Saint of Circumstance - Collective Arts Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Burlington)

Saint of Circumstance - Collective Arts Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Burlington) 4.7%

A slightly cloudy gold in a glass with a thin but resilient head of foam. The aroma one is of citrus and sweetness in a way that reminds me of lemon sugar cookies. It is also herbal with faint touches of peach, clover and field flowers. There is also a hint of some something vaguely spicy like ginger or cinnamon.

The flavour is herbal and zesty from the, well, orange and lemon zest. It is also complemented nicely by the biscuit-like flavour of malty body and the subtle accent of piney hops. A very pleasant beer, nice use of citrus.

Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop Ale (Canada)

Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop Ale (Canada) 5.5%

Full gold with a finger of foam that settled fairly quickly. Herbal, floral, slightly citrusy (orange/tangerine) marmalade and sweet aroma. The taste is bitter but with continued citrus (more tangerine now), marmalade like sweetness. There is also some resin and a floral flavour that reminds me of some blossom, maybe honeysuckle? The aftertaste is drily, lightly bitter with more malt than hops flavour.

I am a fan of these One Hop beers because I like the opportunity to learn about one specific type of hops. This beer is also highly drinkable and pretty tasty.

Blanche des Honnelles (Belgium)

Blanche des Honnelles (Belgium) 6.0%

A very cloudy deep gold in a glass with dark clumps of sediment. The aroma is medicinal and reminds me of a tincture: herbal and boozy. I fear this bottle may be off but nevertheless I persevere.

Very sweet flavour, sugary and herbal with a sticky candied ginger and a flavour of toast and marmalade. Dried fruit flavours are a part of an aspect of the flavour that sometimes comes across as malty syrup. It seems like this beer was brewed once and then reinforced with a pile of sugar to amp up the alcohol content. This is a tried and true way to make a stronger beer but using more malt works too and would make a better tasting beer. I'm not saying Blanche des Honnelles is terrible though, depending on which aspect of the flavour strikes me it will seem syrupy, cheaply made and kind of gross honestly but then on the next sip Blanche des Honnelles strikes me as a tasty wheaty homage to a barley wine and I'm won over. I flip-flopped like this all through the glass so I'd suggest you try it only if you like flavours found in sticky, malty barley wines. This is NOT your typical wheat beer.

Bob LeBoeuf - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston)

Bob LeBoeuf - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston) 5.2%

Full gold in a glass without much of a head of foam. The malt flavour is somewhat toasted and sweet but with a herbal touch from the yeast that is well suited to the style and very pleasant. It has a somewhat thicker mouthfeel than some other beers but again this is suitable for the style. All in all, a nicely drinkable Belgian Style Blonde Ale.

Duvel Tripel Hop (2014) (Belgium)

 Duvel Tripel Hop (2014) (Belgium) 9.5%

Grassy, unripened mango, passionfruit hop laden aroma also with sweetness and a herbal hint typical of a less hoppy Tripel. A pale, cloudy gold in a glass with a frothy and resilient head of white foam.

Hoppy, bitter flavour at first, pine, sweet tangerine (got that from the Untappd description), something between the green (aka unripened) mango and passionfruit I got in the aroma but with a sweet herbal, floral finish of a Tripel. Interesting hops character and a flavour that is otherwise true to the Tripel style. Nice beer.

Maredsous 10° Tripel (Belgium)

Maredsous 10° Tripel (Belgium) 10.0%

A slightly reddish full gold colour, just barely cloudy with a large, creamy head of white foam. A sweet toasted malt and herbal aroma with hints of apple, pear, touches of alcohol and honey.

Honey and nectar-like sweetness, apple blossoms, toasty malt and a slightly herbal flavour; a bit of seeds of paradise and maybe even light licorice at times. The high alcohol is exposed at times and Maredsous 10° Tripel will certainly warm your chest but most of the time it doesn't taste like it is 10% ethanol.

Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 5.6%

Full gold in a glass, cloudy too. It totes a resilient heady of creamy white foam. A berrylike (gooseberry?) touch to the hoppy floral, herbal, pine and citrus (tangerine) aroma.


The taste is floral, spicy, herbal, resiny, sweet but perfectly bitter with a delightful berry flavour throughout that is a little tropical and never seems out of place or inappropriate. A very tasty beer. Overall the impressive ingredient list (rose hips!) and the delightful flavour combine for a spectacular beer.

Ashnan - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Ashnan - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 9.2%

A deep, deep gold in a glass, slightly cloudy. There was not much of a head of foam at all but with a bit of a more aggressive (a.k.a. drunker) pour it did have a small head. There is a sour touch to the sweet aroma that is also herbal and somewhat boozy with nectar, a touch of bubblegum, rosemary and a bit of apple.

There is no mistaking this beer for another. Ashnan has a strong herbal flavour, honeyed sweetness but with a tart aspect that reminds me a little of mead but the combination is unique. There is balancing hops bitterness and also just a bit of hops wood tones (pine or cedar) but it plays, at most, a very low profile supporting role. Actually, that is likely to be the Chardonnay barrels Ashnan is aged in. Crusty bread and umami aftertaste. Really another wonderful beer in this series from Beau's. Very expensive but also a pretty extra special, barrel-aged beer.

Two Mill Street Brewery Cask Ales in Ottawa: Part of Ontario Craft Beer Week

Yesterday, June 19th, 2014, as part of the Ontario Craft Beer Week celebrations I had the opportunity to try two cask beers from Mill Street Brewery. One at The Corner Bar and Grill, at 344 Richmond Road, and the other at the Mill Street Ottawa Brewpub.



The Riddler - Mill Street Brewery

Gold and a little cloudy in a glass with a standard white head of foam. Orange citrus aroma with a bit of lemon, seeds of paradise and wheat tones. Orange flavour but not as much as I expected from the aroma. Some herbal, guava hops flavour and a bit of bitter finish. Definitely some wheat in The Riddler as it has a creamy mouthfeel though it obviously isn't a standard white wheat beer.

Valley Irish Red - Mill Street Brewery

Very tropical hop aroma: papaya and touches of berry. A Real Ale level of carbonation which is to say not very carbonated. It has a mustiness that is not unpleasant, a bit of a berry flavour and a taste that is a bit like the aroma of apple blossoms to go along with some grounding maltiness and sweetness.

Copper Ale - Les 3 Brasseurs (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 5.6%

Copper Ale - Les 3 Brasseurs (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 5.6%

Reviewed in a one litre mug but... it was a deep copper in a glass with an inch of resilient foam. A sugary, glaze like aroma with subtle nectary yeast tones. It is hard to get a decent sniff of the beer's aroma in a restaurant out of this giant glass but, hey it's how I ordered it.

Red candy glaze taste. Floral and herbal yeast flavours. A very Belgian flavour spectrum. There is a touch of hops bitterness but only enough to balance the sweetness and to accentuate the yummy yeast flavours.

This tasty ale is the Neighbourhood Beer of the Sparks and Bank Street location of Les 3 Brasseurs in Ottawa. I've been told that this means it will be available at this location year round but only occasionally available at the other locations if at all. If there is a Les 3 Brasseurs location near you let me know in the comments what their Neighbourhood Beer is.

Duvel (Belgium)

Duvel (Belgium) 8.5%

Gold and slightly cloudy (don't store these bottles on their side, the only downside of the lovely gift pack I received for Christmas). A resilient and marenge-like head of white foam that forms little foamy peaks and lovely Belgian lace as it recedes.

Banana, herbal and sweet, nectary aroma. Herbal and sweet nectary (maybe even honeyed) taste, banana as well, with a slightly bitter and quite herbal aftertaste. Nothing in the taste that wasn't in the aroma. The alcohol is well concealed and the flavour is extremely well balanced in all aspects.

I was a bit worried I would get a larger than optimal amount of sediment but it was better than fine, despite my concern with the Duvel being stored on its side.

Siduri - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Siduri - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 10.2%

A nectary and yeasty aroma with red berry hints just out of the neck of bottle before pouring it. It pours a cloudy (quite cloudy) gold in a glass with large, resilient, fluffy head of foam. The aroma is, obviously, much stronger now herbal, flower blossoms, touches of mint, and clover with a tartness in the background that reminds me of raspberries.

Wow. There is a lot going on in the flavour profile of this beer. It is peppery and tart yet sweet with a herbal yeast flavour. The pepper combines with the alcohol to serve as a mouth-tingling reminder that this is a strong beer at 10.2%. This same peppery flavour makes up the spicy aftertaste and it's very nice with food.

The overall flavour is in a way supported with wood tones that are mixed with a flavour that is very much red ice wine and complement the flavour nicely without being all you can taste and without fading into the background behind all the other delightful flavours. I'm not sure that I would have characterized the as red ice wine right away but knowing that this fabulous saison aged in red ice wine barrels makes it obvious where this delectable undercurrent originates.


This beer is quite expensive at nearly ten dollars a bottle but this price seems very reasonable when you consider the barrel aging, the presentation, the ingredients used and how delicious it is. I strongly suggest giving it a try.

Saison - Saint Feuillien (Belgium) 6.5%

Saison - Saint Feuillien (Belgium) 6.5%

Yeah, so this beer gave forth a eruption of foam that ... it made a mess so be warned. This may be because I bought it and let it sit in my "cellar" for a few weeks but I wouldn't think it'd make too much of a difference in the carbonation. It pours an increasingly cloudy gold (as you get to the sediment on the bottom of the bottle) with a frothy soda-lika head of white foam. A really nice clover, nectar, honey, herbal and apricot aroma; quite sweet.

Sweet flavour and its flavour is on the sweet side but it has a balancing bitterness. Herbal for sure, touches of mint as well as clover, honey and apple blossoms. The yeast is responsible for the most pronounced of these flavours but it is working really nicely with the toasty flavours of malt and the subtly crisp hops finish. This is a very solid Belgian Farmhouse Ale or Saison.

Doc's Feet Dubbel - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Doc's Feet Dubbel - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 7.6%

Reddish, dark brown colour in a glass with a large off-white head. It gets cloudier as the bottle goes, and darker too: the first pour was only somewhat brown, not nearly as cloudy and the head of foam was fairly fast fading. Sweet, honeyed, nectary, herbal aroma (bordering on floral) with a roasted malt and lightly spicy background.

Strongly herbal flavour, sweetly caramelized, bordering on roasty, but with a moderate hops character that is drily bitter with faint hints of cedar and resin. The hops flavours are a pleasant surprise and work well with the other flavours. A mild alcohol taste comes through at times but not as much as one might expect from a beer with 7.6% ABV. The aftertaste is quite roasty, a bit chocolate like and also with echos of the yeast flavour. This is an interesting Belgian Dubbel; quite tasty.

Bog Water - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill)

Bog Water - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 6.6%

A deep, cloudy brown colour in a glass with a thick head of meringue like foam. Yeasty aroma, nectar and herbs, but with a strong floral, no more like a fruity touch.

The yeast continues to lead in the flavour along with the strong fruit (tropical fruit?) flavour that comes on strong at some points but fades away just as quickly only to reappear with later sips. In addition to the herbal yeast flavours,  this Eastern Ontario Gruit has quite a darkly malty body with tastes of dark bread blending into roasted tones. A grain and roast aftertaste with traces of the herbal yeast tones. Overall, a very tasty and interesting beer.

La Chouffe Blonde Ale (Belgium)

La Chouffe Blonde Ale (Belgium) 8%

A cloudy gold in a glass with a moderate soda like head of foam that fades fairly fast but still leaves nice lacing. A yeasty, herbal aroma with some dry euro hops and toasty malty sweetness.

A herbal, honey, nectar taste with middlelingly bitterness. Quite yeasty and with a creamy mouthfeel so, in that way, it is a little like a Belgian Wheat. However the toasty malt sweetness with subtle grain and the higher alcohol content (which is barely noticeable) makes this stand out as a very nice Belgian Blonde Ale.

Christmas Ale - Shepherd Neame (United Kingdom)

Christmas Ale - Shepherd Neame (United Kingdom) 7.0%

A reddish gold colour in a glass with a frothy, white head of foam. A dry, slightly herbal hop aroma with light red fruit and plum flavours. Sweet, lightly boozy and herbal taste with caramelized stickiness and dark malty flavours mixed with some light fruit tones (apple, raisin, plum). Shepherd Neame's Christmas Ale has sherry traits but also the robust malty body of a nice amber ale. The mix of flavours reminds me of really good fruitcake and is pretty close to my ideal concept of an English Christmas Ale.

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.

India Pale Ale - Sleeman Breweries [Sapporo Brewery] (Canada)

India Pale Ale - Sleeman Breweries [Sapporo Brewery] (Canada) 5.3%

Aroma of honey and bread, the faintest bit of dry european hops somewhat toasty.

Malty with some rye bread flavour actually, subtle fruit flavours with a hint of roast like very light chocolate. Sleeman IPA has a bitter finish but not any overly strong hop characteristics though there is some resin and slightly herbal flavours.

This is definitely much more of an English IPA than an American IPA. Don't expect a hopbomb, that's the wrong side of the Pond, but this is a quite good English IPA.

Hennepin - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown)

Hennepin - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown) 7.7%

A big foamy white head with a gold and cloudy body. A lovely and intriguing aroma mix. It taste firstly of citrus, light herbal and honey tones with some nectar. Most of these (though not really the citrus) would fit in a Belgian Golden Ale but there is also an earthy character with spiced aspect (I gather that is the ginger) and a hint of hops. This second grouping of aromas makes it quite clear that this is a Saison not a Belgian Golden Ale.

Hennepin has a strong yeast character as well: herbal and there is a flavour that is close but not quite banana along with some drying hops touches. It is quite bitter actually, nearly tart at times too, and very refreshing as a result. It's also quite carbonated and that would be, I suppose, the "champagne-like effervescence" from the label and it is an apt comparison. The malty body comes out in the finish, lightly roasty, toasty and with biscuit touches. It has a somewhat bitter aftertaste with traces of the nectar, herbal, hops mix that makes me like Hennepin so much.

This would definitely be a good aperitif beer and I think Hennepin would also go well with pasta dishes, barbecue and stir-fry.