Hoegaarden Rosée (Beligum) 3.0%

Hoegaarden Rosée (Beligum) 3.0%

Quite pink in a glass, cloudy. Lots of raspberry but strawberry too in the aroma; a bit like strawberry-rhubarb pie. Tastes a lot like Hoegaarden mixed with fruit juice... because that's pretty much what it is. Some wheat flavours come through with a touch of coriander. Hoegaarden Rosée has a moderately creamy mouthfeel, it is quite sweet but still a little tart, though not very tart, with plenty of raspberry and strawberry flavours that kind of run to peach.

Overall, Hoegaarden Rosée is a very low alcohol, wheat-ale-based, fruit-flavoured wobbly pop: tasty but not really a good fit for beer lovers. It is refreshing enough and could certainly make for an interesting ingredient in some beertails (cocktails made with beer).

Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 6.5%

Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 6.5%

The beer is gold and slightly cloudy in a glass with a light, white frothy head. The aroma is of nectar and spice (and everything nice); as I'd expect from a Belgian White or a Belgian Blonde Ale or really any ale made in North America with "Belgian" in the name. There is also wheat tones and just a a bit of hops to the aroma. It has a sweet taste with nectar, a bit of citrus (orange) and clearly coriander, some pretty substantial spiciness that's almost immediately mellowed by the wheat character, and quite a bitter aftertaste. The hops character is present but mellow, a bit of citrus a bit green, and entirely intermixed with the other lovely flavours.


A glance at the ingredient list confirms the coriander and also the taste of seeds of paradise which is actually forehead-smackingly obvious in hindsight (hindtaste?). I discovered from the ingredients list that the spiciness is due to the use of pepper. The pepper is a nice touch that manages to avoid dominating the flavour even though I can feel the spice is strong enough that it is faintly tickling my insides with heartburn since I'm drinking this on an empty stomach (part of review strategy). Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison could make an interesting or a dangerous pairing with spicy foods, it comes in a big enough bottle that I think I'll try it out at the end of this review. The alcohol isn't very noticeable but there is some chest warming from more than the moderate peppery spice.

Now to the food pairing, I tried it with a bit of salsa and chips and the pepper in the Belgian Saison definitely kicked the spice up a notch. As long as the spicy food you are eating isn't at the high end of your spice tolerance Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison is a tasty and perhaps unexpected pairing option. This Saison would also be a nice pairing with light dishes like a salad or fish (think white wine) but it is also delicious on its own. If you can still find one of these in stores I'd suggest picking it up and giving it a try.

Cobblestone Stout - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.2%

Cobblestone Stout - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.2%

I don't believe in these nitrogenating beers being sold in beer cans (Guinness on a can is a poor imitation of Guinness on tap in my experience) but we'll see how this one goes. Well Cobblestone Stout actually has the tiny bubbles and cascading foam action you should expect of a nitrogenated beer even if the can opened with quite a roar of escaping nitrogen (which doesn't dissolve in a liquid as well as carbon dioxide).

An extremely thick, highly resilient beige head that leaves impressive lacing. Lovely coffee malt aromas, grain, sweet with milk chocolate hints. It has a really nice flavour that is sweet with lots of coffee and actually it tastes a lot like a latte: coffee, milk chocolate, sweetness and very creamy mouthfeel. Some grain or maybe more accurately biscuit flavours as well make this solid stout almost qualify as food. The coffee flavour in the beer gets a little washed out after you taste a mouthful of the foam revealing some roasty caramel and light touches of hops.

Cobblestone Stout is a nice beer and pretty great proof that nitrogenated stout in a can actually works.

Warka Strong (Poland) 7.0%

Warka Strong (Poland) 7.0%

Full gold with a little amber colour in a glass with a frothy but quick fading head and some lacing. A malty aroma, hints of grain and just a little bit of alcohol. Quite a toasty, very sweet taste. A little caramel and just a bit of alcohol taste with some mild chest warming. This beer drinks more like an amber than the strong lager I expected it to be, and it's actually pretty nice albeit rather ordinary. My usual caveat is to buy locally brewed beers where possible rather than European beers (unless you're in Europe obviously) and that certainly applies to Warka Strong.

Saigon Export - Sabeco (Vietnam) 4.9%

Saigon Export - Sabeco (Vietnam) 4.9%

A malty, slightly musty with a dry hop flavour a little like a Euro Lager but slightly thicker on the tongue. An unremarkable international lager but hey, it's from Vietnam!

Biere de Garde - Pump House (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 7.5%

Biere de Garde - Pump House (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 7.5%

It is an orange amber colour and barely cloudy in a glass. The aroma is spicy, apple, cranberry, malty with cedar hops. The taste is strongly caramel with cedar hops and bitterness initially, fading with drinking; tart some grain and plenty of cranberry-esque fruit esters with quite a bitter finish. Some barely smoky wood tones make it into the flavour along with a little bit of an earthy flavour. A nice beer that is a bit off the beaten path. Reminds me a bit of a darkish and hoppier saison.

Leute Bokbier - Brouwerij Van Steenberge (Belgium) 7.5%

Leute Bokbier - Brouwerij Van Steenberge (Belgium) 7.5%

A dark brown in a glass with a red hue; not opaque. There is some very light sediment at the bottom of the bottle, not much at all. Earthy like fresh tilled soil, sweet, roasty, nutty (like nuts coated in sugar and roasted over a fragrant smelling wood fire), salty and bitter aroma with hints of fig and darker malt tones that verge on being coffee-like or chocolate. Very strong flavour, quite sweetly roasty and almost sticky with red fruit hints (apple, pear, fig) but with a bitter dry hops overlay and roasty, slightly nutty, malt backbone. A long, very lightly bitter, umami finish. Reminds me of Yule Beers. A truly great ale perfectly crafted and balanced.

Helles Bock - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.66%

Helles Bock - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 6.66%

Full gold in a glass with quite low carbonation. A sweet aroma with a little grain, some faint nectar tones and faint hints of dry hops bitterness.

Quite sweet but the taste is much too, well, tasty and balanced to call Helles Bock syrupy. It is a little thicker on the tongue than other beers but this thickness is definitely a trait to be expected from a Bock style beer. There are also floral and nectar tones that remind me a little of the way apple blossoms smell (note: apple blossoms don't smell like apples). I occasionally picked up hints of honey when the sweetness built up but that was quickly swept away by mild dry hops bitterness. At no point is there any hint of the higher alcohol content making Helles Bock devilishly (see what I did there) drinkable.

As far as food pairings, I think Big Rock's Helles Bock could easily step in for a sweeter white wine due to its sweetness, texture, fairly low carbonation, the floral and nectar tones, and even its colour and slightly higher alcohol content. Over all, this is a really nice craft beer that is worth trying and quite amenable to delicious food pairings.

Comet One Hop IPA - Garrison Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Comet One Hop IPA - Garrison Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 6.5%

A full gold/amber colour in a glass, just the colour of sap, with a nice off-white head. An aroma chock full of melon, a little celery and fresh cut grass, as well as some resin. Much more of the resin in the flavour as well as some citrus but still lots of melon. A hearty and sweet malt body balances this bitter and delightful hops forward beer. There is some grounding earthiness to the taste as well which is quite nice.

I first enjoyed and reviewed Comet IPA at the Seaport Beerfest in Halifax in August, 2012. The version there was billed as a Double IPA and did taste a little different and had a higher ABV. Plus it was delicious then so I thought a separate review of the bottled product was definitely worth it.

Not only is the taste enjoyable but it's the concept behind this limited release that I am most excited about. In my opinion, Garrison Brewing is practically providing a public service to the craft beer community by making a series of One Hop IPAs (this is the first). By using only one kind of hops drinkers can gain a familiarity with exactly how each varietal expresses itself. I, for one, am looking forward to the next one in this series. Stay tuned as I intend to review them all as they are released.

Old Engine Oil - Harviestoun (Scotland) 6.0%

Old Engine Oil - Harviestoun (Scotland) 6.0%

Opaque and black with a nice tan coloured head of foam. The aroma is of coffee, dark bitter chocolate with some smoky wood tones, hints of hops and a bit of caramel. A lovely complicated tasting beer: hops with some alcohol initially, milk chocolate and sweetened coffee with cream then a caramel finish and finally a coffee then dark, dark chocolate aftertaste. An exceptionally nice porter, exquisitely balanced and full of flavour.

Doppelbock - Pump House (Moncton) 9% in cask / 10% in bottle

Doppelbock - Pump House (Moncton) 9% in cask / 10% in bottle

Cask:

Reddish brown, very dark in a glass. Nice head. Hard to get much of an aroma out of a pint glass: sweet, a bit stout-like, nearly chocolate/coffee and smoke, but faint.

Lots of dark fruit, nearly syrupy sweet black currant. Very little alcohol flavour just a bit in the finish with those same stout chocolate/coffee and smoke flavours from the aroma. Slightly tangy due to its strength and a slightly acrid finish. A touch of something lager-like and a bit of maple. Hops are clearly there as there is a bit of a green touch and by implication since the sweetness of Pump House's Doppelbock is being balanced nicely by something.


Bottle:

Their look is same in cask and bottle while the aroma is better from the bottle because I'm pouring it into a snifter instead of drinking it out of a pint glass: malty, roasty and a little sticky with dark fruit along with lots of dark malt touches of chocolate.

The taste is just awesome, powerfully malty with that faint lager yeast touch, a split between roasty, sticky malt flavours like I'd expect from a red and chocolate and wood tones I'd expect from a dark beer. Lots of dark fruit tones likes prunes and raisins. Barley candy with an acrid bitter smoky finish that still manages to be tasty. Some alcohol notes but not much considering it is 10%. I don't pick up the light touch of hops that I did from the cask but the beer is still nicely balanced.

I strongly suggest picking up a 6-pack or two of this fine seasonal offering ASAP. Also, because it's 10%, not to mention so rich and complex, I'm going to keep a 6-pack in my cellar for a few months and see how the flavour changes. Plus at $12.98 a 6-pack (tax and deposit included) the price just can't be beat.

Trappistes Rochefort 6 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 7.5%

 Trappistes Rochefort 6 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 7.5%

Big, frothy but very quickly fading head (more like a soda), which is a little unexpected.

A cloudy, deep gold and amber colour in a glass. A pleasant herbal, yeasty aroma; sweet, roasty and malty too. A delicious, rounded malt flavour; lots of biscuit and honey. Very nutty with only mild herbal tones, a little apricot and something like green grape raisins; just a little bit of hops too. The alcohol comes through a little but all the flavours work really nicely together. This is a sweet little Trappist number but also more similar to mainstream ales than other Trappist beers and its stronger brethren Trappistes Rochefort 8 and Trappistes Rochefort 10.

Mongozo Premium Pilsner (Belgium) 5.0%

Mongozo Premium Pilsner (Belgium) 5.0%

Gold in a glass with a little less than an inch of off-white head that was fairly resilient for a gluten-free beer. Smelled quite a bit like a typical pilsner at first, a dry sort of hops aroma with some malt-like aroma, sort of like a American Adjunct Lager. Then the slightly sour and a little cheesy aroma I've found in many gluten-free beers. Wow, it tastes remarkably like a typical pilsner or Euro Lager. There is a faint sourness but other than that it's hard to tell the difference between Mongozo Premium Pilsner and any other gluten bearing pilsner: quite impressive.

Note: Brewed in Belgium under license for a brewery from the Netherlands.

Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 9.2%

 Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 9.2%

A dark, but not opaque, reddish brown colour in a glass. Sweet, toasty, honey and nectar filled, slightly herbal aroma; a little roasty and very appetizing.

Richly malty taste with touches of barley candy but very sweet with an interesting spicy herbal quality; strong tones of dried dark fruit (prunes and raisins). Some faint milk chocolate but mostly dark fruit and herbal yeasty flavours - typically Belgian Abbey beer and delightful. This Trappist ale has a certain vegetal, herbal quality that is appealing and though it is different from other styles of beers it is not entirely unique amongst Trappist beers and reminds me a little of a young Orval (I typically try to age an Orval a year before drinking it). Quite a bit of sediment that seems determined to remain at the bottom of the bottle: not much of it ends up in your glass without a swirl or two. From past experience more than a little of the sediment can make this type of beer more yeasty than ideal/more yeasty than the brewmaster (brewmonk?) intended.

Rochefort 8 reminds me a bit of an herbal liquore except with a few more dark fruit flavours. Very nice, as you'd expect from a Trappist beer, and, like all Trappist ales, something every beer geek and aspiring beer geek must try along with Rochefort 6 and Rochefort 10.

15th Anniversary Malt: Vanilla and Cocoa - Garrision Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 9.0%

15th Anniversary Malt: Vanilla and Cocoa - Garrision Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 9.0%

Opaque, dark chocolate black/brown in a glass with a thick beige head. Bitter dark chocolate aroma with a mix of faint dark fruit and some doughy rye bread tones with some subtle hops aromids too. Some light sediment at the bottom of the bottle that adds some grain and fairly prominent oatmeal flavours. The sediment really adds an interesting dimension to the beer so I'd strongly suggest pouring the whole bottle into one glass (or into a pitcher and then into glasses if you are really intent on sharing).

Strong tasting: roasty, a little smoky, slightly tart dark fruit and dried red fruit tones, alcohol with the bitter flavour of the darkest of chocolates.  This mixing of light sweet malts with touches of caramel (crystal and caramel malt) with a smorgasbord of dark (and very dark) malts and then coupled with the high alcohol tastes like an alcoholic fruitcake made with brandy (maybe a splash of whiskey - if anyone actually makes fruitcake with whiskey) and absolutely loaded with dried fruits.

Not entirely unexpectedly, this beer gets better as it warms: the fruit esters and touches of high alcohol are still decidedly there but mix more deliciously with the deep malt flavours and the vanilla really starts to come out. It is still very bitter, and there are still chocolate flavours, but rather than striking me as a mostly dark chocolate flavoured beer I'd almost say molasses and maple with some smoke sum up the flavours better (with the aforementioned fruit esters and tastes of alcohol). The hops flavours also come out more as it warms but this brew is still a celebration of malt rather than hops. Obviously there's a lot of depth to this malty beauty: try it cool, try it warmer and enjoy it all round.

Best Bitter (cask) - Picaroons (Canada - New Brunswick - Fredericton)

Best Bitter (cask) - Picaroons (Canada - New Brunswick - Fredericton)

Very much hoppier than the regular version: resiny and fresh cut grass as well as a fairly bitter aftertaste. Still not a hop bomb by any measure. Also there is none of the caramel flavour I associate with Picaroons beers. Well balanced with malt, roasty and a little sticky but I still found it hop forward. I had the good fortune to have one of the first pints out of this cask and I found it was quite a bit hoppier than my second glass; quirks of cask beer perhaps.

This event at Marky's Laudromat Espresso Bar on January 10th was being held to raise funds for the employees of the Garrison District Ale House that has been temporarily shuttered due to fire damage.

Trappistes Rochefort 10 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 11.3%

 Trappistes Rochefort 10 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 11.3%

Dark cherry and oak aromas. Touches of caramelized sugars and just a touch of alcohol. The taste is very sweet, a bit of high alcohol, lots of chocolate, some light and smooth molasses flavours and a touch of hops coming through with light wooden tones - faintly cedar. It tastes like a gourmet, rum soaked milk chocolate cake. At first all you taste is the sweetness followed quickly by alcohol and definition to the sweetness: molasses, milk chocolate. Then comes bitterness, some wood tones and finally a long sugary and roasty, baked finish like brownies with a continued alcohol hum that fades slowly and compelling you to take another sip. This one is awesome. Opaque brown with an red or amber hue and well carbonated with a substantial amount of dark sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

La Trappe Quadrupel (Netherlands) 10.0%

La Trappe Quadrupel (Netherlands) 10.0%

Cloudy orange and amber colour in a glass with a big frothy just off white head: it's very carbonated. Very perfumy, sweet, honey/nectar aroma - just a little bit of alcohol. Sweet, malty, boozy, thickly honeyed and nectar flavour with an alcohol burn. Overall La Trappe Quadrupel is very approachable for a beer this strong: it's taste is mostly honey, but not too sweet, with some yeast flavours, but not too strongly floral. But why should anyone be surprised that a Trappist ale manages to be complex and interesting without being overwhelming? These beers are the class of the world and this Quad is no exception.

La Trappe Quadrupel is a lot much like any other top notch Trappist Blonde Ale though it's flavours seems a little more in-synch, as though the flavours have been able to mingle better with the other flavours through the extra fermentation. Although, the yeast flavour on the mild side for a Trappist ale, I've had Belgian style beers made in the United States that had a stronger Belgian yeast flavour that didn't get along so well with others. This is a very nice, honey toned lightly floral extra strong beer definitely worth picking up.

Winter Beard - Muskoka Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Bracebridge) 8.0%

Winter Beard - Muskoka Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Bracebridge) 8.0%

This Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout is an opaque, very deep brown that is nearly black. There is alcohol in the aroma as well as tart red fruit with a dark chocolate backing. The taste is strongly of alcohol with dark chocolate, milk chocolate and, at first, some hops then tartness and red fruit (presumably cranberries) with a finish that reminds me of fruitcake.

Overall, a nice strong fruit flavoured seasonal but the fancy bottle, elaborate name and description (see below) and hilarious graphic built up sky-high expectations that the beer just doesn't seem able to meet.

Kris Kringle - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Alberta - Canmore) 5.5%

Kris Kringle - Grizzly Paw Brewing (Canada - Alberta - Canmore) 5.5%

Deep brown that is pretty much opaque in a glass with minimal lacing. Hoppy aroma with a bit of barnyard. An earthy taste with some dark malt mixed with milk chocolate, coffee, touches of caramel. Spicy hops, fresh cut grass and a mild touch of pine. A roasty dark fruit finish with a lingering slightly pine hops taste.

This seasonal is delightfully all over the map, it could be categorized as a Black IPA but it's its own sort of tasty, complex and fun beer is deserving of its own category.

Terrible - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 10.5%

Terrible - Unibroue (Canada - Quebec - Chambly) 10.5%

Huge frothy head with each pour. A very dark brown in a glass, not quite opaque. A yeasty, floral aroma of nectar, a few wood tones, very sweet and herbal. Some dark malt touches too of molasses and rye bread.

The first sip is a little overwhelming, but the distinct flavours come into focus with a few more sips. La Terrible has a yeasty herbal taste, very strong and very sweet, and you can taste the alcohol pretty clearly at times. Plenty of darker malt flavours like rye bread and molasses. Not surprisingly, an ale this strong really warms your chest and will give you a pretty good glow after a few glasses. When you consider how powerful the initial flavour is it's a little unexpected how balanced this ale actually ends up being: the Belgian yeast flavours of spicy and floral nectar are nicely paired with the dark malt flavours of a brown ale to make this beer taste like a lovely dessert wine with a darker touch that reminds of something like an exotic fig and port reduction.

Hoperation Tripel Cross - Phillips Brewing Company (Canada - BC - Victoria) 7.3%

Hoperation Tripel Cross - Phillips Brewing Company (Canada - BC - Victoria) 7.3%

A slightly cloudy full gold in a glass. A crazily hoppy aroma of melon, fresh-cut grass but also some nectar and floral touches from the yeast and a high alcohol smell. Very bitter flavour and aftertaste: bordering on the alkaline taste from accidentally chewing a non-chewable pill. The high alcohol comes through a bit at first mixing with the hops taste to taste a bit like a solvent (floor polish or something) but mellows and mixes with the Tripel flavours. The melon hops with a pine chaser dominates the flavour with only touches of the floral yeast tones coming through in dribs and drabs. The mouthfeel is a bitter thin for a tripel which I expect to be thicker than most beers. This Belgian IPA is a tad overhopped to my taste, if they backed off on the hops just a bit some of the malt and yeast flavour might come through just a little better. All that being said, Hoperation Tripel Cross is probably pretty appealing to hops fanatics even though it isn't the best Belgian IPA I've had or the best Phillips Brewing Company product I have had.

False Creek Raspberry Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - BC - Vancouver) 4.5%

False Creek Raspberry Ale - Granville Island Brewing (Canada - BC - Vancouver) 4.5%

Cloudy pink with amber hints in a glass with a frothy quick-fading white head. Tart and sweet raspberry jam aroma but with some nice malty tones in the background. Very tart raspberry flavour with sweet notes, some citrus hints and an appetizing aftertaste. The malt flavour is underwhelming or more accurately overwhelmed by the fruit, so this is a mainly raspberry ale. False Creek Raspberry Ale would mix well in a beertail (aka a beer-cocktail) and would pair well with summer fare from salad to BBQ to sorbet.

A good fruit flavoured beer, if you aren't into flavoured beers: move right along, nothing to see here.

Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatoon)

Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout - Paddock Wood (Canada - Saskatchewan - Saskatoon) 10.0%

Opaquely black in a glass with a dark brown head of foam. Dark cherry aroma, a little alcohol, dark chocolate.

Toasted bread, nearly smoky, just a bit of green hops, black coffee, dark chocolate and quite a tart cherry taste, plenty of cherry really. Between the strong, tart cherry flavour and the chest warming high alcohol, Cherry Barrel Full of Monkeys Imperial Stout seems a little like a chocolate desert made with a cherry wine.

Barghest Barleywyne - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 9.5%

 Barghest Barleywyne - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 9.5%

A dark fruit aroma (plum) sort of like a port, ginger bread (ginger and molasses), rye bread and just a bit spicy. A very dark brown or amber colour in a glass, depending on the angle.

Lots of dark fruit flavours, molasses and a bit of spice that has me thinking of ginger; the combination of molasses and ginger has me thinking gingerbread in turn. Powerfully malty but balanced to the point that it is dangerously easy drinking and though it is not bitter I'd say it's only moderately sweet. Truly an extraordinarily balanced beer.

A really nice, smooth, wine-like and slightly thick (without being viscous) mouthfeel with only light carbonation. More molasses as well as many chewy malt and bread flavours in the aftertaste. It is easy to overlook the hops but they're definitely there (how else could it be so well balanced?) with some high, faint green notes and some subtle wood tones that reinforce the impression that your drinking a wine made from barley.

The alcohol took my breath away at first along with such a strong and interesting collection of flavours. I want to be careful to point out that because Barghest Barleywyne is so well-crafted you don't taste the alcohol, not with so much else going on in this delightfully flavourful beer, but that you can feel it tingle on your tongue and warm your chest.

I drank it around 10 to 12.5 degrees Celsius and would suggest that's perfect temperature, though I'd rather have it warmer than cooler: I always feel it is better to err on the side of warmth with a Barley Wine. There is some light sediment at the bottom of the bottle that doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the taste if some of it makes it into your glass.

Barghest Barleywyne is one of the best examples of a Barley Wine I have had: the balance is truly impressive. If you are in the Calgary region make sure you go out and pick up one of these, they only made 3000 individually numbered bottles so I feel quite privileged to have gotten my hands on bottle 1376. And speaking of the bottles, these wax-sealed and individually boxed little 275 ml beauties are the perfect way to present a beer that so much care obviously went into crafting.