Beer # 499 Lone Star Lager (Canadian Version)

Beer # 499 Lone Star Lager

Brewery: Sleeman Brewing and Malting


Type: Wholly owned by Sapporo Breweries Company  Est.:  1988

Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Lager

ABV: 4.9%      IBU: 10

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.0 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

sleemanbeer

    @sleemanbeer

Ok... This beer is iconic and intrinsically linked with Texas, except, it is brewed by a Japanese company in... Guelph, Ontario, Canada? Well... yes, and yes... The original Lone Star Brewery was built in 1884 in San Antonio Texas. It was Texas' first large scale mechanised brewery; originally put together by Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch fame and a group of local San Antonio businessmen. Busch had bought the Alamo brewing company in 1874 and used it to build the new Lone Star Brewery. Lone Star Beer itself, wasn't brewed until1940 by Peter Kreil of Munich (It is very much a Munich Lager). The Lone Star Beer Company has had many masters over the years. It has been moved to several locations in Texas, it was purchased in 1976 By Olympia Brewing from Washinton,

No.. Not that Lone Star.

and again in 1983 by G. Heileman Brewing. Stroh's bout Heileman in 1996, and then Stroh's was bought by Pabst in 1999. Pabst now contracts all the brewing of Lone Star out. So where does Japan and Canada fit in? Glad you asked. Stroh's Canada was purchased by the Sleeman Brewing and Malting company which was later bought out by Sapporo of Japan. Sleeman's brews the Stroh's line Including Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Still billed as the "National Beer of Texas, even though this one is brewed North of the border... Let's give this one a try. 

Let's use the Schwartz on this Lone Star...

Clear gold in colour with a thick, bright white head made up of small bubbles. The aroma is corn syrup and malt extracts. Rain watery German-style hops and hints of wet dog. The first sip is sweet and corny with a very light malt profile. Taste is very flat with a watery texture. There is a clean crispness to the beer, but it comes at the cost of very little flavour in the actual beer. Aeration makes it taste like sugar water.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  1/6 FAIL
Experience: 3/6 SO-SO


Final Thoughts:

This is a very boring beer. There is really nothing to it but sugar and a hint of malt. I get the feeling that if you drank too much of this the gut-rot and headache the next day would make you wish you were dead. It tastes like an underage party... one where you cobbled together anything with alcohol in it. It's not so bad, that if someone offered me one I could drink it... but I would politely decline a second one.

CJT

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Beer # 370 Freedom 35 Trailer Park Boys Lager

Beer # 370 Freedom 35 Lager

Brewery: N.A.C. (North American Craft) Importers 

Type: Contract brewery, Brewed at Wellington Brewing Company    Est.: 

Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Lager

ABV: 5.0%      IBU: 

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

wellingtonbrewery

    @namericancraft

As the news spreads that we lost Canadian Actor John Dunsworth yesterday lots of Trailer Park Boys fans are still in shock today. I can't say I was a Trailer Park Boys fan; however, there is no doubt what the show has done for Canadian identity. In the words of my esteemed partner, The Queen of Pint Jockey Headquarters, "Why do I need to watch Trailer Park Boys? You've seen the neighbours." But watch a lot of people did. The show held up a mirror to Canadian society, not a perfect mirror, one of those wavy carnival ones. It poked fun at us, kept us humble and most of all made us laugh at ourselves. That's what good TV should do.

Onto our beer tonight. Freedom 35 is a craft lager produced at the Wellington Brewing Company in Guelph, Ontario for N.A.C. Importers. The North American Craft Importers is an alcohol distribution agency that represents Canadian and American brewers and distillers and sources places for their products in the Beer Store, the LCBO, and now grocery stores across Ontario. They commissioned this beer with Wellington, who also produces under contract the beers for Double Trouble Brewing, one of their other clients. The interesting thing I have found is that in the announcement on the Trailer Park Boys Facebook Page here, they say there is corn in the beer to add sweetness, but it is not listed in the ingredients; but this beer is definitely sweet so I would imagine there is still corn in it. So be cautious if you have a corn allergy.

Onto our freakin' beer...

Pours a light gold colour with an off-white fluffy head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is grassy and sweet with hints of citrus. First sip is surprising. As lagers go this one is not an over-commercialised barrel wash. However, is it malt forward with a surprising amount of sweetness, almost syrupy. Hops are there, lending a bitter green, medicinal bite. The hop varieties are not listed but they taste like German varieties to me, possibly Hallertau. The wheat flakes give it a slight breadiness which makes the beer taste like toast doused in sugar. As the beer warms hints of spice and raisins come to the surface. Aeration gives us some clove and bitter mustard greens.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order:  2/6 SO-SO
Experience: 3/6 SO-SO


Final Thoughts:

This tastes like a hangover in a can. It's not terrible. I honestly thought I would have to issue another #drainaward, but, I was surprised. It has flavour, it has the bones of a good craft lager, it's just not balanced. It's like sucking on a tin of malt syrup. Save this beer for Trailer Park Boys re-runs, on nights you don't have to be anywhere the next morning. Poor decisions are almost guaranteed.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 19: Bryggmästarens

Beer # 316 Bryggmästarens 

Brewery: Åbro Bryggeri

Type: Independant National brewery     Est.: 1856

Location: Vimmerby, Sweden

Beer Style: Pale Lager

ABV: 5.7%      IBU: ?

Format: Aluminum Can  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $2.35 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter: @AbroBryggeri (In Swedish)

I'm not a huge lager fan, but it seems everywhere you turn today craft breweries are putting their spin on the style. Initially, I imagine they wanted to distance themselves from the Macro breweries, who brewed almost exclusively watered down pilsners and lagers specially designed to have as much flavour removed from them as possible. Beers that are meant to be drunk frost-bitten cold as quickly as possible. Now I think that craft breweries are brewing them to lure new customers away from the large labels. Reel them in on a lager and then sell them the Quadruple IPA, single varietal hop picked by virgins under a full moon. Don't worry I'm not getting cynical, I already drank the kool-aid... I love my weird beers, actually the crazier the story behind the beer the more I need it. But I can definitely understand the need for a gateway for the large portion of beer consumers, who are use to nothing more than alcoholic water. For some of us that gateway was a progression over time, an internal, flavourful journey, for a lot of people I see at the breweries, it's "Give me something that tastes like Bud..." But I fear not, the movement back to good beer is gaining momentum and speed. I see a lot more people, I would have never expected to be in a craft brewery, trying them out

Tonight's beer is a lager from Sweden. Scandinavia, and Europe are kind of the exception when it comes to Lagers. While there are still a lot of lagers that are brewed specifically to be alcohol deliver systems, They do take pride and care in their bottom fermented beverages, unlike the Macros do here in North America. There you can still find small batch, hand crafted Lagers.

Let's Try one...

Pours a rich golden colour with a short white head made ups of small bubbles. Aroma is sweet and grainy with hints of mineral and citrus. First sip just us some deeper malt complexity with a good sweetness. Bready and yeasty notes dominate with a nice dry mineral finish. Aeration is more of the same bread yeast mineral and citrus.

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 Cheer: 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

For a European lager, this was quite good, bright crisp and mineral. You could tell the beer was made from good water. Not just de-chlorinated tap water. Still lagers are not going to be my favourite, but I could certainly drink this one again. Give it a shot.

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 291 Naughty Otter Lager Gananoque Brewing Company

#291 Naughty Otter Lager

Gananoque Brewing Company

Gananoque, Ontario, Canada
Microbrewery   Established 2011
Lager
5.2 % ABV IBU: 24
473 ml Aluminium Can
$2.90 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @GanBrewingCo

Well this is my first beer from this brewery; and as I used to live out near this town when I heard about a brewery opening there I got a little excited. Gananoque is a smallish town just North-East of the city of  Kingston (Home of the Tragically Hip, The Headstones, The Kingston Frontenacs, Former capital of "The Province of Canada" (prior to Confederation), and one of the disputed locations of the first Hockey Game. When I lived out that way it was known for its Casino, however, it is rich in history and the arts. Gananoque is a aboriginal name It's true spelling and meaning is disputed. Wikipedia says that the modern spelling means "Town of Two Rivers," but that can not be right as "town" is not a common aboriginal word, especially since the name for the area predates European contact. Aboriginal names usually used "place" or words that roughly mean "settlement," or "gathering." The first European recorded instance of the name is from 1783 from a survey of the Ottawa River it was recorded "Gananocoue" which is a close approximation of the modern pronunciation of "Gan-in-OCK-way." The meaning of that name is either "meadow rising up from a river" or "water pouring over rocks." It as also been translated as "up where hunters go," "to a deer," "place of good health,"and simply "rendezvous." No one is sure who first named it as the area was occupied at various times by the Huron, the Iroquois, and others, each had their own specific name for it.  Eastern Ontario people just call just the "Gan;" and people at the brewery are just fine with it if you do too.

In 2008 Bruce Davis was sitting in a bar in the "Gan" listening to people complain there was no local beers. It was at the beginning of the craft beer explosion in Ontario, Kingston had its Kingston Brewing Company, Beau's was nearby, Ottawa already had quite a few breweries, but people wanted something for themselves. Three years later (and I'm assuming after a lot of hard work and sleepless nights...) Bruce turned the key and opened the "Gan's" first modern Microbrewery. The first beer out of the brewhouse was tonight's beer. Naughty Otter. Bruce funded his brewery with a early form of crowdsourcing (way before it was cool...) individuals or businesses would make a "short term loan" to the brewery which funded the ingredients and batch costs, then when the batch sold, the money would be paid back with interest. Now, the brewery has grown and received new funding from investors and Bruce has moved to the Chairman position as the brewery continues to improve and expand.

Onto the beer...


Pours a darker gold colour with with a white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is sweet caramel and citrus. First sip is crisp citrus with some malty characteristics. Strong mineral quality with zesty hints of spice. a light effervescence finishing with some black pepper. Aeration is bready and malty with, lingering hints of citrus and mineral.

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 not a lager drinker. Period. I have matured in my tastes to where I need more flavour in my beer. I understand most lagers are just thirst quenchers and usually are not worth lingering over. But ever so rarely you come across a good one. One someone has taken time to build a flavourful brew. One that you would consider drinking again. It reminds me of Bow Valley Lager from the defunct Bow Valley Brewing company in Canmore Alberta. (I know I have whined about the tragic loss of this company before... and I will again...and again... it's my blog). This lager has flavour. Not massive over the top flavour but good tongue dancing flavour. If you like IPAs that slap you in the face with a pineapple wrapped in spruce needles, this will not satisfy you. It is, however, a good step up from those massively over-marketed, barrel-wash macro lagers. Bottom line is, I would be happy to drink this again, and I would recommend you to seek out this lager and try it for yourself. Just remember, if you can't say the name, just call it the "Gan," Bruce will be happy you did.



Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 279 Heroes Cold filtered Lager

#279 Heroes Cold Filtered lager

Southpaw Beverage Company

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Contract Brewery
Lager 
5.0 % ABV Aluminium Can 473 ml.
$2.75 (Canadian) At The LCBO

Twitter: @southpawbevco

This beer appeared in the LCBO for the summer and it was very bright and stood out on the shelf. It was fairly easy to see this beer was more of a marketing stunt than a craft beer. It's packaging is overtly patriotic bordering on jingoistic. Southpaw is a contract brewery but my research has not turned up at which brewery they brew at. I figured I would give it a quick taste anyway...

Onwards... heroically.

Pours clear gold  with a short off-white head made up of small bubbles. Nose is citrus and light grain with hints of some chemicals. When I first cracked the can there was a fairly strong off, sulphurous smell. First sip is tart grainy and some hints of citrus. Beer is light and lacks substance. Aeration brings out some acidic breadiness.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 1/6  FAIL
Re-Order:  0/6  FAIL
Experience: 1/6 FAIL

Final Thoughts:

My initial thoughts were correct. More insight was placed into the packaging and marketing than actually brewing a good product. The beer is dominated by off-flavours and chemical notes. Trust me you could be far more patriotic by supporting a local brewery that hires your neighbours than giving your hard earned cash to this company. Avoid.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 12: Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic

Beer # 260 Samichlaus Classic

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg

Österreich, Vorchdoff, Austria
Independent Brewery

Doppelbock 14.0% ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 330 ml.

$4.95 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Twitter: N/A

I love controversy and this beer certainly qualifies. When it first came to Ontario there was a big backlash over the name of this beer "Samichlaus," which is Swiss German for Santa Claus. It was feared that this would appeal to kids and make them want to drink it. Honestly I doubt that many kids would know Samichlaus would mean Santa Claus without being told and I think any kid who tried this skull splitting 14% ABV Doppelbock might be turned off beer for a while... but that's just me.

So back to that number. Yes, you read that right it's 14% ABV Which makes this one of the Lagers with the highest alcohol percentage. (Yes there is a race on lately to get the highest alcohol in beers with some topping 65% but they are usually ales... and that's another post.) The beer has been produced since 1979, it is originally Swiss, being produced by the Hürlimann Brewery in Zurich When the brewery closed in 1997, the beer stopped production only to be revived in 2000 when Schloss Eggenberg took over production with the original recipe. The beer itself is only brewed once a year on December 6th, St. Nicholas' feast day. It is then cold lagered for 10 months and then bottled for sale in the Christmas season of the following year. This bottle bears a bottling date of 2015 so it was brewed on December 6th 2014. Interestingly the best before date is actually September of 2020! (see what a little extra alcohol can do! Maybe I should buy a few more and keep them and try them in 2020)

Deep breath, here we go...

Pours a burnt-umber colour with a skiff of an off-white head that disperses quickly. Alcohol is the first scent on the nose along with some whisky, cooked grains, some port, wood, dried fruit, and sugar. First sip is... HOLY CRAP! Wow. alcohol is super present as is deep caramelised sugars, a  licorice/ouzo tone, hints of vanilla and rum and fruitcake. Taste gets progressively port-like. Lips are left sticky by residual sugars. Aeration gives us a slight cooked feeling, not unlike a Madeira or a tawny port. Finish is hints of vanilla.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

This is a really intense beer, despite it's small size i would still prefer to share this with someone. and it definitely needs food, do not attempt this beer on an empty stomach. I think you should enjoy this beer more like a whiskey. Put it in a snifter, not too cold, and savour it with a friend, maybe with some of that dreaded fruitcake.


Cheers

CJT


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Sawdust City Collab Little Norway

# 235 Little Norway

Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery
Pale Lager
IBU 25
4.5 % ABV Aluminium Can 473 ml
$2.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter: @sawdustcitybeer

Tonight's offering is the result of a collaboration between Sawdust City Brewing Co. and Norway's Arendals Bryggeri. The name Little Norway has a very historic meaning with Sawdust's hometown of Gravenhurst During the Second World War when Nazis had occupied Norway the King and the Government of Norway escaped to England and was running a resistance movement from London. They arranged for some planes to be "borrowed," in a Lend/lease agreement. and set up a training camp in Toronto at the Island Airport. When one of these planes crashed into the lake the residents of Toronto got nervous and the training camp was moved to the Muskoka airport just outside of Gravenhurst. From 1942-45 thousands of displaced Norwegians came to the airport nicknamed (you guessed it) Lille Norge, or Little Norway.

The beer was developed in the summer of 2013 When the  brewmaster of Sawdust journeyed to Norway and collaborated with Arendals Bryggeri. The beer was launched in Norway in 2014, and then Sawdust brewed their own batch with pure Muskoka water in 2015.


Onto the tasting...

Pours an apple-juice coloured light clear gold with a bright white head made up of small bubbles. The aroma is malty and heavy with European style lager hops (Saaz and Magnum). First sip is reminiscent of a Euro lager crossed with a west coast pale ale. Very malt forward with some slight sourness. Malt gives way to some lemon and orange zest and then to a bitter herbs and medicinal hop finish. As the beer warms the malts become more distinct and defined. The grain flavours deepen. Aeration brings out a very green and bitter herb flavour along with some smoky malt sugars.

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 not a big lager drinker (anymore... anyway). I used to drink Labatt Blue in my younger, wilder days. However, my tastes have matured. These days I am far more comfortable with a ESB or an IPA in my hand. After drinking so many inky-black, barrel aged, high octane beers it is hard to come down to the lager level and be objective. The lager is a simple, clean, crisp beer. And in my mind it is a beer best suited for food, the acids and citrus aromas (not unlike a white wine) compliment something fatty (like sausages, hamburgers, chicken wings... etc) or hot (curry and the like). This beer took a little warming to fully open up, so unlike it's counterparts, (that are best served just above 0 degrees Celsius) let this beer warm to at least cellar temperature 8 to 10 degrees Celsius.  5 to 10 minutes on the counter out of the fridge would do nicely... your patience will be rewarded. And put the chicken wing down...

Cheers


CJT



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