God in Heavens 2.0 - LCBO Dieu Du Ciel Fall Release

Sorry for the long delay in posting, folks.   Seems the influx of disease-ridden undergrads has finally taken its toll on the ol' immune system, and I've been fighting a cold since the day before Thanksgiving.  Not only have I not really felt up to posting during my convalescence, I also haven't sampled any new beer since my taste buds have been so bloody compromised.   This wouldn't have been such a bad thing, were it not for the fact that the day before my throat started getting sore I finally managed to pick up a few bottles of Péché Mortel, a splendifferic imperial stout that currently sits at #1 on Canada's best brews list on Beer Advocate.  For those who've been reading the blog for a while, you will know I've been yearning to sample this brew for months now. The fact that over a thousand American beer aficionados have had opportunity to rave about this beer, while I, only a single province away have been left in the dark, has frustrated me to no end.   Thanks to the LCBO's wise decision to bring in this award-winning gem, I can rest a bit easier.

Now that my white blood cells have (finally) done a decent enough job to remove the offending cold bug, I think it's time to celebrate by cracking one open!  In honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to also review some of the more intriguing members of the LCBO Dieu du Ciel! fall release.  Now I try not to review too much from the same brewery, but dammit, Dieu du Ciel! gets me every time.   This past spring, I received a sampler pack from a Montreal-bound friend of mine and enjoyed every one of them.  But after finishing these off I was saddened to think that it would be quite some time (i.e., whenever myself or a friend passes through Quebec) before I would have the luxury of some more Dieu du Ciel brews.   Thankfully, my fears were allayed with the announcement that several of their beers would be available for sale at the LCBO this fall.  Good ones too.  Great ones, actually.

In addition to Rosee d'hibuscus and Corne du Diable, both of which I've already given mad props to on the blog, the LCBO is also offering four new DDC brews to a thirsty Ontario: Route des Épices; Dernière Volonté; and two of Canada's highest-rated brews: Aphrodisiaque (a.k.a. Aphrodisiac, a.k.a. Aphrodite) and the aforementioned Péché Mortel.   Naturally, I am super stoked.   

Let us quaff...

Beer: Route des Épices ("Spice Route")
Type: Rye beer
ABV: 5%

It might be hard to see in the picture, but yes - the man is wearing a ship for a hat.  I repeat: a ship for a hat.   Wonderful artwork once again - a surrealist tribute to both the Oriental spice trade and humanity's advances in beard-curling technology. 

This beer describes itself as being a rye beer brewed with peppercorns, which has gotta be a first for me.  Not sure what this is going to taste like, but I assume it will be a great deal like peppercorn steak.  Another win for the cause of experimentation, I guess.  I poured this one into a chalice because, not knowing what kind of glassware best accentuates a peppercorn beer, I stuck with my default.

A rust-copper brew, chestnut when out of the light. Not much head, just some patchy streaks of lace and a few islands of foam. Not the most attractive beer, I must admit: kind of looks like a limp Belgian dubbel.  Still, we press on.

The nose is caramel malts, with only the finest hint of nutmeg, cinnamon and peppercorn to be had. Remarkably deceptive; I had fully expected a spicy, peppery bouquet, but it just wasn't there.

The taste, however, is by far one of the most unique beer experiences I've ever had.  The peppercorn taste is not entirely unlike a ninja: you don't even know it's there at first with the less-potent notes of malt, caramel and fruit providing a distraction, until POW! It hits you with a shuriken to the throat from out of the darkness!  The finish is an unmistakable peppery explosion, which to me is comprised not so much of 'peppercorns', but rather ground table pepper.  The finish is incredibly bitter, spicy, lingering, and provides my esophagus with a thorough wakeup call. There might be other spices in here, but pepper really steals the show. I can't say I'm really enjoying it, but neither can I say I'm not fascinated with it. 

Big credit to DDC for making a brew that challenges my beer perceptions by giving me something totally new and exciting. Is it a beer I'm likely to get again? Probably not; in fact, I doubt I could finish more than one bottle. Still, kudos to the brewmaster for making such a unique product.  (Grade: B-)

Beer: Dernière Volonté ("Last Will")
Type: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Another wonderful label.  Similar to Christian imagery of Jesus in his crypt or the pieta.  After roasting my tastebuds on Route des Epices the previous night, a return to Belgian pale ales - a style Quebeckers brew so very well - was certainly welcome.
Poured into a Leffe goblet. A peachy-coloured brew, slightly opaque, with wisps and patches of sediment gracing the lower half of the glass. Frothy, patchy head is thin, but retains well. Crests of lacing appear here and there. Looks great, just right for the style.

Nose is peach, lemon, citrus, yeast, and a fine hop character as well.

A splendid tasting Belgian pale. Notes of peach, pear, spices, yeast and dry white wine. Lovely use of hops to the finish - peppery and leafy tastes linger after each sip. Warming alcohol burn as well. Great stuff

Could have used a bit more carbonation, but other than that, the mouthfeel is about right for the style.

Another winner from DDC, a great BPA that can challenge any Belgian or Unibroue product. Definitely worth a pick up - or two or three.  Anyone who has enjoyed Maudite, Fin du Monde or Chimay will certainly dig this.   Great stuff (Grade: A-)

Beer:  Aphrodisiaque (a.k.a. "Aphrodite" in Anglo territory, "Aphrodisiac" in the States for some reason...)
Type: strong stout
ABV: 6.5%

The cashier at the LCBO joked that this must be a chick beer or something, to which I replied: "It's a strong stout with a hot chick on the bottle - which sex you think the brewer was aiming at?"
Indeed, that is some sexy bottle artwork right there.  For a beer named after the Greek goddess of sexuality, they certainly put the right type of label on the front.  A minxy goddess figure, seductively chewing on a piece of grain, staring right into you....whew, is it getting hot in here or something?   My pants are chafing me a little...

Again, poured into a chalice glass.  The bottle states that this was brewed in August of 2010.  Nearly pitch black, with only the faintest line of chestnut near the brim. Produced about a half inch of mocha head, which left some scattered patches of lace and islands of foam lasting throughout the sample.

The nose on this is terrific: a lovely blend of chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, vanilla, cream, caramel and toasted marshmallow. All this without smelling artificial or syrupy. Delicious.

A very tasty stout, which opens with a big hit of chocolate, caramel and vanilla, but leaves with a bitter coffee finish. Good interplay of sweet and bitter here. A pleasure to drink.

Could have been a touch thicker, but the carbonation was right on the mark. Creamy and satisfying.  Clearly, the name "Aphrodisiaque" was undoubtedly appropriate, because Dieu du Ciel has completely seduced me with this brew.  Outstanding stuff yet again from DDC. Well worth the wait, and very glad to see it grace Ontario shelves.  Flavorful, rich, but neither too strong nor to hearty for seconds (or thirds), provided one has the stamina.  Wow.  I need a break from all these sexual innuendos.  Moving right along.   (Grade: A, A+ for sexiness)

And last, but certainly not least, the brew Matt has been anxiously awaiting since he first got into craft beer, the legendary Péché Mortel!

Beer: Péché Mortel ("Mortal Sin" - but not "mortal fish" or "mortal peach"!)
Type: Imperial stout au cafe (Imperial Coffee Stout)
ABV: 9.5%

Péché Mortel means "mortal sin" in French, and features creepy artwork that seems to have been lifted straight out of the the Book of Genesis.  A seductive treat, Péché Mortel, is dark, rich, hearty, flavorful, but damns you with its high ABV and piercing espresso bitterness.   Truly a fantastic brew.

Poured into my trusty Duvel goblet. Nearly pitch-black, with a half inch of tan, frothy head.  Leaves lovely swirls and island patches on the surface, a thick ring that retains well, and a few patches of lacing.  Looks terrific.

The nose is rich in roasted espresso beans, toasted malts, cream, marshmallow, a touch of alcohol (bourbon and sherry) and mild hoppage as well.

The taste is a tremendous burst of espresso flavor that attacks the tongue with vigor. As the brew warms a touch (and after the tastebuds acclimatize to all the espresso goodness), I'm also picking up some subtle notes of caramel, dark fruit, and just a hint of bourbon. The finish is surprisingly dry, boasting peppery hops and coffee bitterness. Although I can certainly detect the alcohol, it is warming and flavorful. Long, bitter finish.

Chewy, velvety, and with a fine, creamy carbonation, this brew is going down tremendously well.   Great body to it; I'm swirling around the last few sipsworth and you can really see the viscosity holding everything together.  First rate.

Once again, Montreal proves to be among the finest brewing cities to be found.   Certainly well worthy of the hype (and the wait). One of the finest uses of coffee/espresso I've seen in a stout. Seriously, I'm almost getting a coffee buzz here, despite nearly being at 10% alcohol! About two bottles of this would be about all I can handle in an evening, but nevertheless, the drinkability for such a thick, hearty, high ABV stout is still high for me. I will most definitely be back for a few more for cellaring and extensive sampling on my part.

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A great lineup for the LCBO - though I often bash them for their Toronto-centric release policy and frustrating lack of American and interprovincial shipping, credit where credit is due.  For those who love fine stouts, Belgian pale ales and new, different beer experiences, any one of these brews should fit your bill.  The Corne du Diable is also fantastic and worth a pickup.   If some calamity were to strike Canada's brewhouses, leaving us with only Dieu du Ciel brews to be had, I certainly will be quite happy.  Everything I've had from them has been terrific - or at least unique and exciting - and I still have about 20 more brews of theirs to get through.    A trip to Montreal is certainly in order.

Mini Stout Roundup: If It's Brown, Drink It Down; If It's Black, Knock One Back

Well, it's October, truly one of my favorite months of the year.  Two major eating holidays and three major drinking holidays are just ahead of us, in addition to some delightful fall foilage.  Ahem...'foliage'. Tonight's forecast calls for frost, which for me is a mixed blessing; although the wave of cold will surely destroy any and all allergens and the majority of the hornet population, it also is a harbinger of snowy days ahead.  There's a delightful nip in the air, a welcome change from the oppressive humidity of this summer, but soon this 'nip' will turn into coldness of the nut-freezing variety, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.  And by 'enjoy' I mean drink.  Heartily.

Keeping in line with my seasonal drinking schedule, fall-winter is the time of year for bocks, pumpkin brews and stouts/porters.  Since so much of my drinking relies upon the mercy of the LCBO, I'm going to kick off the fall drinking season with two new stout additions.   Both of these came out only a few days ago (at least to the KW liquor stores anyhow), so naturally I'm super pumped to try them.   Not all LCBOs will have the entire fall lineup at any given time, so for the more dedicated beer geek, it sometimes involves trips to multiple locations.  Generally speaking, if I'm anywhere near an LCBO, I usually pop in to check things out.   Fortunately this weekend I managed to luck out. 

Here goes:

Beer: Dark Star Espresso Stout

Brewery: Dark Star Brewing (West Sussex, UK)

Type: flavoured stout

ABV: 4.6%

A great little label that reads almost like a charity concert poster, listing all the ingredients and attributes right on the front of the bottle.  A bit strange, but somehow it works.  Haven't heard much from Dark Star, but from the looks of things on Beer Advocate, these guys put out some damned fine brews.  I'm a big fan of espresso coffee, so this brew seems right up my alley.  Hopefully the folks at Dark Star did things up right and proper!

Poured into a Chimay snifter. Dark brown, nearly black in colour - looks a great deal like black coffee.  Sturdy tan head that does a ring around the glass throughout the tasting.  A few spots of lacing here and there.

Nose is unmistakably that of cold coffee, to the point whereby a blindfolded person offered a whiff would identify the drink as coffee, rather than beer. A touch of caramel and hops in there as well.

The taste opens with a huge blast of strong, cold coffee to start, with notes of nutmeg and fruit kicking around as well. Roasted malts provide a backbone. The finish isn't quite as good, however; a touch too weak, almost like weak coffee.  To truly be an outsanding brew, the whole thing needed a heartier flavor blast to compliment the bold coffee entry. That being said, I am still certainly enjoying it.

If this beer has one definitive fault (at least in bottled form) it is this: far too thin.  A coffee brew such as this deserves a rich and hearty body: otherwise, it feels more like I'm drinking cold alcoholized weak coffee, which isn't what I was going for. Still, the carbonation was more than sufficient to keep things together.

This is truly a beer that did exactly what it set out to do, and did it fairly well.  It could have been more robust, and could have possessed more body, but still it tasted pretty good. I'm not sure if I'll pick up more than a couple of these, however, but I'm certainly respectful of the effort here. I definitely plan on having one of these with breakfast this week, just cause I can.  Oddly enough, Dark Star Espresso Stout tastes so much like coffee that I'd probably get a buzz anyways.   After that, though, I'd probably just crash.  (Grade: B)

Beer: Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout
Brewery: Southern Tier (Lakewood, NY)
Type: Double Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.5%

Putting Southern Tiers brews into regular rotation has been one thing the LCBO has certainly done right.  This New York brewer has put forward some remarkable brews from a variety of different beer genres.  I've given mad Beer Den love to their IPA and Raspberry Porter before.  Like many a great craft brewery, Southern Tier also delights in experimentation, offering up unique beers that push the boundaries of what one could potentially brew.  Last year, I had the pleasure of trying their Creme Brulee Stout, a stout that, naturally, tasted a great deal like a creme brulee.  Never tasted anything quite like it.  To be fair, it's not something I'll probably get again, but I certainly enjoyed trying it.  Choklat is another of these brews that, however well made, I probably won't pick up too often, save for on special occasions when I feel like sharing an after-dinner dessert beer with folks.   I'm happy to try it, but it's just not necessarily a flavour of beer I want regularly, especially on nights when I feel like getting silly.

Poured into a Duvel chalice. An inky black brew (even when held to the light, all I can detect is black), with a thin tan head that dissolves into a fine ring. Some lacing when I swirl the brew around a bit.

Nose is rich, milky chocolate, very delectable.  Almost like chocolate syrup or an Aero Bar. Hard to detect anything else, but frankly, I don't care. The chocolate smells that damned good.

Despite such a sweet-smelling nose (and bearing in mind the super-sweet concoction of their Creme Brulee stout), I was surprised as to how sharp the chocolate was in this brew. Not bitter, mind you, but certainly not sweet milk chocolate.  Much more in tune with the Mexican chocolate featured on the label.  Probably something around the 65%-80% cocoa range.  Big flavor burst here of both the chocolate and some coffee/roasted malts, with delightful warming alcohol taste to the finish.  My mouth is well-coated in bitter chocolaty goodness, which lingers for quite some time. A great evening brew for the first frost of the season!

Rich and hearty, Choklat has a thick, velvety mouthfeel, with light but detectable carbonation.   Certainly a slow sipping beer.

Well worth the pickup, despite the price (nearly ten bucks for a 650mL bottle).  A great stout, neither too bitter nor too cloyingly sweet.  A heartier, stronger version of Young's Double Chocolate Stout, to offer a bit of perspective.  Certainly a well-made brew, although not one I'd return to regularly. Despite the delicious flavors here, I'm having a bit of trouble finishing Choklat because it is so incredibly rich. I'd advise that folks share a bottle after dinner with friends, because an entire bottle is pretty heavy for one person.  

Great work by Southern Tier. (Grade: A-)

Wellington Brewery's 25th Anniversary Party!

 Wellington Brewery will always hold a special place in my beer-loving heart, as it was their brews that first started my down the microbrew-loving path.  After years of knocking back the usual imported fare in Kingston pubs, soon after arriving in Waterloo I was introduced to Wellington ales and I've never looked back.  Aside from being a standup brewery featuring some fantastic English-style ales and stouts, they also happen to be some great folks.  Always ready with a keg whenever you need it.  Our campus football team is sponsored by Welly - our kits are emblazoned with 'Arkell Best Bitter.'   Even when we lose, we win.   Indeed, Wellington will always be one of my very favorite Ontario craft brewers.

Usually, around this time of year, Wellington hosts an event called the "Welly Boot Chuck", which involves drinking lots of beer and then seeing how far you can huck a size 11 'Wellington' rubber boot.  Simplicity at its finest.   But this year, the event was superseded by the brewery's 25th anniversary celebrations, and I was damned excited to be a part of it.  Very few micro/craft breweries in North America have hit the quarter-century mark - only those few breweries like Wellington who started brewing right out of the gate (i.e., when small-batch homebrewing was legalized in the United States and Canada) can boast such a heritage.  Definitely worth a party.

And what a show it was:

 

The weather may not have been the greatest (it rarely is in late September), but the atmosphere was fantastic.  Upon our arrival, we walked up to the main gate to receive a souvenir cup and two beer tokens to get us rolling.   A donation to the local food back was all that was required for admission.  A great turnout throughout the day, but fortunately it never became overcrowded.  A great atmosphere.

 

For those not adequately dressed for the fall weather (i.e., me), there was the Duke Lounge, a cheery place full of folks slogging pints in front of a roaring fireplace, with college football on the tube and a friendly face behind the bar.  Well, not so much friendly - more stern and imperious.  A great lineup of brews: Special Pale Ale, County Dark Ale, Trailhead Lager and Silver Wheat Ale were on regular draught, while the Arkell Best Bitter was featured on cask tap, which was glorious.  For the beer geeks out there, Welly also put out a special cask-conditioned ale for the occasion - Oast House Ale - which utilized local area hops (some of which could be seen growing over the entrance to the Retail Shop.  Malty and with a slightly citrus tang to the hops.  Undercarbonated, even for a cask-tap, but still enjoyable.  Not sure what its future will be.   Two noticeable omissions from the lineup were the higher ABV folks: Iron Duke Strong Ale (6.5%) and their Russian Imperial Stout (8%) - my two favorite brews, but definitely understandable given the circumstances.  Wouldn't want things to get out of hand.

  For those eager to brave the weather was the outdoor bar, which served essentially the same lineup minus the cask taps.  Decent food selection for a big event such as this; in addition to the usual beer drinking fare of pulled-pork sammies and baked beans was a Thai food stand with a fine assortment of goodies.   Souvenir shop for t-shirts, hoodies and a "Try a Welly On" toque, the latter of which I managed to snap up.  Behind the brewhouse was a large music tent featuring some fine local bands, including the Speakeasies, Minotaur and Kidstreet, as well as an act featuring one of the main Welly beer delivery lads.  As a neat little addition, photographs celebrating the history of the brewery were projected onto the music tent ceiling.   Later that night, The Sadies were set to perform, but our bunch was feeling the effects and we decided to shuffle off.  Would have been a good show though.

Throughout the day, the Welly folks led whomever was interested (i.e., me) on a little brewery tour.  The tour was led by one of the brewmasters, so he certainly knew his stuff.  For a brewery with such a small output, the tour wasn't a long one, with all the brewing is more or less completed in one large brewing room, with an adjoining keg storage room for the delivery trucks.  Compare this tour with the 45 minute, multi-room Steam Whistle adventure and one can see the differences between the various craft breweries in terms of output.  About 6 or 7 brewing tuns of varying sizes, and with a growing bottling and canning operation, it looks like Welly is able to get things done despite such a small area.  Indeed, balancing brewing time amongst a (growing) lineup of beers can pose quite a challenge for any craft brewery owner. 

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Good food, good beer, good music all contributed towards an excellent afternoon.  No bootchucking, unfortunately, but the celebratory atmosphere more than made up for the lack of drunk folks throwing rubber boots. 

Cheers to the folks at Wellington for 25 great years!  

"Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit..."

"Gemeutlichkeit!"

Well it's official: as of 12:00 EST on Saturday the 18th, Oktoberfest in Bavaria has begun!  The real Oktoberfest starts earlier than it does here.  Fortunately, only a little over two weeks till the festival hits KW - I can see my Oktoberfesting hat on the shelf eager to go!

Have yourself a Bayrischerbier to celebrate: Lowenbrau, Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner, whatever you can  find!


Zicke zacke zicke zacke HOI HOI HOI!!

Cannery Brewing: Blackberry Porter

Beer: Blackberry Porter
Brewery: Cannery Brewing (Penticton, BC)
Type: Porter (flavored)
ABV: 6.5%


Just got back from my most successful LCBO trip in months.  About five new brews, including this tempting jem from the West Coast.  Finally, another (good) BC beer makes it out to Ontario.  By gar, it's been awhile; the last one of any consequence was Whistler Premium lager, released in time for the Olympics.  Except it was boring and skunky.

Couldn't have asked for a better find in this blackberry brew.  Now, I loves me some porters - but throw some fruit in there (especially raspberry or blackberry) and you'll have me bashing down your door to get some. And by bashing down your door, I mean driving to the LCBO and buying one.  The English language can be so restrictive sometimes...


Extra big bottle for increased drinkability.  As I've mentioned before, I love when breweries release their brews in such tall bottles. One pint is rarely enough to gauge the beer sufficiently; bigger bottles mean greater opportunity to compare the brew at different temperatures and air exposure.

Poured into a tapered ale glass.  An inky black brew, with only the faintest hint of amber around the edges. Good inch of foamy mocha lacing, producing some great lacing patterns.   Only gets better as I added more from the bottle after it warmed up a little.  Looks great.

The nose is most certainly blackberries, but with some notes of caramel, malt and coffee, which keeps the fruit character from getting away with things.    Unfortunately, the bottle lists the ingredient as being "blackberry flavour", which is not a good sign, but according to the brewery website, the beer boasts "all natural pure blackberry."  Indeed, I certainly hope that considering their fruit production-heavy location, these are real blackberries.  Fortunately, the flavour seems real, not artificial, although it smells more like a blackberry syrup or blackberry jam than of fresh blackberries.  Not sure how the tartness of fresh blackberries would have done with the porter base, so I'll give the brewer the benefit of the doubt.
Surprisingly complex taste here.

Although the blackberry-grape flavor has a strong, bold showing (again, sweet rather than tart), pale malts and dark chocolate are permitted to enter into the fore. Hops are leafy and juicy, leaving a tart, somewhat dry finish.  Pretty damned good, I'd say: not overly sweet; fruit flavour is present but not dominant; porter qualities are allowed a strong voice.  Why can't more breweries balance fruit this well?   Great stuff.

Mouthfeel and carbonation are a bit on the low side, even for a porter. Could have been a bit heartier, but for a sipper, it's quite enjoyable.  Still creamy from the lingering head.

Fruit porters are a tough style to nail, but Cannery has done well here. Blackberries are of course the star, but enough of a porter character is allowed to enter to provide adequate balance. Quite enjoyable, worth the pickup. A big bottle would probably be enough - would be a good dessert beer to share with guests, I'd reckon.
 
No idea how long this beer will be available as part of the LCBO's fall release.  It's a great season for fruit beer and hearty ale pickups, so make sure to grab a bottle of this while you can.  At about $5 for the tall bottle, it's not cheap, but it's certainly reasonable for what you get.  And, considering how rarely good BC brews make it out here, it's definitely worth trying.   (Grade: B+)

East Coast Representin': A Nova Scotia Beer Haul!

New beer time!  Big thanks to Jill and David for this wonderful haul!

Despite what the commercials will tell you, Alexander Keith's is (thankfully) not the only brewery out East.   There are a few other lovable scamps trying to eke out their piece of the Bluenoser beer pie, and if this little lineup proved anything to me, it's that these smaller breweries are doing a fine job.   Both breweries featured today, Propeller and Garrison, are found in Halifax, thus giving me two more reasons to plan a trip out that way!

We'll start things off with Propeller:

Beer: Propeller London Style Porter

Brewery: Propeller Brewery (Halifax)
Type: English porter
ABV: 5%

A tall, 650ml bottle, poured into a nonic ale glass.  I'm a huge fan of the bigger bottles, not just because there's more beer inside (hooray!), but also because it allows you to pour the beer several times into the glass, giving you a greater range of temperatures to compare from.  As long as the alcohol content isn't too high, having more beer means more time to savour the flavour, as it were.  Also, there's more beer inside!

Deep, chestnut brown, with a hint of red around the edges.  When first taken from the fridge, it didn't leave much head, but later pourings produced more retention and lots of patchy lacing.  Another example of a brew that needs a bit of warming up to optimize deliciousness.

Nose is typical porter: roasted malts, toast, dark chocolate, dark coffee, caramel.  A touch of toasty marshmallow immediately after pouring. 

A fine porter, rich and hearty, but thin enough to not sit heavy in the belly.  A great roasted malt profile, with notes of bitter coffee, dark chocolate, caramel and dark fruit (raisin or blackcurrant).  Leaves you with a slightly bitter finish.

A bit thin (porters tend to be as such), but with a creamy feel and tight, spritzy carbonation.

A standup porter, among the better of the style I've encountered.  Not as hearty as Fuller's London Porter, but still rich enough to deliver a satisfying flavor.  There's nothing unique about Propeller's London Porter, nor does there need to be.  (Grade: A-)

Beer: Propeller IPA

Brewery: Propeller Brewery (Halifax)

Type: English IPA

ABV: 6.5%

Poured into a nonic glass. Terrific foamy head, with exceptional lacing streaks all along the glass. Only loses marks on the colour - kind of a washed out, light copper, pretty light on the IPA spectrum.   It looks pretty ruby-red in the picture, but trust me: it's more of a light copper.  

Nose is citrus and pine, with a touch of biscuits and malt.
Citrus and earthy hops start things off, but a malty sweetness evens things out well with notes of caramel, biscuits and peach. Finishes with a tart, peppery hop bitterness that lingers well. Quite tasty, I'm thoroughly enjoying this brew.

Thin, but featuring some great carbonation. Slightly creamy from the still-present head.

A Canadian IPA done right! An enjoyable brew that is a great summer thirst-quencher. Hoppy, but not to the point of insanity, which means I could have a few of these in an evening and not get hopped-out.  A stand-up brew!  (Grade: A)

Now for the Garrison's!  I was hoping to try their famous Martello Stout, but it seems the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp isn't much better than ours.   Next time I'm out there, I'll make a brewery pit stop!

Beer: Garrison Nut Brown Ale 

Brewery: Garrison Brewing (Halifax)

Type: brown ale

ABV: 5%

Poured into a tall ale glass.  Dark chestnut brown with a touch of red when held to the light. Thin, foamy off-white head, dissolved fairly quickly. Ring survived throughout the pint.

Nose is coffee, chocolate, hazelnut, caramel, marshmallow. Smells great!

Taste is that of a solid brown ale, but unfortunately it doesn't deliver on the same level as the nose. All the flavors were there, but were a bit muted, especially towards the finish. A bit of a bolder effort would have made for a quality brew; as it is, the taste is merely satisfactory.  Still, on a crisp fall day, it ain't bad, and I can certainly knock back a bunch of these no problem.  
Slightly watery, decent carbonation. About right for the style to avoid being classed as a porter.

A tasty ale, nothing truly spectacular, but easy to drink and certainly better than others I've encountered in Ontario.  (Grade: B)

Beer: Garrison Raspberry Wheat Ale

Brewery: Garrison Brewing Co. (Halifax)

Type: flavored wheat ale

ABV: 5%         

                                    

Fruit-flavoured wheat ales are a tricky business.  You either go big on the fruit and risk overdoing it, thus turning your product into something of a 'cooler', or you go too light and sabotage the rest of the beer.  The fruit flavor also has to be just right, lest it seem fake - Bud Light Lime fake.    I have to admit, they aren't really my thing - I'd never turn one down, of course, but usually I'm not looking for big fruit flavor when I want a beer. 

Poured into a nonic glass. Light copper/amber, with a fairly decent frothy head. Some lacing for a while, but this dies off.

Nose is raspberry, lemon, cream. Not bad, doesn't smell artificial, which is a big plus.

The raspberries in Garrison's effort are on the light end of the scale, not the tart juicy variety I was hoping for, but certainly flavorful enough.  After a moment, they give way to a lemon, yeasty finish.   Medium-bodied and slick, with decent carbonation.

Not bad at all, a tasty raspberry ale that does what it sets out to do.  Would be a fine addition to a summer patio lineup.  Although there's nothing special here to set it apart from the Ontario equivalents of KLB Raspberry Wheat or Grand River's Raspberry Pils, it's still worth a go.   (Grade: B-)


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A good little mini-haul! I'm particularly impressed with the good things Propeller is doing; nice to see to see Canadian breweries nailing the classic recipes.   Keep your eyes open: every so often Propeller Bitter will make appearances in the LCBO - it's a fine brew if you like English-style ales, and well worth a pick up.  Rumor also has it that Garrison might finally be unleashed in Ontario sometime this winter - I will be making nightly sacrifices to Baal to ensure this comes to pass.   

Next time you're out East, remember that there is more to the Halifax beer scene than the Alexander Keith's tour, amusing and cheesy though it may be.   If you get a chance, give Garrison and Propeller a try  for some classic British-style brews!