For the fourth tasting in my Ales Bells series, I thought it appropriate to reintroduce myself to one of the standards in ales, the English-styled pale ale. Compared to the chocolate brown of my last tasting or the first in the series, Beau’s “Gilgamesh” (an “old ale”), you can clearly see the reason why this style is called…
“Imperial I.P.A.” (Double IPA) Garrison Brewing Co.
So here’s a beer I reviewed after 3 weeks of being out of commission, when my palette was back to working … and back to bring you new reviews and tastes. Thankfully I had a few in reserve to post in between because I wouldn’t otherwise have trusted anything I tasted. So what better way to…
“Rhyme & Reason” (Extra Pale Ale) Collective Arts Brewing
To be great doesn’t make you good; to be good, however, requires greatness. So that’s my paradoxical aphorism for the month of May, inspired by a company that, to look at the box and the bottles within, already has greatness written all over it. And I mean really impressive greatness. This is a six pack…
“Nut Brown Ale” (Brown Ale) Dead Frog Brewery
A quick pour of this beer and I was already making faces. Nice essence of caramel from nose to mouth, but the bubbles were as tight and harsh in the mouth as coco-cola without the sugar. Not the way I like my brown ale. Fizzy is certainly the word I would use to describe this…
“Yakima I.P.A.” (American Pale Ale) Le Castor Brewing Company
A beer for the senses …. I know a great beer when I smell one … and I definitely know one to taste it. And, while a little tougher to discern, I often know one to see one. Here’s a beer that teaches you your own beer senses if you care to try them out….
“Pepper Lime Lager” (flavoured), Dead Frog Brewery
Ok, I thought I should try reviewing a few beers outside my normal comfort zone, so I took a little trip back to the Beer Store (when will I learn you ask?) and looked for “different.” How about a few lagers, I thought? Well, if I wanted “different” I sure found it in this box…
“IPA du Lièvre” (IPA) Microbrasserie du Lièvre
Okay — so this is a tasting that is long, long overdue. I actually bought this beer a year ago. The only reason I put it off this long was because of the 1-litre bottle. And, so, I’ve been waiting for the right moment when I could both review it and settle in for a…
“Rudolphus VI” (Belgian IPA) Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company
Most good things must eventually run their course … and this concludes my “Best of Beau’s” series featuring the four beer in their “mix pack.” This final comer is, again, Beau’s Brewery’s play with a defining but yet less mainstream beer style: the Belgian IPA, something I didn’t know that existed as a “style” before…
“Lake Effect IPA – Tank Ten” (IPA), Great Lake Brewing
Ok, so I’m learning that I’m a sucker for a pretty, I mean well-designed, bottle. Yes, I guess that makes me easily influenced when it comes to beer reviews …. (Shhhh) So here’s a 650mL bottle that has been yearning towards me for a number of weeks, but I had to get through the Renaissance…
“Perfection” (English Pale Ale), Renaissance Brewing Company
After watching Invictus the other night and then scoping out my fridge for what to taste next, the New Zealand trio seemed almost perfect given the how big the All-Blacks rugby team had figured in the film. As bold as Eastwood was to dive into a sacred moment in world history, Renaissance Brewing is equally…