BEER NUMBER 500!

Beer # 500 Glory and Gold Bourbon Barrel Aged Cuvée Ale


Brewery: Nickle Brook Brewing Company


Type: Independent Brewery    Est.:  2005

Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Fruited and spiced Cuvée Ale Bourbon Barrel-aged Sour Ale 

ABV: 9.5 %     IBU: 37

Format: Brown glass bottle waxed sealed crown cap  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $9.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

nickelbrookbrewing      

    @NickelBrookBeer              

So we just passed the ninth anniversary of the Blog on November 8th, and coincidently I just hit my 500th beer post. So many things have changed since I started writing. The blog was originally intended to help me improve my writing and get me used to writing more often. I thought originally that I wanted to try 1000 beers because that sounded like an impressive number. I also thought it would take two to five years. Well, as I enter the 10th year of the blog I'm only halfway, and the blog is still evolving.

So over the coming months (and years) I will be fine-tuning and updating to keep the blog fresh and relevant. My goal is no longer 1000 beers, just a quest for knowledge and the desire to share it with you. Here's to many more milestones in the future.

Tonight's beer is Glory and Gold which is a fruited and spiced sour ale, that has been aged for 2 years in bourbon barrels. I figured "Gold" was the way to go for my 500th beer. 

Onto #500...

Pours a translucent medium chestnut colour with a firm off-tan head made up of small to tiny bubbles. The aroma is similar to a foeder beer, rich tangy, woody and hints of vanilla and spice. The first sip is very tart and tangy, with some caramel and vanilla. hints of dried fruit and wood. slight whiskey burn at the back of the throat. Aeration gives us some sweet tarts some malt and medicinal liquorice and horehound candy.

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:

This is a very interesting beer, there are lots of flavours going on. However, my overall impression is that this beer is not ready yet. This beer really needs to be laid down for at least 2 more years. it needs more aged to smooth out the complex flavours and create a more harmonious beer. I would buy a couple of these and put them away, and maybe one to drink now for comparison. 

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 499 Lone Star Lager (Canadian Version)

Beer # 499 Lone Star Lager

Brewery: Sleeman Brewing and Malting


Type: Wholly owned by Sapporo Breweries Company  Est.:  1988

Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Lager

ABV: 4.9%      IBU: 10

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.0 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

sleemanbeer

    @sleemanbeer

Ok... This beer is iconic and intrinsically linked with Texas, except, it is brewed by a Japanese company in... Guelph, Ontario, Canada? Well... yes, and yes... The original Lone Star Brewery was built in 1884 in San Antonio Texas. It was Texas' first large scale mechanised brewery; originally put together by Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch fame and a group of local San Antonio businessmen. Busch had bought the Alamo brewing company in 1874 and used it to build the new Lone Star Brewery. Lone Star Beer itself, wasn't brewed until1940 by Peter Kreil of Munich (It is very much a Munich Lager). The Lone Star Beer Company has had many masters over the years. It has been moved to several locations in Texas, it was purchased in 1976 By Olympia Brewing from Washinton,

No.. Not that Lone Star.

and again in 1983 by G. Heileman Brewing. Stroh's bout Heileman in 1996, and then Stroh's was bought by Pabst in 1999. Pabst now contracts all the brewing of Lone Star out. So where does Japan and Canada fit in? Glad you asked. Stroh's Canada was purchased by the Sleeman Brewing and Malting company which was later bought out by Sapporo of Japan. Sleeman's brews the Stroh's line Including Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Still billed as the "National Beer of Texas, even though this one is brewed North of the border... Let's give this one a try. 

Let's use the Schwartz on this Lone Star...

Clear gold in colour with a thick, bright white head made up of small bubbles. The aroma is corn syrup and malt extracts. Rain watery German-style hops and hints of wet dog. The first sip is sweet and corny with a very light malt profile. Taste is very flat with a watery texture. There is a clean crispness to the beer, but it comes at the cost of very little flavour in the actual beer. Aeration makes it taste like sugar water.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  1/6 FAIL
Experience: 3/6 SO-SO


Final Thoughts:

This is a very boring beer. There is really nothing to it but sugar and a hint of malt. I get the feeling that if you drank too much of this the gut-rot and headache the next day would make you wish you were dead. It tastes like an underage party... one where you cobbled together anything with alcohol in it. It's not so bad, that if someone offered me one I could drink it... but I would politely decline a second one.

CJT

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