11.05 Belgian Tripel - Sawdust City (Canada - Ontario - Gravenhurst) 11.1%

11.05 Belgian Tripel - Sawdust City (Canada - Ontario - Gravenhurst) 11.1%

I enjoyed this beer on tap at the new (and fabulous IMO) Bar Lupulus in Ottawa on October 25th, 2017. It was served in a stemmed glass that really brought out the strong red hue and showed off the big frothy cream coloured head. The aroma was of light blossom and a touch of white raisins. A bit of apple but not much alcohol to my surprise.

Very sweet, alcohol buzz on the tongue at the first instant then a light hops and a fruity sourness intercepts the building sweetness. Fruit flavours (a discreet white wine-esque mix of sweet apple, grape and melon) and peppery notes become clear on subsequent sips.  Beyond the first impressions, the sweetness is not a prominent feature. 11.05 drinks as a lightly tart, lively beer that hides its jacked-up ABV well (dangerously well when cool) and has an aftertaste that I think is best described as barley candy but bitter.

None of the flavours take a pronounced lead in this beer and the result is a subtle and finely balanced Belgian Tripel. The brewer notes that the cans have Brettanomyces Bruxellensis added to them which will change the beer over time which sounds like a fun reason to buy several of them.

Dragon's Milk - New Holland Brewing (United States - Missouri - Holland) 11.0%

 Dragon's Milk - New Holland Brewing (United States - Missouri - Holland) 11.0%

Dark brown in a glass with a silky head of mocha coloured foam. A really nice, almost chewy, aroma of dark fruit and chocolate; plenty of oak and vanilla as well.

Dark fruit flavours, and oak and vanilla abound. There is some distinct alcohol tingling in the mouth and warming of the chest. Strong bourbon spice in the finish, that same spice may explain some of the tingling I had ascribed to the alcohol. The mouthfeel is creamy as you drink it but thin once you swallow leaving a nice espresso, vanilla and hints of oak aftertaste but very little lingering texture for a stout (probably because of the cleansing properties of the high alcohol content).

I have found in the past that oak accentuates the taste of alcohol (and I don't think that's just because I, as a bourbon fan, associate oak with hard liquor BTW) but I think the strongish alcohol sensation and a bit of a taste are actually from the alcohol content. Now you may wonder why I'd comment on this when reviewing a beer that is listed at 11% but I've had other 11% beers that carried their alcohol less obviously. All that said, I think Dragon's Milk might be even stronger than the 11% indicated on the label, considering how squishy my head is feeling already. While Dragon's Milk carries its booze a bit more obviously than some other ales I think they did a bang-up job making a tasty chocolatey and oaky stout that is well suited to their High Gravity (aka high alcohol) series.

Gigantic IPA (United States - Oregon - Portland)

Gigantic IPA (United States - Oregon - Portland) 7.3%

A cloudy bronze in a glass with a resilient head of foam. A cedar and melon aroma. The flavour is very nice, a much more mellow IPA than I expected: cedar and melon. The aftertaste is more bitter but still not a hops character that slaps you across the face - which is perfect if you've grown tired of overhopped IPAs. That isn't to say that Gigantic's IPA isn't hoppy and bitter, it is, but the flavours are put together in such a way that the malty sweetness and hops bitterness work as partners rather than the flavour just being all hops.

Abandoned Abbey - Big Rock Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary)

Abandoned Abbey - Big Rock Brewery (Canada - Alberta - Calgary) 9.2%

A strongly yeasty, herbal aroma; cloves and banana. Very dark in a glass without much of a head of foam.

The taste is also strongly yeasty: banana, herbs, cloves. Lightly spicy, the faintest bit of licorice. Sweet with some dark, dried fruit flavours. A bit of chocolate comes out in the finish, and dark crusty bread out in the aftertaste. These same flavours are there in the main body but overshadowed by the Belgian yeasty tones. A well constructed Belgian Style Dark Ale that conceals it's hefty alcohol content dangerously well.

Chimay Blanche (Belgium)

Chimay Blanche (Belgium) 8.0%

Sweet, clear, subtle nectar aroma with light spice, tones of pear and light wood. Somewhat cloudy gold with a white, resilient head of foam.

The flavour is quite spicy, flowery touches to the nectar, hints of alcohol with similar light flavoured fruit touches (pear, white grapes) as were found in the aroma. This is an interesting Belgian Tripel as it has the lighter, flowery sweet flavours without that very sweet flavour and somewhat heavier texture of other Belgian Tripels.

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.

City and Colour - Flying Monkeys Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Barrie)

City and Colour - Flying Monkeys Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Barrie) 11.5%


Cloudy and the colour of maple syrup, not very carbonated but not flat despite having been aged for so long. In fact, the second glass I poured (into a red wine glass, for the record) had just under a finger's width of creamy, toffee coloured foam.

The aroma is strongly maple syrup and barleywine: malty with lots of prunes and other sticky dark fruit tones. Very sweet with maple but also barley candy and dark fruit tones. It has a bit of a syrupy mouthfeel but not more than you'd expect from a barley wine, which is a little less than you might expect considering this is an Imperial Maple Wheat. There is also some alcohol warmth, again as you would expect. This is a very sweet beer but the sweetness really works and City and Colour ends up being a magnificent barleywine-esque, strong maple 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.

Belgian Cherry IPA - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto)

Belgian Cherry IPA - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 7.0%

A Belgian candi sugar-esque sugary aroma that is beyond caramelized onto the sticky not quite roasty sweetness of a glaze. Slightly tart smelling cherry tones as well and some subtle Belgian yeast tones that are floral with a bit of earthiness.

The flavour is much the same but with more tartness from the cherry: the Belgian candi sugar and floral yeast characteristics provide a nice counterpoint to the cherry. No surprises tasting it after considering the aroma but it is a bit surprising to not detect any appreciable hop flavours in either based on the name. I guess Mill Street is aiming for a Belgian style, cherry version of an English style IPA; now that's a mouthful of a name. English IPAs have more muted hops flavours than the hoppier and better known North American IPAs.

The flavour is quite nice but I do have a bit of an issue with the name: when there is so much else going on in the name (and the flavour) why not a simpler name like Belgian Style Cherry Ale? Mill Street is more or less creating a style here so I would prefer a name that doesn't confuse the lineage even further by calling it an IPA. The cynic in me wants to ascribe the use of the IPA tag to the marketing department as a way to draw in hopheads.

All that said, if you like cherries this beer makes good use of them. Additionally calling it a Belgian style beer is certainly legitimate in my opinion as the sugary flavours and the yeast tones fit the style nicely.

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.

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

Gilgamesh - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 8.9%

Very dark brown, a bit cloudy and, in combination, this makes it just about opaque.

Dark fruit, and brown bread aroma with touches of molasses. Some earthy wood tones. Gilgamesh is still pretty cold at the moment but I still pick up a bit of the rum barrels: subtle spice, that touch of molasses and noticeable alcohol. Of course I would have to say that the wood tones fit with the rum barrels too.

Strong molasses flavour and sweetness, reminds me of gingerbread cookies that are heavy on the molasses and light on the ginger. Or are those molasses cookies? But I digress. Slight tongue tingling from a combination of the alcohol and some pleasant run spiciness. Chewy dried dark fruit flavours (raisin), as well as the previously referenced molasses and malty goodness all along. Gilgamesh delivers a delightful mix of dark malt flavours and a subtle roster of rum barrel flavours, very nice and dangerously drinkable to my taste.

Innis and Gunn Oloroso (Scotland)

Innis and Gunn Oloroso (Scotland) 7.4% 

A full gold in a glass with a big frothy head of white foam. A sweet caramel aroma, some bright, lightly spicy wood notes.

Sweet caramel flavour though not as sweet as some Innis and Gunn products that are really sweet. The wood notes are pleasant and lighter oak. This beer doesn't have any of the sourness that some oaked beers have hints of and there are some well placed dry, grassy hops flavours. Innis and Gunn seemed to make a big deal about the Oloroso barrels but I didn't find the flavour all that different from other barrels they have used. I find this is a really nice tasting beer, exhibiting better balance that some other Innis and Gunn ales while still keeping with their very sweet, very strong, cask aged beer tradition.

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.

Porter Baltique - Les Trois Mousquetaires (Canada - Quebec - Brossard) 10.0%

Porter Baltique - Les Trois Mousquetaires (Canada - Quebec - Brossard) 10.0%

This Baltic Porter pours an opaque, and bordering on black, brown in a glass with tan head that faded fairly quickly and features an aroma of prunes, figs, leather, raisins, black currants, espresso and dark chocolate.

The flavour is, well, exquisite. The dried dark fruit flavours continue from the aroma along with quite a lot of sweetness. There is an earthy, leather tone to the flavour as well as just a hint of the high alcohol content. It is definitely on the sweeter side of what I would expect from a Baltic Porter, less bitterness and the malt flavours aren't as pronounced or nuanced as I have had because they sort of get glossed over by the sweetness. Also Garrison and Rock Bottom Baltic Porters have the slightest salt flavour. It is still a very good beer but I think it would be a lot more interesting if it had just a little less sugar.

Russian Gun Imperial Stout - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge)

Russian Gun Imperial Stout - Grand River Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Cambridge) 8.5%

Dark brown in a glass with a veritable explosion of mocha coloured foam that leaves behind highly impressive lacing and a iceberg like cap of foam on the beer. A bit of alcohol, earthy yeast, dark chocolate, subtle red and dark fruit tones, brown sugar, some wood tones and maybe a touch of leather in the very pleasant aroma.

The taste has, in my mind, the perfect amount of alcoholic bite for a Russian Imperial Stout. The flavour is comprised of hearty umami, brown bread, dried fruit a touch of espresso, smoky wood tones, earthy, chocolate, a bit of a hops edge too - like pine needles which also fits my concept of the style.

I really like this Russian Imperial Stout, I'm very fond of the taste. It also seems to drink a bit higher in alcohol than 8.5%, good times.

Sham Bock - Railway City Brewing (Canada - Ontario - St. Thomas)

Sham Bock - Railway City Brewing (Canada - Ontario - St. Thomas) 6.8%

Just about opaque in a glass with a thick mocha head of resilient foam. Chocolate aroma with maple and a bit of hops as well as maybe just the slightest bit of booze.

Maple and chocolate flavour. Sweet but with an earthy tone as well as roasty malt flavours and a bitterness in the finish that keeps Sham Bock grounded. Railway City's use of maple merges better with the dark roasty malt flavours than I would have expected for quite a tasty beer.

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

Screamin' Beaver - Beau's All Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 9.9%

A shade more gold than burnished copper in a glass with a head of off-white foam. Alcohol, oak, resin and cedar in the aroma. I'm excited to taste this one, an oak-aged Imperial IPA is not something I come across every day. It'll probably need to warm a bit from refrigerator temperature for it to be best since a high alcohol content, hops AND an oak flavour all tend to stand out a bit too much, in my opinion, and overwhelm the malt when a beer is too cold.

Cedar, a touch of alcohol then sweet, toasty, caramelized malt tones, resin follows and then the oak kicks in. A toasty but very bitter finish with a bit of alcohol and resiny bitter aftertaste that has some fleeting metallic touches.

Indeed as it warms the aroma does change, the alcohol no longer stands out, the oak comes to dominate. Predictably the alcohol also fades out of the flavour as it warms and the malt comes out much more. Screamin' Beaver is an indulgent beer, indeed the very idea of a oak aged Imperial IPA is indulgent. So go ahead, indulge yourself or even better, indulge yourself and a friend or two because at nearly 10% ABV this delicious beer is made for sharing.

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

Rudolphus VI - Beau's All-Natural Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Vankleek Hill) 6.9%

A very cloudy gold in a glass with a big frothy head of soda-like foam that settles down into a nice creamy layer of beer foam. The aroma is hoppy but it also has a malty body as well as distinctly Belgian, sweet tones.

Very hoppy, bitter flavour of cedar and resin at first. As you become acclimatized to the hops, Belgian candi sugar notes and nectary sweetness come out even as strong hops flavours remain. This is an interesting Belgian IPA, it is pretty strongly hoppy but also quite appropriately (for a Belgian style ale) sweet with the aforementioned nectar tones and some yeast flavours as you get down to the last third of the bottle. As a result of this unique mix of flavours, Rudolphus VI is one of those styles that you should know what you are going to be drinking before you taste it: a hoppy and bitter beer with the nectar and sugary sweet tones you expect from a Belgian ale.