The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2019 Day: 7 Skull Rock Stout

Beer # 507 Skull Rock Stout

Brewery: Sleeping Giant Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2012

Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 5.1%      IBU: 30

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $3.10 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

sgbco

    @sleepgiantbrew

 Sleeping Giant Brewing Company is on my bucket list for brewery visits for two reasons A: they make good beer. B; They make good beer in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I have been through Thunder Bay, however, I have never stopped to look around (I was on the bus from Calgary headed to Toronto). It is a beautifully rugged city and I was to go just wander one day. There are amethyst mines, hiking trails, Group of 7 worthy scenery, and agate beach. I'm a real rock hound so that speaks to me a lot. Every time I see a Sleeping Giant beer I get a little excited because they are rare down here. (They maybe another coming up soon!). Tonight's offering is their Skull Rock Stout. It is made in the traditional stout way save for the addition of rolled oats into the mash to give it body.

Onto our beer...




Pours a murky chestnut brown with an aggressive head that is stratified with small medium and large bubbles. Head is creamy tan in colour. When I cracked the can there was a distinct smell of cinnamon. the aroma is whisky and oatmeal with hints of malt and molasses. The first sip is roasted malt freshly ground coffee, espresso and chocolate. The body is light and airy with hints of dusky dried fruit. There is some distant woodsmoke on the middle with a touch of ashes on the finish.  Aeration gives us some vanilla, rum, whiskey notes with touches of oak and caramel.

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:

This is a very good stout and one I would love to crack in front of a roaring fire. Especially if that fire was in a cabin on the shores of Lake Superior in a snowstorm. Very Christmassy, and quite tasty.

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 13: Breakfast Stout by Founder's

Beer # 472 Breakfast Stout

Brewery: Founder's Brewing Company


Type: National Brewery Partial owned by Mahou-San Miguel  
Est.:  1996

Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Beer Style: Flavoured Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 8.3%      IBU: 60

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 355 ml

Cost: $3.45 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 foundersbrewing

    @foundersbrewing

Ontario Label

Tonight's offering is from a company who has had some trouble with the labelling of their beers. They had to remove an image of a Mountie from their Canadian Breakfast Stout due to trademark infringement. Later, this beer's label came into question for another reason. On the left, you will see the bottle as I received it... a hand holding an oatmeal bowl... Appropriate for an oatmeal breakfast stout. But below, you will see an image of the bottle from Founder's website, showing that the bowl is cropped out of a larger picture. In the original, which I am assuming is some sort of parody of the "Gerber Baby" or other such ads from the turn of the century, depicts a toddler happily eating oatmeal. Well, this contravenes a lot of advertising laws. Depicting minors in alcohol or cigarette ads and labelling is a huge no-no in most areas. I'm assuming this includes Ontario where I bought this beer.  

Aside from that This is one of the best-rated beers and one of the more talked about on some of the other beer sites. And I was curious to find out what all the hype was about.

Onto our beer...

Michigan Label

Pours a very dark brown with a deep tan head made of small bubbles. Nose is molasses and brown sugar with a massive amount of coffee. First sip is deep roasted malt some sweetness, a nice bitter hit of coffee, cocoa nib and chocolate. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth almost velvety. Hints of woody whiskey. Aeration spikes up the taste of brown sugar chocolate and mellows out the slightly bitter coffee.

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:

This is a very good oatmeal stout, warm, smooth, flavourful. A great beer for sipping in the winter. Is it a perfect beer like it's rating on Rate Beer claims? Hmmm... I don't think so. I've had better... not many, but a couple. However, this is still a very, very good beer and controversy over its label or not... try this one out and let me know what you think.


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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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 7: Sigtuna Brygghus Midvinterblot

Beer # 255 Midvinterblot

Sigtuna Brygghus

Sigtuna, Sweden
Microbrewery
Imperial Porter 8.0% ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 330ml
$3.70 (Canadian) At LCBO

Twitter: @SigtunaBr


So today for my 7th instalment of this year's 2-4 Beers of Christmas I actually get to try my very first Swedish beer. It's been awhile since I have crossed a new country off of my list. I looked them up online, and while there is a great website for the brewers Sigtuna, the information is in Swedish, and Google translate does not like Swedish. What I did get is that Sigtuna was formed in 2005. They drew inspiration from the craft beers of New York and Boston. The required a large investment to expand the brewery in 2011 and have grown their sales over 600%. They brew 3 core brands and numerous seasonal some of which have won awards.

Translated by Google

Bork, Bork, Bork...

Onto the tasting.

Pours and extremely dark brown to almost black with a short tan head made up of small to medium bubbles. Head disperses quickly. Aroma is an earthy chocolate coffee and leather. Notes of clay and minerals. There is some oaty sweetness. A little smoke and ashes on the first sip with some wood notes, burnt sugar, and tobacco. You feel the alcohol in your nose as you breathe out. Some vanilla and caramel too. Light in body but long on taste. Some molasses and figs. Aeration gives us molasses a slight rum flavour and some raisins on the finish.

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:

This is the kind of Christmas beer I have been looking forward to. Rich and flavourful, yet still light bodied. A good beer to try and happy this was my first from Sweden

CJT


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Beer # 122 Arch Brewing Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA

Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA

Arch Brewing Company

Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Independent
IPA 6.3% ABV Aluminium Can 473 ml
$2.85 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @ArchBrewingCo

Tonight we are trying a new beer that I just came across from a new brewery I hadn't heard of yet. Arch Brewing Company is a contract brewery that utilises the facilities at  the Wellington Brewery in Guelph Ontario. Run by husband and wife team Sue and Bill King, who brew with the jet setting brewmaster to the stars Paul Dickey; who has worked with craft brewing Icons such as Dennison's, Black Oak, Mill Street, Kensington's, and Claude and Nathan's Double Trouble Brewing (where he formulated a Pint Jockey Fav: Hops and Robbers). Most Recently he created the debut beer for Sue and Bill: Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA. The O in O'Red stands for oatmeal. and I must admit this is the first time I have seen it in an IPA.

Enough backstory... onto the tasting:

Dark amber to light chestnut in colour with a small off-white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is light malt, some sugar, and a touch of bread. First sip is roasty and malty, very light, slightly thin but still refreshing. Drinks similarly to an English Bitter ale. Caramel and brown sugar through the middle, finishing is a hoppy, green, bitter finish. Despite being 6.3 % ABV the feeling of the beer is very light. Aeration gives us sweet caramel, taffy and light malt.

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:

A very good brew and a wonderful first offering from Arch. Hopefully we will see more from them in the future.
Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 104 Trafalgar Ale and Meads Smoked Oatmeal Stout

Smoked Oatmeal Stout

Trafalgar Ale and Meads

Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Smoked Oatmeal Stout 5.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$4.55 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @trafalgarales

Today's beer has the more tenuous connection to the St. Patrick's Day beers I have in my fridge of fame this week. Its only connection is that it's a stout, and Ireland is famous for stouts... and it's made with oatmeal. But it was available at my local and I decided to throw one into the mix anyway. I haven't been down to Trafalgar in a while, they are an excellent brewery West of Toronto and they produce some very interesting brews. Including a couple of very high alcohol brews "Black Bullet" and "Korruptor." (neither of which I can seem to find anymore... someone message me if they are still being made?)

Enough reminiscing... onto the beer.

Inky dark brown in colour with a light tan head made up of small bubbles that disperse quickly. Opaque but with a slight reddish hue when held up to the light. Aroma is sweet, dark, syrupy, molasses, and roasted malt, with just a hint of whiskey barrel. First sip reveals a beautifully light and refreshing ale with fruity hints. There is sweetness at all levels through the taste and the smoke holds out for the very end, like a distant fire smelled across a snowy field at night. Excellently balanced between sweet, smoke, malt, and molasses. Aeration gives us a hint of the oatmeal and more smoke.

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 beer is the antithesis of what the layman considers a "Dark" or "Stout" beer... but in a good way. This is what a stout SHOULD taste like. Restorative, refreshing, not a lot of alcohol, light bodied, and fruity. The smoke in this is perfect it is not distracting from the beer as many other smoked beers I have tried. It sets up a foundation, a backbone that the rest of the flavours can build on. In a world where everything is taken to excess, where, more hops, more smoke, more everything is quickly becoming the norm... It is nice to find a beer that is what it is advertised as, a good easy drinking brew. Highly drinkable, definite reorder, but always better to share with a friend.

Cheers
CJT


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