The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 20: Long Dark Voyage To Uranus Coffee & Vanilla by Sawdust City

Beer # 479 Long Dark Voyage to Uranus Coffee & Vanilla

Brewery: Sawdust City Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    
Est.:  2015

Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Flavoured Barrel Aged Uranal Stout

ABV: 9.5%      IBU: 60

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $6.25 CAD   
Purchased At: The Brewery

 sawdustcitybeer

    @sawdustcitybeer

Another offering from the brewer in my backyard. Sawdust seemed to go overboard this year with new beer releases, and they are doubling down for next year. Since it is their fifth anniversary in the Gravenhurst Location, they are doing their "52 Pickup" which is a beer release a week every week for the entire year. I will be trying them all and I will be posting a few of them but I doubt I will go shot for shot with them... I do have a day job...

So this beer tonight is a rework of their classic seasonal LDV or Long Dark Voyage to Uranus. It gets most of its kick from fresh Lot #7 Katia Duke coffee from Cut Coffee in Toronto and is rounded out with some vanilla. According to Cut... Lot#7 is open fermented for 36 hours then dried on special beds in the African sun. It has notes of peach honey and fresh fruit.

Onto our beer...


Pours a deep dark brown with a short dark tan head made up of tiny bubbles. The nose is fresh ground coffee with hints of dark malt and brown sugar. Coffee continues on the first sip like that first fresh aroma of coffee when the hot water hits the grounds for the first time. Toffee, caramel and vanilla fill out the middle. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, not unlike cold brew coffee.  Aeration gives chocolate brown sugar and whiskey. 

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:

The smell of this beer is amazing. It alone has the power to perk you up. Very smooth well rounded easy drinking and the 9.5% can quickly sneak up on you so imbibe carefully. 

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 19: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter 2018 by Collective Arts

Beer # 478 Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter 2018 Edition

Brewery: Collective Arts Brewing

Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2013

Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Porter

ABV: 11.5%      IBU: 38

Format: Brown Glass Bottle  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $14.25 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

collectiveham

    @CollectiveBrew

After a short break, we are back to finish the Christmas beers... Apologies for the delay.

This beer choice was mainly the responsibility of The Queen of Pint Jockey Headquarters. She loves bunnies. And this beer features an art print of a bunny on it's label. (Not to mention she is a huge fan of big bold porters and stouts #keeper). Collective arts brews out of Hamilton Ontario and it focuses on new artists and musicians. Their can art is often young and undiscovered artists and each beer run will feature several different artists. This beer's artist was Kait Cooper An Illustrator and graphic designer from Montreal. The Beer actually included a print of the bunny Image which the Queen has claimed, so I have to frame it for her. Tonight's beer is a bourbon barrel aged Imperial porter. I seriously can get enough of these beers when they come out in the winter... so delicious. 

Onto our beer.

Pours a very dark brown almost black with a deep tan head made up of small bubbles. Nose is laced with whiskey, smoke leather, chocolate and fresh coffee. First sip is rummy and malty, with vanilla toffee, and liquorice.  Lips are left sticky, and tongue is quite warm from the alcohol. Malt, molasses, jammy fruit and an oaky creamy finish. Very reminiscent of sticky toffee pudding. As the beer warms brown sugar comes out near the finish. Aeration brings out some chocolate hints of toasted oats, and a long lingering sweet finish.

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
Christmas Cheer 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

I've had a few Collective Arts beers and for the most part, they are pretty good, but this one is great. Fantastically rich and smooth with all the right flavours one would expect from this style. A good hint of alcohol, perfect for warming up on these cold nights. Really good check this one out if you can. 

Cheers

CJT


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Happy New Beers!

Yeah, yeah... I know it's the end of January... but what are you going to do? It's been a busy couple of weeks. We ended up having to hold a second Christmas because some family could not make it up over the holidays, and it seems like we have been going non-stop since mid-November. I did, however, manage to get a few beers put away in the back pocket over the holidays so I have quite a few to post today and over the next few days. (Including the last of the #2-4beersofchristmas) I was kind of upset with myself last year especially when I realised my post count was one of the lowest over the last 10 years (REALLY!?) yes this is my tenth year. I guess time flies when you drink. I remember one of my biggest goals was to try and reach 1000 beers, and I honestly didn't think that would be too hard. But here we are, ten years in and I am only about halfway. So I decided to make a promise to myself to do at least 100 posts again this year. I did it a few years ago and it worked out fine. I think since this is not really my job, and I don't have any real accountability in posting on a regular basis, having a self-imposed quota really does help. It is hard to remember sometimes that this is just a hobby, it does take up a fair amount of time and money. I have to travel to find new and interesting beers, I have to curate them (I have a huge library of beers in the #fridgeoffame, and the closets, and the basement. I really need my own room to do this. I also have to photograph, keep the blog looking fresh, and try to have a social media image. Twitter and Instagram is a huge time suck sometimes! But I do enjoy it. discovering new beers really gets me excited. The Queen knows (all too well) that if we are travelling somewhere that if I am quiet with my phone out, looking at maps... I'm usually plotting directions to the nearest brewery. She is very patient and loving with my addiction...

Plans for the year are a little up in the air. The Headquarters needs a new kitchen so, my vacation is going to be used for a greater cause than roaming the countryside looking for new beers. I wanted to try and hit a new beer festival this year, other than our local FunkFest, but that will remain to be seen if I can work that in. The other goal this year is a big family vacation South, way South... I will tell you more when I have tickets in hand (It's exciting! and yes there will be beer!)

As for the blog this year I have been thinking of some changes. I enjoy my current format but I am always looking for something that could streamline the process for me and help encourage me to write more. I may try a few new formats out this year but the content will still be the same. I am pondering dropping the numbering system. It was there for my original goal of getting to 1000 beers, but it seems to have lost it's meaning and doesn't add anything to the process. Plus it does seem that most people read the blog out of order anyway. So don't be surprised if that goes away I may retire it at beer # 500. I have also quietly added some embedded Google brewery maps that go mostly province by province. I have a few more to put up and I will try to revisit them regularly to make sure they are up to date. I am also working on the photojournal of breweries I have visited. So check out the new content. Hold on for some changes, because like George Lucas I just can't leave well enough alone. Have a good year Sportsfans and try to be nice to one another, it's a pretty tiny rock we live on.

Cheers

CJT