - $2.85 from LCBO

Taste - 8.9/10

ABV - 6.5%

Weekend Beer Tastings - Paradise IPA

Mill Street Offerings

This weekend I went to the Mill Street brew pub to pick up a bottle or two of their new beer schnapps (review coming soon if not already out) and while I was waiting in line I glanced at the fridge and noticed a couple of beers that caught my eye - Doppel Pils and Paradise IPA.

Doppel Pils

I decided to start with the Doppel Pils given its lighter flavor (hop flavor that is) and work my way towards the stronger tasting IPAs I had rolling around the fridge (obviously not rolling around).

The beer has a light golden color and pours with a two finger thick bubbly head that quickly recedes to a pinkie thick layer of foam. The aroma is of grains, sweet malt and distant hops. The mouthfeel is surprisingly creamy with a lot of sweet malt. There is alcoholic note towards the end which gives the beer a very warm and dry finish with a mild spice burn at the back of the throat. The malt is dominant throughout and the hops don't emerge until the finish and not truly until a few short moments after the finish. Unfortunately their appearance is short-lived.

This beer is a decent strong beer sipper but the dryness of the finish didn't leave me impressed. I would drink this again, but I would also have a cup of water in my other hand...with some ice.

Paradise IPA

This one is an American style IPA (duh) and unlike Mill Street's regular IPA offering (British style IPA), this one is heavy on the west coast hops. This is the IPA most people think they are getting when they buy an IPA growler from Mill Street (it has happened to a couple of guys I know as well as several patrons of the brew pub store that I have overheard on several occasions). Just an FYI - it doesn't hurt to ask what the beer you are getting is and whether or not it is a style you might enjoy.

Well, back to the IPA - it has a hazy amber color and pours with a short to medium head that quickly recedes to a thing ring around the edges of the glass. The aroma is hoppy and sweet with notes of honey, pine, papaya and some pineapple. Inviting!

The flavour is bitter upfront but transitions to sweet and malty and ends of a bittersweet note. Throughout notes of toasted malt, tropical fruits and hops are present with hops intensifying towards the finish.

Though there are plenty of hops, the beer doesn't feel overhopped, overly bitter and grassy. There is a nice balanced between the bitterness, sweetness and the fruitiness. At 7.2% it is surprisingly easy to drink back to back.

Next time you hit up the Mill Street brew store (or any other similar store) don't be afraid to ask if you are getting British or American style IPA. No offense to the British style IPA (some of which I really like), but it has been my experience that most people seek the American style IPAs.

Great Lakes Brewing Offerings

Johnny Simcoe Pale Ale

I bought a few cans of this when I went to pick up my Robohops on release day some time ago. These can only be picked up at the Great Lakes Brewing store for about $3-something and since these are from tank ten then the quantities are limited, unless this goes the way of My Bitter Wife.

The beer has a light amber color and pours with a short creamy head. Immediately the air around the beer is filled with fruity notes from the strong simcoe hops. Up close heavy tropical notes and pine are dominant.

The taste is a bit watery at first, but light sweet malt and tropical notes quickly come out and give the beer some depth. Some bitterness also emerges right after the hops and starts to build up for the finish which is heavy on the hops. Lingering grassy notes, which I am not a huge fan of, add to the dry and bittersweet finish.

Overall, this is a light and refreshing American style pale ale that is heavy on the hops and fairly refreshing on a hot weekend night. Unfortunately after a single can, the bitterness was so much at the back of my throat that I couldn't have another one. Perhaps lowering the hops to malt ratio just a tiny bit will get me to fall in love with this pale ale. Or maybe if I have a bit of water I will be good to go for another.

Indie Ale House Belgian Rye IPA Review

I was across the street Sunday evening for tacos at Playa Cabana and decided to pick up a growler on my way home. That night the only growlers were Belgian Rye IPAs for $24...so I got one.

The beer has a deep amber color with some red hues and pours with almost no head. The aroma is very Belgian-y with sweet malt, some honey, spices and a little bit of freshly cut grass. The taste is equally sweet with more of the honey notes and spices at the end, and surprisingly for a Belgian style, this beer is very easy to drink and was rather refreshing on a hot Sunday evening outside on the patio. The finish is moderately warm, a tiny bit spicy and also carries some hops. The rye notes are subtle at first, but really come out in the finish. 

Scores:

Cost - $24 for a growler (with deposit)

Taste - 8/10

ABV - 6.5%

Overall - 8/10...very drinkable Belgian Rye IPA

Brewers Backyard - Canada Day Edition

On Canada Day I decided to get off my ass and do something productive rather than just sit at home, sample beers and play games (Rift is back in my life)...so we drove over to the Evergreen Brick Works, which was just 7 minutes away via DVP.

If you haven't been there, the place is a cool collection of a converted factory, warehouse, trails and ponds in the back. The only downside is that it is not easily accessible unless you live behind the trails or have a car. Sure, you can take TTC there, but the trip frequency is not the greatest.

The Reason

Why did I decide to get off my ass and go? Well, it was Brewer's Backyard and there were some interesting collaboration beers as well as some good eats.

The Event

For $20 you got a mug and 2 drink/food tickets. No, you don't have to buy the mug, but I thought it was cool to have one. The tickets themselves are either $4 or $6. The $6 tickets are interchangeable and you can get either a food item or a drink item, while the $4 tickets were beer only. One other thing I wasn't told about at the ticket booth is that the tickets bought you only half a pint of the collaboration brews, but full pints of the regulars. I made my peace with that last one since the collaborations were on the stronger side and I had to drive back home after.

The Beers

Amsterdam, Great Lakes and Indie Ale House were present and had booths set up at the Koerner Gardens.

At the time I was there, Amsterdam was offering the following:

• Lemon Wheat - collaboration with Broadhead
• Framboise
• Market Pale
• Oranje Weisse

Great Lakes was offering the following

• Crazy Canuck Pale Ale
• Orange Peel Ale
• Miami Weiss
• Lake Effect IPA
• Saison de la Canneberge

Indie Ale House has these on tap:

• Broken Hipster
• Golden Devil

I wanted to try all the beers I hadn't had before, but I ended up only having the Broken Hipster, Golden Devil and Saison de la Canneberge. The Lemon Wheat and Lake Effect were having some problems with the temperature and I was told to return in a bit...I would have had I not had to leave...so next time guys.

Broken Hipster - refreshing wheat with a lot of fruity notes and low on the spices

Golden Devil - heavy hitter with sweet honey notes and a lot of spices (wish I had written down some notes)

Saison de la Canneberge - tart, extremely refreshing and veeeery drinkable, easily my favorite of the bunch

The Food

The food was provided by Kanga, Sweet Sammies and Indie Ale House and was all very delicious. My favourite of the bunch were Kanga's butter chicken pies. 

Sweet Sammies' maple bacon ice cream sandwiches were also a hit. The ice cream was sweet with a strong maple aroma up front and a very nice bacon note at the back.

Overall, I enjoyed the event and wish I hadn't driven so that I could wait around for the other beers and sample everything. At the end, I walked around the trails, saw some turtles, took photos, sobered up and went home. I will definitely do one of these again.

Weekend Beer Tastings

It is Saturday night, I have way too much beer kicking around and I am too lazy to go out. This can only mean one thing - beer tasting!

St. Peter's G-Free

The "G-Free" stands for gluten free...if you hadn't already figured that one out. This beer is the 6th gluten-free beer you can get at the LCBO...well, while the quantities last. Wait...the sixth? I bet you didn't know the LCBO sold so many gluten free beers, eh? Well at the time of this review these beers are - Nickel Brook's, Bard's Gold, La Messagere and Lakefront's. OK, before the angry comments come, let me clear something up - yes, there are only 4 names listed (which makes 5 with St. Peter's), but I say that there are 6 beers in total...well obviously one of these brewers sells more than 1 kind of gluten-free beer at the LCBO.

Well, onto the beer. The beer is brewed with 3 ingredients - water, sorghum and hops. Sorghum, according to the most trusted source on the internets, Wikipedia, is a type of grass raised for grain and you can read more about it here.

The brew pours with a thin, bubbly head which quickly dissipates without a trace. As seen in the overexposed photo (I apologize for the lack of lightbox shots in the recent months) the beer has a light amber color, which is much darker than I actually expected. The aroma is hoppy with a sour undertone. Probably flavourful hops had to be used to cover up the sourness.

The flavour is sour and hoppy and reminds me of a poorly brewed batch of pale ale I made last year...which I still ended up drinking. But after a few sips the taste gets better and the sourness dies down a bit to make this beer faitly enjoyable. Some bitterness also slowly starts to emerge and after a few more sips the two start to balance each other out. The low alcohol content and the light flavour make it easily drinkable.

The finish is sour but with lingering hop notes. I think the choice of flavourful American hops was a very wise one.

Though the start was rocky, I actually enjoyed this beer. If you like American hops but can't enjoy bold west coast IPAs, I strongly suggest giving one of these a shot.

Lake of Bays Rock Cut Baysville Lager

OK, obviously for this photo I wasn't lazy enough to not set up my lightbox and take a decent picture, but I was lazy as always with the editing.

Rock Cut was recently added to the LCBO shelves and just in time for the summer months and Victoria Day weekend.

The lager is amber in color and pours with a thick, creamy head which recedes in a couple of minutes with some lacing behind. Off the bat you that this will be a flavourful lager with its darker-than-mass-market color.  The aroma further confirms this with a healthy dose of malt reminding me of a German lager.

The flavour is very similar to German lagers, however, the mouthfeel is a tad lighter and there is a bit of copper beneath the maltiness. The finish is crisp and a little dry with a bit of lingering sweet malt and light hops. The lighter mouthfeel made this beer exceptionally drinkable and very refreshing in the warm weather for me and the first one really hit the spot. I cannot wait to stock up.

Try this if you like Mill Street's Organic Lager or Stock Ale. Lake of Bays Rock Cut is as light and refreshing as the Organic Lager with a flavour profile between the two. Though I enjoy West-coast style IPAs, I always keep some Stock Ale and Organic Ale in case I want something refreshing and light. I think I will start keeping some cans of Rock Cut as well.

Molson Canadian Wheat

I got a can of this when it was first released a few weeks ago, but it just ended up sitting in my fridge until the long weekend when I had some time to sample a few beers.

Molson's Wheat pours and looks like any other macro wheat - light gold in color, cloudy and pours with a thick and creamy head which remains on top. The aroma is blend between a regular molson and a true wheat beer with grains and some spices trailing far behind.

The taste is surprisingly light, refreshing and very easy to drink. I kinda like it...at least the first few sips. The reason why I liked it at first is because this lacks the traditional wheat beer profile and leans more towards macro lagers with enough wheat added to call it a wheat beer, yet not enough for Molson to offend their target audience. There are very little spices, banana or citrus notes....OK, OK, there are almost none. So if you are looking for a wheat beer, then I suggest you look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for an easy to drink, light and refreshing beer and you don't care about the style, then this will be perfect for you.

I almost forgot - I said I only liked the first few sips. Why is that? Because after a few more sips a light sourness starts to emerge and build up with each sip. At first, it is subtle, but the more you drink, the stronger it gets. Also, the finish starts to develop a level of dryness that requires water to be drank, thus making this beer a little less enjoyable.

Overall, this doesn't quite fit the wheat profile I expected, but it is an inoffensive and easy to drink beer that will most likely appeal to Molson's fans.

Alexander Keith's Single Hop Ales Review

You heard right - Alexander Keith's just released a couple of single hop ales - one made with Cascade hops and one with Hallertauer hops - both one of the most popular and widely used hops. As much as craft beer drinkers dislike Alexander Keith's brews, I love that they are not afraid to try a few new things.

I love single hop series. Not too long ago, a friend of mine gave me about 18-19 different single hops brews Mikkeller makes and I had a blast trying them all. The recipe is very similar - the base is all the same and the only thing that changes are the hops. It is a great way to see how hops affect the profile of beers. Also, please enjoy this photo of the Mikkeller brews nicely arranged my friend took.

Cascade Hop Ale

This beer has a surprisingly good aroma with a decent amount of Cascade hops and a bit of a caramel undertone, and a tiny bit of citrus and pine. The taste, though, is not quite what I expected. The start is hoppy and mildly sweet with a good amount of malt. The mouthfeel is mostly medium, yet the beer somehow feels watery and very thin from time to time. There is very little of the hops and malt in the finish and partway through the can there was a weird build up at the back of my throat.

Hallertauer Hop Ale

I am not a huge fan of Hallertauer to begin with. Sure, I have used some for brews in the past, but just love the strong notes hops like Cascade and Citra have.

This beer has a sweet and malty aroma with just a little bit of hops in the background. The taste is similar - sweet and malty with a distant grassy tone. The finish is, once again, very similar - sweet and malty. Not much complexity here.

Once again Alexander Keith's have made something a notch better than their mass-produced beer, but not quite what connoisseurs are looking for or what small craft brewers can brew. It is not a bad brew for those tempted to venture out of the mass-produced lagers. Overall, I thought the Cascade Hop was the better one of the two, but it is still not as good as the craft ones you can get.

Scores:
Cost - $2.55 per can (both)
Taste - Cascade - 6.8/10, Hallertauer - 5.8/10
ABV - Cascade - 5.5%, Hallertauer - 5.4%

Overall - nice attempt, like the Cascade one, I will not miss the Hallertauer one if it disappears

BSG Glutenberg American Pale Ale Review

This is the third and best tasting gluten-free beer I have had so far. No wonder BSG won 3 best gluten-free beer awards at the World Beer Cup 2012, including a silver medal for this here American Pale Ale. Sure this isn't available in Ontario, but Quebec is not too far away and for $2.59 per bottle, it is fairly affordable for such a niche beer.

The beer has an amber color, slightly hazy, and pours with no head. The aroma is very pale ale-like, but there is a noticeable lack of sweet malt, but there are plenty of hops to satisfy hop lovers. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, but all the good pale ale stuff are there - hops, caramely and floral sweetness and a bit of fruits. Sure, there is an odd flavour towards the finish, but the hops help a lot. The finish is slightly acidic, floral, a tad hoppy and even a little nutty. This doesn't quite compare to a malty American-style Pale Ale, but for a gluten-free beer it is very delicious.

Scores:
Cost - $2.69
Taste - 7/10
ABV - 5.5%

Overall - 7/10...pretty good for a gluten-free beer, but the lack of malt is noticeable

Lucky Beer Review

I know what you are thinking - best bottle design EVAH! But seriously, this was enough to get me to buy this beer...also we were having a party and thought this might amuse us at the end of a night of drinking...and it really did. Luckily I was able to save a bottle for a quick review.

Lucky is obviously a lager and is imported from China. It has a very light golden color and pours with no head, just a bubbly ring around the edges of the glass. The aroma is typical for such lagers - boozy with notes of grains and rice. The flavour is on the bolder end for such lagers (not talking about craft lagers here, OK) so you get a decent amount of malt up front. Shortly after come lightly toasted notes, grass and in the distance is a boozy/ricey note. The tail end is watery without any offensive notes at the start, but go halfway the first bottle and a boozy/ricey note will start building up.

I had these super cold during the party and this one was just cold. I strongly recommend these to be consumed as cold as possible. Overall, I thought it was a pretty refreshing lager, but there was just nothing exceptional about it other than the bottle.

Scores:
Cost - $11.75 for a 6 pack
Taste - 5.8/10
ABV - 4.8%

Overall - 5.8/10...cool bottle, refreshing, nothing exciting

Flying Monkeys BNL Imperial Chocolate Stout Review

BNL stands for Barenaked Ladies for those who are a bit confused. Flying Monkeys and BNL did a bit of a collaboration brewing and is $13.95, limited edition bottle is the result.

The beer is pitch black, one of the darkest I have seen, and pours with a a medium thick, tan head. The chocolate notes emanating from the pour are simply amazing. Up close this feels like sticking your nose in a pile of the most amazing cocoa. The taste is just as amazing, which makes this the best chocolate stout I have ever had. Up front there is a velvety smooth milk chocolate taste, followed by a hint of roasted cocoa beans. The finish is extremely smooth with a long lasting amazingly chocolaty note. Though the beer is at 10% ABV it is extremely smooth and there are almost no traces of alcohol.

Best Imperial Chocolate Stout I have had! Buy it if you can find a bottle.

Scores:
Cost - $13.95 for a bottle
Taste - 10/10
ABV - 10%

Overall - 10/10...best Imperial Chocolate Stout to date!

Stone IPA Review

No wonder Meijer's was selling these for $1.49 per bottle - these expired on the 9th of this month, just a week before I cracked this open. But who cares, these dates are just suggestive...

The beer has a copper/light amber color and pours with a generous head and a huge hop aroma which can barely be contained. Moments after the first puff from prying the cap off my nose was hit by the pleasant aroma of hops...Cascade or Citra...Amarillo??? I cannot say for sure since they are all very similar and I am still not much of an experienced brewer.

Upon closer inspection the aroma also carries a lot of citrus and a bit of pine. The taste is astonishing and this expired bottle of Stone's IPA is better than most "excellent" IPA's you can get on tap around here. The taste is perfectly balanced and though is very hop heavy, it doesn't give you that grassiness that you sometimes get from other overly hopped IPAs. There are plenty of tropical fruits and malt sweetness to compliment the hops and this marriage carries through to the finish and then some. A moderate hop flavour with mild citrus lingers for a long time and just makes you want to drink another bottle until you are out or cannot stand straight. 

The higher ABV is perfectly masked and at no point can you ever tell you are drinking something above 5.5%.

This is perfect...first 10?

Scores:

Cost - $1.49 for a bottle at Meijer's (older batch)

Taste - 10/10

ABV - 6.9%

Overall - 10/10...the best IPA and probably the best beer you can buy today

A duo of pumpkin beers

This year the LCBO released quite a few pumpkin beers, but since I am a bit pumpkined out I only tried a few.

Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale 2012

Here is to another Post Road...vintage 2012. For $2.45 a bottle can be yours from the LCBO.

The beer has an amber color and pours with a short head, which quickly recedes. The aroma is predominantly spices with very little pumpkin far in the background after the sweet malt and the caramely hints. The taste is light like the previous Post Roads I have had and it is starting to get a bit disappointing. Every year there are stronger and stronger pumpkin ales while this one does not change much, or at all. I have to hand it to Brooklyn, their quality control seems bang on, but come on guys, add some more pumpkin and spice to this brew.

That said, the beer is an easy drinker and if you like Brooklyn's lager, you will like this pumpkin beer since both share a few similarities. Of course the pumpkin one has spices and a subtle pumpkiny note which doesn't emerge until close to the finish.


Taste - 6.5/10
ABV - 5%


Southern Tier Imperial Pumking 2012

And here is the heavy hitter in the pumpkin ale field. This is a favorite of mine which I look forward to every year.

This year's beer has a light amber/golden color and pours with a short head which quickly recedes to a ring. The aroma is strong and inviting. It's as if you are shoving your face into a pumpkin pie with all the graham, pumpkin and spices aromas coming from the glass. The taste is, another year in a row, absolutely fantastic. Graham, sweet malt, pumpkin and spices at the start with a bit of hops and more spices near the end. Absolutely delicious! The only complaint would be the alcoholic note towards the finish, but hey, at 8.6% that is sort of expected.

Again, recommended for this year.



Taste - 9/10
ABV - 8.6%

Stone Pale Ale Review

Finally - Stone's Pale Ale. I finally had the chance to go beer hunting in the US and I bought some beers I have been dying to try for years now. I will start off the tasting with a beer that is considered the best pale ale in the world.

The beer has a dark amber color and pours with a generous head which recedes moderately slowly leaving plenty of lacing behind. The bittersweet hoppy aroma can be detected from far away. It is so strong that it quickly and easily fills the air around it with its pleasant notes. Upon closer inspection piney and dried fruit notes are present and nicely complement the rest of the aroma.

The taste is extremely well balanced with caramel malt up front followed by roasted notes as well as sweet dried fruits and some hops. There is plenty of bitterness and sweetness but one does not overpower the other.

The finish bittersweet a decent hop punch and just hints of fruits. In the distance a slightly spicy note gives the finish the warmth it needs. This is truly one of the best pale ales, if not the best, that I have had the pleasure of trying. Next time I am in the US, I will buy a lot more.

Scores:
Cost - $1.49 from Meijer's
Taste - 9.5/10
ABV - 5.4%

Overall - 9.6/10...I just need to give it an extra 0.1 for how drinkable this beer is

A trio of Québécois fruit beers

Here are three fruit beers I picked up when I was in Montreal at the height of Ontario's heat wave to enjoy on the balcony...many many weeks ago. The three beers are brewed by Schoune and retail for $2.49 each.

Douce Caresse

An apricot beer with a hazy honey color and a thin head. The aroma carries a sharp and very acidic apricot scent with quite a bit of malt. The taste is very sour and surprisingly refreshing. The light and sour apricot flavour reminds me of eating hard, unripened apricots while the malt gives the beer enough character to separate it from an apricot flavoured cider. The finish is crisp, dry with a bit of malt and a very subtle apricot note.

Taste - 6/10

Eternel Peche

This one has a very odd, muddy honey color and its aroma differs very little from the apricot one...if any. The taste is much, much more different, though. A sweet peach flavour comes first, however a strong malt taste comes quickly and lingers well into the finish.  There is very little sourness and not enough sweetness to place this beer in either the "sweet and fruity" or the "sour and refreshing" categories. The flavour is stuck somewhere in between which made this beer very average for me. The finish is very mild with a very faint peach note and a very strong malt flavour. Did not enjoy this very much.

Taste - 4/10

Plaisir D'Ete

This one has a hazy amber color with a very sharp sour aroma from the wild yeast. The flavour is just as sour with subtle notes of sour raspberries. The finish is refreshing and overall, this is an OK sour ale at a much lower cost than similar Belgian ones.

Taste - 5.8/10

Scores:

Cost - $2.49 per bottle

ABV - 4%

Muskoka Harvest Ale 2012 Review

It is Fall and with Fall it is time for the latest Harvest Ale. This one can be yours...or could have been yours if you are reading this late for $8.95.

This year's Harvest Ale has a deep amber color very similar to last year batch and pours with the same medium thick, slightly off-white head which leaves some lacing behind as it recedes. The aroma is once again hoppy with very obvious Cascade notes bring out citrus notes with pine and caramel trailing behind. There is also a subtle alcohol note lurking beneath the citrus aroma.

The taste is a bit off balance - very sweet at the start with a lot of fruits and caramel, yet bitter with roasted malts and hops shortly after. There seems to be no smooth transition.. Grassy notes appear for a brief moment before the sweet (OK and slightly bitter) finish comes. 

Overall, I am not hugely impressed by this year's Harvest Ale due to its sweetness, but it still is a fairly drinkable brew.

Scores:

Cost - $8.95 for a 750 mL bottle

Taste - 7/10

ABV - 7%

Overall - 7/10...sweet and a bit off-balanced

La Gueule de Boise La Racine Milk Stout Review

I am a huge fan of milk stouts so when I saw this in Montreal, I just had to have it and in exchange for $5.75 plus tax a bottle was mine.

The beer has a very dark brown, almost black color and pours with a huge, semi-lively head. I had to pour the 500 mL bottle several times to fit it all in a 650 mL glass. The aroma is very weak for a stout, but you do get some milky notes here and there (yes, they are a bit raunchy). You also get very subtle roasted malt hints and even subtler coffee notes. 

The taste is...confusing. It reminds me a lot of the s'mores beer I made a few months ago and didn't want to consume more than 2 bottles of. The mouthfeel is a way too watery and the beer is too carbonated. The flavour is sour with veeeeery subtle coffee and roasted notes which only appear near the finish. On the plus side if you don't like the beer the aftertaste is not remind you of what you just consumed because there is almost none at the start and you only start noticing lingering notes half way through the bottle. Once you start noticing the lingering flavours, you will also notice how dry your mouth is and how much you want to consume water instead.

I am a bit disappointed because I was really looking forward to trying this and also because I paid $6 for this bottle. This, of course, did not stop me from consuming the bottle.

Scores:

Cost - $5.75

Taste - 4/10

ABV - 5.5%

Overall - 4/10...light tasting