Glutenberg Blonde - Brasseurs Sans Gluten (Canada - Quebec - Montreal)

Glutenberg Blonde - Brasseurs Sans Gluten (Canada - Quebec - Montreal) 4.5%

Pale gold in a glass with a head that fades quickly but is better than most gluten-free beers I have tried. A strong grapefruit aroma which is very pleasant actually with just a touch of something malt-like. That grapefruit aspects continues into the palate and is still very nice. The taste is also just a little bit skunky and malty with a lingering shadow of a flavour that reminds me of sushi rice prepared with a dash of rice wine vineagar.


Definitely my favourite gluten-free beer I've had to this point: I really like the grapefruit flavour. Glutenberg Blonde has a stylish label complete with nutrional factsheet but sports a plain silver bottlecap (not pictured).

La Messagère - Les Bières de la Nouvelle-France (Canada - Quebec - St Alexis des Monts)

La Messagère - Les Bières de la Nouvelle-France (Canada - Quebec - St Alexis des Monts) 4.7%

Very, very pale gold in a glass. Malty aroma ctually, bread and quite a bit of yeast. Quite taste (at times very sour), flowery but some malt-like taste and overall really not that bad. One of the best gluten-free beers I've even had, by far.

St Ambroise Vintage Ale 2011 - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Quebec - Montreal)

St Ambroise Vintage Ale 2011 - McAuslan Brewing (Canada - Quebec - Montreal) 10.0%

An ever so slightly cloudy red-tinted amber colour in a glass with a think and creamy head with great lacing. Lots of plum, fresh baked bread, molasses, nutmeg, some wood tones and a hint of white chocolate in a delectable aroma.

The alcohol comes through clearly from the moment it touches your lips by the way it makes them tingle as well as the taste. But it's a barley wine afterall so what else could you expect? Sweet, herbal, a touch of something like cinnamon and a bit of a honey flavour. A lot of dark fruit like the plum that I found to be prominent in the nose as well as cherry, and dried fruit tones like apricot. Lightly yeasty and quite bitter. The hops, which are largely pushed aside by the other more powerful flavour, and the alcohol combine to lend St Ambroise Vintage Ale some wood tones. A lot of the different aspects of the flavour are similar to the taste of fruitcake particularly fruitcake made with rum.

This beer will improve with time and can be aged for years. It is a good idea to let it warm to the suggested serving temperature of 12 and 15 Celsius.

Wellington County Dark Ale (Canada - Ontario - Guelph)

Wellington County Dark Ale (Canada - Ontario - Guelph) 5.0%

A red hued brown colour in a glass; a quite fading head with limited lacing. It has a musty earthy aroma, that reminded me of clay, with roast and wood tones as well. Delicious milk chocolate and fresh brown bread, molasses and just the perfect touch of hops and bitterness to finish. A slightly smoky, roasty and moderately bitter finish with a pleasant biscuit aftertaste. Quite a light mouthfeel making it sessionable and pub-appropriate. I'd suggest serving it around 6 or 7 degree Celsius to allow the flavours to really stand on their own. Wellington County Dark Ale is brewed to be an English Brown Ale and I'd have to say they do a very nice job.

Black Creek Pale Ale (Canada - Ontario - Toronto)

Black Creek Pale Ale (Canada - Ontario - Toronto) 5.0%

Strongly malty aroma with molasses and roast. Also a bitter mildly hoppy aroma in the background. A fairly dark amber colour, bordering on brown, in a glass.

Sweet, malty taste with a hint of honey, more than a touch of roast with a light grain finish. Moderately bitter to go along with quite a bit of spicy vegetal hops flavour. Black Creek Historic Brewery's Pale Ale is a bit like a darker (in both colour and flavour) version of a Standard Bitter English Pale Ale and doesn't quite have the strong hops flavour of an American Pale Ale. Being made with a receipe from the 1800s, I'm not sure of the exact style category this Pale Ale would fall under (let me know in the comments if you know), but it is really quite a nice Pale Ale.