Propeller Honey Wheat (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.0%

Propeller Honey Wheat (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.0%

A shade pale gold colour in a glass. Grainy aroma of fresh malt and sweet with a hint of the honey they use; a touch skunky also though I am drinking it on a sun drenched patio. The taste is much more strongly honey: sweet and a touch spicy. Fresh wheat tones of malt. Lightly bitter. Well balanced and best served cool. Some green hops flavours accentuate the raw freshness of the wheat flavours.

Propeller IPA (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 6.5%

Propeller IPA (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 6.5%

A lovely brass colour in a glass. Very hoppy and bitter as the style demands, this award winning beer is also strongly malty and quite sweet as well. The hops character is green but also resiny and reminds me of sap from a spruce tree. Very nice, very balanced and, like all really good IPAs, it would pair well with pretty much any type of flavourful food.

Propeller Pilsener (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 4.8%

Propeller Pilsener (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 4.8%

A sweet malty but also light tasting Pilsner with a pronounced hop finish that is dry - true to the Pilsner style.

What is neat about this Pilsner is the flavour is mild yet intricate: a malty grain flavour with a hint of nuttiness washes over you before the hops and accompanying bitterness come in late and just to the edge of being very bitter before receding in a pleasant Pilsner-ey aftertaste. The beer is gold in a glass [and ever so slightly cloudy (may just be a chill haze)] and has a lovely aroma that brings through for me all the facets I described in the flavour. A must try for anyone who swears by a Pilsner.

Propeller Double IPA (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 8.2%

Propeller Double IPA (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 8.2%

Very strong hoppy pine aroma with a bright citrus (mix of lemon and orange) element. A dark brass colour in a glass.

Very bitter with plenty of wooden, earthy tones mixed in with the strong hops flavour. A sweet and toasty, nearly caramelized, malt flavour mixes with the bitterness of hops to remind me of a tart unripe dark cherry in a very, very good way.

Propeller's Double IPA is a great way to beat the heat and a good beer to share to unwind after a day at the office. Just like the label says this is a "TRUE hop bomb, for TRUE hop heads". It's hops character is nicely accentuated by the malt to make a beer that is more than just really hoppy. A can't miss for you hopheads out there.

Propeller Extra Special Bitter (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.0%

 Propeller Extra Special Bitter (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.0%

Roasty aroma of crusty brown bread and more than a touch of hops. A very dark brown in a glass; a good head with some lacing. Nice taste, sweet in a caramelized sort of way - tones you'd find in a Red. Some faint floral hops tastes and a satisfyingly bitter finish. Plenty of roast and bitterness in the body too; dark bread tones with hints of molasses and a touch umami. Some mild wood tones and a light smokiness is there too as a result of a mixture of the bitterness of the hops and the dark roasted malt. A nice bitter, emphasis on the bitter, no surprise it is one of Propeller's best sellers. The bitterness and the robust roasted malt flavour make Propeller's Extra Special Bitter an ideal ale to pair with hearty stews or roasted dishes.

Revolution Russian Imperial Stout - Propeller (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 8.0%

Revolution Russian Imperial Stout - Propeller (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 8.0%

Opaque and black in glass. A big frothy, thick, brown head that leaves behind formidable lacing. The aroma is coffee, smoke, mild hops, a little caramel and maple, some wood tones - lots going on. The taste is similarly complicated: bitter, dark chocolate forward melding into more of a coffee flavour as each sip progresses, the powerful malt flavours overmatch a hops character that would be strong nearly in any other beer but in Propeller's Revolution Russian Imperial Stout it only balances. Smoke and umami, sweet touches of maple and molasses bread. Barely a few touches of alcohol and some faint fruit esters poke at the edges of my perception playfully adding yet another layer to this splendid flavour.

Propeller's Revolution Russian Imperial Stout is not a beer to be rushed. It's also a beer I like a little on the warm side and although it is nearly a meal in and of itself, it would probably pair well with some strong flavoured hard cheeses.

St-Ambroise Citroulle: The Great Pumpkin Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Montreal)

St-Ambroise Citroulle: The Great Pumpkin Ale - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Quebec - Montreal) 5.0%

Strong raw pumpkin aroma with some pumpkin pie crust tones and spices like nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Plenty of the aforementioned spices in the taste along with a noticable cloves tone that I didn't notice as much in the aroma; quite sweet (brown sugar) with some raw pumpkin and pumpkin pie flavours. Quite a dark brown in a glass with an orange hue.

Pumpkin is a funny kind of flavour because for many people the only way they eat pumpkin is in pumpkin pie. As a result, lots of these pumpkin beers, including this one, are spiced like pumpkin pie however there are some nice flavours to be had from the flesh of the gourd itself. McAuslan's St-Ambroise Citroulle The Great Pumpkin Ale does a good job of balancing the two: genuine pumpkin flavour and the familiar and comforting spices of pumpkin pie. Propeller's Pumpkin Ale is more heavy on the pumpkin side while Mill Street's Nightmare on Mill Street is more on the spiced pie side of the spectrum.

Although this helpful tip probably comes a week or more too late, the next time you are carving a pumpkin it is interesting to try a little taste of the raw flesh of the pumpkin. It is an interesting flavour, quite mild and delicate, but trying it raw and on its own may also give you a better idea of which flavours are coming from which ingredients for the next time you try a pumpkin ale.

Propeller Pumpkin Ale (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Propeller Pumpkin Ale (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.0%

Aroma contains more spice than pumpkin but there is gourd and a hint of green in there. Crystal clear and gold coloured in a glass. Lots of spice in the taste and quite a bitter finish. The gourd flavour from the pumpkin is nice though at times quite green tasting: the way it mixes with the spices is almost herbal and can nearly border on minty. The mix of spices is nice but there is a slightly hollow feel to the taste because the malt flavour is so light while the spice and gourd taste can be so strong that the malt is often overpowered by the spice. All in all a nice pumpkin beer that really suits this time of year.

Propeller Hefeweizen (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Propeller Hefeweizen (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 5.3%

Full gold in a glass, this Hefeweizen from Propeller hits on all cylinders. A yeasty bread aroma with hints of the flavours to come: cloves, dried banana chips, sweetness and spice. These flavours dance across the palate along with flashes of pumpkin, earthy nuttiness, as well as floral spiciness. A mouth wateringly nutty and earthy aftertaste, with echos of the cloves explosion, means the drinker will be reaching for a second shortly after finishing the first. Propeller really nailed this one, delectable and true to the style. Just a fantastic beer.