The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Days 17 & 18: The Light Side Vs The Dark Side.

A Long Time Ago, 

in a Pint Jockey Headquarters far away...

BEER WARS

The Froth Awakens: Episode I

It's Star Wars Day

Ok, I have to admit it I'm a huge nerd. Especially when it comes to Star Wars. I did a very big dance of joy when I heard that George Lucas had sold the franchise to Disney and that they had plans to begin releasing new movies. So for three years I have eagerly awaited this day, and although I have to wait a few more days before we go out to see the movie, I am so glad we have arrived at this day of nerdom. I have heard very positive things about the movie and can't wait til we go out and see it as a family.

So in honour of this day I decided to do a side by side tasting, Light versus Dark. Because when you think about it, beer is like the Force... there are light beers and dark beers, and after a few... you begin to believe you can move things with your mind.  Donning the Jedi Robes for the Light side tonight we have Muskoka Brewery's Winterweiss (get it? Weiss... White... Light side?) And warming up in the corner with their Force Chokes and Force Lightning Epic Brewing Company's Coffee and Fig Imperial Oatmeal Stout. (Imperial? yep... another pun).

It is time to bring balance to the Force... Let my taste buds awaken.

The Contenders

The Light Side 

Beer # 265 Winterweiss

Muskoka Brewery

Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Dunkelweiss 5.0% ABV 
Aluminum Can 473 ml.
$3.00 (Canadian) At LCBO


Twitter: @Muskokabrewery

Pours a deep chestnut with an off-tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is a spicy mix of clove and bananas with some caramel toward the back. First sip is super light bodied and very refreshing lovely clean wheat tones followed by spiced banana bread. Aeration gives us a yeasty fresh risen bread dough, Finish is light and malty with some gentle hop flavours.

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: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

A very standard dunkelweiss. Nothing out of the ordinary. Actually an almost textbook example.  Good flavour, light tasting, and easy drinking. A holiday must have if you can get one.


The Dark Side

Beer # 266 Epicurean Coffee and Fig Imperial Oatmeal Stout

Epic Brewing Company

Auckland, New Zealand
Independent Brewery
Flavoured Oatmeal Stout 8.0% ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$13.90 (Canadian) At LCBO 


Twitter: @EpicBeer


Pours an inky dark brown with a light tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is very darkly roasted malt with coffee and some smoke, also an underlying caramel sweetness, with some dried fruit. First sip the figs take over giving us a fairly light bodied and fruity ale.coffee and caramelised sugars follow and the the lips are left quite sticky from the sugars. Notes of char and darkly toasted bread mixed with a figgy jam. Aeration gives us some alcohol, whisky and cola notes. Finish is smoky and dry.

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
Christmas Cheer: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

Oh. Wow. This is an awesome beer. and I mean that in it's correct context this beer inspires awe. Deep, dark rich flavours, yet still very easy to drink. 






And the Verdict

Well, tonight the Dark Side wins, just edging out the home team Muskoka Brewery... Sorry guys... But you know those scrappy Rebels won't be down for long... 

Cheers 

CJT

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Long Dark Voyage to Uranus Sawdust City Brewing Company

# 206 Long Dark Voyage to Uranus

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent
(Uranal) Imperial Stout 10.2% Aluminium Can 473 ml.
$5.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter: @SawdustCityBeer

Okay, Let's see if I can make it through this post without sophomoric jokes about your anus. (Damn!). Now, I know some of you out there are saying "It's pronounced YOU-ran-IS." Sadly, you would be wrong. It is a pet peeve of mine, because I actually remember the news story where US teachers were petitioning to have the name changed because they could not stand the jokes and giggling when they were trying to teach astronomy. It is, for the record, pronounced "U-ray-nus" and has been since it's discovery in 1781 by Sir William Herschel the German born, British Astronomer... (well, okay he actually named it George's Star, after King George III, but other astronomers convinced him to name it Uranus). Uranus is named for the Greek God Ouranos god of the skies, who became Uranus when the Romans assimilated the Greek Gods into their mythology.

Okay, rant over, back to our beer. Tonight's offering is Sawdust City's most anticipated seasonal of the year. Long Dark Voyage is a (HUGE) 10.2% Imperial Stout, which I guess is why it is out of this world. 

Well, we have waited long enough... let the voyage commence...

Pours a cosmically dark brown/black with a good sized tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is rich coffee and dark chocolate with toasted bread, a slight nuttiness, some wood, and a touch of vanilla. First sip is deep and dark malt, some lightly burnt sugar and a good strong hit of dark cocoa powder. Very earthy with a good backbone of bitterness from the magnum and centennial hops. One feels all of the 10.2% alcohol in every sip (not for the faint of heart... or liver).  Mouthfeel is slightly viscous and tongue coating, making the lips slightly tacky  like one has just eaten ribs and has not removed all of the BBQ sauce yet. Aeration was dangerous... it was like snorting a martini, pure alcohol (I actually coughed a little!). After trying a second time, the aeration whipped the beer like heavy cream and deepened the chocolate flavour, softened the bitterness, but accentuated the tartness of the hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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


Final Thoughts:

Wow. If I was ever on a long dark voyage to... well... y'know, I would want this beer and plenty of it. Full bodied, rich, thick, delicious. This has been number one on my "must try" list for some time, as it was the first beer from Sawdust City that I had heard of. It did not disappoint. It is just hitting shelves and I believe it is going to the LCBO. So get out there and try a voyage of your own. Just remember, 10.2 % ABV, share with a friend.

CJT


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Beer # 53 Summer Weiss Muskoka Cottage Brewery

Summer Weiss Vintage 2011

Muskoka Cottage Brewery, Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada (Independant)
Weiss Bier 5.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml
$5.95 (Canadian) at LCBO.

Well the weather outside is anything but summery. In fact it has rained snowed and hailed all at different points today. So it is a perfect Canadian spring day to taste a summer beer. I think that made sense. We visited Muskoka Cottage Brewery once before in our "Lucky 13" Post, where we did the Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout. So I won't go into a lot of detail about the Bracebridge brewery again. If this is the first time you have read my blog (first of all welcome!) you can click the above link and read up on the pretty town of Bracebridge and it tiny but industrious brewery.

On to summer...


Translucent and light gold somewhat cloudy. Off-white head made up of medium sized bubbles. The nose is all cloves with a hint of cinnamon and sweetness. The first taste is strong ripe bananas, spice becomes milder. There is a lingering sweetness on the palate that is reminiscent of a banana Popsicle. As it warms toasted bread comes to the surface. Light caramel. Aeration brings out the wheat.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

                                                                                                               

Cost:  5/6  PASS

Colour:  5/6  PASS        

Beer Style:  6/6 EXEPTIONAL  

Re-Order:  5/6 PASS   

Experience:   5/6  PASS

Final Thoughts: 

Very enjoyable, with all the right moves. The beer style is textbook and I could have written my description out of a judging manual (don't worry... I actually think these big words up on my own...) I would put the beer toward a high pass, and I have to say I am enjoying the brewery's new seasonals, each seems to be better than the last.

Cheers
CJT

Lucky 13

As a matter of fact "Lucky 13" is lucky for me. Not only is it the date of my sister's birthday "Lucky 13" is the name of a good friend of mine's band. www.lucky13band.com or Facebook them here Lucky 13 (Sorry for the shameless plug...) definitely worth checking out when they are in town. Just go up and ask for "Weeble."



And 13 is Lucky for you dear reader, as tonight we review beer # 13 Muskoka Cottage Brewery's Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout. Yes as a matter of fact... it does sound like dessert in a glass. Muskoka Cottage Brewery is located in Bracebridge just over two hours north of Toronto.   www.muskokabrewery.com

 Bracebridge is one of those "pretty as a postcard" towns at the edge of Northern Ontario which has a big hockey tradition. Ace Bailey of the Toronto Maple Leafs (the benefactor of a fund raiser held by the Maple Leafs in the thirties that became the All Star Game) and Kris King: Maple Leaf, Phoenix Coyote, and last captain of the Winnipeg Jets being the most notable. Bracebridge, like its neighbouring town Gravenhurst takes its name from the episodic novel "Bracebridge Hall" by Washington Irving. In 1996 Muskoka Cottage Brewery opened it's doors promising fresh pure ingredients in all of their products and it is a credo that has served them well; winning numerous awards over their 15 year operation.

Onto the tasting: The bottle is a 750 ml champagne-style bottle closed with a swing-top cap normally found on Grolsch bottles. The Cap is sealed with a tamper-evident label that bears a "drink by" date of March 31 2011. Tonight's offering is an "stout" (pardon the pun) 8% ABV, that pours very dark chesnut to black with a redish tinged tan head. First sniff is all "Cherry Cordial" yes those chocolate covered ooey-gooey cherry candies you get from people you don't like at Christmas. The nose also gives off heaps of dark chocolate.

First sip is chocolate soda with a hint of cherry followed by deep roasted malt sugars, a hint of the high alcohol content, and a lingering hint of dutch process cocoa on the finish. Aeration gives off a winey note; short bursts of red fruit finishing quickly and returning to the chocolate.

A quick note about temperature. Often times we bring beer home and bung it in the refrigerator, which normally isn't a bad idea. However, this beer needs to be served at 9 C. Something I didn't notice until I started drinking it; so I let it warm up. It made all the difference. If your brewmaster has gone to the trouble of putting down a temperature to "enjoy" the beer at please heed it, after all he should know what he is talking about.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass (with caveat see below)
Cost: Pass (Well it should... I got it free! but for a 750 ml bottle I believe it's $8.95)
Colour: Exceptional (I love the red tinge in the otherwise tan head)
Beer Style: Exceptional
Re-order: Pass ( I couldn't do another one today, but maybe tomorrow, and if the temperature hits the plus side again...no thanks)
Experience: Pass

Final thoughts. I didn't taste cranberry! I wanted desperately to taste it, but warm or cold the most I got was a slight tartness and a red fruit that could have been cherry or raspberry. So... slightly let down but overall a very nice beer especially when it warmed up. This is the best beer from Muskoka Cottage Brewery that I have tasted thus far.

Cheers
CJT

Beer #12 Lake of Bays Brewing Company's Mocha Porter

 So onto present number two from a very special lady. Lake of Bays is one of Ontario's newest cottage breweries. Situated in Baysville in between Bracebridge and Huntsville (yes last year's G8 headquarters)
The Beer is a combined effort from the brewery www.lakeofbaysbrewing.com and a local coffee roaster in Bracebridge Diesel House www.dieselhousecoffeeroasters.ca

Coffee and porters are are natural match because the long dark roasted barley that goes into the dark ales will often give of notes of chocolate, smoke, and .... well coffee. Porters themselves have been around since the early 1700's in England where a special re-vitalising dark ale was brewed for the "stout" men on the dock and the rivers who loaded and unloaded the ships. This beer came to be synonymous with this job title of the men and hence was called porter. Later this beer would catch the attention of an ingenious young Irishman named Arthur who would base his ale on the porter. His stout would go on to define a nation and become the world's best selling dark beer. I think you have already guessed his last name was Guinness. Note the names porter and stout
are often used interchangably. The porter name was
kept mainly in England whereas in Dublin Guinness used the term stout.

First look at today's offering we notice that the beer is far from black. It is in fact a deep mocha brown it has a tan head with small bubble and no "cascade" of froth one would find in other porters and stouts. The head dies down quickly to a quarter inch and retains its rich colour. ABV is 5.2% which is low for a traditional porter as the original beer was often brewed up to 6.6%.

The first sniff is smoky and chocolate with a hint of fresh brewed espresso. Taking our first sip the smokiness is rein-forced as is the dark chocolate, breaking away into a nice dark-roasted coffee finish. Slight bitter coffee aftertaste but a clean mouthfeel, hint of smoke lingers in the throat. Aeration brings out a sweetness, rum and demerara sugar. after a few minutes a light honey develops in the background. The beer is light bodied and fruity a very good example of a well done British style ale.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass (Well it should... I got it free! but for a 750 ml bottle I believe it's $6.95)
Colour: Exceptional (Nice brown the mocha lives up to it's name)
Beer Style: Exceptional
Re-order: Pass ( I couldn't do another one today, but maybe tomorrow, and if the temperature hits the plus side again...no thanks)
Experience: Pass

High marks again today. For a young company, this is an excellent offering I enjoyed my taste and look forward to visiting the new brewery, and having a sample off the keg, just as a beer like this deserves to be tasted.

Cheers
CJT

Later this week Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.... I'm getting tingles! And yes we will crack the 18 yo Ola Dubh before the week is out.