Unity Brew - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Alberta - Canmore) 5.5%

Unity Brew - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Alberta - Canmore) 5.5%

Amber in a glass with gold hints. Nectary yeast aroma with some bitter green hops, quite sweet. A very green hoppy taste like a mild cilantro mixed with celery and pine as well as a sweet yeasty nectar flavour of Belgian beers. Fairly bitter but not very much so for an IPA. Definitely lives up to its billing as a Belgian IPA though it shakes out farther on the IPA than the Belgian side of the spectrum.

Yukon Red - Yukon Brewing (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5.5%

Yukon Red - Yukon Brewing (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5.5%

A nice deep amber colour in a glass. A surprisingly hoppy aroma, roasty with a bit of a glaze-like aspect. Also a touch of molasses or toffee in the aroma.

A very appetizing mix of hops bitterness, red fruit esters, roasty sweetness and touches of grain. There is plenty of malt and just a bit of something chocolatey in the dry finish. The hops character is relatively muted but it provides a nice balance some mild spice. The hops character is slightly astringent with a little pine and a some fresh cut grass but none of these stand out very much because of the robust and positively yummy malt flavours.

Artisan IPA - Bowen Island Brewing (Canada - British Columbia - Vancouver) 5.5%

Artisan IPA - Bowen Island Brewing (Canada - British Columbia - Vancouver) 5.5%

A hoppy aroma of grapefruit and pine, a touch metallic. A shade darker than full gold in a glass with a frothy head. A mild IPA with a pine taste followed by malty, toasty sweetness (really quite sweet, though balanced) and a citrus finish. This is a really nice sessionable IPA: mild tasting but still interesting and true to the style as well as being low enough in alcohol that you can have several.

Ice Fog - Yukon Brewing (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 6.0%

Ice Fog - Yukon Brewing (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 6.0%

Full gold in a glass. Pine and citrus loaded hops aroma. A mellow but sticky hops character with resin and citrus (sweet orange mostly). A bit of biscuit rounds out the taste. Ice Fog is more of a summer IPA than some (because of the strong citrus aspect) and as a result would pair well with lighter fare than most IPAs and certainly any dish that contains orange and a bit of spice could go nicely with Ice Fog.

Cascadian Dark - Wild Rose (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

Cascadian Dark - Wild Rose (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

Black, just about opaque in a glass. Nice lacing. Hoppy, spicy, floral, pine hops character also bitter and slightly astringent. A moderate grain flavour. There is a little pineapple to the hops some faint dark malt coffee-ish flavours but very much in the background. The aftertaste is still hop dominated but has a little more coffee, grain and smoke. All in all this is a really nice hops forward dark IPA.

Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - BC - Vancouver) 5.0%

Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - BC - Vancouver) 5.0%

A brown tinted amber in a glass, a lot like maple syrup actually. A sweet maple aroma; roasty with just a hint of smoke. A mild maple taste but also some musty dry hops, wood tones and a bit of roast. A umami and sugary finish. The aftertaste is delectably maple sugar but, in my opinion, Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale just misses the mark by having too much hops in the taste and not enough maple.

Yukon Gold - Yukon Brewing Company (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5%

Yukon Gold - Yukon Brewing Company (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5%

A aroma of grain that is also sweet, lightly hoppy, a bit spicy with a touch of red fruit and slightly bitter. Gold and clear in a glass with the barest hint of red.

Very sweet and lightly roasty with some tastes of grain or biscuit (like a tea biscuit, not a cookie) and a dry hops flavour. The dryness imparted by the hops is typical of the hops character I associate with an English Pale Ale. There is a mild nutty flavour in the finish: this too is a flavour I expect from an English Pale Ale.

I find Yukon Gold by the Yukon Brewing company is just a bit sweeter than a perfect English Pale Ale but that may just be my interpretation of the style; it is definitely quite a good beer.

Barley Wine - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Calgary - Canmore) 11%

Barley Wine - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Calgary - Canmore) 11%

A sweet honey, and molasses, roasty aroma with a touch of hops and a bit of coffee. A nearly opaque walnut colour in a glass. Chewy malt taste with a bit of tartness, alcohol warming and dried red fruit esters. Roasty and sticky with darker malt tones that are not quite coffee or chocolate. And a smoky aftertaste that reminds me of barley candy. Overall a very nice barley wine.

Wild Rose Cherry Porter (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.5%

Wild Rose Cherry Porter (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.5%

Black and opaque in a glass with the barest (potentially imagined) red tint. Heavy dark malty aroma of coffee, smoke, dark red fruit. Thick creamy mouthfeel with a coffee and dark dark chocolate taste explosion; a lovely dark cherry flavour and a bit of grapes actually. Just a bit of fresh cut grass hops. The dark fruit flavour is slightly tart which is a perfect counterpoint to the malt. A smoke and dark fruit aftertaste, sweet and tart, chocolate, coffee and delicious. A really special porter that has earned its place on the list of 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.

Discovery - Yukon Brewing Company (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5.5%

Discovery - Yukon Brewing Company (Canada - Yukon - Whitehorse) 5.5%

A darker amber in a glass. A roasty aroma with hints of grain and honey. The taste is sweet then more bitter then sweet again with a particularly sweet honeyed finish. Grain, malthouse and roast flavours with a mellow barely spicy honey throughout and a lingering but subtle nuttiness. Yukon Brewing set out to make a Honey Extra-Special-Bitter and by my measure they did just that: it's quite nice!

Big Rock Winter Spice Ale (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

Big Rock Winter Spice Ale (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

A clear burnt amber in a glass, not much of a head. An aroma of spices such as cloves, nutmeg, with cinnamon a touch of oak. A definite alcohol warming with those same spices in the taste, cloves, nutmeg, strongish cinnamon, as well as ginger with a red fruit, slightly appley touch that makes the whole thing seem like a perfect beer substitute for mulled cider, the more traditional spiced Christmas drink. Obviously, Big Rock's Winter Spice Ale has no where near that much apple flavour. A spiced, smoky and lightly bitter aftertaste with some dried red fruit tones. Fairly sweet as well as all the rest. Quite a nice spiced winter ale as long as you know what to expect: the strong spice flavours can be a shock if you aren't anticipating them.

Blacksmith India Black Ale - Village Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.4%

Blacksmith India Black Ale - Village Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.4%

Pours a nearly opaque black in a glass with a creamy off-white head that leaves nice lacing. A smoky, coffee aroma with some wood tones and just a hint of hops. Milk chocolate flavour first and foremost, black coffee flavours as well as some mellow smoke tastes and touches of caramel. Moderate amounts of both sweetness and bitterness: sweeter in the middle, more bitter in the finish. Some faint green, slightly astringent and slightly piney hops flavours throughout.

I was hoping for a stronger hop flavour on the lines of a milder Storm King Imperial Stout but Village Brewery's Blacksmith India Black Ale is still a fine dark ale even though it may leave some hop enthusiasts a little underwhelmed.

Wild Rose IPA (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

Wild Rose IPA (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.0%

Pours an orange gold in a glass the colour of which I find reminiscent of sap. A floral, piney, resiny, slightly metallic aroma with fresh-cut grass and (more so at first) more than a little grapefruit and orange. A big, fluffy, frothy head with good lacing. It's really nice served a little warmer than fridge temperature though the foam can get impressively crazy when its warm. Quite a bitter taste, spicy, floral hops with a taste of citrus, cut grass and a bit of earthy grain flavour. Wild Rose IPA has a sweet citrus and hoppy finish; a roasty and toasty aftertaste that is bitter and a bit sticky. The overall bitterness and lightly watery mouthfeel would make this a great beer to pair with food as it is palate cleansing while still being somewhat light and refreshing. With this beer Wild Rose has made a nice IPA that is similar to a West Coast IPA in someways but interestingly different in other ways.

Espresso Stout - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 4.2%

Espresso Stout - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 4.2%

Pours a dark, dark brown in a glass: nearly black, nearly opaque. A bitter aroma of dark black coffee and grain with a touch of milk chocolate, more than a touch of smoke like burnt toast. Very smooth mouthfeel, fairly sweet and not as bitter as I was expecting. A moderate coffee flavour (much stronger in the aftertaste), milk chocolate, a faint grain flavour. Big Rock's Espresso Stout is a very nice beer with subdued but pleasant and interesting flavours. It's tasty even though its coffee flavour (and stout flavour for that matter) isn't nearly as strong as I expected it would be: more of a sessionable stout.

Electric Unicorn White IPA - Phillips Brewing Company (Canada - BC - Victoria) 6.5%

Electric Unicorn White IPA - Phillips Brewing Company (Canada - BC - Victoria) 6.5%

It pours a cloudy gold in a glass with a frothy head that fades quickly but leaves nice lacing. Lots of melon (honeydew), unripened mango, passionfruit, some fresh cut grass and a touch of something astringent. Very bitter taste with a pine hops character that didn't stand out in the aroma. A smorgasbord of fruit flavours (orange, mango and passionfruit) come out in the unique blend of hops and wheat beer spice (coriander and cloves) even though the ingredients list only includes coriander and orange peel on top of barley, wheat, hops, water and yeast. A bitter and very appetizing finish with an aftertaste of toast and umami.

Electric Unicorn is great beer with a fun label and bottle cap. This tasty White IPA has a hilarious description /back story on the bottle (see below).

Scottish Style Heavy Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 7.0%

Scottish Style Heavy Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 7.0%

Brown hued amber in a glass. Sweet, caramel, slightly oaky aroma with hints of vanilla and roast with just a bit of hops. A complicated flavour with heady fruit esters and roasty sweetness, some caramel, some wood tones and bread flavours. Some hops flavour here and there lending some balance. Not much taste of the 7% alcohol except mixed with the fruit esters and hops to generate a port-like flavour and the wood tones respectively. I'd recommend serving it warmish to get the full flavour. A bit of a different take on a Scottish Wee Heavy: Big Rick's Scottish Style Heavy Ale is on the sweeter side but without those heavy, almost chewy, malt flavours.

Big Rock Honey Brown Lager (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.0%

Big Rock Honey Brown Lager (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.0%

Orange, brown colour in a glass. Honeyed brown bread aroma, faintly like vanilla. It tastes "blonder" than it looks: sweet, bread tones, something a little like tomato sauce. A mildly bitter touch in the finish. A nice honey flavoured beer its important to keep in mind that it's a brown lager, not a brown ale, so it's more honey than malt.

Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - Anderson Valley (USA - CA - Boonville) 5.8%

Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - Anderson Valley (USA - California - Boonville) 5.8%

Dark brown, opaque really, in a glass. A very thick frothy head with great lacing (see below). A doughy, fresh bread, dark malt coffee flavour with oatmeal thickness, and that just in the aroma! Maybe just a touch of the raisin aroma mentioned on the label.

Coffee, oatmeal, a bit of toffee, dried cherries, a touch of smoke and some wooden hop tones. A slightly watery mouthfeel at times but intermixed with a creamy oatmeal feel; still refreshing with a sweet finish and a smoky aftertaste. A really nice stout with a cool label.

Paradise Pale Ale - Mill Street (Canada - Toronto) 7.5%

Paradise Pale Ale - Mill Street Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 7.5%

A hops forward aroma of resin and cedar. Coppery in a glass and a touch hazy with a nice head and great lacing. The hops character is resiny, with dark green vegetable hints, bitter. The malt character is well suited to this beer: caramel sweetness with a slight smoky, coffee, bitter dark malt flavour brings an excellent level of balance to this hoppy American Pale Ale. Paradise Pale Ale is a very refreshing beer and a delicious choice for hop heads. It reminds me of a hoppier version of their Tankhouse Ale.

Galt Knife Old Style Lager - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge) 4.4%

Galt Knife Old Style Lager - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge) 4.4%

A deep, deep gold in a glass; slightly cloudy with very light sediment. A frothy white head with slight lacing but even though my glass was clean it wasn't "beer clean" because I forgot to rinse my glass prior to the pour (note: d'oh!) so it's probably my fault there isn't more. Pouring another dash (into a beer clean glass this time) had better head and lacing.

A malty aroma with biscuit and honey touches and a prelude of the bitterness; just a hint of yeast like you'd get from fresh bread. Delightfully bitter taste for a lager with lots of biscuit, grain and bread tones. The hops character is mostly just bitter without being at all floral but it has a bit of some leafy green flavour to it. Also, there is just a hint of something like clover in the sweetness of the malt. A bitter aftertaste with notes of grain and hints of that clover taste again. Galt Knife Old Style Lager is a very nice lager, refreshing but interesting and suitable for just about any occasion.

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Montreal)

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Montreal) 7.5%

A brown amber in a glass. Initially a dry, lightly hoppy aroma that reminds me of euro lagers (which was unexpected) but after the head faded (which happened rather quickly, actually) dark malt aromas of grain, peat (that's probably because I'm looking at the word scotch too much but it is a touch smoky), roasty glaze and not quite coffee tones continuing on into a quite sweet aroma with molasses, light wood tones and vanilla is a late arriving scent. The vanilla is very pleasant and very noticeable once some of the other aromas fade. Really, the vanilla comes to dominate with dark malt sweetness and the hops sticking around and keeping the balance nicely. No alcohol really detectable in the aroma but that may change as it warms up.

Bundles of flavours to taste here. Clearly high in alcohol that you can taste in the roof of your mouth but carried so nicely by chewy malt flavours of molasses, dark bread and some dark fruit touches like prunes or dark candied cherries. The aftertaste is long lingering, less sweet and hoppier with grain flavours as well as the shadow of dark malt flavours. As St-Ambroise Scotch Ale warms, caramel flavours reveal themselves from the mix and assert themselves quite strongly and round out this Wee-Heavy inspired winter seasonal. The mix of flavours is just perfect for a cold winter's night (or day).

Lions Winter Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - British Columbia - Vancouver) 5.5%

Lions Winter Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - British Columbia - Vancouver) 5.5%


A brownish, reddish amber in a glass. Lots of vanilla, wood tones (oak?), and a touch of molasses in the aroma; maybe a hint of chocolate. Vanilla and quite a bit of something milk chocolatey to the taste. After the frist few sips the chocolate (milk, not dark chocolate) aspect of the aroma really came out. Lots of "chewy" malt flavours in there, enough it would seem, to support a high ABV but at the same time it's nice to have a winter ale that has a sessional alcohol content. The wood tones from the aroma can also be found in the taste but they're actually a blend of the subtle hops character (that balances the malt nicely by the way) and the vanilla which I associate with a bourbon or whiskey even as it plays so nicely in Lions Winter Ale. Suggested food pairs on the back ("sweeter full-flavoured foods and cream-based sauces") look promising. Maybe it's the Rocky Mountains on the label but I think it'd go great with fondue as an apres-aki. This is a really nice beer and a splendid Winter beer. Not that they have a real winter in Vancouver but I guess thye do at altitude in the mountains.

Clausthaler Classic (Germany) 0.0%

 
Clausthaler Classic (Germany) 0.0%

Makes no illusions of being a beer instead calling itself a "non-alcoholic malt beverage". It has an interesting flavour, malty and not all that sweet (unlike most non-alcoholic beers) and as a result is fairly bitter. It's not bad for a "non-alcoholic malt beverage" but there are beer near-beer alternatives.

Wee Heavy Bourbon - Le Castor (Canada - Quebec - Rigaud) 11.0%

Wee Heavy Bourbon - Le Castor (Canada - Quebec - Rigaud) 11.0%

A very dark chestnut colour in a glass. Lots of bourbon-esque wood character and barrel notes of spice and vanilla in the aroma. Something vaguely nutty as well dark fruit notes: cherry and cranberries. Slightly reminiscent of not quite chocolate but a bit of some flavours of chocolate and the kind of dark syrup you find in a dark fruit filled chocolate.

Plenty of barrel notes, wood, oak presumably, spice and vanilla and bourbon in the flavour. Sticky sweet syrupy taste with an alcohol burn, some blonde molasses flavours, sugary glaze and an often hidden nutty characteristic. Very sweet but doesn't taste sweet like refined sugar because there are so many strong malt flavours. The nice barrel flavours make this a delightful bourbon barrel aged ale. Oh and it's certified organic too!

Munkholm Alkoholfritt (Norway) 0.0%

Munkholm Alkoholfritt (Norway) 0.0%

Malty and sweet but actually more bitter than sweet which is a nice change from most low alcohol or alcohol free beers. This beer is actually quite refreshing and though it's not about to be confused with actual beer, Munkholm is a fine alternative to an actual beer.

La Gaboteuse - Acadie-Broue and Big Tide (Canada - New Brunswick)

La Gaboteuse - Acadie-Broue and Big Tide (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton and Saint John) 7.0%

Sprucy and resiny aroma, pineapple, melon and touches of citrus. What a bouquet! Cloudy gold in a galss with a nice head and good lacing. The hops character that dominates the taste of this lovely Belgian IPA is along the same lines as the spectacular aroma, quite bitter but with balancing sweetness, a little nectar and a hint of yeast in the bitter finish. La Gaboteuse is super nice if you are lucky enough to get some either at Marky's Laundromat in Moncton or Big Tide Brewing in Saint John before it sells out.

Lezajsk (Poland)

Lezajsk (Poland) 5.5%

Gold in a glass with some lacing as well as a frothy head that fades quickly though not as quickly as some lagers. Lezajsk also has a malty and sweet aroma that has a more robust and rounded malt character that many other Euro lagers. A malty flavour with a bit of toasted bread, slightly sweet, moderately bitter (for a lager) with a lingering, bitter (for a lager) and ever so slightly toasted aftertaste.


Not a beer that is going to 'wow' you but I think it's a bit of a stand-out from an uninteresting class. If you like Euro Lagers on the bitter end of the spectrum Lezajsk is worth trying. I always recommend local brews rather than imports but if you're in Poland or you are going to buy an imported lager (like Grolsch) anyway pick one up, you may like it better. If, ceteris paribus, I had to choose between Lezajsk or any of those North American megabrew international lagers I'd have to go with the Lezajsk as it has more depth of malt flavour, a better balance and a better level of overall bitterness.