A naughty neighbour that flirts with your thirst more than it quenches it. Rating → 84 points Stats: American Pale Ale. 4.9% ABV. 38 IBUs. Burlington, Ontario. Size: 355mL bottle Colour: Golden straw (chardonnay) — clear except for profusion of heavy particulate that grows with the pour. Mouth Feel: Medium, very natural carbonation; light start and a refreshingly bitter finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $12.75 (6-pack) Pairing…
Honey Bee’Lixir (English Ale) Railway City Brewing Company
Floats like cloud and drinks like a bee, this is the latest from Railway City … Rating → 79 points Stats: English Ale. 5% ABV. 29 IBUs. St Thomas, Ontario. Size: 750mL bottle Colour: Dark red-brown amber — perfectly filtered Mouth Feel: Medium-low, natural carbonation; relatively flat on the tongue with a low specific gravity….
“Enlightenment” (Belgian Ale), Renaissance Brewing Company
“Perhaps its inevitable, perhaps one has to choose between being nothing at all and impersonating what one is.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre, The Age of Reason Rating → 68 points Stats: Belgian Ale. 6.5% ABV. Marlborough, New Zealand. Size: 500mL bottle Colour: Muddy brown amber Mouth Feel: High carbonation obliterates the mouthfeel Purchased: LCBO Price: $6.95 Pairing…
Hop Nouveau 2014 (American IPA) Trafalgar Ales & Meads
Pour cautiously our you’ll have wet hopped everything around you too …. Rating: 87 points Stats: American IPA. 5% ABV. Oakville, Ontario. Size: 650 mL bottle Colour: Slightly turbid straw Mouth Feel: High carbonation but very dry throughout Purchased: LCBO Price: $6.95 Pairing Notes: n/a Ok, so 30mL into pouring this beer, it was already evident…
“Pumpkin Ale” (Spiced Beer) Black Creek Historic Brewing
A pumpkin ale that is more ghostly because of what doesn’t appear. Rating: 70 points Stats: Spiced Beer. 5% ABV. Toronto, Ontario. Size: 500mL bottle Colour: Light-brown amber Mouth Feel: Low carbonation; low specific gravity; light end. Purchased: LCBO Price: $3.95 Pairing Notes: n/a First up on the Great Pumpkin Ale Countdown is this traditional sampling from Black Creek Brewing. This is…
“Nickel Brook Headstock” (IPA) Better Bitters Brewing Co.
Stats: IPA. 7.0% ABV. 80 IBUs. Burlington, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Golden straw (chardonnay) — clear except for profusion of heavy particulate that grows with the pour. Mouth Feel: Medium, very natural carbonation; light start and a refreshingly bitter finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.85 Pairing Notes: n/a → 84 points Penny for Your Thoughts ♦ Nickel for Your Thirst Next up on my Getting…
“Dead Guy Ale” (German Maibock) Rogue Ales
As I’ve written before, when any company can connect their values with mine, it portends a great experience. So with a bottle cap that reads “Dedicated to the Rogue in Each of Us” and with the trilogy of high-power words around the neck, of Dare * Risk * Dream, I was already impressed. I then…
Ale No. 7 ~ “Corps Mort” (American Barley Wine) À l’abri de la Tempête Microbrasserie
For the final beer in the Ales Bells series, I reached deep into my fridge to pull out a bottle that has sat there for 20 months. Yes, 20 months! Trust me when I say that this wasn’t a mistake and I knew what I was doing … or at least I presumed that I knew…
Ale No. 6 ~ “Pale Ale Americaine” (APA) Brasserie Dunham
So for Ale No. 6 in the Ales Bells series, I’m turning my attention back to Ale No. 4, the English-styled pale ale. Why? Because if I’m going to write about one pale ale, the English version, then I really need to write about the other to make the comparison. Therefore, next up: a new American…
Ale No. 3 ~ “Houblon Frais” (Fresh Hopped Beer) Microbrasserie La Chouape
Third in my Ales Bells series is an intriguing offering. Hands up who wasn’t intrigued by the label of this beer and the promise of something “Fresh Hopped” or the tagline at the bottom “wet hopped”? With the yellow and spring green colours and the words of “fresh” I wasn’t expecting a beer that poured…