18th Century Ginger Beer

I really, really enjoy this Youtube Channel: The Townsends. It does mainly deal with food in Colonial America but as beer was mostly made at home it is a subject that comes up frequently. It is really interesting to see how brewing has changed through the ages, and how much of it has actually stayed the same. In reality the advancements in brewing have mainly be in sanitation, and volume. Bring a 19th century brewer forward in time to today and I don't think he (or more likely she, as Brewing was a housewife's job) would be lost for very long. So check this video out for a Ginger flavoured Small beer, you will be surprised how approachable home brewing is.

Cheers

CJT

Pennsylvania Swankey

I came across this very interesting video for a home brewed beer from the 1800's . Swankey is definitely a beer I had never heard of and it was interesting to see how integrated brewing was into colonial life. They also talk about a Gruit, which is a style that is making a tremendous comeback. Give this a watch, I might also like to try this recipe myself. If I do I will make sure to blog about it.

Cheers

CJT

Beer# 280 Hopsta La Vista IPA Longslice Brewery

#280 Hopsta La Vista

Longslice Brewery
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Contract Brewery
India Pale Ale 
6.5 % ABV IBU: 69
473 ml Aluminium Can
$2.90 at the LCBO

Twitter: @LongsliceBrews

Longslice brewery is a new one on me. I was initially attracted by the punny, bright packaging. Started by two brothers from Bracebridge, Jimmy and John Peat who started homebrewing in high school with their Dad... ( way cool Dad!) In 2013 Jimmy Peat took second place in the Toronto Beer Week Homebrew competition with a hybrid English Pale Ale/ American IPA. That beer would go on to become tonight's offering Hopsta La Vista. The Peat Brothers were joined by longtime friend Sebastian Lesch and on March 20 2014 Longslice Brewery was born. In 2015 Hopsta La Vista added another medal to the trophy cabinet taking home a Gold at the Ontario Brewing Awards.

They also have the most awesome retro 1990's style website that made me laugh when I saw it. Please check it out here.

Onto the tasting...

Pours a darker orange amber in colour with an off tan head made up of small bubbles.The nose is malty with a herbal hop and tea nose. First sip is strong and malty with notes of bitter greens black tea. A bit of a creamy mouthfeel. Spikes of pine and cedar with some leather in the background. The beer is viscous, almost oily and clings to the glass when swirled taking on almost a bubbly honey look cascading down the inside of the glass. Aeration gives us some malt and molasses with hints of dried fruit and very mild spice. Finish is bitter herbs and a slight marijuana feeling. 

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


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

Final Thoughts:

A very good IPA Deep flavours, well constructed. Great mouthfeel, and well balanced. Definitely pick this one up, if you like full bodied IPAs this is the beer for you.

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 198 The Bottle Imp Russian Imperial Stout

The Bottle Imp Russian Imperial Stout
Pro-am Series # 9

Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Flavoured Russian Imperial Stout 9.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 600 ml
$7.85 (Canadian) At LCBO 

Twitter: @Beausallnatural @bridgehead

Tonight we are travelling back up to Van Kleek Hill, near our nation's capital, to Beau's All Natural Brewing Company once again. Beau's really is one of the hardest working breweries in Ontario. Their list of beers, past and present is virtually unrivalled. Their list of collaborations is stunning. Their contributions to brewing in Ontario and Canada are unprecedented. The beer we are featuring tonight on this Robbie Burns Day 2015, is a Russian imperial stout flavoured with organic fair trade coffee sourced from Mexico and Ethiopia. "Wait..." you may ask... "What has a Russian imperial stout flavoured with organic fair trade coffee sourced from Mexico and Ethiopia got to do with a dead Scottish poet?"  It's all in the name...

In 1891 Scottish storyteller Robert Louis Stevenson (see what I did there?) wrote a short story entitled"The Bottle Imp." It was a cautionary tale about a cursed bottle that granted the holder all that he desired but came with a few restrictions. Once you had bought the bottle you could not sell it for more than you paid for it. You could not throw it away or give it away. If you died holding the bottle your soul would be dragged to hell for eternity. From there it turn into a tragic love story and tales of self sacrifice in the pursuit of true love. No spoilers... if you would like to read the story you can find it here at Project Gutenberg in Robert Louis Stevenson's collection of short stories "Island Night's Entertainment."

Back to the beer. This particular Bottle Imp... is actually an IMP... or IMPerial stout so it is 9.0% ABV. Best to share this with a friend or have some snacks while you are tasting it. The Imp is part of the Pro-Am series which is a collection of beers designed by homebrewers that are produced commercially by Beau's. The particular recipe was created by David Thompson, the winner of the 2012 Toronto Beer Week Homebrew Contest. Lastly the beer is infused with some delicious roasted fair trade organic shade grown coffee from Chiapas Mexico, and Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. I love me some Ethiopian Coffee... it's my favourite coffee growing region. The coffee was provided by Bridgehead Coffee in Ottawa

Och... get on wit it... (My apologies to anyone Scottish). Onto our beer.

Pours a very dark brown with a fluffy tan head made up of small bubbles. The aroma is coffee with some dark malt sugars and caramels in the background. Some light floral notes with some nuttiness and fruit are also present. First sip is rich chocolate and espresso light fruity tones with some coffee ground bitterness underneath. As the beer warms figs and dried fruit come out on the palette as does some black licorice. Mouthfeel is very creamy, soft and supple. Alcohol is noticeable but not overwhelming. Aeration brings out a deeper creaminess, and the darker aspects of the coffee and malt. Finish is slightly astringent like black coffee and dark chocolate.


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:

Very, very good Russian imperial stout. Roasty, toasty, smooth, I could imagine myself whiling away the hours in the Russian Imperial court drinking this beer. The coffee is a lovely, and well balanced addition. The floral, fruity, chocolate notes really ground the beer, and balance out the higher alcohol. A great beer inspired by a great Scotsman's story, wrapping up a good Robbie Burns Day. What more could a simple farm boy ask for?
well... maybe another... and a bottle with that wishing imp in it...

Cheers

CJT


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Ale to the Chief

Presidential Homebrew

Well I know this isn't exactly news anymore, but I couldn't let it pass without posting these up on the blog. It makes me giggle that so many people petitioned under the US Freedom of Information act to get President Obama's secret homebrew recipes. Well here ya go folks... two very impressive recipes from the most powerful beer fridge in the world. I give them credit for using the White House's own honey, but a lot of the other ingredients sound very British! Kent Goldings hops? Fuggles? Windsor and Nottingham Yeast? Mr. President... surely you should be shopping local!

It is said that this is the first beer to ever be produced in the White House, and through exhaustive research I have confirmed this to be true... ( well maybe not exhaustive... I did check out Wikipedia though.) So if you are a homebrewer, and want to drink like a president... here are the recipes. 

 

Beer # 79 606 India Pale Ale

Paddock Wood 606 India Pale Ale

Paddock Wood Brewing Company
Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada
Independent
India Pale Ale 5.4% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 355 ml.
$2.25 ($13.50 6 pack) (Canadian) At The Beer Store.

Twitter: @paddock_wood

Paddock Wood Brewing company has one of those interesting bull-dogged determined to make this work stories. Brewer and Owner Steven Cavan was a lecturer in History and his wife a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. However there was no good craft beer to be had in Saskachewan in 1992, so Steven decided to brew his own. Problem number two arose when Steven could not find the ingredients he needed to make his english-style beers so he tried to import them. Upon discovering that the minimum shipment were far too large for just his own brewing habit, he decided to sell the excess through a mail order business. When a nearby grain company began taking away his business, he changed format again to make "homebrew kits." Demand spike for the homebrew kits and he expanded his facilities, until he came under the radar of the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Association. They determined he needed a liquor licence for what he was doing. So he decided to convert to a full brewery, but there were no licences for a small craft brewery, only brewpubs. So after some lobbying the SLGA changed it's rules allowing Paddock Wood to become Saskatchewan's first craft brewery in 2004.


Onto the tasting:

pours dark amber with a red tinge, head is frothy and off-white bubbles are Small and tight. Bright citrus and herbal hops on the nose along with a slight earthiness. The taste is all grain, deep, rich, malt, caramel. Herbal, hay and straw. giving over to a bright citrus burst of tropical fruit. Aeration brings out ripe tropical fruit and re-asserts the grain.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   

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

Final Thoughts:

An excellent brew, high marks indeed! To me the taste profile is very reminiscent of Smashbomb by Flying Monkeys here in Ontario. This is definately a beer i will keep coming back to as long as the Beer Store stocks it.


Cheers
CJT

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