Random Reviews

[G.M. Gillman]

Mr. Huff Pilsener: Can't recall seeing this before (draft at the Quail pub on Yonge) so gave it a try. Good flavour and yeast background (that creamy/fruity yeast taste some beers have), light-bodied, sort of as if you mixed Urquell and Moosehead, say, or Czechvar and Moosehead. Good taste though which is above all for me the thing with beer. Lots of malt and hops and yeast can contribute to, but do not denote as such, a good beer.

St. Ambroise Pumpkin Ale. Excellent quality, no off notes, strong pumpkin spices taste. I would ratchet down the intensity by about 1/3rd, but a good beer with the right approach.

Gary

[G.M. Gillman]

Great Lakes Etobichoker: a collaboration strong pale ale, drank on cask at Stout. Very fine but a half pint is enough, it is over 7% ABV. Pine, orange, grapefruit, sweet malt - and well brewed.

Murphy Stout: Also at Stout, something I wouldn't normally have, but decent enough with a fairly hoppy interpretation of the post-1945 dry Irish stout style.

Liberty Ale: selected as a single from the woven basket at a LCBO. Mistake: heavy damp paper oxidation, consigned to the drain. A worthy beer normally and indeed an avatar of IPA - but not on this occasion.

Gary

[schomberger]

Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate stout---let me preface this by saying that i generally like (and used to love) SM beers; the imp stout, the oatmeal stout, taddy porter and even the nut brown.

This beer is TOO SWEET. The addition of cane sugar was totally unnecessary IMO. Honestly, I could hardly finish this one. It actually reminded me of instant hot chocolate powder, both in aroma and taste. Now, I did have this after a Centenial IPA, so perhaps my perspective was somewhat skewed, but....

--be interested to hear any other opinions.

[G.M. Gillman]

In the States currently, I found the bottled (fresh from a sealed six pack) Pilsner Urquell that is shipped cold under the program that applies here but not Canada apparently. This tastes quite different IMO to the Urquell we get in Ontario and not as good with a greeny, unusual taste I don't recall from Prague, but maybe my memory is off. I had this on draft in New York last year - same taste. Can it be I don't "get" the real Urquell taste, or is it more that this is still not reaching the U.S. in the same shape as in CZ bars? I don't know, but I won't buy it again in the U.S.

Lagunitas Pilsener (draft, the well-known Czech-style pils made for some years by Lagunitas). Excellent on draft, creamy and full-tasted, but to me it has a West Coast taste still, it doesn't really taste like any European pils style I know. Very good though.

Goose Island Big John (draft). Very good with big rich barrel aged tastes, classic bourbon barrel impy. Amsterdam's XX Tempest was quite similar though I thought.

Goose Island Lolita (draft). This is a gueuze-style and pretty terrific, virtually identical to a fine Belgian gueuze including the touch of brett.

Gary

[TheSevenDuffs]

Goose Island Big John (draft). Very good with big rich barrel aged tastes.

Gary, I don't believe that Big John is Barrel Aged. Just an Imp Stout with cocoa nibs (as far as I remember).

[G.M. Gillman]

This was at Rattle 'n Hum, and the listing said 11.5% ABV, Goose Island Big John. I must say it tasted like a typical bourbon barrel stout to me with that woody aged taste. I didn't get any evident chocolate in it but it could have been there.

It only occurred to me after to check the dating on that Urquell: the expiry was Dec. 28! I am convinced the taste had declined over the freshness window and will try again shortly, the draft this time at Gingerman.

Gary

[Belgian]

In the States currently, I found the bottled (fresh from a sealed six pack) Pilsner Urquell that is shipped cold under the program that applies here but not Canada apparently. This tastes quite different IMO to the Urquell we get in Ontario and not as good with a greeny, unusual taste I don't recall from Prague, but maybe my memory is off.

Of course it's best right from the tall bottles - standing on Prague's Charles Bridge at night in summer with the swans below and the people walking by...

I'd like to re-try Plzensky Prazdroj over there again. I've had horrible samples over here and don't know if it has been properly handled.

[jprime]

Goose Island Lolita (draft). This is a gueuze-style and pretty terrific, virtually identical to a fine Belgian gueuze including the touch of brett.

Gary[/quote]

So the American wild ale with tons of wild raspberries tastes like a fine Belgian gueuze? It will be interesting to taste my bottle.

[G.M. Gillman]

The Lolita had a typical lactic, rhubarb-like taste like a lot of gueuze has. Wild raspberries? Didn't taste that but it's a fine beer either way you cut it.

Finally had an imported kolsch in good condition, at DBGB and it went well with the simple but good food they have for lunch.

At Fraunces in the evening where Porterhouse of Dublin has an outpost, the Irish-brewed oyster stout was excellent, dry and lean with a good mineral taste, but most of the offerings from Dublin were out (porter, Wrassler's, Brainblasta: disappointing but the house commendably offers an excellent range of guest beers, about a dozen on draft and many more bottled, most interesting). Nice location, a pre-Revolutionary building I long wanted to visit.

Found Sinebrychoff Porter at Whole Foods.

Gary

[Belgian]

Found Sinebrychoff Porter at Whole Foods.

I assume you know this beer, but it might be worth packing a few extras home. I think it's a classic that stands up to any of the new trendy porters/stouts/baltics.

Dark brown with hint of red, almost still look like cask, texture fine carbonation and full feel - a bit pleasantly sticky. Taste is frontal roast and light smoke with a great sour note of lactic and cocoa. Taste Mocha and dry pale fruit, apple, lemon, and the light tartness is brilliant against the malt richness. Late finish of smoke, chocolate and lemon. Aroma of coffee dark berry lemon and fine leather. ratebeer score - 4.3 out of 5

[G.M. Gillman]

Thanks, will post some notes soon from the room. I am buying bottles judiciously as prices can easily go through the roof for imports and craft beer. I found Anchor 2013 Xmas Ale for just $1.99 and the Sinebrychoff Porter was $2.99. The porter is of interest indeed, since the brewery has been in operation since the early 1800's in Finland when porter was considered a luxury drink as imported from London. I do believe the Koff Porter as it's known familiarly represents an 1800's style of stout really, since it is 7.2% ABV. I've only had it a couple of times before.

Gary

[matt7215]

Goose Island Lolita (draft). This is a gueuze-style and pretty terrific, virtually identical to a fine Belgian gueuze including the touch of brett.

Lolita is not a gueuze. Here is the commercial description from the Goose Island webiste: "Lolita is a pink rose colored Belgian style pale ale fermented with wild yeast and aged on raspberries in wine barrels. Aromas of fresh raspberries, bright jammy fruit flavors and crisp, refreshing body make Lolita ideal for beer drinkers fond of Belgian Framboise."

[G.M. Gillman]

All I am saying is to me, it tastes like a gueuze (recalling both plain and fruited ones): my guest at the tasting, familiar with Belgian beers, agreed, but if others do not agree that is fine, of course. The reference to framboise suggests the brewery sees it as a gueuze-type beer, but I take the point it is not produced exactly as a gueuze is.

Dropped by Paulaner's new brewpub in Manhattan, just around the corner from Whole Foods on Bowery. The helles was letter-perfect, complex yet very drinkable, and to me again it actually had more taste than the Munich one, but the dunkel and winter lager seemed not as full bodied as similar beers in the home city. The weizen though was in fine form with an amazingly pure banana-like taste against a light, quenching body.

Gary

[G.M. Gillman]

In the U.S. Becks is now a domestic beer but brewed all-malt and evidently to the German spec judging by the fine taste even of the green bottled version if bought fresh. No version of imported Becks I've ever had comes close to the quality of the American version. It is lightly malty and has well interleaved bitterness, just a great taste. The sulphides content is kept to an absolute minimum to the benefit of the beer.

The story is basically the same for Bass Pale Ale although in its class it is not as good as Becks IMO. Still, it has good estery qualities with the typical Bass caramel malt accent but without the over-emphasized toffee apple taste I got in any version of the English import (due I believe to shipment time and perhaps a heavy hand with pasteurization). Good bitterness too. Surely it is not the 1800's Bass of legend but is very creditable when drunk fresh as you can do here.

These are not craft beers but well within their orbit and indeed helped inspire, with other traditions, our craft revolution.

Gary

[G.M. Gillman]

Finally as to Sinebrychoff Porter. The bottle discloses no packaging or best buy window I can identify. There was a noticeable sediment adhering to the base and in the last drops poured separately, thus bottle conditioned.

The body was lean, say like Sinha Stout or Guinness FES. Excellent porter/stout flavours familiar to all here. A good but not highly distinctive taste given the range of black beer flavours today. In a blind tasting, it would be classed as a craft beer surely, which shows its historical importance, but not more.

I wonder if it attenuated a lot in the storage time, hard to say. I noted too the label places "starch" next to barley malt as an ingredient, so possibly this contributes to the light body, but maybe starch means roast barley, who knows.

Anyways, a worthy winy style porter but I don't see the point of bringing some home given we have so many sinilar options here. I'd rate from memory Carnegie Porter from Sweden higher despite the lower ABV but couldn't find it.

Gary