The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 18: Cherry Porter by MacLean's Ales

 Beer # 477 Cherry Porter

Brewery: Maclean's Ales


Type: Independent Microbrewery   
Est.:  2009

Location: Hanover, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Flavoured Porter

ABV: 4.8%      IBU: 38

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $3.05 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 N/A

    N/A

A number of years ago I lived in the town of Hanover and that is where I first came across this brewery. At the time they were contract brewing out of Guelph, I'm not sure which brewery though. They brewed one beer at the time which was called MacLean's (obviously). It was similar to Alexander Keith's. It is still brewed today as MacLean's Pale Ale. Since I moved away they moved into Hanover finally opening a bricks-and-mortar brewery, just a few minutes away from where I lived. I will admit to drinking a fair amount of MacLean's when I was in Hanover... It was cheap, tasted marginally better than the macro-brews, and well, it was different at the time. Tonight we are trying their sour cherry flavoured porter. If all goes well I may have to head back to where I used to live and check them out.

Onto our beer.

Pours a dark chestnut brown... a little on the light side for a porter with an off-tan head made of small bubbles. Nose is fruity and malty with hints of molasses. First sip is very dry, bitter, and quite thin. Although there is a slight fruitiness there is not much cherry going on except for a hint of tartness right at the end of the finish. Coffee builds on the finish. There is very little depth to the beer, not much happening. The malt flavours are underdeveloped and the fruit is missing in action. Not a drain award contender but not that good either. Aeration spike up bitterness and tartness.

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
Christmas Cheer 4/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

As I said, MacLean's Pale Ale was ok, and its flavoured porter brother is no different. Certainly, nothing to write home about. Kind of disappointing I hoped they would have had time to improve. I will still drop in and visit if I am ever out that way again. Hopefully, they will have some better beers to surprise me with.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 17: Trash Panda Hazy IPA by Parallel 49

Beer # 476 Trash Panda Hazy IPA

Brewery: Parallel 49 Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2015

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Beer Style: New England India Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%      IBU: 55

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 parallel49beer

    @Parallel49Beer

Ok this beer wins the award for my favourite name for this #2-4BeersofChristmas. I'm a big Marvel fan and one of my favourite scenes from Guardians of the Galaxy part 2 Involves The lovable Rocket Raccoon being called a "Trash Panda" by Star-Lord... Which always brought up the question: If Star-Lord left Earth in the late 1980's How would he have known the term Trash Panda since it didn't get coined until the age of the Meme in the 2010's? Oh well... can be any more unbelievable than his Sony Walkman lasting for 25 years without breaking down...

The beer tonight is a "hazy IPA" but it is, in reality, a New England IPA which is an unfiltered Fruit Bomb of an IPA style.

Onto our beer...

Pours a hazy medium gold with a huge white fluffy head made up of medium bubbles (which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I dropped the can on my foot before I opened it...) The aroma is grapey, grassy and full of spice. First sip gives us a light, airy, and spicy New England style IPA with caramel and malt. Tropical fruits dominate the middle with grapefruit being the star. Malt builds toward the finish with a lingering hint of grape. Aeration brings out the spicy 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: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Christmas Cheer 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

This is a light, fresh, and tasty NEIPA. Very refined and balanced, maybe not worthy of it's "Trashy" title but it is a great addition to our list this year.


Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 16: Hali's Comet Dry Hopped Amber Ale by Sawdust City

Beer # 475 Hali's Comet Dry Hopped Amber

Brewery: Sawdust City Brewing


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2012

Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Dry Hopped Amber Ale

ABV: 5.0%      IBU: 22

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

 sawdustcitybeer

    @sawdustcitybeer

Tonight's beer was released as part of a fundraising effort for a local woman here in Muskoka. Hope for Hali  was created for Hali Camick a 48-year-old mother of three who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. Her friends were trying to raise money for Hali to get an innovative new stem-cell treatment that has been showing promise for her type of MS. Being a new treatment it is not covered by Health insurance so she needed $60,000 to cover the costs. Sawdust Stepped up and offered $1 from each can glass of draught sold. According to the site she has received full funding and she is having a going away party at the Brewery in January. The go fund me is still open as I am sure she will still need some money for her convalescence. We all wish her a speedy recovery.

Onto our beer...

Pours a dark gold with a slight amber tinge. The head is a short off-white affair made up of small bubbles. The nose is sweet brown sugar malt and a warm breadiness, with a background of mellow green hops. The first sip is a sweet and spicy red ale with a good malt character and a spicy hop hum throughout the middle. Mouthfeel is light. A long lingering bitterness from the dry hopping rounds out the finish. Aeration gives us some grassiness and a bit of brown sugar sweetness.

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
Christmas Cheer 7/6 EXCEPTIONAL
(IT'S GOOD TO GIVE AT THE HOLIDAYS)


Final Thoughts:

This is a great beer for an even better cause I wish I had been able to get to this sooner but I am glad Hali is getting the treatment she needs.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 15: Let's get B.I.S.A. by Sawdust City

Beer # 474 Let's Get B.I.S.A.

Brewery: Sawdust City Brewing


Type: Independent Microbrewery    
Est.:  2012

Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Belgian India Session Ale

ABV: 4.2%      IBU: 25

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $4.25 CAD     
Purchased At: The Brewery

 sawdustcitybeer

    @sawdustcitybeer

Sawdust has been B.I.S.A. ( I mean Busy...) this Holiday season and has put out a large number of brews. This Belgian session ale was released a couple of weeks ago, but I just got around to picking one up, when I got Sawdust's special winter stouts. I decided to add it to the list as it is quite a festive can and named with a terrible pun. I have a weak spot for puns.

Onto our beer...


Pours a cloudy brassy gold with a white head made up of small and medium bubbles. Aroma is mainly malted wheat with hints of spice and green hops. First sip is light bodied airy and refreshing. Notes of wheat hints of banana spice and green hops. Aeration brings out some grapefruit and vanilla and a touch of wheat toast.

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
Christmas Cheer 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

A very solid Belgian session ale. Warming, spicy, but still quite bright and green. I would enjoy sipping this under the Christmas tree, I'm sure you would too.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 14: Ebb and Flow by Muskoka Brewery

Beer # 473 Ebb and Flow

Brewery: Muskoka Brewery


Type: Independent Microbrewery    
Est.:  1995

Location: Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Session Sour Ale

ABV: 2.4%      IBU: 5

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $3.15 CAD     Purchased At: The Beer Store

 muskokabrewery

    @MuskokaBrewery

Normally I stick to big bold beers for this series. However, Muskoka brewery just released this low alcohol session sour for the holidays. And the holidays are not always about heavy alcoholic, pass out in front of the fireplace beers. There are a lot of parties to go to. If someone wants to be a bit more responsible in the drinking choices; having a tasty lower alcohol beer like this on hand would be a nice choice.


Onto our beer...

pours a slightly hazy light gold Aroma is grassy, fruity, floral, pineapple, and grapefruit. First sip is mildly sour, with tropical fruit and hints of pine. Aeration brings out citrus lemon and tangerine and a hint of green grass.

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
Christmas Cheer 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

This turned out to be a nice light refreshing beer. It citrusy and clean with some nice tropicals in the background. This is a perfect beer for holiday parties you can easily have a few without getting out of control. Take a few to your next party, and don't drink and drive.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 13: Breakfast Stout by Founder's

Beer # 472 Breakfast Stout

Brewery: Founder's Brewing Company


Type: National Brewery Partial owned by Mahou-San Miguel  
Est.:  1996

Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Beer Style: Flavoured Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 8.3%      IBU: 60

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 355 ml

Cost: $3.45 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 foundersbrewing

    @foundersbrewing

Ontario Label

Tonight's offering is from a company who has had some trouble with the labelling of their beers. They had to remove an image of a Mountie from their Canadian Breakfast Stout due to trademark infringement. Later, this beer's label came into question for another reason. On the left, you will see the bottle as I received it... a hand holding an oatmeal bowl... Appropriate for an oatmeal breakfast stout. But below, you will see an image of the bottle from Founder's website, showing that the bowl is cropped out of a larger picture. In the original, which I am assuming is some sort of parody of the "Gerber Baby" or other such ads from the turn of the century, depicts a toddler happily eating oatmeal. Well, this contravenes a lot of advertising laws. Depicting minors in alcohol or cigarette ads and labelling is a huge no-no in most areas. I'm assuming this includes Ontario where I bought this beer.  

Aside from that This is one of the best-rated beers and one of the more talked about on some of the other beer sites. And I was curious to find out what all the hype was about.

Onto our beer...

Michigan Label

Pours a very dark brown with a deep tan head made of small bubbles. Nose is molasses and brown sugar with a massive amount of coffee. First sip is deep roasted malt some sweetness, a nice bitter hit of coffee, cocoa nib and chocolate. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth almost velvety. Hints of woody whiskey. Aeration spikes up the taste of brown sugar chocolate and mellows out the slightly bitter coffee.

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: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Christmas Cheer 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

This is a very good oatmeal stout, warm, smooth, flavourful. A great beer for sipping in the winter. Is it a perfect beer like it's rating on Rate Beer claims? Hmmm... I don't think so. I've had better... not many, but a couple. However, this is still a very, very good beer and controversy over its label or not... try this one out and let me know what you think.


Cheers

CJT

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