The Pint Jockey Online: Visit to Herald Haus Brewing Company Stratford, Ontario October 15th 2019

The second brewery stop on our whirlwind visit to Stratford was the Herald Haus Brewing Company. It opened in 2018 on the Market Square in what was once the Stratford Herald Newspaper Building. The Herald Building as it was called was renovated and reopened as a brewery by Daniel J Graver. Their selection of beers are named to evoke the history of Stratford and area. We had a light meal before the show as you can see to the right, and below, charcuterie and some vegetable samosas. The cheese and meat were all produced locally as were the pickles. The charcuterie went well with the beer and the samosas were quite good. The dipping sauce for the samosas was terrible and did not compliment them at all.

Sadly I noticed a theme for the evening: lack of attention to detail. From confusion with their beers, to mismatched flavour in their food, to an unbalanced charcuterie board (pickle heavy, cheeses too similar in flavour profile and only one sauce, mustard, no chutney). Beer lines tasted like they needed cleaning (beers seemed flat with little to no head). Herald Haus was one of the breweries I was looking forward to trying and sadly they did not live up to my expectation.

Let's move on to my notes for the evening.

Onto our beer:

Beer # 492: SMS (Summer Music Saison)Saison 19
Style: Saison ABV: 5.5% IBU: 35

Pours light gold with a short white head. Spicy on the nose with hints of wheat and citrus.slightly tart with hints of bitter green medicinal hops

Final Thoughts: Slightly confused here. At the brewery this was listed as SSM Saison 19 as you can see on the board, left, but on their website, it is The Summer Music Saison 19. Untappd just calls it the Saison 19. Whatever it is an underwhelming wheat-based saison with muted flavours.

Beer # 493: 21 Haze East Coast IPA

Style: NEIPA ABV: 6.8% IBU: ?

Not very hazy clear gold short head. Aroma is tart fruit and pine. Very hoppy. With spice and bitterness. Sweet almost syrupy.

Final Thoughts: Ok this beer made me grumpy. Billed as an "East Coast IPA" which is just another term for NEIPA or New England IPA This beer is crystal clear despite the requirement of a NEIPA being "Hazy" it is an indication of the biotransformation that happens when the hops meet the various NEIPA strains of yeast. This is also responsible for the "juicy, "peachy," and "tropical" flavours of a true NEIPA. I first thought they had given me the wrong beer, but the flavour profile was close-ish so I just assume its a bad form of this beer. Pro-tip, if you are going to include "Haze" in the name of your beer... make sure it is hazy in the glass. Avoid.

Beer # 494: Perth County Conspiracy
Style: American IPA ABV: 5.0% IBU: 60

Amber gold in colour with a thin head. Malt forward with spicy hops.some caramel and biscuit.

Final Thoughts: This beer is named after a local Stratford area acid-folk band by the same name ( I've linked some music of theirs below). Seemingly based off of a West Coast IPA with spicy malt-forward notes. Really unimpressive.

Beer # 495: G.T.R. Rusty Rail Red
Style: American Red Ale ABV: 4.3% IBU: 26

Warm and malty with sweet hints of caramel and toast. Like a muscular Kilkenny. Nice Irish red style.

Final Thoughts: This beer was named after the Grand Trunk Railway which ran through Stratford. This is significant because Thomas Edison worked for the GTR as a telegraph operator as a teen. He ran away back to the States after he got called to the Head Office in Toronto to be fired for nearly causing a train wreck. This was hands down the best beer of the night but even here, confusion reigns. Listed as a 5.5% American Amber Ale on Untappd, The website lists it at a 4.3% English Style red. It drinks like a Kilkenny so I would call it an Irish Red and the alcohol feels closer to the 5.5% mark. Worth the visit at least.

Beer # 496: H2 Golden Ale
Style: Golden ale ABV: 4.7 % IBU: 15

Gold in colour with very little head. Gateway beer... commercial golden style. Wet dog and mild hops, some malt, light rainwater.

Final Thoughts: Very commercial. Tastes like Labatt 50 or Molson Golden. Worst beer of the evening.

Overall Thoughts: Wow, I think this brewery needs time to grow up a bit. There is a lot of confusion with their styles and flavour profiles. A lot of the beer is just meh, or average at best. I would like to see them do better I will have to revisit them sometime in the future.