Thursday 26 September 2013

Beer # 101 Opa's Gose Wild Oats Series # 5

 Opa's Gose

Beau's All Natural Brewing Company


Van Kleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Gose (Salted and Spiced Beer) 5.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 600 ml.
$7.85 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @beausallnatural 


Beau's is one of those hard working and quirky breweries. They are constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries, creating very interesting brews for special one offs for festivals and tap takeovers. So their stable of beers is almost impossible to keep track of with out a programme. Today's beer is from their "Wild Oats" series, and is a beer style... I've never heard of: Gose. This beer was invented in Leipzig Germany in the early 16th century. It is a salted and spiced beer which precludes it from being sanctioned under the Reinheitsgebot The German Beer Law of 1516 which states beer may only be made with water, barley, and hops. As well Gose is typified by the inclusion of 50% or more malted wheat. Gose was originally bottled in long necked green bottles that would form a "yeast plug" instead of a cork as the beer underwent a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The salt in the beer came from the water originally, and later was added to the beer. Also, the fermentation of the beer was spontaneous, in open vats like Lambics, but it was soon discovered how to use yeast to produce the same flavour.

Beau's is found in a small town which is geographically located at about the halfway point between Ottawa Ontario, and Montreal Quebec is a rich agricultural area of Eastern Ontario. Beau's was founded by father and son team of Tim and Steve Beauchesne on Canada Day (July 1st) 2006.

On with the Gose...

Cloudy Yellow gold in colour fluffy white head made up of medium sized bubbles. Very wheaty nose with hints of coriander  First sip is very thin and light. The coriander waits until the finish and the salt hits you in the end drying your tongue a bit and turning the mouthfeel mineral. There is a slight damp grain feel to it as well as some citrus. The taste of the wheat dominates but the malted barley is there hiding in the back. Aeration brings out the citrusy coriander but not much else.


At this point I added more sea salt as was indicated by the package.


Salt greatly improved the flavour. It is a very delicate balancing act of adding beer and adding salt to get the right mix (Fortunately it's a 600 ml bottle!) Salt turns the volume up on the muted notes of coriander and citrus. It also tones down the wet grain taste and rounds out the beer perfectly. Strangely it is not unlike drinking beer on the seaside. The sea salt coats the back of the palate and leaves a lingering ocean taste. Malt sugars show up as well leaving a salty-sweet sugary finish. Also... the salt increases the thirst and makes me want to drink more beer faster... a little bit of downside to it.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: N/A First one I have had
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience:  4/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

This was a new experience for me... I have never tasted a Gose before. And it isn't that I didn't enjoy the beer, but tasting it without food and water was a little difficult. Under the correct circumstances this would be a good food beer, perhaps I can try it again the next time I make schnitzel. Just keep in mind the salt increases your thirst, have water ready, and drink it with a friend.

Cheers

CJT


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Wednesday 25 September 2013

Beer # 100 Piraat (Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day)


Piraat (Pirate)

Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Ertvelde, Evergem, Belguim
Independant
Srong Belgium Blonde 10.5 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 330 ml.
$3.33 (Canadian) At LCBO ($19.95 for the 6 bottle Belgian Gift Pack)
Twitter: Not Found

Ok I know... Talk Like a Pirate Day was last week. And yes, I meant to do this beer on that day... And Yes I was busy again... But we can pretend it still is? Sure we can... We are all friends here. Yarrr... On be wid der tastin'.

Brewery Van Steenberge has it's origins in 1784 as the Brewery Peer. Passed down through several Generations The current owner, Jeff Versele, is the 4x Great Grand Nephew of founder Jean Baptise De Bruin (Yes that translates to "John Baptist the Bear" Talk about an awesome wrestling name.) The brewery is the last operational one in the "Meetjesland" which is the coastal area of East Flanders in Belguim. The name literally translates to "Land of old Ladies. I could tell you why, but i can't do any better than Wikipedia:

There are many legends surrounding the origin of the name. The most known is the one of Emperor Charles V (Charles V) who was known for his sexual appetite. The story goes that when he traveled through the region people hid their daughters and their attractive young women, making emperor Charles think this region was full of old women (meetjes). Source.
'nuff said. Onto the booty...


Golden in colour with just a hint of cloudiness. Large fluffy white head made up of medium sized bubbles. Nose is sweet grainy, fruity, some banana and citrus. First sip is deep, rich, and rum-like. Quite malty and sweet... slightly sticky on the lips. However, very light tasting and effervescent, due to a small secondary fermentation in the bottle. Aeration brings out warm spicy notes and a huge shot of alcohol. Finish is mildly bitter, but refreshing.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

A delightful beer. the only sticking point is the high alcohol... It actually makes one drowsy drinking it. So try this one with food. It is a well rounded and excellently balanced beer.


Cheers

CJT


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Monday 16 September 2013

Beer # 99 Flying Monkeys Treble Clef Series Beer # 2 City and Colour Imperial Maple Wheat

Imperial Maple Wheat




Barrie, Ontario, CanadaIndependent
High Alcohol Flavoured Wheat 11.5 % ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$13.95 Canadian LCBO

Twitter: @flyingmonkeys


I honestly can believe it took me to Beer # 99 to do a Flying Monkey's Beer. I did, after all, live just down the street from them... The Flying Monkeys has as interesting a back story as I can imagine in the brewing industry. Founded in 2005 The Owners had picked the name Simcoe Steam which was a real brewery in Barrie in the late 1800's. However as the Licensing application was being completed it was discovered that the rights to the name Simcoe Steam were not available and the owners had to quickly decide a new name to prevent the licensing paperwork from being rejected. They decided on Robert Simpson, who just happened to be the first mayor of Barrie Ontario (1871- 1872), and the owner of Simcoe Steam Brewery. The original flagship beer was Confederation Ale. It was an expensive premium beer marketed as the longest aged beer in Canada (around 44 days if I remember correctly) I remember having it and I really enjoyed it. Flash forward 4 years. Peter Chiodo, Head brewer, made new beers he pushed to rename the brewery because, in his words "Being named after a a dead white guy isn't that interesting." So Flying Monkeys was born. In all honesty I have met most of the people responsible for this brew... and Flying Monkeys is a great fit for a name for them...

Today we are doing the Treble Clef Series Beer # 2. Treble clef is a collaboration between The Flying Monkeys and a prominent Canadian Musician. Last year they collaborated with The Bare Naked Ladies, this year Dallas Green of City and Colour and formerly of Alexis on Fire.

 The beer is an Imperial Maple Wheat That was flavoured with Local (to Barrie) maple syrup from Breedon's Farm in Alliston Ontario. It is also flavoured with Fair Trade organic Ugandan Bourbon vanilla beans (That's a mouthful).

Anyway... City and Colour is playing on the MP3... onto the tasting.

The colour is dark amber, like a fine maple syrup and almost as translucent and slightly cloudy. Head is brown and tan, very short lived and made up of very tiny bubbles.The scent is up front maple syrup and vanilla with underlying notes of chocolate, malt, and wood. The first sip is a little like porridge, wheaty, syrupy. and a slight note of background citrus. The lingering maple is a bit strong and tends to get a bit bitter on the finish. Woodsy vanilla is present throughout the attack. Hot alcohol taste, finishing in a super sweet almost cloying hum of maple. Aeration brings a whisky taste to the mouth with a touch of wet grain and eye watering alcohol!
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 4/6 PASS

Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  3/6 SO-SO
Experience:  4/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

This is a good beer don't get me wrong. There is lot's going on in it. But it fell down in a few areas. Price was an issue. I understand the limited availability and the special ingredients, and the over the top packaging. However in the end you have to pay for it and drink it and feel good about your purchase. I felt there was a price to taste expectation gap that was not met. The Maple syrup was out of balance. It stomped all over the wheat of the beer and left me feeling over-sweetened and sticky at the end. Would I suggest you try this beer? Of course... please do. Just share it with a friend... over some dessert. It definitely needs a touch of food to offset the sugar

Cheers

CJT


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Where's Waldo and Project Update

Back Again...

Well sportsfans I have returned... it has been a long, hot, grueling summer with not a lot of spare time to sit and think and therefore, as always, I must put aside my blog for a bit. However the job front has slowed and I feel I can breathe so it is time to delve into the fridge of fame again and return to the things I enjoy the most... Tasting beer and talking about it.

When I left you, oh so long ago, I planted a teaser. I announced "Project Dzunukwa" I am happy to report it's successful completion.

Meet Dzunukwa...



Dzunukwa is the planned replacement of my aging and long suffering main computer Prometheus. It is also my first purpose built computer, and was quite a fun project. I undertook the work with two very smart young men ages 8 and 10 who did all the heavy lifting... while I supervised (granted I did stay up all night working out the bugs, installing the software, and tweaking settings). It has an AMD 8 core  processor, an ASUS Crosshair V formula Z motherboard, 32 Gigabytes of Corsair Vengence RAM, 6.25 Terabytes of Storage, and a 2 Gigabyte Sapphire Radeon Graphics card. Oh yes, it makes my little nerd heart go pitter-patter. I plan still, a few more upgrades: expansion to 12.5 Terabytes of hard drive space, and another graphics card (for an extra monitor). After that I should be able to enjoy my newly built computer for quite a few years.

If you are wondering about the name...  I was planning a big beast of a computer so I needed a big beast of a name. I prefer to name my computers after Mythology, hence Prometheus (The bringer of Fire). So I was shopping around for a good name when I had a discussion about Haida woodworking and Kwakwaka'wakw masks. I came across a mask I really liked called Dzunukwa: This one.



Dzunukwa is called the "Wild Woman." A fearsome ogre that frightens children and will eat them if she catches them. She is often associated with Sasquatch (which was the deciding factor for me!). It is said the Kwakwaka'wakw people captured Dzunukwa and burned her for many days to destroy her. Eventually, when she could not rise again, her ashes floated off and became mosquitoes. 

Well I am off again on another adventure of beer tasting. If you would like to read a bit more about the fascinating Kwakwaka'wakw people there is an article Here. I would also suggest going to Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver if you are able to.

Thanks for hanging out with me... Crack open a beer and stay awhile.

Cheers
CJT


Friday 13 September 2013

Beer # 98 Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale

Believer Double Red Ale

Ninkasi Brewing Company


Eugene Oregon, United States of America

Independent
High Alcohol Red Ale 6.9 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml. (Labelled 1 Pint 6 fl oz)
$4.75 British Columbia Liquor Store

Twitter: @NinkasiBrewing


Taking a trip out to the Pacific Northwest today to a brewery that has just come across my radar. Ninkasi Brewing company has at it's origins, a story not unlike many other great craft breweries; a meeting of two determined and like-minded individuals who share a passion and a vision. Born in June of 2006 in the back of an old German restaurant Ninkasi Brewery has undergone rapid expansion in it's 7 year lifespan. The founders hoped to instill a sense of community and culture in their brewing company. A throwback to the times when beer was a valued part of everyday life, and help to build the written lauguge and shape the education system. Keeping this in mind, Nikos Ridge and Jamie Floyd chose to name their brewery after Ninkasi, the Summerian Goddess of fermentation hoping this would inspire the "...belief in an elevated human experience through the social enjoyment and sharing of beer."

Anyway... off to Eugene and today's beer...

Chestnut brown in colour with hints of auburn. Light tan head with small bubbles that is fairly long lasting. Distinct herbal hoppy head with background notes of toasty malt. Exceptionally grainy and bready on the first taste. The full flavour of the malt shines through. Good strong hit of sweetness indicative of a solid red ale. Hops reappear on the finish stronger and slightly more bitter to cleanse the palate and set you up for the next sip. Fairly complex, there is a lot going on in this beer... but it manages to pull it off. There are notes of grapefruit, citrus, buckwheat honey, turbinado sugar, grilled pineapple, woodiness, and earthiness all competing for tongue space.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

Wow. Just a great beer. Complex, easy drinking, sweet, bitter... well balanced all around. I will be returning to Eugene, very soon. Just as soon as I can get my hands on more Ninkasi Beers.

Thanks Ninkasi... I'm definitely a believer
Cheers


CJT


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