May 16th, 2012
I haven’t published here in along time. When I first started this blog it was to keep track of the beers that I tried and forced me to really taste them so that I could write down a few of the flavours. This helped me to expand my pallet and I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about drinking good beer.
Since then I have started to use untappd to track beers, and while it is not perfect, it is easier to use and less time consuming! I have also started tasting less and focusing more on home-brewing.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Chris
Other
October 15th, 2011
Another storm ale on the day. Can’t say enough good things about this brewery.
Pours clear and golden. A tad sweet sweet in the nose. Starts clean like a pilsner should. Bite kicks happens in the middle. Piney hope accentuates the flavour nicely.
Very nice for a pilsner.
Cheers,
Chris
german style, north german, storm
Cask
October 15th, 2011
Smells like a kombucha, a fermented sour tea. Pours a crazy red colour. Sweet raspberry flavour is prevalent with a hint of sour at the finish.
One of the better fruit beers I have tried, but I do have a love of the sour.
Cheers,
Chris
Big River Brew Pub, kombucha, raspberry, red colour, tea
Cask
October 15th, 2011
There is no other way to say it. I love storm. They make amazing beer am I am always excited by a new beer from James.
Pours dark brown and cloudy. Nutty in the nose with a bit of sweetness. Starts sweet and quickly moves to bitter. Nutty flavour in the middle with a fairly clean finish. Leaves some sweetness.
A nicely hopped nutty brown ale.
Cheers,
Chris
brown ale, cda, hash, nutty flavour
Other
October 15th, 2011
My second coal harbour Cask of the day. They say it is a west coast interpretation of Seisse bier.
A dirty brown colour, like mud. A bit of caramel with some sweetness and a hint of sour in the nose. Starts sweet with some caramel. A bite in the middle with some sour. Finishes sweet.
A nice beer for the fall. Well rounded.
Cheers,
Chris
caramel, coal harbour, mud, sweetness, west coast
Cask
October 15th, 2011
Coal harbour is a brewery I only seem to get o enjoy at CAMRA events, which is sad.
A dark cloudy brown colour. Smells smoky with a hint of pumpkin. The flavour is amazing. Starts sweet then moves to a smokey and sour profile before finishing clean.
A whole lot of flavour in one beer. Not for everyone, but I loved it.
Cheers,
Chris
brown colour, coal harbour, pumpkin
Cask
October 15th, 2011
A beer that I couldn’t find on the program. An intriguing name from a brewery that I find hit and miss.
Pours a darker straw colour; clear. A lot of flavour throughout. A bitterness that doesn’t seem to be from hops, maybe sour. A bit dry. Flowery with some citrus.
An enjoyable ale to drink slowly. I already feel a bit warm from it. I assume high alcohol content.
Cheers,
Chris
alcohol content, bitterness, intriguing name, Russell, wheat, wine
Cask
October 15th, 2011
Phillips is one of my favourite breweries. This is one of the beers that I missed, mostly due to the size and cost of the bottle, so to see it on cask is very exciting.
A 10% IIPA. Pours a light straw colour. The nose has a lemon tone and you can smell the bitterness. Bitter throughout with a hard finish in the throat. Lemon flavour with a chalky mouthfeel.
A powerful IIPA. Smoth and tasty. A bit overwhelming.
Cheers,
Chris
10th anniversary, bitterness, iipa, ipa, light straw, mouthfeel, phillips
Cask
October 15th, 2011
A members only cask and the first of the day at CAMRA’s 2011 Harvestfest / Oktoberfest.
Pours orange and cloudy. Cloves and cinnamon in the nose. Starts clean with a nice pumpkin flavour. Finishes with a bite of citrus hop. Undertone of cinnamon.
Clean for a pumpkin ale. Nice flavour that isn’t over the top
Cheers,
Chris
camra, cinnamon, cloves, elysian, night owl, oktoberfest, pumpkin ale
Cask
September 4th, 2011
Mikkeller is a Danish brewery that I am quickly becoming very found of. They love to experiment with outlandish beers, and are very good at it. This beer is spontaneously fermented, which means instead if the brewmaster adding yeast to the fermentation tanks they are left open and wild yeast enters. Typically wild yeast can create a sour flavour, which is present in this beer. Despite being a Damish brewery this beer was made in Belgium, the home of wild fermentation.
Very active head. Bouncing around and diminishing in a way I haven’t seen before. The bubbles grew quickly and popped. Lemon smell with some sour notes. Barnyard flavours with hay with lemon undertones. Sour profile throughout the taste. A dry beer. Finishes lightly with some sour left in the back of your throat.
I was a little disappointed to learn this was brewed in Belgium as I was looking forward to trying the Danish yeast. Despite this, Spontanale is a very nice brew and a must try for sour beer enthusiasts.
Cheers,
Chris
barnyard, beer enthusiasts, belgium, brewmaster, bubbles, dry, dry beer, Mikkeller, wild, yeast
Bottle
September 1st, 2011
A rare beer from west Flanders in Belgium. Flanders is the historical home of Abby beers. This particular Trappist is from a brewery founded in 1838. The bottles are easy to spot as they have no label.
A murky brown colour. The head fell quickly with some with left over yeast spots. Sweet smell with some vanilla hints. Remarkably smooth given it’s 10.2%. Starts nutty with a bite of alcohol towards the middle. Amazingly carbonated. You can feel the bubbles, without the regular burn of overly carbonated ales.
I can see why this is such a loved and coveted Trappist ale. Well balanced, full of flavour, well carbonated. All with a big punch in the ABV department. If you find it, it’s worth the big bucks to grab a bottle.
Cheers,
Chris
abby, alcohol, belgium, brown colour, bubbles, flavour, rare beer, sweet smell, trappist ale, vanilla, west flanders, westvleteren 12, yeast
Bottle
August 28th, 2011
Sour is a flavour profile that I feel is sorely lacking in modern ale. It was prevalent before yeast was isolated as a living organism and wild, funky yeast was taken out.
This cask has a pleasant funky undertone. Pours black, brown hints in the light. The sourness is the main taste in the beer and it sticks around long after the finish.
A good beer, I hope the sours trend continues and spreads.
Cheers,
Chris
Other
August 27th, 2011
Crannóg Ales is a Sorrento, BC based organic brewery. In my opinion they produce some of the best beer that comes out of this province. I had the pleasure to visit the brewery/farm this summer and to find out that I have been pronouncing their name incorrectly all this time.
The brewery is named after a style of house that was used by farmers in Ireland to maximize the amount of land they could use for growing. The brewers try to follow this idea by creating their Ales with minimal impact. One of the reasons that you can’t buy bottles of Backhand of God at your local liquor store is that the additional packaging creates a footprint the brewers can’t abide. You can, however, find their beer on tap all over BC; I highly recommend seeking it out.
Crannóg is also exceptional as they grow and use their own hops. Initially, they were only able to source organic hops from New Zealand so decided to start growing their own. They now supply Rhizomes to aspiring growers, under the name Left Fields, and buy the hops from those growers to try and create a sustainable organic hop industry in the area. I personally have used their hops in a couple batches of my home-brew.
The Backhand of God is a personal favorite of my wife and I quite enjoy the Insurrection IPA.
Cheers,
Chris
Back Hand of God, crannog, hops, Insurrection IPA, organic, tour
Tap
June 25th, 2011
Do a quick search on here for brewdog to find their 35%+ beers and you’ll realize that brewdog goes all out on beer. This oak aged imperial stout clocks in at 18.4% making it a light beer by their standards.
Pours super dark. Smells like molasses and alcohol. Super smooth with a sweetness throughout. Very malty making it thick, but the alcohol is hidden very well given it’s very high percentage. It provides a very nice burn going down. The licorice and molasses flavours work very nicely with the oak subtleties.
Worth the price tag, though I wouldn’t recommend drinking a whole bottle alone. It’s defiantly better with some friends.
Cheers,
Chris
alcohol, licorice, molasses, subtleties, sweetness, tokyo
Bottle
June 24th, 2011
Driftwood is one of my favorite breweries.
Starts quite sweet but the sour comes in right in the middle. The 9% is hidden fairly well. The bubbles are quite harsh on the tongue. Obviously a strong cherry flavour.
Overall, a pretty good beer and a great fruit ale. Seems like a bit of a departure for Driftwood and is quite exciting.
Cheers,
Chris
driftwood, sour cherry
Bottle
June 18th, 2011
Pike brewing is an awesome Brewpub out Seattle, always a favorite.
Cloudy yellow beer with a pure white head. A lighter beer with a strong lemon flavour. Lemon flavour ends up in your nose. Finishes with a little of the lemon leftover.
Pike never disappoints with a nice wit perfect for warm weather.
Cheers,
Chris
dry wit, pike brewery
Tap
June 4th, 2011
Every sip of beer from this Norwegian brewery makes my respect for them grow.
Pour an impenetrable black, living up to it’s name. I had no carbonation, resulting in no head. A 13.1% monster stout. The finish is dark and complex, as you swallow you get to experience each flavour briefly. Hints of coffee, molasses, brown sugar, and a strong sweetness. Finishes clean.
As a new home brewer I feel like this beer had a yeast issue resulting in the lack of carbonation and overt sweetness. It is still an amazing stout and a must try.
Cheers,
Chris
black hole, brown sugar, carbonation, coffee, molasses, monster, sweetness
Bottle
June 3rd, 2011
It’s starting to warm up so I was craving a Saison and found this at Viti. A strong beer from Belgium.
A big bubbly head. Cloudy yellow colour. Typical grassy Belgian smell. The 6.5% farmhouse ale is quite dry. A bit of sweetness at the front with a bite of bitter. Finishes long and dry.
A typical Belgian beer, but quite nice on a warm day.
Cheers,
Chris
belgian beer, belgium, farmhouse, sweetness, yellow colour
Bottle
June 1st, 2011
I do love Lighthouse and I have been quite happy with their seasonals. Pilsners aren’t my favorite style unless they are done big, so I find he word Imperial promising.
Lighter golden colour. Distinctive lager smell, like a loaf of white bread. Sweet in the beginning but bitters up quick. Nice citrus pine complements the malt very nicely. The 8.5% is hidden fairly well.
Overall, a very nice beer. One of the best pilsners I can recall.
Cheers,
Chris
bitters, golden colour, lighthouse, pilsner, seasonals, white bread
Bottle
May 29th, 2011
According to the label this is a malted beverage brewed with spearmint. Usually I wouldn’t pickup some thin like this as I find it a tad gimmicky, but Epic Ales wowed me with their cumin ale so I grabbed it.
Poured a light yellow colour. Thick head with a defiant mint smell. Clean and crisp with a bit of bitterness in the middle. Mint flavour is present throughout, but not overwhelming.
A nice, balanced beer. Perfect for the summer.
Cheers,
Chris
bitterness, cumin, mint, spearmint, thick head, yellow colour
Bottle
May 25th, 2011
HUB is am excellent organic brewery out of the states.
Thick, creamy head with a mid-copper colour. Light grapefruit smell. Smooth with a kick. Dry with a bitter bite in the middle and a fairly clean finish.
Pretty good beer with a nice bite.
Cheers,
Chris
bitter bite, colour light, copper colour, creamy head, grapefruit, HUB, organic brewery
Tap
May 25th, 2011
An over looked entry on this blog. One of my favorite IPAs, not enjoyed since last year.
Citrus nose with hints of grapefruit and alcohol. A strong beer, exact alcohol level isn’t listed, but I would guess around 8-9%. Beautiful copper colour. Leaves a thick lacing along the glass. Citrus hop flavour is overcome by pine as the beer finishes leaving a strong lingering flavour.
An excellent IPA all around. If you like IPAs at all this is a must try. A quintessential American style IPA.
Cheers,
Chris
alcohol level, american style, copper colour, grapefruit, hop flavour, ipas, lacing, total eclipse
Tap
May 22nd, 2011
A great brewery out of Saskatoon, SK. Found this at willowpark in Calgary.
Perfect style of beer for the spring time. A dark lager style beer originating in Germany. A lighter flavour disguises the 7.3% well. Carmel is the dominant flavour clean finish.
A nice clean beer, that’s perfect for the cool weather.
Cheers,
Chris
bock, carmel, dark lager, germany, paddock wood, spring time
Bottle
May 22nd, 2011
Found this while out in Alberta for the weekend. A big beer out of Olympia, Washington.
64 IBUs and 7.5%. Cascadian to the core. Strong on cascade hops, citrus flavour with pine undertones. Carmel flavours with some nice vanilla.
A great balance that reminds me of everything I love in an IPA with a darker hue.
Cheers,
Chris
carmel, cascade, cascadian, dark ale, ipa, olympia washington, vanilla
Bottle
May 9th, 2011
I’ve been looking forward to trying some beer from this brewery for a couple months now.
It’s no disappointment. A big IPA. Heavy on the pine. Mostly present in the middle with a fairly clean finish considering. The lighter than usual malt really pushes the hop forward.
Excellent IPA
Cheers,
Chris
malt, pine, tofino
Tap
