Tusker (Kenya - Nairobi) 4.2%

Tusker (Kenya - Nairobi) 4.2%

Dry hops, lightly malty, just the barest hint of creamed corn (DMS) and a touch of skunkiness. In other words, the classic international lager aroma.

Light malty flavour, very crisp. I find some North American lagers (Budweiser and Canadian) sometimes leave a scummy feeling on my tongue but Tusker is very refreshing and really makes me want to reach for a second. Also the malt body is quite light but is also really quite satisfying for a light lager. This is a plus-lager.

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.

Sorachi Lager - Duggan's Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.0%

Sorachi Lager - Duggan's Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.0%

Pale gold in a glass with a fizzy white head that fades fairly quickly. A light floral, citrus aroma that is almost tart and has a distinct pine backing. The taste doesn't have the same tartness as the aroma. It is instead mostly toasted white bread flavours with some of that same light citrus (lemon and subtly orange) touch and a floral tone that is tugging on something in my memory, maybe like a Forsythia? Duggan's Soriachi Lager's finish has a slight coconut note and a tasty umami aftertaste. All in all, this is a different lager with a nice flavour, and more flavour in general than most lagers, and yet it is still light and refreshing to go along with its complexities.

Pacifico Clara (Mexico)

Pacifico Clara (Mexico) 4.6%

Light tasting except it is quite bitter for such a light tasting beer. A little bit malty but in general quite light tasting. In short, it's very light tasting!

Antigravity Light Ale - Flying Monkeys (Canada - Ontario - Barrie)

Antigravity Light Ale - Flying Monkeys (Canada - Ontario - Barrie) 4.0%

A light ale that promises to have flavour. We shall see.

A slightly pale gold in a glass. A sweet malty aroma with a touch of green hops and a fruit hint. A nicely light malty toasted dinner roll flavour with just a touch of hops that gives some nice, albeit light, balancing bitterness. Not a boatload of flavour but nice flavour indeed. Antigravity Light Ale lives up to its billing.

Beer Suggestions for the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto, Ontario

What is a football game (or any sporting event) without a few beers? The Canadian Football League Championship Game is being played in Toronto this year so here are three reviews of Toronto brewed beers in honour of the 100th playing of the Grey Cup. There's a light beer if you intend to drink a pile of 'em, a flavoured wheat if you like a splash of fruit with your ale and an IPA if it's hops that punches your ticket.

Cheers!



86 Light - Amsterdam Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 3.8%


A nice gold colour in a glass, this light beer is light indeed. Very carbonated, lightly malty with a slight grain flavour, barely bitter, not sweet. It's nice for a light beer, well put together with a clean, crisp flavour. If light beer is what you want this is a fine choice.


Mill Street Brewery - Walker's Blueberry Wheat (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 5.0%

A neat pink tinted amber colour in a glass. Quite a lot of medium sized sediment. A tart aroma that reminds me more of blueberry skins than it does of the blueberry flesh and carried with it some lemony notes.

Quite bitter and tart, the blueberry flavour mainly comes through in the sediment so this can be a hard beer to share: if you don't get the bottom of the beer it tastes very light indeed. Definitely should pour this beer into a glass to drink it.

A good but not overpowering blueberry flavour with plenty of tartness with citrus some other fruit flavours that remind me of watermelon and maybe a bit of cherry - kind of like a fruit punch. The blueberry in this beer is more like what wild blueberries taste like, rather than what blueberry juice or pie would taste like: more tart, less sweet, more of the peel's flavour coming through.

Duggan's Brewery 9 IPA (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 6.2%

A brown hued gold in a glass. An aroma of resin, roast, alcohol and a dark malt coffee hint. The taste is very hoppy with lots of resin and alcohol taste and warming. Some toasted bread and darker malt touches. Pretty bitter as suits the style. Overall well balanced and an interesting darker type of IPA.

Corona Extra (Mexico)

Corona Extra (Mexico) 4.0%

Lightly malty taste and aroma with some dry hops. Corona is actually much like a pilsner in that respect despite the fact that it seems like you may actually have to slap the lime or lemon out of the bartender's hand to get a Corona without a slice of citrus and yet that never happens with a Euro lager or a traditional pilsner. Not bad for a light beer but why not go for a beer with a bit more substance.

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

James Ready Light - Moosehead (Canada - New Brunswick - Saint John) 4.0%

A lightly creamy malt aroma and slightly skunky. Pale gold in a glass. Not much of a taste, a touch of malt and barely a touch of hops. The barest hint of toast. A pretty good mass-produced light beer even though light beers are not my thing.

Stone Hammer Premium Light - F & M Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Guelph)

Stone Hammer Premium Light - F and M Brewery (Canada - Ontario - Guelph) 4.2%

Pale gold in a glass with a fluffy head that fades quite quickly but leaves some nice lacing. Lightly hoppy aroma with a fresh smelling malt flavour with lots of grain.

Stone Hammer Premium Light has a pronounced, malty grain flavour that is either lightly nutty or more like a roasted but unsalted sunflower seed flavour that is very appetizing. It has a refreshingly clean finish with that slightly nutty, seed flavour in the aftertaste. As a result it would pair well with any food - it's not going to overpower any flavours but does a good job of whetting your appetite. This Premium Light shows that a light beer doesn't have to be bland - it's a great craft beer alternative to any megabrewery light lager.

Moosehead Cracked Canoe (Canada - New Brunswick - St John)

Moosehead Cracked Canoe (Canada - New Brunswick - St John) 3.5%

Very pale gold. A sweet, ever so slightly hoppy aroma with light malt and grain tones. Very mild flavour: mostly sweet, barely malty with a hint of grain as well as the faintest hints of hops. Watery mouthfeel. Fully (but not overly) carbonated and very refreshing. Pretty good for an ultra-light beer - an individual certainly cannot expect a pile of flavour from a beer of this style - so I would not dispute their use of the "Premium" tag.

Three Summertime Lime Beers

Bud Light Lime Mojito 4.0%

Gold in a glass. Strong lime flavour, very pronounced: probably the strongest lime flavour I've had in a lime flavoured beer and it's also very minty. It is also very sweet but in a way that brings to mind fruit rather than sugar. Of the flavoured beers I have tried this has to be one of the more interesting: they were trying to make a beer that tastes like a mojito and, using natural ingredients, they did an excellent job. To be clear this is a beer that isn't just flavoured with lime and mint, Bud Light Lime Mojito is flavoured to the point that it tastes just like the lime and mint in a mojito. If you light lime beers you must try this one at least once and, obviously, if you hate flavoured beers steer clear. When paired with food it tastes less like a mojito and more like a mojito flavoured beer, as in some of mint taste seems to be replaced by regular old Bud Light barely malty (not barley) flavour.

Canadian 67 Sublime - Molson (Canada) 3.0%

A neat quirk of Molson Sublime 67 is a "Nutrition Facts" sheet stuck on its backside complete with a large number of zeroes and "not a significant source of"'s. The label is interesting because it is rare among beers though hardly surprising for a beer whose marketing is based on it having only 67 calories.

Very, very pale gold in a glass with an aroma of lime and lemon. Tastes ever so slightly malty (EVER so slightly) and sweet with the expected and pleasant touches of lime and lemon. It isn't overly sweet by any means but I thought the sweetness was a little strange for a beer with 0 grams of sugar unless they used artificial sweeteners however that seems unlikely because there is no mention of them on the label and that would pose an allergy risk.

At 3.0% this is a refreshing summer beer that is great for situations that call for low-alcohol content such as meeting the in-laws for the first time, or for the company picnic as well as for those looking for a low calorie alternative.



Tuborg Lime Cut (Denmark) 4.5%

It is hard to actually tell this is a beer. While other lime flavoured beers are just that, beers flavoured with some lime, Tuborg Lime Cut tastes only like lime. Judging by the name, Tuborg Lime Cut, I expected something more subtly flavoured as though it only had a wedge (or cut) of lime added.

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.

Coors Light Iced T - MolsonCoors (Canada)

Coors Light Iced T - MolsonCoors (Canada) 4.0%

Lighter than expected but still a deep gold which is darker than Coors Light. A very citrusy flavour with a black tea flavour and malt. It is a little thick on the tongue but still carbonated and fairly refreshing. It really tastes more like iced tea than it tastes like beer but it is obviously still a blend. Provided MolsonCoors used actual citrus juice and tea rather than artificial flavourings I am fine recommending this beer. Coors Light Iced T is refreshing and summery, and not a bad choice at all this summer if you like flavoured beers.

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.

Moose Light Ginger (Canada) 4.0%

Moose Light Ginger (Canada) 4.0%

This beer is gingery as promised, it tastes like real ginger and is spicy and sweet but manages to not be too spicy or sweet making it possible to drink more than one. A very nice summer beer.

I look forward to pairing it with different foods (stir-fry?).

Cheers!

[EDIT: Moose Light Ginger is, according to its label, a malt beverage - not actually a beer.]

Sleeman Brewing (Canada)

I like variety packs and this one from Sleeman Brewing is a good one: the twelve pack includes three bottles of four of their different brews and each one has a distinct flavour and each is highly enjoyable.

Sleeman Cream Ale (Canada) 5.0%


A golden yellow beer, it has a slightly skunky smell and taste though more so in the smell than in the taste. A little bitter and tangy with a malty sweetness rounding out the taste. Not the creamiest of cream ales but it tastes good nonetheless.



Sleeman Honey Brown (Canada) 5.2%

A warm brown colour in a glass with a pleasantly frothy head. Smoothly sweet malt taste with a hops tanginess that is mild and mellowed with honey.


Sleeman Light (Canada) 4.0%

Very clear gold in a glass colour in a glass. Smells a little skunky and nutty. It tastes sweet, a little skunky and malty. Quite enjoyable and surprisingly flavourful for a light beer.

Sleeman Original Draught (Canada) 5.0%

Another good beer from Sleeman's. It is gold in a glass. Smells barely skunky, light and fresh. It tastes watery (but not in a bad way) and barely malty, skunky, sort of sweet and fruity which surprised me a little. A noticeably different beer from the light beer, certainly the Sleeman Light isn't based off of the Original Draught. I appreciate that the light beer is it's own brew rather than just a watered down version of a different beer.

Grans Lettol (Norway) 2.4%

Buttery & malty. Crisp and refreshingly carbonated. Fairly thin on taste because it's only 2.4% ABV but what is there is thoroughly delicious. This is the best of all of Grans beers oddly enough, the rest of them are sour and poorly balanced except for Bare, but their Lettol is still tops in my books. But best of all! It only costs 3.90 NOK which is around 65 cents Canadian. This is the beer that will forever remind me of Oslo and Norway and one of my mainstays here over the last four months. I'm down to my last few days in Oslo and I'm getting nostalgic so forgive me, but I'm really going to miss this beer.

Cheers!