Thursday, June 30, 2011

Beer Maven Canada Day Suggestion - Mill Street Brewery

Mill Street Brewery - Lemon Tea Beer (Canada - Ontario) 5.0%

A dark, but orange and gold tinted, brown colour in a glass. The lemon (and it is actual lemon puree) makes the beer taste like a white beer at first until the maltiness of the lager kicks in.
This is a beer that screams summer, it begs to be drunk on a sun drenched patio. The beer is sweetened with sugar cane juice but it doesn't come across overly sweetened probably due to the fact that it is mixed with actual orange pekoe tea which does a delicious job of balancing the sweetness.

Cheers and happy Canada Day!

www.millstreetbrewery.com

Monday, June 27, 2011

Boxer Lager (USA - Wisconsin) 5.0%

Boxer Lager (USA - Wisconsin) 5.0%

Very little taste to this beer: a little bit of bananas, some malt and a little skunky. An unremarkable lager that has a somewhat scummy mouthfeel.

Needless to say I don't exactly recommend this beer.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Bigtide Brewing Company - Sampler (Canada - New Brunswick - Saint John)

Bigtide Brewing Company - Sampler (Canada - New Brunswick - Saint John)

A delightful brewpub located in historic Saint John with good beer and great food. I enjoyed one of their sample trays of four of their five beers that they currently had available all for the low, low price of $8.00 (and that's including tax!). All their beer is brewed on site although not all the types mentioned on their website are available at all times of the year. I was also allowed into the brewroom, just off the bar area, for a few photos.


Rounding out the experience the service was great too; for whatever reason one of the glasses of beer was flat and our server, Breanne, brought us a new one without complaint. I recommend this place to anyone dining in Saint John.

(From right to left: Hemp, Bitter, Wheat, Brown)

Fogbound Hemp Pale Ale

This very good beer had an unusual but pleasant bitter taste, as well as floral tones and it was also almost a little soapy, probably from the natural oils of the hemp seed. A very interesting beer and tasty; ordered a pint of this one, also took a pint of the bitter.

Benedict Arnold Extra Special Bitter

Caramel taste and bitter. Wooden tones and a sprucy hops taste. A good mix and a very good beer.

Wild Wheat Summer Ale

The least flavourful beer in the tray, a little bitter and not bad but missing the interesting characteristics (usually floral flavours) I expect from a wheat beer.

Stone Circle Brown

Being a brown ale it was not thick like a stout or a porter. An enjoyable beer, the main flavour is a musty cross between coffee and chocolate with a certain woodiness.

A special Beer Maven thank you to Breanne G.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Anchor Steam Beer (USA - San Fransisco) 4.8%

Anchor Steam Beer (USA - San Fransisco) 4.8%

Very bitter but pleasantly so. The mellow malty and sweet taste and the bitterness is consistent throughout making for a balanced tasty and interesting beer. The colour is alternatively amber or a brownish red depending on the angle.

Great bottle and bottle cap.