The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 6: Cup and Saucer English Ale By Manitoulin Brewing

Beer # Cup and Saucer English Ale 

Brewery: Manitoulin Brewing Company


Type: Contract Brewery    Est.:  2015

Location: Little Current, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: English Brown Ale

ABV: 5.0%      IBU: 33

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $3.10 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 manitoulinbrewing

    @manitoulinbrew

Next up on our Christmas list is a beer from one of the places in Ontario I have always wanted to go to but haven't yet. Manitoulin Island. I'm a bit of a rock hound and I love finding fossils, and apparently, the shores of Manitoulin are covered in them. There also some wonderful historic sites and now there are a couple of Craft Breweries to further pique my interest. This English style brown ale is named after the famous "Cup and Saucer Trail" which is 12 Km of hiking trails over and along the Manitoulin section of the Niagara Escapement. The Escarpment for those who do not know is a ridge of ancient cliffs and rock that extend from wine country in Southern Ontario right up through Collingwood and Tobermory and Manitoulin Island. It is rich in diverse geology and fossils. Most of Ontario's ski hills are along the Escarpment and some of Ontario's finest wineries. 

While hiking the Escarpment today would not be a great idea, drinking the beer inspired by the trail certainly is.

Onto our beer...

Pours a translucent tea brown with an off-tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is sweet malt and nuts with underlying hints of cream. First sip is light bodied, fruity and malty with hints of brown sugar and molasses. Toasty, biscuit, light green hops are through the middle. Aeration brings some liquorice out of the malty aromas.

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
Christmas Cheer 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

The was a delicious beer. I was truly sad when I finished it. Well balanced lots of flavour I could easily enjoy this any time of the year, and you should too.

CJT

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And I shall Hug him, and Squeeze him, and call him "George" Beer # 378

Beer # 378 George American Brown Ale 
Collaboration with: Sawdust City Brewing Company

Brewery: Big Rig Kitchen and Brewery

Type: Independent Microbrewery/Brewpub    Est.:  2012

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 4.7%      IBU: 

Format: Draught  Size: 20 oz

Cost: $7.00 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Type: Independent Microbrewery Est.: 2012
Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

bigrigbrewery        sawdustcitybeer

    @BigRigBrewery    @SawdustCityBeer

Down at the brewery the other day, and they had this excellent collab with Big Rig Brewery out of Ottawa. I had to try it because of the name... "What do you want to call your beer?" "George." "Heh... Why not?" It made me think of that old Looney Tunes cartoon where the Abominable Snowman is looking for a pet bunny. Graciously provided by YouTube on the right here.

Let's try out "George."

Pours a rich mahogany, just slightly translucent that sparks ruby as the light shines through. Off-white head with hints of tan is made up of tiny bubbles and stands tall thick and creamy. Aroma is herbal and nutty with light hints of smoke and caramel. First sip caramel sweet with a nice hop bitterness to balance. Very fruity and nutty, light hints of smouldering malt with touches of bruleed sugar. Very open and airy, drinks on the lighter bodied side despite the intense flavours.
aeration gives us lots of nuts hints of green hop bitterness a touch of marijuana some molasses and dark roasted barley.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


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


Final Thoughts:

So tasty. A nice crushable brown ale. Well rounded flavours and a good balance. See if you can find this one... it is a limited run.

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 366 Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale: Left Field Brewery

Beer #366 Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale

Left Field Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Established: 2013
Oatmeal Bown Ale
5.5 % ABV IBU: 35
600 ml Brown Glass Bottle
$5.45 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @LFBrewery



Tonight we head down to Left Field Brewery. A, obviously, baseball themed brewery in the Leslieville neighbourhood of Toronto. They have been around since 2013 and while I have had a few beers by them not much has made it into the blog. This one came as a bit of coincidence. I read an article about the "10 Must-try Beers from Toronto," and this was one of them, then by Chance I stumbled across a bottle in the LCBO.  As the brewery tends to use baseball terms to name their beers this is one that had me scratching my head. I've watched a bit of baseball, but hockey was king in my house growing up. Eephus (pronounced either EE-fuss or Eff-ess (see below)) is a very specific type of pitch.


The Eephus Pitch, from Wikipedia:

According to manager Frankie Frisch, the pitch was named by outfielder Maurice Van Robays. When asked what it meant, Van Robays replied, "'Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." Although the origin is not known for certain, "Eephus" may come from the Hebrew word אפס‎ (pronounced "EFF-ess"), meaning "nothing".^[3] The Eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual, high arcing trajectory.^[4][5] The corresponding slow velocity bears more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches, which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour (110 to 160 km/h), an Eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion at 55 mph (89 km/h) or less, sometimes into the low-40s mph (66–69 km/h). source

Most often when the Eephus pitch is employed it is used to catch a batter off-guard. A pitcher will throw a bunch of fast balls and then lob in an Eephus to confuse the batter. And I think this is the heart of the idea in naming this beer Eephus, something to catch us off-guard.

Tonight's beer is a rich,  smoky, and fruity oatmeal brown ale. Let's try it.

Pours a rich chocolate brown with a generous tan head made up of small and medium bubbles. Aroma is dark and malty with strong notes of molasses, light smoke and a hint of spice. first sip is warm and malty with rummy molasses, light bodied, still fruity , with hints of smoke, and smoked meat. Light sweetness from the oatmeal, and a hint of effervescence. Very smooth and easy drinking. Makes me want a big stack of ribs. Aeration gives us notes of caramel, vanilla, some spicy green hops Second pour into the glass gives me a smoother creamier head with much finer bubbles. Flavour builds and develops as the beer warms.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


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


Final Thoughts:

Definitely falls into the category of a "Must-try" beer. Malty and complex while still maintaining an airy fruitiness. Much more than a curveball... certainly a Eephus.
Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 362 Smoked Honey: Royal City Brewing Company

Beer #362 Smoked Honey Brown Ale

Royal City Brewing Company

Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Established: 2014
Smoked Honey Brown Ale
5.5 % ABV IBU: 25
500 ml Brown Glass Bottle
$3.95 (Canadian) At Sobey's Grocery

Twitter: @RoyalCityBrew

Haven't been to Guelph for a while and This brewery has not made it onto the blog yet either. They were at FUNKFEST but I ran out of tickets and liver space before I got to them. Tonight's brew is a smoked honey brown ale. Now I'm not sure how all of that fits together I believe it's a smoked grain brown ale that has had honey added to the wort. At least that's what it tastes like. I'm not sure if you can smoke honey... But, when I build my new smoker I will find out... (I will blog, about it stay tuned!).

Onto tonight's tasting...

Pours a translucent dark chestnut with a short tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is sooty char and sweet honey. The first sip is malty and mineral, which gives over to a light ashy smoke with a residual honey clover sweetness. Refreshingly light, yet with a nice thick malty brown bread or pumpernickel feel. Aeration gives us and herbal hoppy hit, with hints of smoked honey ham.

 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


Final Thoughts:


This was a wonderfully well balanced, full flavour beer that managed to stay nice and light in the body. The smoke elevated the beer, instead of drowning out the ingredients in a harsh, bitter cloud. I was so pleasantly surprised by this beer and enjoyed it thoroughly. I was actually disappointed when I looked down and the bottle was empty. Such a great all purpose beer too. I would cook with this, drink it on a patio, or in front of a campfire. Trust me, put one of these in your glass, you will not regret it.


Cheers

CJT

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Deforestation Collaboration Sawdust City and Forked River Brewing

Beer # 225 Deforestation
Collaboration

Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Forked River Brewing Company
London, Ontario

Independent Microbreweries
Imperial Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale
9.1 % ABV 10 oz Draft (296 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter @SawdustCityBeer @ForkedRiverBrew

'Tis, apparently, the season of collaboration. Last, (I think) in our string of collabs is this huge, barrel aged brown ale from Sawdust and Forked River in London. Forked River has graces our pages here before, and the beers I have had from them are always fantastic... this one was no exception.

Let's jump right in...

Pours a dark chocolate-black with hints of chestnut. Head is darker tan and short, made up of small bubbles. The nose is deeply complex with aromas ranging from oak to creosote, to pine tar, bourbon tobacco, chocolate, coal dust, molasses and deeply bruleed sugars. First sip is all whiskey.with hints of rye, oak and vanilla. Shades of rye and coke. Nice strong hits of alcohol mixed with malty sugars. Aeration brings out an earthy dusty woody cigar box, with notes of chocolate and cocoa.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

Wow. Big, bold, great flavour. It would take days to contemplate every nuance of this beer. (But at 9.1% not very feasible!) Alcohol is evident and trust me you will feel it. They served this in a 10 ounce tulip and it still packed more punch than a full pint of normal beer. Sip this one at either brewery in Gravenhurst or London, while you can. But this one is so good it should be a regular seasonal (in my opinion).



Cheers


CJT


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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas: Day 8 La Résolution Unibroue

Beer # 171 La Résolution

Unibroue

Chambly, Quebec, Canada
Owned by Sleeman's Breweries, a subsidiary of Sapporo Breweries LTD, a
Strong Belgian brown ale 10.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$8.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @unibroue    @sleemanbeers 

I am quite fond of Unibroue beers, actually I am fond of Quebec beers in general. They use more wheat in their beers there and really pack the flavour in. This beer does not disappoint either. 

Onto the tasting...

Pours a dark walnut brown with an ample light tan head made mostly of small bubbles. Nose is very spicy, cinnamon and cloves, wheaty. First sip is an explosion of spicy, transforming quickly into a deep dark caramel, almost a brulee of brown sugar. Alcohol is very present along with some vanilla, and licorice. Nutmeg comes out very strong in the middle. Very good representation of a Belgian Brown ale. Aeration gives up a nose warming shot of alcohol, the caramel intensifies, and the lips get sticky. finish is long spicy and roasted malt.

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:  5/6 PASS
Christmas Spirit 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

 A really good beer, highly enjoyable. Very good match for the holiday theme. 


Cheers And Beery Christmas


CJT


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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas: Day 7 Morrocan Brown Ale

Beer # 170 Moroccan Brown Ale

Spearhead Brewing Company

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Flavoured Brown Ale 6.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 355 ml.
$2.33 (Canadian) At the LCBO ($13.95 for a six pack)
Twitter: @SpearheadBeer



I'm actually a little ashamed of myself I thought I had posted about Spearhead before. I had The Hawaiian Pale Ale a while ago and really enjoyed it, but apparently didn't write about it. So I make up for that by posting about another in their growing stable of beers: The Moroccan Brown Ale. This beer is a malty brown ale flavoured with figs, dates, raisins, and cinnamon. The very festive beer perfectly suited for holiday imbibing.

Onto the Tasting...

Pours a hazy orange brown with an light tan head made of small bubbles. Nose is sweet with hints of cinnamon dried fruit and dark malt. First sip is very fruit filled, raisins, dates, sugary, light molasses, turbinado sugar. It does remind me of fruit cake... but in a good way. Despite all of the dried fruit flavours the beer works very well. the sweetness offsets the dark malt flavours. Aeration gives us some lighter citrusy notes in among a stronger hit of dates.



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 Spirit 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

Very tasty, and well suited to my holiday theme. I would LOVE to bake with this beer or just sit back and drink it with some fruitcake (yes I do like it!) or some of my family's traditional Christmas pudding.

Cheers And Beery Christmas


CJT


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Beer # 96 Nostradamus

Nostradamus 

Brasserie Caracole scrl

Flamignoul, Belgium
Independent
Strong Belgium Brunne (Brown Ale) 9.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 330 ml.
$3.40 (Canadian) At LCBO 


As today is the so called "Mayan Apocalypse"I decided to slip in two beers with the end of the world theme. The first one is named after the French apothecary and seer Michel de Nostredame. Born co-incidentally on this date December 21 1503 (we think, it's disputed it may be the 14th) Nostradamus (Latin spelling) was a biblical and historical scholar in his spare time. He became famous for writing the book "Les Propheties de M. Michel Nostramvs" or as it is better know "The Prophecies." In his book he wrote short ambiguous poems called quatrains that supposedly foretold the future by examining the past.


There were three volumes in total. and about 1000 quatrains. Of these only 942 survive, published in an omnibus collection after his death. The quatrains are divided up into series of 100 poems that make up a "century." Nostradamus scholars have intently studied these poems for a clue to the future. Often using the vague nature of the poems to explain events that have already happened. One quatrain supposedly predicted the rise of Hitler, and Europe at war. One predicted the fall of the Twin Towers in New York., several go on to predict coming wars and potentially the end of the world, the return of Christ, and the battle of Armageddon. The key one has to remember is Nostradamus was also heavily into astrology. in the 1500's Astrology was still considered a science. And, as with today, Astrological predictions are conveniently vague to allow for broad interpretations. If you take your horoscope and read it at the end of the day instead of the beginning  often your mind will bend the words of the horoscope to fit the events that have already happened, leaving you with that whoa! did that just happen? feeling. However if you read your horoscope at the beginning of the day, chances are you will draw other conclusions and allow your mind to miss the events of the day without any connection, because you have already decided what will happen. It is similar with Nostradamus' predictions, looking back we can connect the vague dots in our mind now that we know what happened, but as a prediction tool it is completely useless.

La Brasserie Caracole is located in the province of Namur. The logo for the brewery is the snail, or a man wearing a metal helmet in the shape of a snail. The spiral shelled snail (Caracole) is the symbol of Namur and hence the name of the brewery.

Onto tonight's beer:

A slightly hazy light chestnut brown with a large fluffy light tan head made up of small bubbles. Head is very long lasting, leaving a slightly broken lacing on the glass. Aroma is very wheaty with mild banana, fresh fruit, and some clove. First sip is an incredibly light and bright fruity beer,with a tongue tingling effervescence. The high alcohol content is deceptive at first until you breath out and the alcohol heat warms your mouth.The finish is fresh grains floral hops, and a tinge of sour... not by any means unpleasant. Aeration gives us a rich caramel maltiness, oak notes, some vanilla and a hint of barrel aged whiskey.


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

Final Thoughts:


The best brown ale I have ever had, and certainly one of the best Belgium beers I have ever had. Definitely a great way to toast the end of the world.

Cheers

CJT


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