Biere de Garde - Pump House (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 7.5%

Biere de Garde - Pump House (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 7.5%

It is an orange amber colour and barely cloudy in a glass. The aroma is spicy, apple, cranberry, malty with cedar hops. The taste is strongly caramel with cedar hops and bitterness initially, fading with drinking; tart some grain and plenty of cranberry-esque fruit esters with quite a bitter finish. Some barely smoky wood tones make it into the flavour along with a little bit of an earthy flavour. A nice beer that is a bit off the beaten path. Reminds me a bit of a darkish and hoppier saison.

Winter Beard - Muskoka Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Bracebridge) 8.0%

Winter Beard - Muskoka Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Bracebridge) 8.0%

This Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout is an opaque, very deep brown that is nearly black. There is alcohol in the aroma as well as tart red fruit with a dark chocolate backing. The taste is strongly of alcohol with dark chocolate, milk chocolate and, at first, some hops then tartness and red fruit (presumably cranberries) with a finish that reminds me of fruitcake.

Overall, a nice strong fruit flavoured seasonal but the fancy bottle, elaborate name and description (see below) and hilarious graphic built up sky-high expectations that the beer just doesn't seem able to meet.