Hoegaarden Rosée (Beligum) 3.0%

Hoegaarden Rosée (Beligum) 3.0%

Quite pink in a glass, cloudy. Lots of raspberry but strawberry too in the aroma; a bit like strawberry-rhubarb pie. Tastes a lot like Hoegaarden mixed with fruit juice... because that's pretty much what it is. Some wheat flavours come through with a touch of coriander. Hoegaarden Rosée has a moderately creamy mouthfeel, it is quite sweet but still a little tart, though not very tart, with plenty of raspberry and strawberry flavours that kind of run to peach.

Overall, Hoegaarden Rosée is a very low alcohol, wheat-ale-based, fruit-flavoured wobbly pop: tasty but not really a good fit for beer lovers. It is refreshing enough and could certainly make for an interesting ingredient in some beertails (cocktails made with beer).

Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 6.5%

Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 6.5%

The beer is gold and slightly cloudy in a glass with a light, white frothy head. The aroma is of nectar and spice (and everything nice); as I'd expect from a Belgian White or a Belgian Blonde Ale or really any ale made in North America with "Belgian" in the name. There is also wheat tones and just a a bit of hops to the aroma. It has a sweet taste with nectar, a bit of citrus (orange) and clearly coriander, some pretty substantial spiciness that's almost immediately mellowed by the wheat character, and quite a bitter aftertaste. The hops character is present but mellow, a bit of citrus a bit green, and entirely intermixed with the other lovely flavours.


A glance at the ingredient list confirms the coriander and also the taste of seeds of paradise which is actually forehead-smackingly obvious in hindsight (hindtaste?). I discovered from the ingredients list that the spiciness is due to the use of pepper. The pepper is a nice touch that manages to avoid dominating the flavour even though I can feel the spice is strong enough that it is faintly tickling my insides with heartburn since I'm drinking this on an empty stomach (part of review strategy). Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison could make an interesting or a dangerous pairing with spicy foods, it comes in a big enough bottle that I think I'll try it out at the end of this review. The alcohol isn't very noticeable but there is some chest warming from more than the moderate peppery spice.

Now to the food pairing, I tried it with a bit of salsa and chips and the pepper in the Belgian Saison definitely kicked the spice up a notch. As long as the spicy food you are eating isn't at the high end of your spice tolerance Great Lakes Brewery 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison is a tasty and perhaps unexpected pairing option. This Saison would also be a nice pairing with light dishes like a salad or fish (think white wine) but it is also delicious on its own. If you can still find one of these in stores I'd suggest picking it up and giving it a try.

Cobblestone Stout - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.2%

Cobblestone Stout - Mill Street (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 4.2%

I don't believe in these nitrogenating beers being sold in beer cans (Guinness on a can is a poor imitation of Guinness on tap in my experience) but we'll see how this one goes. Well Cobblestone Stout actually has the tiny bubbles and cascading foam action you should expect of a nitrogenated beer even if the can opened with quite a roar of escaping nitrogen (which doesn't dissolve in a liquid as well as carbon dioxide).

An extremely thick, highly resilient beige head that leaves impressive lacing. Lovely coffee malt aromas, grain, sweet with milk chocolate hints. It has a really nice flavour that is sweet with lots of coffee and actually it tastes a lot like a latte: coffee, milk chocolate, sweetness and very creamy mouthfeel. Some grain or maybe more accurately biscuit flavours as well make this solid stout almost qualify as food. The coffee flavour in the beer gets a little washed out after you taste a mouthful of the foam revealing some roasty caramel and light touches of hops.

Cobblestone Stout is a nice beer and pretty great proof that nitrogenated stout in a can actually works.

Warka Strong (Poland) 7.0%

Warka Strong (Poland) 7.0%

Full gold with a little amber colour in a glass with a frothy but quick fading head and some lacing. A malty aroma, hints of grain and just a little bit of alcohol. Quite a toasty, very sweet taste. A little caramel and just a bit of alcohol taste with some mild chest warming. This beer drinks more like an amber than the strong lager I expected it to be, and it's actually pretty nice albeit rather ordinary. My usual caveat is to buy locally brewed beers where possible rather than European beers (unless you're in Europe obviously) and that certainly applies to Warka Strong.

Saigon Export - Sabeco (Vietnam) 4.9%

Saigon Export - Sabeco (Vietnam) 4.9%

A malty, slightly musty with a dry hop flavour a little like a Euro Lager but slightly thicker on the tongue. An unremarkable international lager but hey, it's from Vietnam!