Dogstalker April Bock - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge)

Dogstalker April Bock - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge) 6.0%

Pours a orange, reddish amber in a glass without much of a head; some sediment at the bottom of the bottle. The aroma has caramel sweetness, actually more like toffee, brown or even molasses bread and some, nay lots, of apple-ey red fruit as well as some dark fruit (prune) notes.

The aroma is a bit like malt syrup used in homebrew but isn't nearly that sweet. The occasional roasty smell drifts in and out but it never shows up in the flavour, instead it is well on the sweet, caramelized, red ale side of the Maillard process. Lots of brown bread and toffee. There is some underlying tartness and syrupy sweetness reminds me of sherry and unfortunately it is the cooking kind that springs to mind not the drinking kind. When combined with overly forward red fruit flavours it kind of ruins this beer for me. 

The difficulty for me with invented (or at the least styles I haven't heard of and don't show up in my beer encyclopedia) styles like an April Bock is that I'm not sure what the brewer was going for. It could be that they nailed this and it is just not to my taste because I have liked other Grand River Brewing products but I am not really a fan of this one. If I am on the right track with what the concept, an April Bock would be pretty good if the fruit flavours had been a bit more subdued and if the sweetness was less syrupy and more malty. 

Mill Street Seasonal Spring Mix (Canada - Ontario - Toronto)

Spring Imp Spring Bock - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 7.0%

A glowing orange colour in a glass. The aroma is sweet and somewhat creamy with just a hint of dry Euro style hops, just the faintest hint of lemon. The mouthfeel is creamy but not at all cloying while the taste is sweet and malty, but not overly with a moderate alcohol flavour that comes across as just a little bit herbal; in short, Spring Imp tastes exactly like a Bock should.


Spring Thaw Maple Ale - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 5.3%

A roasty, lightly smoky, a bit of a hop aroma with only a hint of maple. Not quite the typical Maple Ale aroma - though pleasant. A deep amber colour in a glass.

The taste is smoke, dark malt, light roast and mild coffee tones; sweet, especially in the finish, without being sugary. The maple flavour is certainly not overstated, mixing with the smoke to give a flavour that is reminiscent of maple syrup made over a wood fire. Just a bit of acidity as well as a moderately bitter finish from the mix of barely cedary, mellow hops and smoked malt. The aftertaste is long lingering, sweet and tastes very must of maple. The maple flavour comes out a little bit more as the beer warms; the maple aspect of Mill Street's Spring Thaw Maple Ale is still not as pronounced as many other Maple Ales on the market. This more balanced maple flavour makes Spring Thaw Maple Ale all the more drinkable and not so one-dimensional as other Maple Ales.

The Legendary Muskoka Spring Oddity

The Legendary Muskoka Spring Oddity 2012 (Canada - Ontario - Bracebridge) 8.0%

Hint of melon in the hops, some banana. Sweet malt. Quite sweet and quite bitter - hops and distinctly gin-like with the juniper berries. A orange peel flavour rather than the sweetness of orange flesh. A bit of alcohol warming, toasted bread bordering on caramel in the malt. Full gold in a glass, no sediment in the glass or the bottle. A bit spicy maybe a bit of honey finish. The juniper, orange peel and malt form a really nice mix that puts me in mind of nectar though the mouthfeel is not thick, though not quite watery. As it warms and loses carbonation (it is well carbonated by the way) it tastes more and more like honey.

I wonder how this beer would age, if it were bottled on lees? It seems like the flavour could go from good to great however it's not bottled on lees so it would only grow musty and stale; it even has an expiry date. It also has great artwork on the label and an interesting story you can read in the image below.

Waterloo Iron Horse Bock - Brick Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Kitchener) 5.5%

Waterloo Iron Horse Bock - Brick Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Kitchener) 5.5%

Gold in a glass with a nice head of white foam with a very sweet and creamy aroma that reminds me of sugar cookies and has just a touch of something ineffably lager-esque. It's a very appetizing smell.

The taste is also sweet at first, with a touch of grain and a creamy mouthfeel but it has a bitter finish and some vegetal hops too. Waterloo Iron Horse Bock does not exactly have the typical Bock flavour I expected however they call it a Spring Bock (a variety I hadn't heard of before) and there is something appropriately like Spring in the moderate hops bitterness and the lower than typical (for a Bock) alcohol content. Keep in mind that there is more hops to this beer than there are to other Bocks and I think you'll find it quite enjoyable.