There is something powerful about going home. In that homecoming, there is a sense of being completed, of filling a space that is at the foundation of who we are. Even if that space goes unrecognized, even while we build upon it, and while we take our lives to distant ramparts, the space remains. Last…
“Fearless” (IPA), Dead Frog Brewery
Collect Experiences. Not Things. You will read these words at the top of this 650ml bottle which on the front displays an extreme surfer and on the side proclaims “For fearlessly pursuing your passion no matter how many sharks stand in your way … You have earned the coveted SHARK BAIT BADGE.” Not that I…
“Phillips Hop Circle IPA” (IPA), Phillips Brewing Company
This past weekend I had the pleasure of drinking Rogue Ale’s IPA, which is an excellent example of a west-coast IPA made on the actual west-coast … go figure, they actually make IPAs on the west-coast. When the beer came to the table, one of my very good friends remarked that it looked “hoppy.” While…
“Joseph Bellarmin” ( Double IPA), Microbrasserie de L’Île d’Orléans
It is truly remarkable how much the essential same ingredients can continually play out different surprises on the palette. It is probably one of the things that is fascinating me so much about this beer portion of the blog. Who is Joseph Bellarmin? Well, according to the words on the side of the bottle, he…
“Boneshaker” (IPA), Amsterdam Brewery
Purity • Passion • Revelry …. Such are the words found on the cap of Amsterdam’s “Boneshaker Unfiltered IPA.” Great words to drink to … even better words to live by. At 7.1% alcohol, a macabre skeleton riding a c.1865 “velocipede,” and with phrases like “over the top hops” and “copious quantities of hops” and…
“Hopkins Double I.P.A.” (Double IPA), Boquébière Microbrasserie de Sherbrooke
Hmm … so I’ve been waiting some time to try the big (BIG) bitter brother of Hopkins single IPA that I previously reviewed. There was the small distraction of some amazing food and a recent trip to Prince Edward County (and a lot of wine) that interceded between tastes, but we have finally arrived at…
“Hopkins India Pale Ale” (West-Coast IPA), Boquébière Microbrasserie de Sherbrooke
Sometimes you just get a good feeling about a beer before you even open it. Hopkins, brewed out of the Eastern Townships (which is Western Quebec for those not from around these parts), is a good example of just that. The label says “funky” with its retro, throwback monochromatic portrait but what really impressed me…
“606 India Pale Ale” (IPA), Paddock Wood Brewing
I know I’ve had beer in Saskatchewan before … what I can’t say with any certainty is whether I’ve had a beer from Saskatchewan. So here’s another product of my impulse shopping at The Beer Store last month, a new beer I haven’t tasted before and from a new region. I have to admit, this…
“Rousse Bitter” (English Bitter), La Barberie
A Canadian spring is a fickle creature and just as changeable – so it makes sense to approach with caution. It’s nice to do a slow decompression from a longer than recently typical winter and instead of rushing into “summer” beers, an amber (or red) seemed an appropriate ‘next step.’ I have to say, one…
“Twice as Mad Tom” (Double IPA), Muskoka Brewery
So here’s a lesson on the perils of impulse shopping whilst in a beer store – ok, I grant, it’s not a lesson I’ve learned nor am I likely to learn anytime soon, but in theory, there is a lesson to be learned here. A few weeks ago I went to return the empty shells of my…