Random Reviews

sofakingdrunk · Post by **sofakingdrunk** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:15 am

El Pinguino wrote:
sofakingdrunk wrote:Unibroue 17:First time having this beast.
Appearance is a lovely red-brown colour with a 1.5 finger foamy white head. Nice lacing on the glass.
Smell is of alcohol first off,dark fruits vanilla,cocoa,spiced rum and sherry.
Taste is just...wow. Vanilla is what hits me first, really picking up that french oak. Ripe figs,blue plums,bittersweet chocolate and a very distinct alcohol burn, but in a really nice way. You can taste all 10% of this beast. The typical Unibroue yeast is un-noticable here, as far as i can taste. Full bodied with a creamy mouthfeel.
Overall a really great sipper....truly a cool weather beer though. Very complex and balanced. Glad that i've got another bottle tucked away in the cellar to sit on for a year or two and revisit.
Nice! was this the 2013 you had?

Yep, the 2013! Very enjoyable

sofakingdrunk · Post by **sofakingdrunk** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:17 am

midlife crisis wrote:Side Launch Pale Ale, recently purchased cans: A cracker, completely in my sweet spot, very close to my personal ideal of beer (if I had to pick just one, it would be English Pale Ale). Those who prefer AIPAs and whatnot may scoff, but this might be my favourite new Ontario beer of 2014. There is perhaps, as Gary says above, a "new world" aspect to the hops on the finish, but to me it is firmly in the English camp overall. Which doesn't matter that much one way or another - I just know I really like it. Way to go Michael.

sounds good, looking forward to trying this....hasn't made it to Guelph yet(that i've seen)

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:10 pm

midlife crisis wrote:Side Launch Pale Ale, recently purchased cans: A cracker, completely in my sweet spot, very close to my personal ideal of beer (if I had to pick just one, it would be English Pale Ale). Those who prefer AIPAs and whatnot may scoff, but this might be my favourite new Ontario beer of 2014. There is perhaps, as Gary says above, a "new world" aspect to the hops on the finish, but to me it is firmly in the English camp overall. Which doesn't matter that much one way or another - I just know I really like it. Way to go Michael.

It's interesting but I'm having the can now and I do get a noticeable English accent here. The draft struck me as more American-tasting. What I'm getting in the canned one is a clove note, similar to Greene King's Abbott in that respect. There is still some American citric taste too. Wonder where that clove is from, maybe First Gold? (An English hybrid hop, I think Golding and a German hop). I'm sure the recipe is all the same but serving temperature and other factors (carbonation level) can sometimes make beers taste different.

Anyway I definitely agree that this pale ale is one of the best of 2014. Michael Hancock has hit a home run with his first production ale.

Gary

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 5:20 pm

Can Side Launch Pale - very nicely-brewed session brew with a great palate.

Bottle GR Galt Knife - kind of a train wreck this time, very odd.

Creemore Octoberfest 625ml - delicious and full-tasting right out of the gate, really excellent.

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:44 pm

HB's Oktoberfest, truly excellent. It seems about 3 months from packaging but the beer poured very fresh.. Clean steely taste from German hops. I wonder if these beers tend to gain extra stability by virtue of being longer-aged as the Oktobefest style was originally anyway.

Also, Post Road Pumpkin Ale, my first pumpkin of the season. Very good, hits all the bases with "fresh water" aftertaste. There are different styles of pumpkin, not all need be rich and thick or very spicy and alcoholic.

Gary

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:54 pm

PC IPA. Decided to try a couple of the PC six packs. Earlier, it was the Pilz, didn't like it at all, unbalanced, something not right with a "hot" finish. However, the IPA, about $11.00 for a 6-pack, was excellent, a solid APA-type beer with some English notes as well.

The cans state that a brewery in Kitchener makes it, not sure who that would be unless they meant the Brick brewery in Waterloo (if it is still called that).

Anyway a very good effort at an attractive price.

Gary

P.S. This clearly was different to Waterloo IPA.

darmokandjalad · Post by **darmokandjalad** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:38 pm

G.M. Gillman wrote: The cans state that a brewery in Kitchener makes it, not sure who that would be unless they meant the Brick brewery in Waterloo (if it is still called that).

Brick definitely contract brews the PC beers in this province, though they use the alias White Water Brewing on the label (or something close to that).

ErkLR · Post by **ErkLR** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:59 pm

Brick just sold off their Waterloo location and are setting up to brew only out of Kitchener (by next year). Good bet, that's who's brewing it.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/487 ... -property/

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:58 pm

Thanks for that, very interesting.

Gary

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:56 pm

Rauch beer at 6 Pints, very authentic, huge smoky character.

Ditto Creemore Bock at 6 Pints, very good this year, perhaps a touch lighter or showing enhanced hop character due to relative youth.

Cask Great Lakes Pumpkin Beer - at C'est What, elegant and flavourful.

Tuborg and Le Coq lagers from LCBO, disappointing, IMO.

Gary

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:33 am

Cameron's Pistols at Dawn Red Ale - tried this on tap recently and was quite impressed. If you like a bone dry red with plenty of resiny hops, almost chalky, this is for you. A very solid effort from Cameron's.

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:41 pm

Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop. This new release in the series is very good, the hop flavour is prominent and pleasant. The beer, as all those in the series IMO, could be a bit maltier, but it drinks very nicely. I believe Saphir is a new world hop grown in Germany and it seems to show characteristics of C-hops and traditional German hops.

Jever in bottle. Clean, dry, well-hopped, but not really what I like in a beer, maybe the export factor...

Gary

El Pinguino · Post by **El Pinguino** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:55 pm

midlife crisis wrote:Cameron's Pistols at Dawn Red Ale - tried this on tap recently and was quite impressed. If you like a bone dry red with plenty of resiny hops, almost chalky, this is for you. A very solid effort from Cameron's.

Had that back in the summer at one of the festivals and quite liked it, nice to know it's out on tap in some places now.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:23 pm

Yet another Ontario Marzen - Block 3 Blocktoberfest. Has a rich, malty body. I would have liked a bit more hop presence. Still, I enjoyed it. About in the middle of the (ever increasing) pack for me.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:35 am

G.M. Gillman wrote:Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop. This new release in the series is very good, the hop flavour is prominent and pleasant. The beer, as all those in the series IMO, could be a bit maltier, but it drinks very nicely. I believe Saphir is a new world hop grown in Germany and it seems to show characteristics of C-hops and traditional German hops.

Jever in bottle. Clean, dry, well-hopped, but not really what I like in a beer, maybe the export factor...

Gary

http://beerlegends.com/sapphire-hops

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