Zizanie - Tête d’Allumette (Canada - Quebec - St-André de Kamouraska)

Zizanie - Tête d’Allumette (Canada - Quebec - St-André de Kamouraska) 3.9%

A barely cloudy gold in a glass without much of a head. The aroma is sweet, light, with white fleshed fruits tones like pear or white grape juice. The flavour is light but not as light as you might expect from the low alcohol content,  a delicious mix of mild crusty roll or giant pretzel tones from the malt, floral tones that bring to mind wide fields in August and a light hop bitterness with an umami finish that means the glass spends as much time at my lips as it does resting on the bar. Yum!

A quick note about the venue where I came across this rare beauty. Gainsbourg is a fine brewpub in its own right (reviews of their beers upcoming) but they also serve a great selection of Quebecois beers including this one.

Chimay Blanche (Belgium)

Chimay Blanche (Belgium) 8.0%

Sweet, clear, subtle nectar aroma with light spice, tones of pear and light wood. Somewhat cloudy gold with a white, resilient head of foam.

The flavour is quite spicy, flowery touches to the nectar, hints of alcohol with similar light flavoured fruit touches (pear, white grapes) as were found in the aroma. This is an interesting Belgian Tripel as it has the lighter, flowery sweet flavours without that very sweet flavour and somewhat heavier texture of other Belgian Tripels.

Tante Blanche - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston)

Tante Blanche - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston) 4.7%

A brilliant, full gold in a glass; slightly cloudy with a thin white head of foam. The aroma is of nectar and field flowers, some hints of citrus and spices like a mix of the coriander or seeds of paradise that many Whites feature. The flavour has citrus (orange) and is spiced along the same lines. The wheat flavour and texture come through and Tante Blanche reminds me of a golden ale flavoured with wheat and wheat spices. All in all, it's well balanced and very tasty. Cool label with an amusing picture and a good story.

Duvel Tripel Hop (2014) (Belgium)

 Duvel Tripel Hop (2014) (Belgium) 9.5%

Grassy, unripened mango, passionfruit hop laden aroma also with sweetness and a herbal hint typical of a less hoppy Tripel. A pale, cloudy gold in a glass with a frothy and resilient head of white foam.

Hoppy, bitter flavour at first, pine, sweet tangerine (got that from the Untappd description), something between the green (aka unripened) mango and passionfruit I got in the aroma but with a sweet herbal, floral finish of a Tripel. Interesting hops character and a flavour that is otherwise true to the Tripel style. Nice beer.

Belgian Cherry IPA - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto)

Belgian Cherry IPA - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 7.0%

A Belgian candi sugar-esque sugary aroma that is beyond caramelized onto the sticky not quite roasty sweetness of a glaze. Slightly tart smelling cherry tones as well and some subtle Belgian yeast tones that are floral with a bit of earthiness.

The flavour is much the same but with more tartness from the cherry: the Belgian candi sugar and floral yeast characteristics provide a nice counterpoint to the cherry. No surprises tasting it after considering the aroma but it is a bit surprising to not detect any appreciable hop flavours in either based on the name. I guess Mill Street is aiming for a Belgian style, cherry version of an English style IPA; now that's a mouthful of a name. English IPAs have more muted hops flavours than the hoppier and better known North American IPAs.

The flavour is quite nice but I do have a bit of an issue with the name: when there is so much else going on in the name (and the flavour) why not a simpler name like Belgian Style Cherry Ale? Mill Street is more or less creating a style here so I would prefer a name that doesn't confuse the lineage even further by calling it an IPA. The cynic in me wants to ascribe the use of the IPA tag to the marketing department as a way to draw in hopheads.

All that said, if you like cherries this beer makes good use of them. Additionally calling it a Belgian style beer is certainly legitimate in my opinion as the sugary flavours and the yeast tones fit the style nicely.

Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 5.6%

Full gold in a glass, cloudy too. It totes a resilient heady of creamy white foam. A berrylike (gooseberry?) touch to the hoppy floral, herbal, pine and citrus (tangerine) aroma.


The taste is floral, spicy, herbal, resiny, sweet but perfectly bitter with a delightful berry flavour throughout that is a little tropical and never seems out of place or inappropriate. A very tasty beer. Overall the impressive ingredient list (rose hips!) and the delightful flavour combine for a spectacular beer.

Copper Ale - Les 3 Brasseurs (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 5.6%

Copper Ale - Les 3 Brasseurs (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 5.6%

Reviewed in a one litre mug but... it was a deep copper in a glass with an inch of resilient foam. A sugary, glaze like aroma with subtle nectary yeast tones. It is hard to get a decent sniff of the beer's aroma in a restaurant out of this giant glass but, hey it's how I ordered it.

Red candy glaze taste. Floral and herbal yeast flavours. A very Belgian flavour spectrum. There is a touch of hops bitterness but only enough to balance the sweetness and to accentuate the yummy yeast flavours.

This tasty ale is the Neighbourhood Beer of the Sparks and Bank Street location of Les 3 Brasseurs in Ottawa. I've been told that this means it will be available at this location year round but only occasionally available at the other locations if at all. If there is a Les 3 Brasseurs location near you let me know in the comments what their Neighbourhood Beer is.

Sargon - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 6.0%

Sargon - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 6.0%

Cloudy gold in a glass with a huge head of highly resilient off-white foam. Strongly ginger aroma with orange with some sugar cookie touches and, celery?

Very tangy, almost sour flavour at first that fades to very bitter. A very peppery ginger flavour with lots of citrus. Some of the peppery flavour in the finish and aftertaste is very reminiscent of spiced rum. Obviously this should be attributed to the aging in rum barrels.

This is a very summery beer, what with all the ginger and citrus. At first I found the flavour was so strong at times that it is almost harsh, however, it was much improved after I put it back in the fridge. Chilling it and letting the sediment settle a bit (it was resealed but inevitably some carbonation was released too) really improved the beer: the flavours were more mellow and Sargon became an ideal strong summer beer. Also more of the malt flavours come out. Actually Sargon ends up tasting quite a bit like crusty toast with orange and ginger marmalade but with a bit of a bitter hops bite, some floral yeast flavours and a spiced rum finish.

Channel Ocho - Beau's All Natural Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Channel Ocho - Beau's All Natural Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 8.9%

It pours an opaque dark dark brown, bordering on black, with tan head of foam that faded fairly quickly. Lots of dark, dried fruit, like figs and prunes in the aroma; leather, dark chocolate, some plum, something a bit floral and a spicy note that makes my nose tingle.

This beer is spicy! And very chocolatey but the dark fruit flavours continue as well. I can't quite place the name of the spice (habanero?) but it is quite familiar and its flavour comes through as well as its heat. You cannot taste the alcohol but it may be contributing to the warming feeling I attributed to the spice. There is a bit of a gingery flavour too.

This is a nice spicy ale, I've had a couple (and tried to make one) but this is the best execution.

Doc's Feet Dubbel - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Doc's Feet Dubbel - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 7.6%

Reddish, dark brown colour in a glass with a large off-white head. It gets cloudier as the bottle goes, and darker too: the first pour was only somewhat brown, not nearly as cloudy and the head of foam was fairly fast fading. Sweet, honeyed, nectary, herbal aroma (bordering on floral) with a roasted malt and lightly spicy background.

Strongly herbal flavour, sweetly caramelized, bordering on roasty, but with a moderate hops character that is drily bitter with faint hints of cedar and resin. The hops flavours are a pleasant surprise and work well with the other flavours. A mild alcohol taste comes through at times but not as much as one might expect from a beer with 7.6% ABV. The aftertaste is quite roasty, a bit chocolate like and also with echos of the yeast flavour. This is an interesting Belgian Dubbel; quite tasty.

Bog Water - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Bog Water - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 6.6%

A deep, cloudy brown colour in a glass with a thick head of meringue like foam. Yeasty aroma, nectar and herbs, but with a strong floral, no more like a fruity touch.

The yeast continues to lead in the flavour along with the strong fruit (tropical fruit?) flavour that comes on strong at some points but fades away just as quickly only to reappear with later sips. In addition to the herbal yeast flavours,  this Eastern Ontario Gruit has quite a darkly malty body with tastes of dark bread blending into roasted tones. A grain and roast aftertaste with traces of the herbal yeast tones. Overall, a very tasty and interesting beer.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel (Germany) 5.3%

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel (Germany) 5.3%


This wheat ale pours a cloudy brown colour in a glass with an impressive head of resilient off-white foam.

It has a stronger yeast aroma than I was expecting, probably because I gave it a gentle roll to agitate the yeast before I opened the bottle: you don't want all that flavour just staying on the bottom of the bottle. Floral, nectar and blossom aromas as well as banana and cloves, just like a typical hefeweissen except there is dark malt background of lightly earthy, roasted malt with touches of chocolate.

Banana and cloves lead the slightly tart flavour when drinking through about three quarters of an inch of head. These flavours are followed by roasty and caramelized malt flavours that remind me of barley candy with some milk chocolate tones. It is this second group of flavours, along with mild red fruit tones, that come more to the forefront once the foam mostly subsides. Of course the yeast tones remain and feature strongly in the finish.

Pink Fuzz - Beyond The Pale (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa)

Pink Fuzz - Beyond The Pale (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 6.0%

A sweet red ruby grapefruit aroma, cedar and resin hops as well. A bit of fresh, floral vegetable like really sweet, raw and fresh off the vine green bean.

A cloudy pale gold, more like yellow, in a glass with a slight pink hue that turns the colour of the beer to just like grapefruit peel. Cedar and pine flavours, grapefruit as well (though more subdued than in the aroma). The grapefruit is a little tart, more like actual grapefruit than the grapefruit-like aroma citra or cascade hops can give a beer. Overall, this is quite a nice fruit flavoured wheat.

If you happen to be in the Ottawa area you can buy Pink Fuzz in growler format straight from the brewery. If you do, be sure to agitate it gently so that the sediment is more evenly distributed: it holds a lot of the flavour. Of course, Pink Fuzz is also available on tap throughout Ottawa; a format in which this tasty brew never fails to please.

Smokin' Banana Peels Wild Oats Series #11 - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Smokin' Banana Peels (Wild Oats Series #11) - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 4.9%

A typical weissbier aroma of cloves, blossoms, nectar and banana; as well as a lightly smoke twist that is more like well-browned, nearly burnt toast than a smoky wood fire.

Pale gold in a glass and as cloudy as you decide to make it. Similarly Smokin' Banana Peels features a silky white head of foam that can get quite foamy if you agitate it enough to get some of the sediment.

Creamy mouthfeel, yeasty with tasty cloves, banana and nectar flavours: sweet summery wheat beer flavours all. It isn't as smoky as other rauchbiers but there is a touch there, it comes out a bit more with some sips than other, and I'm sure the smoke flavour could be accentuated by pairing with smoky food. Fortunately, Smokin' Banana Peels is a very tasty weissbier even if it isn't very smoky and I have to say the name is quite clever.

Maredsous Brune (Belgium)

Maredsous Brune (Belgium) 8.0%


Yeasty, spicy aroma with floral hints and a dark malt back. Very roasty with a high alcohol burn that borders on a hum; floral and fruit tones (fig, prune). Very carbonated but that can be easily handled in the pour. Very nice brown version of you should expect from a Belgian Abbey Ale - perfectly balanced and bursting with character. Some light sediment that doesn't take anything away from the flavour.

Autumn Hop Harvest Ale - Amsterdam Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Toronto)

Autumn Hop Harvest Ale - Amsterdam Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 5.6%

Herbal, citrus (orange and a hint of grapefruit), a bit floral, pine and sticky resin rounds out hops character of the aroma while there is also some earthiness and biscuit and honey tones from the malty body. Clear full gold in a glass.

To go along with its moderately hoppy flavour and sweet grain tones, this beer made with fresh hops (as in added without being dried first) has a pleasant peppery earthiness. The combination of spice and earth tones feels to me a bit like autumn incarnate (distillate?) which I think is perfect for a seasonal such as Autumn Hop Harvest Ale. The aftertaste is moderately bitter hops that tastes of pine as well as a little herbal, citrus and some resin too. This is a nice American Pale Ale in its own right but I feel it also is a good example of the appeal of fresh hop beers and the variety they can bring.

Saison - Nogne O (Norway - Grimstad)

Saison - Nogne O (Norway - Grimstad) 6.5%

Gold and a bit cloudy in a glass; some sediment at the bottom of the bottle also. The aroma is lightly lemony, just a bit herbal and spicy.

The taste is sweet and lightly spicy with herbal hops and yeast, and just a bit of a floral flavour. A touch pleasantly thick, almost creamy, on the tongue but also well carbonated. Dry finish to this beer. Nogne's Saison is tasty and refreshing and like most Saisons it tastes a bit off the beaten path. The food pairings on the label are all good suggestions, sea food and light meat, to which I would add green salads and bread with hard cheese.

Altbier Collaboration Ale - Creemore Springs (Canada - Ontario - Creemore)

Altbier Collaboration Ale - Creemore Springs (Canada - Ontario - Creemore) 5.0%

A deep amber in a glass with a resilient though modest head of white foam. The aroma immediately after pouring was slightly sulphurous and had some creamed corn (DMS) but that cleared quickly. What followed was a caramelized aroma with some earthy grain, a bit of citrus that is slightly floral and has some red fruit esters kicking around.

The taste is malty with a little bit of sticky caramelization like a sugary glaze. Also some grain flavours along with some dry and floral hops tones and hints of red fruit flavours, like a red delicious apple. Overall this is a pretty good Altbier but seems a little light than I think an Altbier should be but, on the other hand, it is quite quaffable.

Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel - Brasserie D'Achouffe (Belgium)

Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel - Brasserie D'Achouffe (Belgium) 9.0%

Gold, slightly cloudy in a glass with a big head of white and very light foam. A yeasty, nectar and herbal aroma with hints of mint and flowers. There is a bitterness of hops lingering in the background. The sediment at the bottom of the bottle is very fine but it does add to yeasty characteristic of this fine Belgian ale.

Bitter taste but also sweet and yeasty. Pine hops flavour without any sticky resin flavour; more like a dry bitterness that has flashes of pineapple to my taste. The pineapple may be as a result of mixing with some of the nectar and floral flavours of the yeast. The flavour is just what I expect from a Tripel: herbal yeast notes with floral hints while being sweet with some honey tones except it also has strong hops flavours and is not heavy on the tongue. In fact, many Belgian Golden Ales, Dubbels and Tripels are often a little syrupy (though in a good way) but I think Chouffe Houblon high alcohol content thins this beer a little so it plays lighter and thinner on the tongue, even though it is quite deliciously sweet. The bitterness of the hops also cleans out any very sweet highs. This is a really nice Belgian IPA or Double IPA if that's what they are calling it.

Baldwin Fish-Eye - Kensington Brewing Company (Canada - Ontario - Toronto/Guelph)

Baldwin Fish-Eye - Kensington Brewing Company (Canada - Ontario - Toronto/Guelph) 6.5%

An amber orange in a glass with a frothy white head with impressive staying power. Seriously this head last and lasts, it may contribute to the flavour being more bitter since the foam often contains the more volatile hop oils. An aroma like a pine and cedar forest but with some citrus (orange) and a perfumy floral touch too. I could contentedly just sit and smell this beer for quite a while.

Hoppy cedar and resin taste along with nice toasted bread and grain flavours. Pleasant orange flavours and malt sweetness balance some of the hops.  Quite a grain heavy finish. Late onset of a robustly bitter aftertaste. A nice IPA, more orange flavour with a more bitter aftertaste than the average IPA (if the term 'average IPA' means anything). If you like really bitter beers and the citrus character of hops this one is a riot and would go well with just about any strong flavoured food.