Abandoned Abbey - Big Rock Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary)

Abandoned Abbey - Big Rock Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 9.2%

A strongly yeasty, herbal aroma; cloves and banana. Very dark in a glass without much of a head of foam.

The taste is also strongly yeasty: banana, herbs, cloves. Lightly spicy, the faintest bit of licorice. Sweet with some dark, dried fruit flavours. A bit of chocolate comes out in the finish, and dark crusty bread out in the aftertaste. These same flavours are there in the main body but overshadowed by the Belgian yeasty tones. A well constructed Belgian Style Dark Ale that conceals it's hefty alcohol content dangerously well.

Brunette - Village Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary)

Brunette - Village Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.0%

Dark brown in a glass, slightly cloudy as one would expect after the slight roll before opening the label directed. A sweet toasted crusty bread, and slightly light molasses-like aroma. The taste is sweet, brown sugar, crusty bread, and biscuit. The aftertaste is umami and lightly bitter. This is a nice tasting Brown Ale.

Euro Life Lager - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary)

Euro Life Lager - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.0%

Crisp dry hops aroma, pale gold and crystal clear in a glass. A touch of the grain I associate with Big Rock. Dry hops taste just like a Euro Lager, not musty probably because it's fresher than any actual European Lager you could get in North America. They aimed to make a Czech style pilsner and they did a great job - they nailed this style.

India Pale Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.5%

India Pale Ale - Big Rock (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.5%

Earthy, malty aroma with some honeyed sweetness and a green hops touch that reminds me of fresh celery. Moderately bitter with some melon (cantaloupe) tones, sweet and slightly musty. A slightly amber colour in a glass with a decent head and lacing. Not a bad beer at all, very sessionable, but not quite the taste I expect from an IPA, the hops character is just a little more subdued than some other IPAs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Royal 100: 1910-2010 - Mount Royal University & Wild Rose Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary)

In honour of the 101st anniversary of Mount Royal University I will review the beer released to celebrate their 100th:

Royal 100: 1910-2010 - Mount Royal University & Wild Rose Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 5.0%

Tastes of red malt make this beer taste warm with bitter hop tones. The mix of flavours were perfect for winter. A tasty beer and a grand one liter bottle - handy for homebrew too! A deep reddish amber colour in a glass.

It was brewed by the neighbouring Wild Rose Brewery for Mount Royal University located in Calgary in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mount Royal University's founding.