Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 (United Kingdom - London)

Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 (United Kingdom - London) 8.5%

Just on the amber side of gold and barely cloudy with not much of a head, although I am pour it out in dribs and drabs so that I can savour this beer that I have been saving for more than a year. Sweet, nectary, peach and apple pie aroma. Apple because of some esters but pie because of the sweet, somewhat roasty malt flavours. Subdued but solid resiny hops, earth tones and a touch of alcohol blends this all together tantalizingly.

Sweetly sugary but with malt tones like barley candy, dried fruit flavours (dates, raisins) and lingering peach or marmalade tones. These sweet flavours are grounded with spicy, herbal hops tones and medium bitterness. The aftertaste is slightly bitter, earthy, with a caramelized sweetness and leather hints with a faint lingering touch of that marmalade flavour. I think the flavour of Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 is truly delightful. If I had to describe it in only one sentence I'd describe it as such: a lighter body and perhaps slightly sweeter barley wine but with all the complexity. Bear in mind that barley wines are among my favourite beer styles of all time so this is high praise indeed.

On the strength of Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012's flavour I plan to pick up two or three of their 2013 (and 2014 and 2015 and ...) edition: one for a year from now; one for a vertical tasting with a one-year-old 2014; and one for a vertical tasting with a one-year-old 2015 and two-year-old 2014. Vertical tastings take a long horizon and a good deal of planning and foresight (not to mention a place to actually properly store the beer) so I still haven't done a proper one (once, out of luck I managed to find a few Orval bottles at an NB Liquor store that were bottled eight months apart) but this beauty of a beer from more than twelve months ago has convinced me that it has to happen.

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 Vintage Ale 2011 - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Quebec - Montreal)

St Ambroise Vintage Ale 2011 - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Quebec - Montreal) 10.0%

An ever so slightly cloudy red-tinted amber colour in a glass with a think and creamy head with great lacing. Lots of plum, fresh baked bread, molasses, nutmeg, some wood tones and a hint of white chocolate in a delectable aroma.

The alcohol comes through clearly from the moment it touches your lips by the way it makes them tingle as well as the taste. But it's a barley wine afterall so what else could you expect? Sweet, herbal, a touch of something like cinnamon and a bit of a honey flavour. A lot of dark fruit like the plum that I found to be prominent in the nose as well as cherry, and dried fruit tones like apricot. Lightly yeasty and quite bitter. The hops, which are largely pushed aside by the other more powerful flavour, and the alcohol combine to lend St Ambroise Vintage Ale some wood tones. A lot of the different aspects of the flavour are similar to the taste of fruitcake particularly fruitcake made with rum.

This beer will improve with time and can be aged for years. It is a good idea to let it warm to the suggested serving temperature of 12 and 15 Celsius.