What're you drinking right now?

[cratez]

Over the weekend at Pizza Plant Main Street, Keybank Center, and Allen Burger Venture:
Sierra Nevada Golden IPA (draft)
Greenport Harbor Black Duck Porter (draft)
Four Mile Green Street IPA (draft)
Southern Tier Tangier (can)
Thin Man Ookla The Mok Imperial Porter (draft)
Tröegs First Cut Mango IPA (draft)
Upland Revive Wild Ale (sample)

At a random restaurant in Florida:
Samuel Adams Hopscape (draft)
Tomoka Hop Quest IPA - Blood Orange (can)

Right now:
Surly CynicAle (can)

[cratez]

At our relatives' place in Port Orange, FL:
Surly Xtra-Citra Pale Ale
Brooklyn Bel Air Sour Ale
Stone Pataskala Red X IPA
Surly Coffee Bender
Surly Furious
Surly Hell Lager
Surly / Amager Todd - The Axe Man (Surly Version)

At Mellow Mushroom Port Orange:
Terrapin Liquid Bliss (draft)
Terrapin Hopsecutioner India Pale Ale (draft)

At New Smyrna Beach Brewing:
New Smyrna Beach Feeding Frenzy Red Ale (sample)
New Smyrna Beach Simcoe Single Hop Pale Ale (sample)
New Smyrna Beach Nutcracker Double Brown Ale (sample)
New Smyrna Beach Shark Attack IPA (sample)

[S. St. Jeb]

Hockley Classic Lager

It's interesting seeing which breweries are talked about on this board, and the frequency.

There's the good ones.
There's the bad ones.
There's the ones that evoke a range of opinions.
There's the ones always trying different weird and wonderful things.

And then there's the ones that are never mentioned. Hockley would fit here. Very much under the radar in my opinion. Perhaps it's because they're boring, brewing the same 3 or 4 basic beers for what seems like an eternity. Which is fine. Whatever the reasons, I've always like what Hockley has to offer.

[midlife crisis]

Hockley Classic Lager

It's interesting seeing which breweries are talked about on this board, and the frequency.

There's the good ones.
There's the bad ones.
There's the ones that evoke a range of opinions.
There's the ones always trying different weird and wonderful things.

And then there's the ones that are never mentioned. Hockley would fit here. Very much under the radar in my opinion. Perhaps it's because they're boring, brewing the same 3 or 4 basic beers for what seems like an eternity. Which is fine. Whatever the reasons, I've always like what Hockley has to offer.

Man, you are so right. I haven't had a Hockley beer, seen one on tap or even thought of one in at least ten years. I do recall, back when there were far fewer options in these parts, kind of liking Hockley Dark, if that is the brown ale.

[darmokandjalad]

Hockley will always have a soft spot in my heart. Their dark ale, dry stout and black and tan were some of the first Ontario craft beers I had the chance to try (excluding the ubiquitous stuff like Steam Whistle and Tankhouse).

Some buddies and I stopped at the brewery in Orangeville about 5-6 years ago as we were passing through on our way up to Wawa. The head brewer (forget his name - a real friendly bloke, though) stopped whatever he was doing and went out of his way to give the three of us a little tour around the back. IIRC it was not long after their Amber came out on the market, and the canning line was busy pumping that out. It was an interesting experience, and the first good brewery tour I recall ever going on.

It's too bad that their lack of new releases has pretty much made them an afterthought in the modern Ontario beer scene. Even the Classic (which I am pretty sure is their 'newest' product) has been out for years now. And I'm pretty sure those "Legends of the Bay" beers are just re-labelled Amber. I suppose if they're making a decent profit with their stable of 3-4 beers then good for them, but it would be nice to see something novel from them once in a while.

[Napalm Frog]

And I'm pretty sure those "Legends of the Bay" beers are just re-labelled Amber.

It pretty much is: http://www.canadianbeernews.com/2014/11 ... ants-tomb/

[sofakingdrunk]

Over the past couple weeks:

Barncat Larry IPA-just all kinds of sexy hazy juicy goodness. Melon,mango citrus and pine
Barncat Qi dry hopped saison-this, I actually enjoyed even more than Larry. Sooo drinkable that 1L was done in about 20 mins. Super tropical,lychee,passionfruit and guava all over the place. Also slightly funky and a touch sour.
Beyond the pale pink fuzz-lots of grapefruit flavour. Some small red/pink floaties(is this Normal?)creamy mouthfeel and very refreshing. Great beer, and I'm not a big wheat beer fan....especially North American wheats.
DDC grande noirceaur-rich and creamy mocha flavours, great body. Another winner from DDC, not in the same class as peche but really nice
Nogne rye Porter-fantastic beer. Rich sticky mouthfeel, warming. Prunes and molasses kind of make up the backbone that gives a shot of rye spiciness with each sip. I'm a huge fan of rye beers to that scratched me just where I itch. Incredibly easy drinking for a big beer. Probably the 2nd best beer I've had this year so far.
Redline Clutch- a couple of 9 day old cans that are tasting out of this world good.
Symington??sasion-just don't bother. Don't waste your money
Collective arts local press cider-wretched stuff. I rather choke down a sommersby, and that's saying something. I got about 3 mouthfuls
Into me before pouring the rest out. Had a horrible corked wine taste to it. I hope that's not intentional
Bellwoods Farmsgeddon batch 11-this is the only farmageddon ive had, so nothing to compare with. But I really liked it, a bit of crab apple sourness, lovely body and carbonation.
Bench citra grove sour-had this on tap in the summer, glad to be able to get in store. The bottle seems to have failed back the sourness a touch and maybe a bit thinner. Flavour is nice and bright citrus and pineapple with a slight dry bitter/sour finish. This will be fantastic in the 30 degree weather, I can see it being quite popular

[Provost Drunk]

Hellwoods - 2016 and 2017 vintages. A buddy of mine heard that Bellwoods tweaked their recipe this year and picked up some fresh bottles recently. I still have a couple kicking around from last year so we decided to do a side-by-side. They are indeed different and to a degree that does support a recipe change vs. effects of cellaring for a year. I found the 2016 vintage to have a more classic imperial stout flavour profile - it has bigger chocolate malt notes upfront followed by a roasted malt mid palate and a more assertively bitter finish. The 2017 vintage smelled almost piney, though I don't think this translated as prominently to the palate, but I did find that it had a stronger fruity yeast ester flavour compared to 2016. 2017 was perfectly drinkable, but it's a shame if they did tamper with a classic as I much preferred last year's bottle.

[Belgian]

Amager Prairie Tulsa Twister Saison, by turns herbal-dry and softly fruity and touch sour. Peppery spice. Fairly clear pale golden look, nice classic Farmhouse Saison style.

Steamworks Jasmine IPA, the mild sweet florals set off the expected citrusy hops. Good bitterness verging to British hop profile. Jasmine petal emerges on flavour but it’s easy going, adding to impressions of fruit like green grapes, a good recipe.

[darmokandjalad]

New beers over the last week:

-Rodenbach Vintage 2014 (No. 192) - LCBO bottle. An exquisite Flanders red. Sour red fruits, red wine vinegar, balsamic, oak and vanilla, with moderate funkiness and a puckeringly acidic finish. As good as the 2013, if not better.
-Gouden Carolus Classic - From that mixed 4-pack that was at the LCBO late last year. Very good; like the offspring of a Belgian abbey dark ale and a German doppelbock. Dark fruit, molasses, herbal notes, cocoa and a spicy finish. One of the highlights of the sampler pack.
-Gouden Carolus Ambrio - Ditto. This one didn't impress me nearly as much as the others. Candi sugar sweetness, with hints of fruit and a yeasty, spicy back end. Lacking in complexity, and a bit forgettable, but not bad overall.
-Refined Fool Don't Mention the Chair Chai Stout - From the brewery; brewed with cinnamon, ginger, clove, black pepper, cardamom and coriander. Quite good, though the cardamom and cinnamon are a tad too dominant for my tastes.
-Mill Street Rodeo Monk White IPA - LCBO bottle. This was very underwhelming. Wheaty malts, with grassy, citrusy hops, a flat texture and limp visuals. Save yourself the 9 bucks and skip this one (if you weren't going to already).
-Old Tomorrow Monty's Aged Ryed Ale - LCBO tallboy. An updated version of their old Golden Ryed recipe. The rye whisky, oak and vanilla flavours have been seriously amped up. Good for what it is - an I&G clone.

And some repeats:

-Guinness Draught - Bland as ever, but it was St. Paddy's. I made a poor man's black velvet by mixing this with some
- Forbidden Dry Cider; the resultant concoction was delicious.
-Nickel Brook Raspberry Uber - LCBO bottle. I'm a sucker for raspberries, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I loved this one.
-BrewDog Punk IPA - LCBO tallboy. Haven't had this one in years, but it holds up nicely. Tropical fruit-forward, with outstanding sessionability for an IPA.

[cratez]

Rounding out our annual trip to Florida:

At our relatives' place:
Sierra Nevada Sidecar Orange Pale Ale
Stone Give Me IPA Or Give Me Death
Alpine Pure Hoppiness

At Tomoka Brewing Co:
Tomoka Elvis Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich (draft)
Tomoka The Chief’s Simcoe IPA (draft)

At House For Beer:
Funky Buddha Last Snow Porter (draft)
Mikkeller San Diego Hver Anden Uge (draft)

At a St. Patrick's Day IPA tasting:
Sweetwater IPA
New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA
Elysian Space Dust IPA

Back in Toronto:
Amsterdam Demon Host (draft)

[boney]

Hellwoods - 2016 and 2017 vintages. A buddy of mine heard that Bellwoods tweaked their recipe this year and picked up some fresh bottles recently. I still have a couple kicking around from last year so we decided to do a side-by-side. They are indeed different and to a degree that does support a recipe change vs. effects of cellaring for a year. I found the 2016 vintage to have a more classic imperial stout flavour profile - it has bigger chocolate malt notes upfront followed by a roasted malt mid palate and a more assertively bitter finish. The 2017 vintage smelled almost piney, though I don't think this translated as prominently to the palate, but I did find that it had a stronger fruity yeast ester flavour compared to 2016. 2017 was perfectly drinkable, but it's a shame if they did tamper with a classic as I much preferred last year's bottle.

Interesting you should mention that. I organized a blind impy stout tasting for some family/friends back in 2013 and included a fresh bottle of Hellwoods from that year. My wife poured, so I was blind too. In comparison to some of the others, it was super piney. I actually mentioned in my notes that it smelled and tasted much more like a black IPA than an impy stout, but that was likely due to the stark contrast between Hellwoods and the other stouts, rather than it being a true to style black IPA. Every year since then I generally pick up 3-4 Hellwoods, drink one fresh and follow-up in about 6 month increments to see how they develop. I've found the degree of piney-ness varies from year to year, but is always there to some degree when fresh, but drops out almost completely in a year or so. What you describe might be a mix of both a modified recipe and a beer that really does change dramatically with cellaring. I have some 2017 Hellwoods, but haven't cracked into them yet, so I might just do that this weekend to check it out.

[Provost Drunk]

Hellwoods - 2016 and 2017 vintages. A buddy of mine heard that Bellwoods tweaked their recipe this year and picked up some fresh bottles recently. I still have a couple kicking around from last year so we decided to do a side-by-side. They are indeed different and to a degree that does support a recipe change vs. effects of cellaring for a year. I found the 2016 vintage to have a more classic imperial stout flavour profile - it has bigger chocolate malt notes upfront followed by a roasted malt mid palate and a more assertively bitter finish. The 2017 vintage smelled almost piney, though I don't think this translated as prominently to the palate, but I did find that it had a stronger fruity yeast ester flavour compared to 2016. 2017 was perfectly drinkable, but it's a shame if they did tamper with a classic as I much preferred last year's bottle.

Interesting you should mention that. I organized a blind impy stout tasting for some family/friends back in 2013 and included a fresh bottle of Hellwoods from that year. My wife poured, so I was blind too. In comparison to some of the others, it was super piney. I actually mentioned in my notes that it smelled and tasted much more like a black IPA than an impy stout, but that was likely due to the stark contrast between Hellwoods and the other stouts, rather than it being a true to style black IPA. Every year since then I generally pick up 3-4 Hellwoods, drink one fresh and follow-up in about 6 month increments to see how they develop. I've found the degree of piney-ness varies from year to year, but is always there to some degree when fresh, but drops out almost completely in a year or so. What you describe might be a mix of both a modified recipe and a beer that really does change dramatically with cellaring. I have some 2017 Hellwoods, but haven't cracked into them yet, so I might just do that this weekend to check it out.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Sounds like I need to get out to Bellwoods to pick up some 2017 bottles to start the aging process! I may have to hold back my last 2016 bottle for a longer range vertical. Out of curiosity, what other stouts were included in your tasting?

[boney]

I surprisingly still have my notes from that tasting, which included Hellwoods, Tempest, Russian Gun, Welly and Bolshevik Bastard.....a lot fewer local options, back in 2013. Pooling results from 4 people had Tempest on top, followed by Welly, then Hellwoods and Russian Gun, with Bolshevik way in the back.

Interestingly, I've snuck Welly in non-BA tastings a few times and it always does really well.....better than I think it would based on drinking it straight as a known quantity and without contrast against other beers. I find the exact opposite pattern with Bolshevik. I've also found straight up Bolshevik, Winey and Kentucky fade fast or go a little off with time and are not made for aging.

[darmokandjalad]

New beers within the last week:

-Flying Monkeys Aurora Heart - Big LCBO bottle. This was one of the better FM beers I've tried over the last year or so, with the caveat being that I really like raspberries, so my judgment is biased from the start. Lots of cocoa/rich dark chocolate and red berries - jammy raspberries, but there's also some black cherry and cranberry. Confection-sweet, but not quite to the point of being obnoxious (like Manifesto or Acadian). I might get another bottle, but at $11/per it's not a priority.
-Sleeping Giant 360 Pale - LCBO can. A stereotypical Ontario pale ale. Grainy malts, caramel sweetness and a mix of grassy, citrusy hops with a resiny finish. Didn't mind it, but wouldn't seek out more.
-Red Racer Pils - LCBO can. Like most RR products, this one is a little more aggressively-hopped than most examples of the style. Clean and refreshing, with a good grassy, spicy noble hop bite. I liked this as much as most of the upper-tier German/Czech imported pilseners (which is to say, a fair bit).
-Forked River Alpha Test: Loral Hop - Bottle from the brewery; their first in a series of 'experimental' IPAs. Pleasantly fruity aroma, with a mild, floral bitterness on the back end. Excellent drinkability; more like an APA in that respect. Not exciting, but I enjoyed it.
-Walkerville Geronimo IPA - LCBO can. Another Ontario pale ale (I know I use that term a lot, but these things are a dime-a-dozen these days). Strong caramalt backing, with a typical citrusy, earthy C-hop finish. Pretty ordinary. How many of these types of brews can the broader (i.e. non-local) market continue to support in the long-term?

And some repeats:

-Orval - A fresh bottle from the recent shipment. Quite good, but somehow not as good as I remember the '15 batch being. I still have a couple of those bottles left; maybe I'll do a side-by-side. I think this is just a beer that I prefer aged for 8-12+ months.
-GLB Octopus Wants to Fight - LCBO can - the canning date was the day previous! I was honestly flabbergasted that the LCBO was selling something this fresh. Excellent as always.
-Forked River Blackbeerd English Stout - From the brewery. An enjoyable, traditional stout with a bitter, roasty finish.