What're you drinking right now?

[darmokandjalad]

Phew, it's been a while. Here's some of the high (and low)-lights of the last month:

-Moosehead Anniversary Ale - LCBO tallboy, 5.7%. This one really reminded me of their Boundary Ale from a few years back (not sure if they still produce that). Hard to classify; at times it drinks like an ESB/English pale, but the North American hop strains impart resiny, floral, and some citrusy notes that kind of clash with the profile. Passable effort for a macro outfit, but I doubt I'll be back for more.
-Wellington Upside IPA - LCBO tallboy, 6.8%. Wow, Wellington has finally done it - they've produced a hoppy pale ale that can actually stand up to some of the competition. Not quite a true NE IPA, but along the same lines - cloudy as hell, with lots of grapefruit and orange citrus flavour. Slightly juicy, with peach/stone fruit and maybe a bit of pineapple, with a mildly bitter finish. It's pretty much exactly what this brewery's portfolio needed.
-Naughty Otter Wheat - LCBO tallboy, 4.8%. Sickly pale straw colour, with a short-lived head and a weak aroma of wheaty grains and a touch of banana. Drinks fine; wheaty, bready malt sweetness and gritty grains, with hints of lemon zest, banana and clove. A serviceable wheat ale, better than their Naughty Otter Lager, but that's not saying much.
-Viru Premium Estonian Lager - TBS tallboy, 5%. Reminds me of a Polish lager (e.g. Tyskie and the like). Not especially clean-tasting, but you could do worse.
-Beau's Farm Table Saison - LCBO bottle, 4.7%. I've never been real big on this brewery's saisons, but this was a decent one. Beautiful, pillowy head that hangs around almost indefinitely, with a straightforward flavour dominated by grainy, bready wheat and subtle orchard fruit esters. Nice spiciness at the finish; very refreshing.
-PEI Brewing Beach Chair Lager - TBS tallboy, 4.5%. Very boring, but without any serious faults. I'd rather drink an imported pils, or a Steam Whistle.
-Central City Thor's Hammer Barleywine - Wax-sealed bottle from the LCBO (picked up back in either Nov or Dec of last year). A fantastic barleywine, not for the faint of heart, though I must admit I preferred the BBA variant. Rich flavours of dark fruits, toffee, wood, vanilla and a good burn from the ethanol.
-Anderson Summer Ale - Can from the brewery; 3.6%. Bready, crackery pale malt sweetness countered by light citrus and some floral, grassy bitterness on the back end. Described as a session IPA, this was a thirst-quenching, well balanced brew that I could easily drink all afternoon long.
-Collective Arts IPA No. 3 - LCBO tallboy. I think I prefer Ransack and IPA No.2, but this was still pretty darn good.

[Belgian]

Founders PC Pils - three of them. This is a good session ale.

Godspeed Pitch & Pray series: Dortmunder

[cratez]

Over the week at home:
Deschutes Hop Slice Summer Ale
Brooklyn Defender IPA
Southern Tier Pilsner
Side Launch Session IPA
Southern Tier Un*Earthly

At the Monk's Kettle:
Redline Clutch APA (draft)

[Belgian]

Original Ritterguts Gose
Founders PC Pils
2008 Fullers Vintage Ale - I think bottle #26997. Had a real layer of sediment, next one I will shake it up a few days before serving.

[kevinlater]

recently:

wellington upside ipa - 100% concur with darmokandjalad's sentiments above
flying monkeys juicy ass ipa - just a damn solid citrusy ipa
saison dupont

[Provost Drunk]

Stone Russian Imperial Stout, to close out the trilogy of US RIS that hit LCBO shelves earlier this year. Falls in between Ten Fidy and Old Rasputin, but decidedly closer to Ten Fidy which suits me just fine. Definitely among the more viscous imperial stouts I've had (along with Ten Fidy). More anise/licorice in Stone than I recall in Ten Fidy, but both are exemplary. Old Raspy didn't quite do it for me (too hoppy for a stout for my personal tastes), but the other two were stand outs and show we have some work to do to catch up in Ontario (all due respect to Hellwoods, Bolshevik Bastard etc., which are fine brews, but they just aren't on the same level IMO).

[Belgian]

Stone Russian Imperial Stout, to close out the trilogy of US RIS that hit LCBO shelves earlier this year. Falls in between Ten Fidy and Old Rasputin, but decidedly closer to Ten Fidy which suits me just fine. Definitely among the more viscous imperial stouts I've had (along with Ten Fidy). More anise/licorice in Stone than I recall in Ten Fidy, but both are exemplary. Old Raspy didn't quite do it for me (too hoppy for a stout for my personal tastes), but the other two were stand outs and show we have some work to do to catch up in Ontario (all due respect to Hellwoods, Bolshevik Bastard etc., which are fine brews, but they just aren't on the same level IMO).

I concur.

With Stone I can pretty much forget about most other stouts.

[cratez]

Over the week at home:
Southern Tier Citra Hopped Live Pale Ale
Southern Tier One Buffalo
Southern Tier IPA
Southern Tier Why The Helles Not?
Southern Tier 2XIPA

[Belgian]

Godspeed Pitch & Pray series: Transatlantic Pale Ale

Godspeed Pitch & Pray series: Dortmunder

Fullers Vintage 2009 (bottle 048977)
This Fullers VA is developing nicely and I'm glad I have a spare for future. Also I did swirl the sediment into the brew the day before which IME does only good things for the body and 'completeness' of long-rested beers. The coarser matter like dead yeast from bottle-conditioning still settles out.

[Belgian]

Side Launch Wheat (Hefeweizen). Such a beautiful beer after a bike ride! Really brings out the banana estery fruit.
^
I recall after being in Germany in 1993 I was SO desperate to find acceptable beer in Ontario, and Hefe seemed like an unattainable goal, let alone very good Hefe. Then there was the fabled Denisons brew pub, which was sometimes fairly close to the Bavarian experience. Then I was trying Belgian Wheat ales, Unibroue BSAs... that's how it all began.

And now a patiently-aged 2014 Orval... another quintessence of this thing we call 'beer' but which can be so many things.

750ml bottle of Stone City Ales Chloe Saison, maybe close to a year old. It's lemony and creamy with notes of spice and herbs and vanilla, a whiff of tart berry. Not a ton complex for brett or mineral or anything, more fruity but very much its own thing with the presumably lemony hops.

[cratez]

At Le Saint-Bock in Montreal, QC:
Le Saint-Bock Calice (draft)
Le Saint-Bock Malédiction (draft)
Le Trou du Diable Shawi Beach (draft)

At Bier Markt Montreal:
Le Trou du Diable Saison du Tracteur (draft)
Le Castor Yakima IPA (draft)
2012 Orval Trappist Ale (bottle)

At home:
Black Oak Point Nemo Pilsner

[Provost Drunk]

Le Saint-Bock Malédiction (draft)

I was in Montreal myself last weekend and went to Le Saint-Bock (among other places) and had the Double Malediction - tasty stuff!

[darmokandjalad]

This'll be a long one, as I'm going all the way back to the beginning of August:

-Flying Monkeys Juicy Ass IPA - LCBO tallboy (6.5%), a fine IPA with an unfortunate name. Gorgeous, long-lasted head with gobs of lace and a citrus-dominated aroma with light pale malt backing. Prominent stone fruit and orange/grapefruit citrus flavours, as well as some tropical fruit. Pretty good; I'll need to look for a fresh can of Smashbomb so I can do a side-by-side comparison.
-Bell City Edison's Peep Show IPA - LCBO tallboy (6.5%), in the style of an old-school West Coast IPA, sort of. A sturdy caramelized malt backbone; orange and a hint of pineapple mid-sip, followed by big earthy, pine resin-y hop bitterness on the back end. Serviceable, but nothing new here.
-Hops & Robbers Grapefruit IPA - LCBO tallboy (5.9%). The grapefruit juice is very noticeable, in both the aroma and flavour. Not particularly bitter, with the malt bill resembling that of their original IPA. One of the better DT brews I've tried.
-Hops & Robbers Unfiltered Pils - LCBO tallboy (4.6%). A pretty solid pilsener. Better than their old Prison Break recipe (which I assume is now retired). Still don't think I'd buy it regularly, what with so many cheaper German/Czech exports available.
-Manitoulin Bridal Veil Pale Ale - LCBO tallboy (5.0%). Hopped with Cascade, this was predictable and boring, but with no obvious flaws. Citrusy, earthy and resiny, with a bready malt backbone for balance. Didn't mind it; wouldn't seek out another.
-GLB/Big Rig Found Bikes Ride Faster - LCBO tallboy (6.0%). A little unusual, with fruity flavours and aromas that range from strawberry and bubble gum to grapefruit, melon and mango. Mildly bitter finish; an easy-drinking pale ale, even at 6%, though it falls short of the GLB T10 IPAs IMO (apologies for the acronym barrage).
-Brown Van Kölsch - LCBO tallboy (4.8%). Domestic kölsch and 'lagered ales' can be pretty hit or miss in my experience, but this was a hit for me. Clean grainy, cracker-like pale malt sweetness with grassy hay and spicy noble hoppage at the finish. Thirst-quenching and crushable; this one compared favourably with the can of Gaffel I had right before it.
-Sawdust City A Place to Stand Ontario Pilsner - LCBO tallboy (5.0%). An outstanding pilsener, though probably a little hoppier than average, with more of a lemony-grapefruit citrus bent than I expect from this style. Finishes grassy, floral and herbal. Very good, better than many of the German exports.
-Wellington Shangri-La IPA - LCBO bottle from their mixed 4-pack (6.0%). This is more along the lines of what I used to expect with regards to Wellington IPAs - generally west-coast in style, with resiny, piney, earthy bitterness overshadowing everything else, save for the pronounced caramelized malt backing. Not bad, but not that good, either - I'll stick with Upside, tyvm.

[sofakingdrunk]

Over the last while:

Nickelbrook equilibrium-drinking lots of this lately, as the zehrs by my house stocks it and it's been tasting fantastic to me lately. Tasting better than it ever had before imo, not sure if it's a different recipe or just me

BTP Pink fuzz-the zehrs also carries this so I buy it regularly as well. I'm not a wheat beer guy att all but I love this beer.

Wellington upside IPA-this had become a
Bit of a regular buy for me, as I can always get very fresh cans. A great drink

DDC saison du parc- delicious beer, nice crisp and dry with more hops than usual for the style. I don't find that the hops add much in the way of flavour though. Super tasty none the less.

Sawdust city a place to stand- a really good ontario Pilsner imo, with the hops being more prevelant than most pilsners. I'll buy this again.

Bellwoods Motley cru 2013-probably sat on this a bit long, by all accounts but I still thought it was great. Well balanced sweetness with ripe dark stone fruits,a touch of oakiness and a bit of brett like character coming through. Absolutely no alcohol burn. The 750ml bottle almost became a bit much alone though, towards the end.

Motley cru 2015-fantastic beer, nice tartness, lots of berry flavours,the Pinot noir barrel is
Very noticeable.....even lending a little bit of tannic notes. Sad to only have the one bottle.

St ambroise vintage 2011- I've never had any variation of this beer before so nothing to compare to. This was delicious though. Like a
Really good Christmas pudding in a glass. It may be nearing/past it's prime? Lots of big gloopy floaties that actually made me wonder before opening if it was off or not. Carbonation is very minimal.
This was part of the 3 pack from lcbo Xmas release a few years ago. I'll save the '12 and '13 for the cooler weather.

Rodenbach vintage 2013-so good. Just sour, balanced perfection.

[cratez]

Over the weekend at Milos' Craft Beer Emporium:
Sawdust City & A La Fut Danian Nutt (draft)
Great Lakes Grimace’s Tears - Milkshake Pale Ale (draft)
Indie Ale House Gold Star Saison (draft)
Bench Ball's Falls (draft)

I was in Montreal myself last weekend and went to Le Saint-Bock (among other places) and had the Double Malediction - tasty stuff!

Yeah the regular strength version was quite good and I enjoyed the Calice too so they seem to know what they're doing on the brewing front. Does the imperial version also come with a marshmallow garnish? I thought that was pretty funny, though given how well it compliments the roast and vanilla flavours I can see why they do it.