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Random Reviews

Contribute your own beer reviews and ratings of beers that are made or available in Ontario.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

jrenihan
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Post by jrenihan »

JeffPorter wrote:
matt7215 wrote: Bellwoods Biere de Garde - bomber from nickelass, thanks nick! simple estery belgian ale nose. lotsa of fermentation character in the flavour. really lacking malt body if its trying to be a biere de garde. a mediocure belgian amber ale. i havnt been to impressed with the 3 Bellwoods ive tried.
It's funny you mentioned this...while I've loved most of the stuff I've tried, and really enjoy the witchshark, I found the "single" IPA lacking in aroma and just that juicy hop flavour...it just seemed bitter. I only had it once, though, and so I should re-try it before I judge.
I felt the same way about the regular IPA the first time (bitter but not flavourful), but had it again a few weeks or month later and thought it was very good. Not sure if it was me or the beer, but a big difference.
Ren

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markaberrant
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Post by markaberrant »

Last night at the Bushwakker:

a bunch of rare scotches (the brewpub had a bunch of samples sent by a rep and wanted my feedback on what to bring in)

followed it up with:

Bushwakker BrunkDrunkyMunkle - excellent dunkelweizen, recipe courtesty of Edmonton homebrewer, and ALES Open 2012 Best of Show winner, Greg Zeniuk

Weihenstephaner Vitus - incredible pale doppelweizen, they just got it in (as well as a weizen and dunkelweizen), I am going to drink a ton of this

Flying Monkeys Smashbomb - bottled June 19, decent nose for a bottled IPA, finish is somewhat metallic

Bushwakker Cyclone Barleywine - I order this everytime I am there, can't be much left. A fantastic and incredibly unique barleywine (oaked and fortified with port and cognac) Outstanding. World class.

Stroonze
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Post by Stroonze »

Spearhead, first time trying from bottle. Tastes like a different beer to me than the one i had a few months ago on tap. Couldnt pick up the pineapple in the nose that i remembered. Very citrusy, needs more malt to balance it out. I was looking forward to this but i am somewhat dissapointed. It will be interesting to try this again a few months to see if they have tweaked the recipe at all.

G.M. Gillman
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Post by G.M. Gillman »

Captivaor Dopplebock. Excellent with typical-for-the-style medium butterscotch taste and good bitterness to underpin, you can see the greenish cast of the hops when the glass is held to light. Better IMO than imports of this style, probably due to non-pasteurisation and extra freshness. Good work.

Weihenstephan Weisse, the filtered version. Very fresh, classic clean banana and wheaty flavours with mineral-like hopping underneath. I don't think I've ever had a clear version of wheat beer from Germany, always opting for the hefe style. However, I find the taste very similar. Just saw a new Ayinger Wheat Beer at LCBO. Quite honestly, I'd have preferred to see the helles or dunkel from this classic Munich-area brewery. Don't we have enough imported and domestic wheat beers? Other classic German styles (of quality) are not nearly as represented. The LCBO seems to be on a wheat beer kick.

Lake of Bays Pale Ale (cask at Victory). Excellent work from this brewery, with a beer that would fit no trouble into any London local. It is quite rich, which many will like, but I added a dash of the ice water served to me alongside to knock the sweetness and ABV down a bit to what I'm more familiar with for English bitter. Excellent anyway you look at it.

Hoptical Illusion, draft served at Victory. Fresh and invigorating, but something seems missing, I think I'd prefer more bittering hop. There is lots of hop in the aroma, and the malt quality is good, but I'd boost the bitterness of the beer itself.

Gary
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cratez
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Post by cratez »

Highlander Scottish Ale - 3.55/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle from the Main & Bronte LCBO in Milton, ON. Pours a clear coppery bronze with one finger of eggshell white head and a few spots of lacing on the pint glass. Smell is toffee, toasted malt, treacle, bruised pit fruit, earthy hops, trace of diacetyl, mild mineral note, and raisin. Taste is caramel, toffee, brown bread, biscuit, molasses, raisin, light plumy and apple-like fruitiness precedes an earthy-musty finish. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, average carbonation, sugary-viscous middle transitions to a bone dry finish with fleeting afters. Overall, this is a solid Scottish Ale with some English Pale and Brown Ale elements. Worth a purchase as the style is hard to come by in Ontario.

Wellington Spaltacus Imperial Golden Ale - 3.8/5
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

473ml can from the brewery courtesy of cannondale. Thanks Nigel! Pours a deep golden hue with a sliver of white foam and a slightly hazy body. No lace on my glass. Smell is lemongrass, herbaceous and floral hops, spice box, ethanol, weedy, minty and resinous notes, hints of earth and pepper as well. Very unique aromas. Taste is spicy, grassy and herbal hops upfront, spruce-like flavours through the middle, light Noble hop bitterness precedes a drying finish with some heat in the throat. Mouthfeel is smooth and medium-bodied. Overall, this is a cool take on a Golden Ale and the Spalt hops add an unusual but pleasant character. I'd like to see them brew this again, perhaps at a lower gravity.

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA - 4.3/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

500ml bottle from the 401 & Weston LCBO in Toronto, ON. Part of the 2012 Spring Beer Release. Pours a hazy, unfiltered yellow with amber edges, one finger of billowy white foam, and sheets of lacing on the pint glass. The chunky sediment detracts from an otherwise attractive appearance. Smell is lemon zest, mango, white grapefruit, herbal, grassy, and floral hops, mild earthiness, honey-drizzled wheat crackers, slight sulphur, and lime. Taste is big lemony, grapefruity, and soapy hop flavours balanced by biscuity malts, a honey sweetness, white cracker, and a substantial Noble-like bitterness to end. Mouthfeel is smooth and medium-bodied, soft carbonation, spicy and biting bitterness lingers into the long, bone dry finish. Refreshing. Overall, Thornbridge Jaipur is an exemplary English IPA with more intensity than traditional examples of the style. This flavourful, hoppy thirst-quencher is one of the best UK beers that I've sampled. A very impressive brew.

Goose Island Fleur - 3.28/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Bomber purchased at Plum Market in Ann Arbor, MI. 2010 Vintage. Pours a burnished amber hue with copper edges, a sliver of bubbly white froth, and strands of stringy lacing on the tulip. Smell is flower petals, cake dough, yeast, clove, cardamom, cotton candy, faint apple note (Granny Smith?), slight funkiness, bruised stone fruit, and green grape. Taste is sour candy, apple skin, yeast, and grainy-bready malts. A very basic, underwhelming flavour profile. Mouthfeel is lighter than medium-bodied with low carbonation and a chalky finish. The palate becomes more watery as the beer warms. Overall, given its respectable rating on BA, I expected a lot more from this brew. While the aroma is enticing, this ended up being a pretty boring quaff and I probably won't purchase again.

Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura (Dark Dawn Stout) - 4.23/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Review #400! Bomber purchased at Plum Market in Ann Arbor, MI. Pours an opaque, pitch black hue with a thick ring of tan foam and strands of webbed lacing on the tulip glass. Smell is cocoa powder (almost fudge-like), molasses, floral and minty hops, ethanol, caramel, dates, fruity balsamic vinaigrette, roasty malts, sour candy, oak barrel woodiness, hint of vanilla, and leather. Stupidly complex aromas. Taste is a massively acidic, tart, and almost puckering sourness upfront, lemon juice, roasted malts, cocoa, and ashy flavours through the middle, faint woodiness and dark unsweetened chocolate in the afters. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, spritzy carbonation, big tart sourness mid-palate, a little warmth going down, quick drying finish. Overall, Obscura is a wonderfully layered brew with a rich and satisfying character. I first sampled this beer on tap at Roast Detroit (thanks to bartender Joe's recommendation) and the bottled version is just as rewarding as the draught. A must-try from Jolly Pumpkin.
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott

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cratez
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Post by cratez »

Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza - 4.05/5
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bomber purchased at The Wine Seller in Ann Arbor, MI. Pours a bright golden hue with a thin white cap, lots of webbed lacing, and excellent clarity. Smell is overripe orchard fruit, alcohol esters, mild bretty funkiness, lemon and lime zest, intense sour candy, oak barrel, vanilla, assorted spices (cinnamon, clove), green apple, and effervescent, champagne-like aromas. Amazing nose. Taste boasts a huge puckering sourness with crab apple, sour candy, anjou pear, lemon juice, chardonnay, and a funky woodiness in the background. Very flavourful brew. Mouthfeel is lighter than medium-bodied, high carbonation, spicy and peppery bite mid-palate, massive sourness precedes a quick drying finish with fleeting afters. Overall, Oro de Calabaza isn't as balanced and complex as the Dark Dawn Stout, but it's still an enjoyable, contemplative quaff nonetheless. Worth buying.

Victory / Stone / Dogfish Head Saison du BUFF - 3.85/5
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle purchased at Rozi's Wine House in Lakewood, OH. Pours a burnished golden hue with a slight chill haze, one finger of eggshell white froth, and several strands of lacing. Head lasts for the duration of the beer. Smell is rosemary, thyme, cardamom, clove, dandelion (sappy, resiny), fresh cut grass, mineral water, lemon zest, faint mustiness, and flowery-perfumey aromas. Taste is lemony, grassy, and weedy flavours, very spicy and zesty, bold herbaceous middle with rosemary, thyme, and basil, light floral notes to end. Mouthfeel is spicy zestiness upfront, crisp and clean palate, spritzy carbonation, big herbaceous middle transitions to a drying finish with fading afters. Overall, this is a one-of-a-kind beer with extremely strange flavours that somehow work well together. It's a ballsy, out-there saison that pushes the boundaries of the style. But given the calibre of the brewers involved, I guess that's unsurprising.

Samuel Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA - 3.83/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle purchased at Rozi's Wine House in Lakewood, OH. Pours a dark ruby brown with one finger of cream-coloured foam and many spots of lacing on the tulip glass. Solid appearance. Aroma is roasted malt, raisin, cookie crumble, pruney-plumy notes, slight vinous character, citrusy and resiny hops, faint grapefruit, pine, and honeydew melon. Smells like a Baltic Porter with some Black IPA elements. Taste is roasty malt, cookie crumble, plumy-grapey middle, somewhat tart, mildly citric grapefruit bitterness with roasted-raisiny flavours to end. A big yet balanced brew with lager-like drinkability. Mouthfeel is smooth, medium-bodied, a little creamy, moderate bitterness precedes a dry finish with lingering raisin and roasted afters. No trace of the ABV. Overall, this is a well-made Baltic Porter with higher-than-usual hopping. It's not a full-on Cascadian Dark Ale but it's a good Americanized take on a traditional European style. Give this one a try.

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA - 4.38/5
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Fresh 12oz bottle from a 6-pack purchased at Rozi's Wine House in Lakewood, OH. Clerk said they received their shipment the week before my purchase. Pours a clear amber hue with a thick eggshell white cap and tons of stringy lacing on the tulip. Smell is blood orange, red grapefruit, pine sap, herbal hops, peach, mango, perfume, slight nuttiness, bread crust, caramel, ethanol, and nectarine. Very bold, citrusy, and aromatic. Taste is juicy and citric navel orange, red grapefruit, peach, nectarine, more piney, spicy and herbaceous hops, brown bread crust, light caramel sweetness, pithy and astringent bitterness to end. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, juicy and oily middle, bold citric bitterness precedes a long drying finish. Overall, Big Eye is an aggressive, world class IPA that favourably compares to the top tier hop bombs. A delicious brew.

Founders Double Trouble - 4.28/5
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

12oz bottle purchased at Rozi's Wine House in Lakewood, OH. Pours a deep and slightly hazy golden hue with a light amber tinge, a sliver of white foam, and strands of webbed lacing on the tulip. Smell is cookie dough, honeyed biscuit, toasty malt, mango, papaya, citrusy and herbaceous hops, peach, navel orange, and very faint pineapple. Taste is citrus, stone fruit, honey sweetness, biscuit, pine, resiny hops, pithy and astringent grapefruit bitterness to end. Mouthfeel is full side of medium-bodied, lush and juicy middle, soft carbonation, big resinous, spicy, and citric bitterness transitions to a lengthy, drying finish. Bang on for the style. Overall, Double Trouble is a killer DIPA with a pungent and unrelenting hop character. Definitely worth a purchase if you can get your hands on some. More nectar from Founders.
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott

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markaberrant
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Post by markaberrant »

Unibroue Trois Pistoles - this bottle is from early Jan 2012, so 7 months old. I don't drink this beer very often, maybe once every couple years. It's ok, but I wish they would lay off on the the coriander, it is so dominant. I never really noticed it until I included it in a Dark Strong tasting about 3 years, but it stood out like a sore thumb, and has bothered me ever since.

Update - it gets a lot better once it warms and the carbonation dies down.

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markaberrant
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Post by markaberrant »

Got together with a couple guys last night to sample some beers:

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noire – funky, bone dry, hint of dark malt in the finish. Just doesn’t work me, by far the most disappointing JP I have tried.

He’Brew Hop Manna IPA – great nose, kinda harsh dry bitterness in the flavor that I didn’t care for

Hopworks Galactic Imperial Red – took awhile to get the Hop Manna taste outta my mouth, but this is a fine imperial red, a style I typically find lacking. Not a hop bomb, but not super sweet, not a barleywine either. Just a good imperial red.

Widmer Brothers Galaxy Barleywine – I enjoyed this a lot more when I tried it last fall. Just kinda sweet, very blah, we didn’t finish the bottle.

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti – the more I drink of the various Yetis, the more I prefer the base version best. The oak became very harsh as we drank this.

JeffPorter
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Post by JeffPorter »

Six Pints IPA - Very murky, on the brownish/red side of golden, fluffy head (the best head I've seen from Six Pints.) From 625ml bottle.

Aroma is citrus and pine with a bit of caramel in the nose - not unlike a 10BY.

Carbonation is light and prickly - almost cask-like.

Taste is hoppy and juicy with a nice spiciness from the rye malt. Could almost be called a Rye IPA IMHO. Finish is spicy and long.

It's actually nice work - it's the beer I was the most sceptical about, and I think it's my favourite so far.
"What can you say about Pabst Blue Ribbon that Dennis Hopper hasn’t screamed in the middle of an ether binge?" - Jordan St. John

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

Mad Tom IPA - bottle was lurking back of fridge 4 months, for some reason this bottle actually improved in deliciousness.

Great Lakes (OH) DoppelRock - when this Bock warms it gets these great berry-like flavors.

New Morning Saison - fantastic & I wish we'd have good saisons around always.
Last edited by Belgian on Mon Aug 13, 2012 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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grub
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Post by grub »

Belgian wrote:Great Lakes (MI) DoppelRock - when this Bock warms it gets these great berry-like flavors.
is there a third Great Lakes now?!? confusing enough having both OH and ON ;)
@grubextrapolate // @biergotter // http://biergotter.org/

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markaberrant
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Post by markaberrant »

2011 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot - pours quite murky, I have noticed many barleywines that exhibit this. Hops have faded considerably, but still add complexity and bitterness. A stone cold classic that is excellent fresh or aged.

G.M. Gillman
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Post by G.M. Gillman »

Black Lager at Six Pints Beer Academy. 5.6% ABV. All-malt with an interesting use of Midnight Wheat which is a dark-roasted wheat malt. Smooth, sweetish full flavour, not really like German black lager or porter. I prefer it to the house Porter, which is (to me) a little astringent. Rare it is that I don't like an all-malt beer and a porter or porter-style beer in my mind is usually better for being all-malt.

Kokanee. I had this in B.C. last week at a function after setting aside a damp-paper oxidized craft ale. Not my favourite beer by a long stretch but decent and refreshing.

Wellington County Imperial Stout (can). Like others have noted it seems a bit light although there are good traditional stout flavours here. The hop level is good too. I think in fact the recent cask versions are the same, it's just that with the residual yeast the beer seems fuller on draft. It's a very worthy product but I'd call it a strong stout more than an Imperial.

Gary
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phat matt
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Post by phat matt »

Southern Teir Bourbon Barrel Backburner Barley Wine- Had this yesterday at coles. It weighed in at 14.4% and was one of the best beers I have had from them. The bourbon barrel and residual sweetness in the beer really complitmented each other. Creating a wonderful spicey and vanilla medley. Id love to try more of their big sweet beers after being in a barrel. Really does wonders for it.

heebes
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Post by heebes »

jrenihan wrote:
JeffPorter wrote:
matt7215 wrote: Bellwoods Biere de Garde - bomber from nickelass, thanks nick! simple estery belgian ale nose. lotsa of fermentation character in the flavour. really lacking malt body if its trying to be a biere de garde. a mediocure belgian amber ale. i havnt been to impressed with the 3 Bellwoods ive tried.
It's funny you mentioned this...while I've loved most of the stuff I've tried, and really enjoy the witchshark, I found the "single" IPA lacking in aroma and just that juicy hop flavour...it just seemed bitter. I only had it once, though, and so I should re-try it before I judge.
I felt the same way about the regular IPA the first time (bitter but not flavourful), but had it again a few weeks or month later and thought it was very good. Not sure if it was me or the beer, but a big difference.
Ren
ive been digging all the Bellwoods beer ive tried. really liked the single hop summit. the biere de garde wasnt mindblowing but it was my first of the style so...

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