Beer 371 Common Loon and Gord Downie

We knew it was coming. It had to happen sooner or later. We were warned, we were prepared, but in the end, we were not ready. Last night at the age of 53 Canada's "Rock Poet" Gord Downie lost his battle with cancer. My Facebook and Twitter feeds are overflowing today with pictures of Gord, snippets of his songs, reposted music videos. Everyone has been touched by the Tragically Hip; everyone today feels the loss. This morning our Prime Minister broke down and cried on camera as he said "...we are less as a country..." without Gord. For an entire generation, the Tragically Hip have been the soundtrack for Canada. Few other bands have been wholly and ubiquitously linked to the Canadian Identity. I've plucked out Hip songs on my guitar in my day, as "Road Apples," "Up to here," and ""Fully Completely" played out in the background. The Hip were a dying breed. There were certainly one of the last big rock bands that you could actually put on an album and listen to the whole thing. Each album was carefully crafted like a story. Each one took you on a journey. To this day I feel that hearing the opening notes to any song will grab the listener and whisk them back to that moment in time when they first fell in love with that Hip album. For me, it's the "Tragically Hip" their self-titled debut. It wasn't the first Hip album I had heard, but it is the one that resonates with me the most. Raw unadulterated Hip. Play anyone the first two notes of "Highway Girl" and you know immediately... it's a Hip song. 

Man who walks among the stars

Then we have the man himself. Poet, singer, family man, environmentalist, visionary, author, and champion of reconciliation. The man wore so many hats. Most of them sparkly and brightly coloured! In his last year here, he gave us the most memorable Tragically Hip tour (touring with his doctor no less) he gave us a solo album and book about the life of Chanie Wenjack a boy who froze to death trying to escape a residential school, with proceeds going to reconciliation efforts. And a final solo album that sadly he would not see the release of. We returned the favour by granting him the Order of Canada... Which he refused until they promised to give one to each of his bandmates. The indigenous peoples of Canada also held a "naming ceremony" for Gord in honour of his work raising awareness for reconciliation and "widening the road to include all Canadians." The gave him the Lakota name "Wicapi Omani" "Man who walks among the stars." Now he is gone it is up to us... to heal our wounds and tell our story. I'm sure someone will come along who will take up a new voice for Canada. I just hope he or she knows, they are stepping into some pretty big shoes.

Gordon Downies Charities can be accessed here:

THE DOWNIE WENJACK FUND

efforts for reconciliation between Canada and the Indigenous Peoples

The Secret Path

Gord Downie's album and book can be bought here

The Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research

OPERATED BY THE SUNNYBROOK FOUNDATION

Please if you are able, if you have been touched by the stories or the music, consider donating to one of these worthy causes. Sadly I do have to warn you to be cautious as it may appear that there are many "memorial funds" for Gord going around. These are the officially sanctioned ones, donate carefully so your money goes to the people who need it. --CJT

Beer # 371 Common Loon APA

Brewery: Bobcaygeon Brewing Company

Type: Contract Brewery    Est.:  2015

Location: Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 4.8%      IBU: 38

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

bobcaygeonbeer

    @bobcaygeonbeer

Since we lost Gord last night I felt we had to honour him with a beer from the town he made famous in one of his most iconic songs.

"Bobcaygeon" From the album "Phantom Power" 1998

Bobcaygeon Brewing company is currently building their own brewery right now in an historic building in their namesake town. Currently, there are three beers available this one, Dockside red and Sunset golden ale. They have also done a few seasonals like a session IPA and a porter, which I hope will return when the bricks and mortar brewery is launched.

Onto our beer.

Pours a crystal clear medium gold colour with a substantial off-white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is piney and fruity with woodsy spice hints. First sip is malt forward with citrus and pineapple notes. Spicy green hops compliment the maltiness with a touch of pine. Aeration brings warm notes of spice, light caramel and vanilla, with hints of wood and 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


Final Thoughts:

A good everyday APA, balanced, decent flavours. Good for pulling out those old Tragically Hip CD's and giving them another listen.

Cheers... Raise a glass to Gord today.

CJT

 Let's Stay "social" Follow my adventures here

   @pintjockey




The Pintjockey Online


pintjockey

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.

Beer # 369 Yuzu Pale Ale: Radical Road Brewing Company

Beer # 369 Yuzu Pale Ale

Brewery: Radical Road Brewing Company

Type: Brewpub/ Microbrewery    Est.: 2013

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Flavoured Pale Ale

ABV: 5.0%      IBU: 40

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

radical_road_brewing_co

    @radicalroadbrew

Tonight we are heading down to Radical Road, a brewpub and brewery in Leslieville, near "The Beach" in Toronto (where I lived for a few years). The brewery is named after a road built around the now extinct volcano of Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh, Scotland by unemployed weavers as punishment for their involvement in the "Radical War" of 1820. The uprising was a national strike brought on by workers complaining about fair wages and working conditions. Eventually, the strike action was crushed, and the organisers were imprisoned or executed. King George the IV upon visiting Edinburgh later said the workers could build a road to occupy their time. Named Radical Road as a sort of tongue in cheek "honour" of the worker's strike, today it is a peaceful walking path through Holyrood Park.

Inspired by the idealism of the Radical road when he visited Edinburgh Founder Simon da Costa dreamt of building a microbrewery. In 2013 he realised his dream and named it Radical Road.

Yuzu

Tonight's beer is a pale ale, American style flavoured with the distinctive yuzu fruit from Japan. About the size of a tangerine, the small thick-skinned yellow fruit is like a cross between a lemon and a bitter orange. It is mainly used for flavouring, and sauces in it's native Southeast Asia. Let's try it out.

Pours a clear light gold colour with a short head made up of small white bubbles. Aroma is decidedly citrus with minglings of bitter orange and lemon and a slight hint of green hoppiness.  First sip is quite sour, with hints of orange zest and lemon pith. Fruity zesty hops are present but not stand-outish. The pale ale style is barely discernible, drinks more like a shandy than a straight-up beer. Aeration gives up hints of clove in with the orange peel.

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:

Not outstanding. Bitterness overwhelms, the pale ale notes are too muted, and it needs a sweetness to balance it. Hops are there but way too far in the background to allow me to think this is a pale ale. If I were told this was a shandy, I would believe it, as it tastes like unsweetened lemonade in an average beer. Not bad, I still was able to enjoy it but it doesn't live up to its description. Try it out yourself and see.


Cheers

CJT

 Let's Stay "social" Follow my adventures here

   @pintjockey




The Pintjockey Online


pintjockey

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.

Beer # 294 Harbinger American pale Ale Descendants Beer and Beverage Company

#294 Harbinger American pale Ale

Descendants Beer and Beverage Company

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Microbrewery, Established 2014
American Pale Ale 
5.5 % ABV IBU: 38
473 ml Aluminium Can
$3.00 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @Descendantsbeer

Another new brewery for me, Descendants Brewery in Kitchener Ontario. Opened in 2014 by husband and wife team Robin Malloy and Lee Brooks (I actually had a minor panic, attack when I wrote that sentence that sent me to google to make sure that it was a husband and wife team... since the names were not gender specific I didn't want to offend anyone!). It's getting hard to say that any one specific location in Ontario is a hot spot for new craft breweries. At one time I would have classed the Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph areas as a burgeoning hot spot for craft beer, but now with so much development in the craft beer scene it feels as though every town in Ontario with four corners and a population over 5 has a craft brewery on the way. Even around me there are three new breweries opening soon within a 45 min drive (Torrance, Orillia, Coldwater). If I drew a 2 hour circle around me I think it would contain at least 150 breweries that are open, or opening. Kitchener was like that it seemed a new brewery was opening in the area almost every year. and with new breweries in the greater Southwestern Ontario area opening up like Hanover, Seaforth (SEAFORTH!!!! it's a bend in the road I swear, I've driven through it!), Kincardine, Guelph, and London, it now just seems to be the norm. Craft beer has taken over Ontario. I couldn't be happier!

Neither could Robin and Lee it seems. Their brewery has been well received and is garnering accolades across the province. "Harbinger" means herald, or omen. it is generally used to foretell the coming of a person or event that will be significant. A bold choice for a name of a beer; will it live up to its name? Aside from nomenclature, Harbinger is one of their three core beers, they call them the "3 Amigos." The other two are "El Buscador Cerveza" Mexican style lager, and "Reynard The Fox Golden Wry Ale" that's a "Rye" ale for those who didn't get the pun... I look forward to checking these other two out and maybe some of the other seasonals they offer. Perhaps it's time to go back to Southwestern Ontario for a visit.

Onto our beer for tonight.

Pours a medium dark gold in colour with a large fluffy off-tan head made up of small bubbles. Nose is bright and fruity with lots of malt and caramel hints of mango and citrus. Earthy, floral and herbal notes round out the aroma. first sip is bitter greens, herbal, hop forward sliding down into some sweet caramel malt. Spice and hints of stone fruit some florals and a hint of marijuana right at the finish. Aeration brings out more green hops with some sweet malts and some bitter greens on the linger.

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:

I am a sucker for a good Pale Ale. Be it India, English, American or New England. They smell great they taste great and they are very refreshing. This one fits the bill nicely. Descendants managed to find a nice balance of fruit, hops, malt and florals to make this beer quite enjoyable any time of the year. I would recommend you run right out and try it. In this cause "Harbinger" means, a foretelling of good flavours.

CJT

Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.

Jaw Gate Buxton Brewery

#204 Jaw Gate


Buxton Brewery

Buxton, England, United Kingdom
Independent
American Pale Ale
5.6 % ABV 500 ml Brown Glass Bottle
$5.45 (Canadian) At LCBO 

Twitter: @buxtonbrewery

A first offering from the British Microbrewery in Buxton, England. There isn't much on the bottle to go by except that it was inspired by a recent altercation (That's British for fist fight I imagine). This is the first time I have seen a British brewery do a take on the American Pale Ale style, which in itself is a take on the British India Pale Ale style. What's the difference you might ask? Well, both beers fall into the Pale Ale category of beers, IPA's were brewed with extra added hops, as the brewers found that the hops would help preserve the beer on the long ship voyage to India (where it was given to British soldiers as part of their rations) hence the India part in India Pale Ale. APAs on the other hand, are meant to show off... hops that is. Many varieties of American hops have intense floral and fruit characteristics, so the beer became a "delivery device...' so to speak, of these intense flavours. There are not a lot of hard and fast rules that state, this beer must be an APA, yet, it is mostly up to the brewer. I would expect as the category grows, clearer lines will be drawn to further delineate the beer style.

Enough with the technicalities... onto the beer.

Pours a clear gold with a fluffy off-white head made of tiny bubbles. Aroma is light citrus and tropical fruit light hints of sweet caramel malt. First sip is tart pineapple and grapefruit with some grainy sweet malt. Body is very light. Some honey and floral notes, orange and peach, with a touch of earthiness. Aeration brings out an herbal hoppiness. Finish has a slight ashen quality to it.

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:  5/6 PASS




Final Thoughts:

Over all, not a bad beer but nothing about it says American pale Ale the way we have come to know them. I think it is just a tad too subtle (a very British problem). While the fruity hops are there, they are not bold like most APAs. While I would not discourage you from trying it, if you are expecting an "in your face' APA this beer is not it. Try it with a nice curry though... the fruitiness and the refreshing qualities would mesh nicely with Britain's favourite snack.

Cheers
CJT


Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.

Beer # 106 Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA

Lone Pine IPA

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Strong IPA 6.5% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml.
$5.25 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @Sawdustcitybeer

Sawdust City is a relatively new brewery that is still working on having a home. They are currently building their new brewhouse in Gravenhurst Ontario while still brewing out of another brewery's facilities. I am rather fond of this brewery as they do not take themselves too seriously and it is reflected in the names of their beers. "Long Dark Voyage to Uranus," and "The Princess Wears Girl Pants" are among their creatively named beers. Sam Corbiel is the hardworking brewmaster who runs the blog and designs the beers and is generally found all over Ontario running tap takeovers and going to festivals... No wonder it has taken them over 2 years to build the brewhouse, the guy doesn't sit down. I first tasted this beer at the Only Cafe (One of Ontario's BEST beer destinations) in Toronto during one of their $5 pint nights and was suitably impressed. I am glad I have finally found time to include this beer in my blog.

Enough already... onto the beer:

Dark gold in colour with a medium sized head made up of small off-white bubbles. Aroma is pine trees and tropical fruit mainly passionfruit. The pine continues on the first sip with resinous hops and some lingering fruit. Citrus begins to take over. Very deep and flavourful, with some light caramel malt on the finish. Aeration gives us some mineral, herbal hops and a touch of wood.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 6/5 PASS
Colour: 6/5 PASS
Beer Style: 6/5 PASS
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

For a time this was my number one pick for best APA in Ontario, only recently would I say this has dropped into more of a three way tie with a couple of other beers. Very good use of hops and a great flagship brand for the burgeoning style of the American India Pale Ale in Ontario. Very drinkable and a definite reorder. One of the problems I had in trying to add this beer to the blog was... every time I bought one, it didn't last long enough for me to take pictures or write notes. Glad I finally found the restraint.

Cheers

CJT


Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.

Beer # 88 The Griz Pale Ale

The Griz Pale Ale

Fernie Brewing Company
Fernie, British Columbia, Canada
Independent
American Pale Ale 5.0 % ABV Aluminum Can 355 ml.
$1.85 (Canadian) At BC Liquor Stores (12 pack for $22.25)

Twitter: @ferniebrewingco


Back to BC after a small hiatus for technical issues, and second in our series on The Fernie Brewing Company. I won't rehash a long introduction for this beer as I have a number of beers to get through this week. But if your memory fades as mine often does please re-acquaint yourself with the small city of Fernie B.C. in my previous post here.

Go Ghostriders!

Onto the Beer...

Light gold to barely amber, off white head with a hint of grey. Aroma is piney and resinous with a slight earthiness to it. Lighter on hops that what is the norm for a American Pale Ale. The combination of hops competes in the mouth from light and flowery to harder and piney. They is an air of smoky ashen flavours in the finish, not unlike a campfire made with green wood. The body of the beer is quite light and airy with soft hints of citrus which sadly only poke out breifly to get mashed down by the harder hoppy elements. Aeration gives a softer herbaceous feel to the beer, almost like mountain underbrush and wild wintergreen.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 So-So
Re-Order:  3/6 So-So
Experience:  3/6 So-So

Final Thoughts:

I love Pale ales, be them APA, IPA or English, a good hoppy Pale Ale usually gets my vote every time. Sadly this beer did not know what it wanted to be. The competing flavours of the hop destroyed any chance of the body of the beer shining through. I did however "feel" the mountains in this beer. I could smell the pines and the cedars, and the distant campfire. I think if they tinkered with this beer, and maybe gave it a little more hoppy backbone this could be a pure winner. 

Cheers
CJT

Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online