Cleaning out the Cupboards

Back Again.... did you miss me?

After a long drawn out and somewhat tiresome summer (that dragged over into fall...) I return to my blog to hang my head in shame as I have not paid it much mind recently. This is actually a big month here at Pint Jockey Headquarters. Five years ago this Sunday (November 8th) is the fifth anniversary of my first post. Sadly I often miss my own anniversaries because of being busy at work... being a chef we start into Christmas parties right about now. However this year I plan on celebrating... with a beer or two and a few posts to boot. However, That being said I have to clear off my desktop and post a few beers I tasted but never managed to finish posting. So here is a a quick three teaser of some of the summer beers I tried to write about for you...

Beer # 240 Panache

Stack Brewing Company

Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Twitter: @Stackbrewing

Cedar aged American Pale Ale 
4.5% ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml (16 oz).
$3.00 (Canadian) At The Brewery

Back again with another craft beer from Stack Brewing in Sudbury Ontario. Sadly when I picked these up I didn't get much information on them


Pours a slightly hazy dark gold with an off-tan head made up of tiny to small bubbles. Aroma is woody, mossy, grassy, and slightly fruity. Some pineapple is evident. First sip is very light, drinks like a session APA. some fruit, mostly tropical, pineapple and bitter orange. Cedar is an underscoring note light and refreshing on the back of the palate. Aeration warms up the cedar giving it a bit more of a sawdust smell, some resinous hops and a long finish of bitter orange peel.


Impression: A Solid 5/6 

Lovely little beer. Cedar works very well with beer, especially the APAs.









Beer # 241 1606 Winewood Series Barrel Aged Stout

Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Barrel Aged Raspberry Stout
5.7 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml
$12.95 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter @SawdustCityBeer

pours a very dark brown with slight hints of red and chestnut. The head is dark tan and made of very fine bubbles. The Aroma is leather and wood, some cedar, red fruit, and slightly molasses sweet. First sip is smoky sweet with lots of oak, sweet berries, slightly tart, some cranberry. Some tobacco, raisins, and coacoa powder. Aerations gives us a slight whisky nose, with some grapey astringency. Mouthfeel is cream












Impression:   6/6 

Hands down this was the beer of the summer. After ageing for 10 months in wine barrels with the periodic addition of fresh raspberries, this beer was a flavour bomb, but very easy drinking. I could sit all night and slowly sip a pint of this.



Beer # 242 Revenge of the Ginger IPA

Double Trouble Brewing
Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Flavoured IPA (Australian Pale Ale)
6.2 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$3.00 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @HopsandRobbers


Pours a red tinted clear amber with an off white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is fresh ginger, or Jamaican Ginger beer, sharp and citrusy. Rich malt in the background. First sip starts out like a ginger beer, some zing which calms down into a malty robust IPA. Some elements of a red ale especially in the malt profile. Some caramelisation, some residual sugars. The gingerol gives a pleasant tingly mouth numbing feel, and the herbaceous hops lend a nice bitter green taste to counteract the heat of the ginger and the sweet of the malt. Aeration gives off a warmth that fills the body, there is some grassiness, and some hay. The finish is earthy, mineral, and slightly sticky on the lips.

Impression: 5/6

Not a beer I would drink often but a good flavour profile nonetheless. I would actually like to cook this this. It screams beer butt chicken to me...



























There you go... I am caught up again it is time to move forward. A new year dawns here at Headquarters let's see what new beers await.

Cheers
CJT

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The Matador Version 2.0 Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery

# 203 The Matador Version 2.0: El Toro Bravo

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery

Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Imperial Rye Ale Cedar Aged 10.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$10.40 (Canadian) At the Brewery

Twitter: @FlyingMonkeys

Down to the Monkeys again tonight. Just today I heard of a little controversy about The Monkeys and the Ontario Legislature. It seems as though while Anne Hogarth, the MPP for Barrie was trying to question a lobbyist for the Brewers Retail  (The Beer Store) she insulted the brewers, who are employers and revenue generators in her riding. See the text here. If you are from out of province or unaware of the debate The Craft Brewers of Ontario are trying to end the stifling monopoly in Ontario that is The Beer Store. I will be posting an expose on the whole affair shortly... and putting in my two cents as a beer blogger.

But enough about politics.

Tonight's beer is the second version of the beer a 2.0 if you will. The Monkeys wanted to age some beer on spanish cedar. This one is a rye imperial ale. (I love rye beers!!!).

Release the monkeys!

 Pours a very dark amber with a generous off-tan head made up of tiny bubbles. The aroma is spicy, with hints of cedar cigar box, tobacco, and fresh sawn basswood. First sip is deep and malty with burnt toast notes, more blanket box cedar, sweetgrass, and sage. Strong notes of thick dark German rye bread, some caraway. As the beer warms the flavours smooth out and deepen. the cedar/spice is pervasive like expensive incense. It drinks like a grilled reuben sandwich. toasty, malty, bready, charred, spicy, smooth, and creamy. Aeration gives us more cedar, pencil shavings, and earthy wood tones.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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


Final Thoughts:

My father was a master carpenter. He began building houses in South Wales, UK. when he was 14 years old. Ever since I could stand I remember being with him in his workshop. The smells of freshly cut or planed wood, the spicy, musky sweat of a hard day's work, the inevitable thermos of tea. This beer takes me there. Five years old, steadying a board that my Dad is planing, curls of wood piling at my feet. It's hard to describe this as it actually hit me on an emotional level.  To say the beer is transcendent is an understatement. Obviously, the brewers at Flying Monkeys were not trying to send an old farm boy turned blogger back in time. What they did do was, create a very deep, flavourful beer, with incredible aromatic wood notes. I can not guarantee you will be transported to another time and place if you drink this beer... you will however be amazed at its complexity and character, just as I was. The bottles left are in short supply, get them while you can.


CJT


Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
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