Two Beers by Half hours on Earth

Beer # 451 Affection

Brewery: Half Hours on Earth Brewery


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2016

Location: Seaforth, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Aged Flavoured Farmhouse Ale

ABV: 7.0 %      IBU: ?

Format: Green Glass Bottle  Size: 375 ml

Cost: $12.00 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

halfhoursonearth

    @hhoebrewery

Two beers I brought back from Seaforth. The first one is an oak aged spelt farmhouse ale spiced with rosemary and sage. The second is a farmhouse saison blended with Revel Cider's Perry and aged in cider barrels. Onto our beer.

Cloudy light gold with a generous and slightly greyish off-white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is tart and sour Brettanomyces with spicy notes of grain and toast. First sip is slightly sweet with strong grain notes. citrus and sage predominate with backgrounds of heady rosemary. Woody aromatic spices with hints of oak and vanilla.





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


Final Thoughts: richly complex beer with a lot going on. My first beer made from spelt. Hopefully not my last. This beer certainly nails home the reason why Half Hours is such a talked about brewery.



Beer # 452 Blueprint


Brewery: Half Hours on Earth Brewery


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2016

Location: Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Farmhouse Saison aged in Cider barrels blended with Revel Perry

ABV: 4.5 %      IBU: ?

Format: Green Glass Bottle  Size: 375 ml

Cost: $11.00 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

Pours a cloudy gold with a fuzzy white head that doesn't last long. Nose is full of brett sour and citrus hints of apple and pear. An interesting and smooth blend of cider and beer.Tart acidic apples and pears good hint of sweetness mellowed by the barrel ageing and the funk of brett. Hints of smoke and oak near the finish. Aeration brings out a cheek-puckering malic acid. It is very light in mouthfeel and such an easy drinking beer.







Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


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


Final Thoughts: This is the sixth beer I've tasted from Half Hours, and the sixth beer I have been blown away by. Every beer is so light and airy, strong yet delicate. Full of flavour yet not exhausting. How they manage to balance everything is beyond me. I just hope they keep doing it! This beer, in particular, doesn't sound like it should work. Pear cider mixed with beer? Yes I know there are some pub concoctions using cider and Guinness etc. but This is a sour farmhouse it should work... But it does! I could drink this all day, and at 4.5 % ABV why not?


Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 151 2014 Pan Ontario Collaboration

2014 Pan Ontario Collaboration

Sawdust City Brewery
Beau's All Natural Brewery
Niagara Oast House Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Brewery Collaboration
Three Blended Beers Oak Aged  6.8 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 2000 ml.
$19.00 (Canadian) At the Brewery (Sawdust City)
Twitter: @SawdustCityBeer
              @BeausAllNatural
              @OastHouseBrewers

Tonight's beer I picked up from the Sawdust City Brewery while they had a keg going. The Pan-Ontario collaboration has been run by Beau's All Natural Brewery for the last five years. This year they selected to work With Niagara Oast House and Sawdust City. Each brewery supplies a barrel aged or a strong beer to be blended. This Year Beau's supplied a version of Matt's Sleepy Time Belgian-style Imperial Stout, Oast House provided some Canadian oak barrel aged Biere de Garde, and Sawdust supplied The Princess Wears Girlpants Belgian Golden Ale. 

Onto the Tasting... Dark chestnut to light chocolate in colour with a light tan head. Head is comprised of small bubbles that have a good hang time and a nice lacing  Aroma is very woody, and nutty fresh cut oak, spice and a hint of maple syrup. First sip is warming roasted malt caramel, bruleed sugars. Smoky campfires, spicy, baking spices, clove nutmeg, bready. Very complex and chewy. Elements of a good strong whiskey. The mouthfeel is very robust. There is a distinct clean wood barrel taste to it. It drinks like a meal. Lots of dark and burnt sugars. turbinado, licorice, aeration brings out a deep breadiness.


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 was a great beer, very contemplative, brooding, but very easy to drink. The high alcohol was somewhat overwhelming, so drink this with a friend.

Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 85 Coors Light Iced Tea

Coors Light Iced Tea


Molson Coors Brewing Company
Denver, Colorado, USA
Montral, Quebec, Canada
Multinational
Flavoured Light Lager 4.0 % ABV Aluminum Can 355 ml.
Given as a sample can by Beer Rep. No Cost.


Twitter: @molsoncoors USA 
or @molsoncoorsCDA Canada


The dreaded Coors Light Iced Tea. or C.L.I.T. (#clit) as it has become known colloquially on Twitter. Never did I think the day would come that I would put electronic pen to electronic paper to string more than four words together about this beer. (is this a joke?) Actually I did tweet something similar, because the day I first saw anything for Coors Light Iced Tea was April Fool's Day. What has astounded me is the sheer amount of advertising that has gone into this product. As if to re-inforce the fact that Molson Coors invented a supply with no demand.

Sadly, onto the tasting:

Light gold in colour with a wispy white head that disappears quickly. Aroma is lemon, black tea, and slightly fruity. Lemon on the first taste, that dissolves into sour malt. distinct taste of lemon furniture polish, aftertaste is bitter, astringent, and stale black tea. Tastes like a poorly carbonated gingerale mixed with iced tea. Mouthfeel is sour, and flat.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional


Cost: N/A
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 0/6 FAIL
Re-Order:  0/6 FAIL
Experience:  0/6 FAIL


Final Thoughts:



This is the single most horrid beer I have put in my mouth, and I've had Steelback. I actually had to get a drink of water to wash the taste out of my mouth halfway through the tasting. This beer is a sad attempt at putting lipstick on a pig... Dress Coors Light up anyway you want, it will still be Coors Light. Perhaps if Molson Coors had spent the money they did on marketing this joke of a product into developing a beer that actually tasted good, the rest of us might be pleasantly surprised. Usually I say try a beer yourself even if I have said bad things about it, however, this time I shall warn you to avoid the product at all costs. In fact this beer is so bad I am going to do something I never do... pour the rest down the drain.

Cheers
CJT


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Beer # 52 Gemini

Gemini 

Southern Tier Brewing Company, New York, USA (Independant)
Blend (see below) 9.1% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml
$9.00 (Canadian) at LCBO.

Today's beer is a blend of two other of a brewery's regular beers, and it is the first time I have heard of it being done with an IPA. The first beer is Unearthly Imperial IPA a hefty 9.5% 

heavily hopped ale that is described as being very fragrant. The second is Hoppe Imperial Extra Pale ale, a substantial 8.5% ale described as delicate and elegant. Both beers sound impressive on their own, whatever led the brewers to try the two together, well no-one is saying. What I say is the two beers are very similar in nature, so the selection of Gemini as the name rings true... the Twins.

Colour is light copper with a good sized off-white head made up of small bubbles that last a decent amount of time reducing to a skim across the top and some lacing on the glass. Aroma is strong floral hops with some fruitiness and as the beer warms a good hint of barn and molasses. First sip gives us a lot of sugar and a little cheek puckering astringency, herbal floral hops dominate, with the malt sugars bringing up the rear. There is a lot going on in this beer and I taste a little more with each sip. There is a little orange and bergamot, lingering inside. Mouthfeel is actually a little sticky. Aeration brings out the alcohol, and medicinal qualities. Almost gin-like.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

                                                                                                               

Cost: 4/6 SO-SO
Colour: 5/6 PASS      
Beer Style: N/A it's an unusual blend
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:
This is a very complex and interesting beer I found myself racing through the bottle inadvertanly trying to taste all of the different nuances. Unfortunately I think I ran out of beer before I found everything I was looking for. The only fault I think is that the beer, however good, is over priced, six or seven dollars, maybe, but nine is stretching it.



Cheers
CJT