Beer # 163 Plowman's Ale Grand River Brewery

Plowman's Ale

Grand River Brewery

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Amber Ale 4.7 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$3.75 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @GrandRiverBeer

This is my second beer from Grand River Brewing in the first was their Tailgate Pilsner and I wasn't a big fan. But I was excited to try this one from them and I wasn't disappointed.

Onto the tasting...

Pours a medium amber colour with an off tan head made of small bubbles. Aroma is light fresh and malty, with hints of leather and fresh grain. The beer opens up with a good malt profile and a good hit of bittering hops to balance it out. Drinks like an export ale but not as sweet. There is a mild fruitiness beneath the malt. Very hardy and drinkable, lives up to the term liquid bread, for the beer is slightly filling and tastes like a meal. Aeration gives a slight spice and some more of the bitter hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS

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


Final Thoughts: 

Very good indeed. I know I had issues with the maltiness in their Tailgate Pilsner, but here, they got it just right. Perhaps they are best suited to making ales because this beer I enjoyed very much.

Cheers

CJT



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Beer # 162 Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop

Alexander Keith's Saphir Hop Ale

Alexander Keith's Brewing Company

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Owned by Labatt Brewing Company a Subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev LTD
Pale Ale 5.5 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$2.65 (Canadian) At LCBO 

Twitter: @alexanderkeiths

A while back I did the Alexander Keith's "Threefer," When I got their mixed pack of beers made with single hop varieties (Galaxy, Hallertau, and Cascade). Just recently they have released the fourth variety in the series: the Saphir. Saphir is German for sapphire and is one of the newest hop varieties to be developed in Germany. Saphir has one of the lowest alpha acid contents of all the world's hops and is one of the highest in beta acids. Fairly similar to Hallertau Mittlefrueh it now replaces that hop in many German brews. 

Let's see how it does when it meets one of Canada's most famous (sort of) IPAs.

Onto the tasting...

Pours a light amber with a very light tan head made up of tiny bubbles. Aroma is very grassy and spicy with some light malt aromas. The hop really seems to accentuate the malt in this beer. The flavour is

bolder and deeper. Malt sugars are present and rich. Herbal grassy spice reigns through the middle some light citrus, a little limp and flat. Aeration gives us damp grain, hay and mown grass. Finish is the astringent aftertaste of poorly made tea. The can states that there should be hints of tangerine also, but I find  muted citrus at best is present in the background with a slight tinniness.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 2/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  0/6 FAIL
Experience:  1/6 FAIL

Final Thoughts:

If you buy those poorly made German import beers that sell dirt cheap in the liquor store... this may be the beer for you. Astringent, bitter, and malty without real character, this is sadly another step down for what used to be a decent beer. This can go on the avoid pile, It is merely over commercialised beer trying to be fobbed off as "craft."



Cheers

CJT

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Updates

Brewery Links

I have been very busy this last week working behind the scenes to make the site more comprehensive. I have had some pages up for over a year that were intended to be links to the various breweries around Canada the US and the world. However, they have never been truly complete or organised. So I have filled in some of the blanks and will continue to do so for the next little while until most of the information is up to date. I will not even pretend to think that this is a complete list or that all the information is 100% accurate. Please feel free to contact me if you find any missing or inaccurate information, I will be more than happy to update it. You can send corrections to my Email pintjockey@gmail.com or comment on the bottom portion of this post. Also check back frequently as I continue to update the site. Thanks for reading!

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 161 Scarecrow Wychwood Brewery

Scarecrow Organic Golden Pale Ale

Wychwood Brewery

Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Owned by Marston's PLC
Golden Pale Ale 4.7 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$2.95 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @Hobgoblin_Beer

Tonight's beer is a wet hop organic golden pale ale from the good people over at Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire which is the craft brewing arm of the British brewing giant Marston's PLC.

Onto the tasting...
Straw coloured with a thin off white head made up of small bubbles that disperse quickly. Aroma is sugary and very light malt. First sip is fruity almost grape like, effervescent and citrusy with light hints of grain. Very light bodied, thin and slightly watery. Aeration is creamy, apples, grapes and light citrus.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

Not at all what I expected, but good nonetheless. very light and refreshing but getting late in the year for this beer I would prefer it out on the patio.

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 160 Double Dead Elephant Railway City

Double Dead Elephant Imperial IPA

Railway City Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Imperial IPA 7.5 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$10.95 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @railwaycity

This takes me back to my first post. I started my blog way back in 2010 in November with Railway City's Dead Elephant ale. Here it is, four years later and I am getting around to posting about it's stronger brother the Double Dead Elephant... Sadly I have had bad experiences with Railway City... I have not found any beer of theirs I really liked, and for a time I have avoided them. That has changed now.  I tried this beer a couple of weeks ago and I was happily surprised to find a well rounded good tasting beer. The beer still references the long ago incident where Jumbo the elephant of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, was killed on a railway track outside of St. Thomas, Ontario where the brewery is now located. I detail the full story in my older blog post about Dead Elephant here. 

Without further monkeying around, if you will direct your attention to the centre ring, I give you tonight's tasting...

Dark gold in colour with hints of brown. Fluffy off white head made up of mostly small bubbles. Aroma is spicy light malt and caramel, and a hint of fruit. First sip is malt and raisin. The middle is chock full of green and bitter herbs, leaving a tart and tangy feeling on the tongue. Citrus zest and some orange pith. Grassy, some hay, touch of spice and some caramel, and vanilla. Aeration brings out the alcohol and malty sugars.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

A good solid beer from Railway city and certainly the best I have had from them. Lots of flavour and good complexity while still being balanced and not being overly hot from the extra alcohol. Get it while it is still on the shelves.

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 159 Brakeman's Session Ale Junction Craft Brewery

Brakeman's Session Ale

Junction Craft Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Golden Ale 5.3 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml.
$2.85 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @Junction_Craft

I have only talked about Junction Craft Brewery when I was down in Toronto for OCB Week There I had the Cascadian Dark Ale at The Only Cafe. Junction Craft has been around since 2012 and is part of the mushrooming Craft Beer scene in Toronto and Ottawa that has taken place over the last 5 years. Suffice it to say I could almost name every brewery in this province before 2009 and I was pleasantly shocked to learn that the number of breweries and brewpubs in Ontario now top 200! Junction Craft owes it's Railway theme to the location of it's brewery. Opened in the so called "Junction" Area of Toronto which is loaded with rail yards and warehouses and the crossing point of two major rail lines. It is also next to the Stockyards area where cattle were brought in to be auctioned and sent for butchering. The rattle and clang of the train has echoed through the Junction for over 100 years. So this became a natural choice to name the brewery when the time arose. Other than that, I could not find much on the brewery on the web page, and I haven't yet been down to have a chat with someone there (Which I plan to correct sometime soon), so tonight we will have to let the Brakeman do the talking for us.

All aboard... onto the next tasting.

Off dark gold in colour with a short creamy white head made up of mostly tiny bubbles. Very light caramel malt on the nose with a light herbal hop. Toasty malt and molasses some hay, grains and grassiness and a touch of old leather. Slightly smoky with some hints of charcoal. Aeration gives us a fresh fruit and light herbal hops. Finish has a tart lingering bitterness. Complex yet refreshing. not forceful but gives you enough to contemplate.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

It's a sneaky little beer. When one thinks of golden ales there is such a wide range of products out there that go from stellar to shabby. When I first sniffed it it didn't seem to have much going on... but it fooled me. A good complexity and a nice beer. Certainly worth having again. I would drink this all day at a BBQ. This is the third beer I have had from Junction Craft and I can assure you it will not be my last. 

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 158 Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale

Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale

Nickel Brook Brewing Company

Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Wet Hop Pale Ale 5.3 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$7.95 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @NickelBrookBeer

Tonight's beer is a pale ale with a slight difference. Whereas hops are usually dried and milled into pellets prior to commercial use... the hops for this particular beer were delivered fresh from a local Ontario farm the day they were picked, and added straight into the beer. In fact both the hop and malt for this beer was grown in Ontario.

Onto the tasting...
Off gold colour with a greenish hue, with an off-white head small in stature that breaks quickly.. Fresh aromatic green hops on the nose some pine some resin. First sip is very green. Light and refreshing. Very clean, light malt backed up by very fresh tasting hops. A little watery, and light for its 5.3 % ABV. Aeration gives us fresh herbs and salad greens.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 



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

Final Thoughts:

I found this beer to beer a little too light on flavour. I know the goal of it is to accentuate the freshness of the hops and the light airy greeness, however I just wanted a bit more backbone in it. A touch more malt or something. Otherwise a very delightful beer. Definitely worth trying out while there are still a few bottle left around.

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 157 Sun of Hop Parallel 49 Brewing Company

Sun of Hop


Parallel 49 Brewing Company

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Independent
Belgian Golden Ale 5.1 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml.
$5.00 (Canadian) At BC Liquor Stores
Twitter: @Parallel49Beer

I was struck at first with the interesting label of this beer. I have seen many gimmicky labels over time, some flashy some very plain, but this one intrigued me. The Label is an obvious riff on the classic "Son of Man" (1964) by famed Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte (below left). You have my attention Parallel 49. Belgian art with a Belgian Golden Ale, I am digging the connection. 

Enough Art for art's sake... Onto the beer.

Son of Man (1964)

Clear gold with a distinct green tinge. Soft white head made up of tiny bubbles disperses quickly. Baking spice on the nose, some starchy, fruity hints, light green hops some medicinal qualities. First sip is clove that gives over to banana very quickly, then to toasted wheat. Tart green hops mingle with the malted grain near the finish. Aeration whips the beer up into a bit of a froth, with a super creamy mouthfeel. Bitter green herbs come out in the aeration as does a slight nuttiness, with more fresh ground clove and banana.

 Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience:  4/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

Not the most thrilling Belgian Golden I have tried but definitely drinkable. It is a back porch chilling, or patio people watching beer. Perhaps you can discuss Rene Magritte or the state of modern art and surrealism in post World War 2 Europe.
Just a suggestion...

Cheers


CJT



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Beer #156 11.05 2014 Triple IPA Sawdust City

11.05 2014 Triple IPA
Collaboration with  Nickel Brook Brewing Company

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Triple IPA IIIPA 11.05 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml.
$6.95 (Canadian) At the Brewery
Twitter: @SawdustCityBeer @NickelBrookBeer


Well anyone of UK descent like yours truly will know that November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night, or bonfire night. It is the night the English commemorate the Gunpowder Plot where a group of revolutionaries attempted to blow up the British Parliament when King James was coming to open the session in 1605, as can be told in the poem below:

The Fifth of November
English Folk Verse (c.1870)

Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Anyone NOT of UK descent may still recognise the verse from the DC Comics movie "V for Vendetta" which shadows the Guy Fawkes storyline. And for anyone who is interested, Guy Fawkes was actually the first Fall Guy. He took the whole blame for the plot despite the fact he was merely guarding the gunpowder.

Closer to home. November 5th is the birthday of two brewers: Sam Corbeil of Sawdust City, and Ryan Morrow of Nickel Brook Beers. While being born 5 years and a hundred or so miles apart they have since decided to celebrate, jointly, each year by brewing a special beer entitled the "11.05." Last year was a barley wine and this year they have chosen a face melting triple IPA with a whopping 11.05 % ABV... (Hmmm I've heard that number before). And when I say face melting... I jest not. I was informed this morning as I picked up the very first two cans of this limited 2000 can run, that there was a total of 170 POUNDS of hops in this batch. As it was put so delicately on the website, that is the weight of an average man in hops.

Without further ado, Let us light our bonfires, and raise a glass of 11.05 to Sam and Ryan. Onto the Tasting.

Orangey-amber in colour slightly cloudy with a bright white head made of tiny bubbles. Bright citrus and pine, pineapple, and mango shot straight out of the can way before I even poured it. First sip is bright fruit juice pineapple. Pine, and menthol co me out in the middle. So. Much. Hops! This is not a hop bomb... it is a Hop Tactical Nuke. But while the hop flavours dominate the brew they do not overwhelm it. The fruit and pine balance themselves There is a sweetness on the finish with a little hard candy, cooked sugar flavour, and surprisingly a hint of candy cane. If we were not celebrating Guy Fawkes tonight... I would say this is a Christmas beer. Alcohol is present, warm and lingering (waiting to sneak up on me no doubt). I could easily drink this all winter. Aeration gives up a smack of alcohol that made my eyes water... kind of like snorting white lightning. In the background however there was some grilled pineapple and a hint of caramel.


 Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL (Get it while you can and beg them to make more!)
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:


Wow.

Just Wow. This is a phenomenal beer. I am in awe of the fact that they stuffed so much hops in here and didn't turn the beer into a writhing bitter mess. Get it and try it if you can. It is at the brewery or on tap at several bars in downtown Toronto.


Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 155 Lake of Bays Stitches Oktoberfest Lager

Stitches Oktoberfest Lager
NHL Alumni Signature Series

Join here: Signature Series Club

Lake of Bays Brewing Company

Baysville, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Oktoberfest Lager
8.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml
$11.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 

Twitter: @LB_brewing @NHLAlumni

Well, finally back for the last instalment of the masked men series (very sadly I may add). And to round out the lineup of larger than life beers for larger than life men, we have Gerry Cheevers. Cheevers was born in 1940 in St. Catharines Ontario, and got his start playing for the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. He only played 2 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs one win and one loss, but he went on to be a star in the net for the Boston Bruins. He netminded the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972, and later went on to be a successful coach for Boston and colour commentator for both The Hartford Whalers and Boston. He finally ended his hockey career scouting draft picks for Boston up until 2002. But What really set Cheevers apart was his iconic mask. So iconic in fact, that when the Hockey News rated the best masks of all time Cheevers mask scored 221 points out of a possible 300, the 2nd place mask got 66 points. The mask's origin came from an incident where Cheevers was hit in the mask with a puck during practice. He dodged into the dressing room and his Coach followed him in and discovered Cheevers having a beer (too bad Lake of Bays wasn't around back then...) Harry Sinden Boston's coach at the time yelled at Cheevers and said if he wasn't injured he had to be out on the ice. As he suited back up to head out John Forestall the team trainer drew a stitch-mark on his mask as a joke. The joke caught on and every time Cheevers took a puck to the mask, a new stitch-mark was added. The final mask looks like something out of a Tim Burton night terror... and it hangs on the wall of Gerry Cheevers' Grandson's bedroom. Hopefully it will find it's way to the Hockey Hall of Fame someday, as the great Gerry Cheevers did himself, being inducted in 1985 only five years after his storied 24 year long playing career.

I remember watching Cheevers as a very young boy. He was a good old fashioned stand up goalie that stopped pucks like a brick wall. He is retired now, raises Thoroughbred race horses. I hope he is sitting back tonight enjoying a beer as much as I am enjoying one named in honour of him.

Onto The Last Masked Man...

Dark copper in colour with a short off-tan head. Deep malty aroma with some caramel, licorice and vanilla. Toasty bread and grain on the first sip, with lots of caramel sweetness. Hints of citrus and vanilla. Mild hoppy bitterness through the middle to balance the sweetness. Green herbal spicy hops. Finish is toasty malty and sweet. Aeration gives us caramel, sweet, anise, turbinado sugar, and a hint of vanilla.




Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

Textbook beautiful, Oktoberfest. Sweet, malty, hint of green hops and mild spice. Very much a food beer, sausage would be traditional, and delightful. But barring that, BBQ, hotdogs, a hamburger, a nice steak, potato chips, all would go well with this beer. The alcohol is noticeable, share with a friend, or eat a good meal with it. Please enjoy responsibly, but do not hesitate to grab one... they will not be here much longer.

Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 154 The Blood of CTHULHU Sawdust City Brewery

The Blood of CTHULHU
Collaboration with  Bar Hop Bar

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Flavoured Imperial Stout 9.5 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml.
$9.95 (Canadian) At the Brewery
Twitter: @SawdustCityBeer
                @barhopbar

Something deliciously evil rose from the depths of the Sawdust City Brewery on Halloween night. Which is when I actually intended to post this blog, but... trick or treating and a candy coma got in the way. So here it is now! The blood of CTHULHU is about as dark and mysterious as it's name is hard to pronounce. The Demi-god in question, the hideous Cthulhu, is a creation of the twisted genius of H.P. Lovecraft. First appearing in the Call of Cthulhu in 1928 it is described as a cross between a man, an octopus, and a dragon that lives in a sunken city called R'lyeh in the South Pacific. And if you are like me you are quick to notice that he was more than likely some inspiration for Bill Nighy's Character of Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies.

Davy Jones, Cthulhu's long lost brother

Oh, back to that pronunciation... Cthulhu is pronounced according to its creator as "Kuh-lull-heloo" with a heavy emphasis on the first Kuh. In more modern times, the pronunciation has morphed to "Kuh-thoo-loo" (thankfully). The most difficult thing, is that no matter how you wish to pronounce it, after a bottle of tonight's offering at 9.5 % abv, I can barely pronounce my own name (please drink and worship Cthulhu responsibly).

Tonight's beer is an Imperial stout with a whopping 9.5% ABV that has been flavoured with fresh raspberries, cranberries, and sour cherries.

Onto the Sacrifice, I mean Tasting...


Pours an inky dark brown/black with a light skiff of a dark tan head. First sniff gives us dark roasted malts with lots of burnt/caramelised sugars. There is a underlying fruitiness in the nose of  bright red berries. In the first sip caremelised sugar is predominant. With lots of smoky earthy malts with some turbinado sugars, licorice, and dark molasses. Through the middle the beers goes creamy and softens as the fruits act on the tongue. the tangy dark malts yield to the soft red fruits. Raspberry sour cherry and cranberries all come out to play at the finish, like emerging from a long dark tunnel into the sunlight. Alcohol is evident, but warming, not hot and in your face. slightly sticky on the lips. Aeration gives us a huge burst of raspberry and alcohol.

 Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS (Get it while you can and beg them to make more!)
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

It is not often you get a chance to slake your thirst with the blood of a demi-god... So I would suggest you get to the brewery or one of the many pubs pouring this dark delight before it is gone.

Cheers


CJT



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