Steeler - Lakeport Brewing (Canada) 5.0%

Not quite actual size.

Steeler - Lakeport Brewing (Canada) 5.0%

A musty malt aroma with a hint of bitterness. A rather mild malt aroma just a bit of crusty bread.

The taste is very standard lager: not sweet, not bitter (though there is a bit of bitterness). At times I got a metallic touch but this is otherwise a pretty acceptable beer in the style of yellow and fizzy. It's better than Molson Canadian, better than the Bud products and I like it better than Labatt. It's also cheap and it comes in a giant can! What more could you want from a giant can beer?

Tatra (Poland)

Tatra (Poland) 5.5%

Pale gold in a glass with a fast fading head. The aroma is honey with an ever so slightly burnt, nearly acrid touch and faint pilsner-like dry Czech hops. Honey continues in the flavour as does the bitterness - in fact it has quite a bitter aftertaste. Tatra is a sweet pilsner with honey and biscuit flavours at first then followed by a bitter, slightly acrid, finish. Despite being slightly acrid it is not terrible but it's not great; however, considering how cheap it is, it is better than I expected. There is just something about the bitter finish that is a bit off to my taste.

Sinha Stout - Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (Sri Lanka)

Sinha Stout - Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (Sri Lanka) 8.8%

Black and utterly opaque in a glass. A vigorous pour generated a inch of mocha foam that settled quickly but did not completely dissipate sticking around the edges and and left some nice lacing. The aroma is chocolate heavy with some coffee, and a touch of grape or perhaps more like raisins and prunes. There is something also a little milky, like you'd find in a milk stout in the aroma. No signs of the 8.8% alcohol in the aroma until it warms up just a little. There is an issue with the aroma though, it is a little bit musty which may be as a result of a little oxygen tagging along in the bottle during the travel time from Sri Lanka to Ontario.

Milk chocolate flavours but a bit of a thin mouthfeel with some taste of alcohol in the finish. Ah, but let it warm up a little bit and the mouthfeel is there as well as the chocolate flavour, dark fruit, some leather tones. Also the finish is more smoke and dark chocolate with some alcohol, but not much, and just a little of that musty flavour. The aftertaste is dark fruit first and then some chocolate.

Overall, Sinha Stout is actually pretty good considering it was only $2.15 and it is 8.8% ABV. It is not the best stout but the only real knock on it is that is was musty and thin at times.

Gosser (Austria) 5.2%

Gosser (Austria) 5.2%

A creamy malty aroma that is a bit musty and has occasional hints of misplaced banana. Gold in a glass with a resilient head. The taste is fairly bitter, a little sour and just a little bit... cheesy. Gosser's taste reminds me more of a gluten free beer than a conventional beer. Hey, with food you may not even notice the weird taste and mouthfeel which is slightly drying. This beer does not taste good.

Stonewell Light - Cool Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.0%

Stonewell Light - Cool Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.0%


Pale gold in a glass with a big white head of foam that fades quickly. An aroma of grain with a bit of creamed corn (DMS) a bit of either Euro Lager dry hops or just skunk from being light struck. The flavour is kind of creamy and buttery with some grain but so much skunk from being light struck that I can't say I really pick up on the "squeeze of lime" much at all. In a weird way the skunk and the butteriness kind of work together. Beer geeks aren't likely to pick this up anyway so who cares if it has lots of what are strictly considered off-flavours. Stonewell Light isn't so bad for a bargain light beer and maybe because it at least, unlike most big brand light lagers, it tastes like something.

Faxe Amber (Denmark) 5.0%

Faxe Amber (Denmark) 5.0%

Sweet, honeyed, lightly caramelized malt aroma with a bit of dry hops. A brown tinted amber in a glass.

A moderately caramelized malt flavour which is to be expected from an Amber: a little bit like the crust from dark bread. Also quite bitter and the taste of alcohol is there occasionally despite it only being 5.0% ABV. Unfortunately there's a unpleasant sour taste that comes through sometimes which is not nice. Overall, it's not bad for a mass-produced Amber (which isn't saying much) except for that sour flavour which can be really off-putting. Actually, between the sour flavour and the oddly unmasked alcohol taste Faxe Amber isn't very good. Some other Faxe products are just as cheap but actually quite a bit better.

Rockbottom Brewpub (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Rockbottom Brewpub Sample Tray (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Six bucks for a sampler? Yes please! All of Rockbottom's brews were good and their seasonals were real standouts, can't wait to see their next batch of seasonals as the calendar turns. I also very liked the menu that comes with complete descriptions of their beers (which I didn't read), ABV, IBU and suggested food pairings: if only every restaurant treated beers with such respect! Our server was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, chatting with me about beers and their various events (a firkin of their specially made cask beer every Saturday!).

Deadwood Wheat 5.0% [12 IBUs]

Bread-like aroma. Slightly tart flavour with a touch of hops and a distinct grain taste.

Big Water Brown 5.5% [17 IBUs]

Very roasty, nearly coffee dark malt flavours at first. Nutty, grain & rye bread, sweet and slightly bitter with some fruit tones. A watery mouthfeel keeps it refreshing.

Fathom IPA 6.9% [70 IBUs]

Very floral, sweet, citrus (grapefruit) and melon hop aroma. That'll wake up your taste buds! Flavour is much the same (super nice) but more bitter than the aroma and the hops has a sprucy green edge as well as floral, sweet and really nice. A grain finish and floral bitter hops aftertaste.

Balticus 7.8% [70 IBUs]

Strong wooden tones come through in the aroma with spice and nut flavours as well as a smell that I can only describe as almost salty: very interesting. Some wooden tones come through in the flavour with hops and spice - quite a bit of bitterness as well as a mild high alcohol burn. This seasonal porter is also sweet with a touch of caramelized sugar.

Desecration 8.6% [65 IBUs]

Very floral hops aroma, sweet with grapefruit and melon tones but also a slight sticky sweet edge. This Imperial Red has punchy fruit and melon tones with a bitter hops finish. A nice beer with excitingly sharp tastes. The combination of alcohol burn and fruit tones almost make it a little wine-like but not a barley wine because it is not nearly that malty.

Jacktar Stout 6.7% [70 IBUs]

Chocolatey aroma, quite sweet with a hint of hops. Chocolatey taste as well as quite bitter with quite a bit of hops flavour too. Touches of fruit. A bitter finish. The hops seems to outshine the dark malt flavours to star in this one.

The Hoslten Three

These certainly aren't the only three Holsten brews but they are the only three sold in New Brunswick. All three are quite good and very cheap. Not a bad choice at all when served at the correct temperature. I like these beers and can design also: it seems very German and I like how similar each can looks and yet each can be easily distinguished from the rest so you know what you are picking up.

Holsten Premium (Germany - Hamburg) 5.0%

A dry hops and fairly malty aroma - sweet as well. Some fresh green hints.

Malty flavour with more of a hops character than I expected, though not extremely hoppy. Bitter flavour with a malt-house touch and bit of apple - a toasted bread and bitter finish. Holsten Premium tastes like it is higher in alcohol than 5%.  A shade paler than full gold in a glass.

A nice hops flavour that is greenish but still dry in the Euro lager style. The hops is dry as mentioned and while slightly musty it is also greener and fresher than many Euro lagers. Now the question is: is Holsten Premium hops character different than other Euro lagers because they used a different variety of (or just more) hops or did this can simply reach the shores of NB & my mouth faster? Hard to say.

All in all, a Euro lager with more hops and a more bitter flavour than most and that tastes more boozy than it actually is.

Holsten Maibock (Germany - Hamburg) 7.0%

An sweet slightly appley, malty aroma with hints of dry, musty hops and alcohol. A full gold colour in a glass with a full head. Very sweet, distinct fruit tones and the alcohol comes through quite, maybe even too, clearly when served cold. A little closer to room temperature and the alcohol seems to mix better with the rest of flavours rather than dominating them; roasted yet blonde tasting malt tones. A nice tasting strong beer when served warmish. Served cold, the alcohol plays too much in the forefront to the detriment of the other flavours.

Holsten Festbock (Germany - Hamburg) 7.0%

A sweet, somewhat appley, roasty and sticky aroma of figs. Initially very sweet with maple and caramel but it soon became dominated by more fruit (especially apple) and roast malt flavours with some faint wood notes; still quite sweet but not overly. Quite red in colour in a glass. Its high alcohol content delivers a chest warming finish.

The combination of sweetness, apple flavours and high alcohol result in a beer that is somewhat sherry-like. For a beer that is strong and cheap Holsten Festbock isn't bad at all. Where some beers in this class (cheap and strong) are simply alcohol delivery devices, I find Holsten Festbock to be quite good: not overly sweet, a nice blend of flavours and the warming alcohol feeling seems to bring it all together not push the flavours apart {like it does in some other cheap and strong ales}. Should definitely be served on the warmish side of a lager-serving temperature to ensure you can taste the other flavours over the alcohol.

Keystone - Molson Coors (Canada)

Keystone - Molson Coors (Canada) 4.9%

Sweet, lightly malty not really bitter at all. A bit of a creamed corn flavour and very little in the way of an aftertaste. Light gold colour in a glass. Yellow, fizzy, refreshing and highly drinkable; there isn't really much else to Keystone so, it's a fine choice if that's what you are looking for.

This one of several discount beer brands NB Liquor brought onto their shelves for the summer of 2012. Among NB Liquor's summer choices to the passable James Ready, Molson Dry or the truly awful Old Milwaukee that round out this discounted roster, Keystone is your best choice.

Molson Dry 5.5 - Molson Coors (Canada)

Molson Dry 5.5 - Molson Coors (Canada) 5.5%

Malty, sweet, a little bitter. Pretty much just another international lager but with a cleaner taste with not much of an aftertaste to speak of. It's not a beer with a lot of character but if it's drunkening you're interested in it does the job and is cheap in New Brunswick all summer.

Old Milwaukee - Silver Creek Brewery (USA - Pennsylvania - Latrobe)

Old Milwaukee - Silver Creek Brewery (USA - Pennsylvania - Latrobe) 5.0%

In the case of this inexpensive beer you get what you pay for: Old Milwaukee manages to combine blandness with sickening sweetness and some misplaced bitterness that hits on all the wrong notes. Gold in a glass. Not a good beer, avoid.

The Split Crow (Canada - Nova Scotia - Truro)

The Split Crow (Canada - Nova Scotia - Truro)

Our waitress at the Split Crow was extremely helpful providing a sample of all four of their unique beers free of charge (we bought several more after sampling) and answering my questions to the best of her ability. These beers are brewed by Garrison specially for the Split Crow pub so they aren't technically brewpubs but they do have beers you can't get anywhere else.

I was disappointed by the inability to get ABV for every beer but was impressed to see suggested beer and food pairings in the menu. There is also a Split Crow pub in Halifax and Bedford, Nova Scotia.

Split Crow Cream Ale 4.4%

A very nutty aroma and flavour that lingers roastily in the aftertaste. Malty and a bit hoppy and bitter as well. Gold in a glass. a very tasty beer with a bit of a watery mouthfeel that keeps it refreshing.

Rafter Red Ale 5.0%

A very sweet, nearly sticky aroma; hints of caramel and coffee in there. Considering how pleasantly pungent the aroma was, the taste is relatively understated. Mostly malty and hoppy with some bitter roasty with dark tones that leave a somewhat smoky aftertaste. Don't get me wrong, the taste is still very good just a notch of intensity below the aroma.

Shippey's IPA ? %

The weaker of the bunch, not hoppy at all. Yellow, fizzy... really nothing much to it, an IPA in name only - in the style of Alexander Keith's. The slightest touch of citrus. [Almost a slight touch of citrus in the taste (could just be leftover from other beers).]

Split Crow's Proprietor's Ale ? %

Light, malty, sweet, slightly floral a little appley, a little nutty. A nice yellow fizzy refreshing beer with a bit of character. Pale gold in a glass.

Bavaria Beers (no not Bavarian Beers)

There is a brewery by the name of Bavaria and it makes three kinds of beer, puts their beer into 500 ml cans, and ships these cans to New Brunswick. You can buy them for less than $3.50. Two are of the three are pretty good and one is terrible. Read on to find out which!

Bavaria 8.6 Original (Netherlands) 7.9%

A deep gold colour in a glass. This beer has a sweet, apple aroma, somewhat like a white wine or a cider. Tastes like a pleasantly malty lager though sweet and with more than a touch of apple. The flavour can be a touch cloying and has a bitter touch with an alcohol bite in the aftertaste; considering it is nearly 8% ABV, the flavour isn't too strong by any means. Bavaria 8.6 Original manages to strike an interesting balance by having a beer with a high alcohol content but doesn't taste like something you'd only ever drink when you were sixteen (I'm looking at you Colt .45). If you are after a beer that can pass as a lager and get you drunk in a hurry this one is for you.

Bavaria Light (Netherlands) 4.0%

A yellow gold colour in a glass. Malty, slightly roasty and somewhat sweet: almost with a touch of honey. A little watery; maybe a touch hoppy. Pretty good for a light lager. Overall not a bad choice if light beer is your thing but you might as well go domestic or, even better, for a beer other than a light lager!

Bavaria 8.6 Red (Netherlands) 7.5%

An apple juice aroma. Tastes very sweet and a lot like apple: an unbelievably sweet taste. Reddish orange in a glass almost like fruit punch. Tastes a lot like sherry actually, and not the expensive stuff; the stuff teenagers get drunk on and the rest of us cook with. A little roasty, not much of an alcohol taste at all. Actually, there is an alcohol taste to this beer but you have to be willing to drink this syrupy swill fast enough to taste it. To be frank, saying it tastes like anything other than sugar is misleading. Unless sugary and gross is a beer type I am not familiar with this is a terrible beer. So if you aren't as obsessed as I am with trying & reviewing every beer you can get your hands on - skip this beer! It's just awful.

James Ready Lager - Moosehead (Canada - New Brunswick - Saint John)

James Ready Lager - Moosehead (Canada - New Brunswick - Saint John) 5.0%

A full to pale gold colour in a glass. A malty, slightly hoppy aroma. An unremarkable but pleasant lager flavour: malty, sweet, barely hoppy, a little bitter. James Ready Lager is everything refreshing, yellow and fizzy that international lagers usually are but it is also very cheap in New Brunswick (NBLC) so if lager is what you like, give it a shot this summer.

The Faxe Three

Faxe Premium (Denmark) 5.0%

A gold colour in a glass this beer has a nice head but went flat quickly. Fairly bitter, malty and somewhat thick and sweet. While certain characteristics of this beer aren't bad the mix is not appetizing at all and despite the low price of this beer this is not one that I would recommend.

Faxe Fest Bock (Denmark) 7.0%

A dark brown beer. It is malty, roasty and very bitter (almost sour) and a little sweet. It's reminiscent of Yule Beers which appear on shelves all over Scandinavia in the months leading up to Christmas (check out these reviews and these and this one, for an idea of what Yule Beers are all about).

Unlike its 10% brethren that includes glucose syrup amongst its ingredients, this Faxe is made with only water, barley malt, and hops. Like the 10% Faxe it is very cheap (selling for $2.85 for 500ml including tax and deposit) but unlike the 10% Faxe it's actually pretty good.

Faxe Extra Strong Beer (Denmark) 10.0%

I was surprised to see a complete ingredient list on the side of this 500ml can of beer. I was even more surprised to find glucose syrup as the third ingredient. I guess they needed something to make the yeast pump out enough booze to make this beer 10% ABV. It's bitter, sickly sweet, gold in a glass and very cheap. Very cheap is likely the only reason this thing sells and only to people who are looking to get drunk ... and those who are on a mission to review every beer they can find.

Pokal Lys Pilsner (Norway) 4.7%

Pokal Lys Pilsner (Norway) 4.7%

A very ordinary international lager with a slightly hoppy taste. Altogether average and very drinkable. Gold in a glass and with a MILDLY bitter aftertaste. It is well on the cheap side of the beer options in Norway and as a result could be a staple during a Norwegian vacation: it is better than Borg Pilsner and almost exactly the same price. The only snag is that the flavour isn't worth going out of your way to find and it is only sold in Coop grocery stores which are not quite as common as the other grocery store chains in Oslo.

Borg Beer

Borg Pilsner (Norway) 4.7%

A typical international lager base with a thicker feel on the tongue. On the yellow side of gold in a glass. It has a sort of nutty aftertaste that is rather nice at first. More bitter than some of the other pilsners/lagers out there. As you drink on, the aftertaste lingers and becomes a little more bitter. One of the cheaper beers in Norway (retailing for 9.70 NOK which is about $1.70 CAD for a 330 ml bottle) it tends to leave a somewhat scummy feeling in the back of the throat after several beers and a hangover is guaranteed after three bottles.

Be sure to grab this one if drinking beer bought from a grocery store (it's worth the price savings) but I wouldn't drink it at a a bar when it is bound to be as marked up as anything else or not served at all.


Borg Lettol (Norway) 2.5%

A lighter version of the Borg Pilsner: lighter in flavour, lower in alcohol and a little bit cheaper.

However the best of the Norwegian Lettols (their light beers) is Lettol Grans.


Borg Sommer Pilsner (Norway) 4.5%

A light but engaging malty flavour. A little bitter in the immediate aftertaste which settles into a nice almost smoky lingering aftertaste. Very appetizing beer.