FUNKFEST 2018: Pint Jockey (Sorta) Live Blog # 4

FUNKFEST 2018

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 431 to 440

Beer: Changeover IPA with Brett

Stack: Changeover

Brewery:  Stack Brewing
Location: Sudbury, Ontario

Style: Sour IPA
ABV: 5.5 %
Colour: Dark Gold
Aroma: Off Flavours
Thoughts: Sample probably has gone bad... No notes.
Funk Factor: 0/6

Beer: Barrel-aged No WITnesses

Stack: Barrel-aged No WITnesses

Brewery:  Stack Brewing
Location: Sudbury, Ontario 

Style: Sour Wit beer
ABV: 5.0 %
Colour: medium gold
Aroma: Woody nose
Thoughts: Tart and lots of wood. Sweet caramel and cheek pucker.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Dry-Hopped Sour

Side Launch: Dry-Hopped Sour

Brewery:  Side Launch Brewing

Location: Collingwood, Ontario

Style: Dry-hopped sour ale

ABV: 4.2 %

Colour: light gold

Aroma: Light citrus

Thoughts: Sweet citrus and berry with hints of caramel. Too easy drinking, good patio sipper
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Amarillo Sour

Shacklands: Amarillo Sour

Brewery:  Shacklands Brewing Company

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 4.5 %

Colour: Cloudy light gold

Aroma: Wheat and bananas

Thoughts: heaps of banana and clove nice sour bite rounded out with toast and biscuit. Finishes up with floral hop notes.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: RaspBretty Bates

Brewery:  Shacklands Brewing Company

Shacklands: RaspBretty Bates

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: American Wild Ale

ABV: 6.4 %

Colour: Salmon red/ orange

Aroma: Earthy and sour

Thoughts: Complex fruity sour with bright raspberry and earthy tones highlighted with lots of brett. Finishes up with a nice caramel. 
Funk Factor: 7/6

Beer: No Sleep Till Berlin

Royal City: No Sleep Till Berlin

Brewery:  Royal City Brewing Company

Location: Guelph, Ontario

Style: Sour Berliner Weisse

ABV: 4.5 %

Colour: Slightly cloudy light gold

Aroma: Fruity and Citrus

Thoughts: Smooth sour citrus floral and fruity, clean dry and quite hoppy.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Brett Quad

Royal City: Brett Quad

Brewery:  Royal City Brewing Company
Location: Guelph, Ontario 

Style: Quadruppel with Brett

ABV: 10.9 %
IBU: 45

Colour: Very dark Chestnut almost black

Aroma: Warm funky wood and barrel

Thoughts: Rich very sticky on the lips molasses, wood, leather, and cocoa. Absolutely delicious. This was Probably the best beer of the day.
Funk Factor: 7/6

Beer: Blueberry Sour

Rouge River: Blueberry Sour

Brewery: Rouge River Brewing Company 

Location: Markham, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Sour Ale

ABV: 5.0 %

Colour: Blueberry red/ purple

Aroma: Nose is very wheaty with good hints of fruit

Thoughts: Very tart with blueberries, warm and sweet smooth and fruity. Quite nice.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: 2018 Barrel-Aged Apricot Sour

Rouge River: 2018 Barrel-aged
Apricot Sour

Brewery: Rouge River Brewing Company 
Location: Markham, Ontario 

Style: Barrel-aged flavoured sour

ABV: 5.8 %

Colour: Slightly cloudy yellow gold

Aroma: Wheaty and citrus

Thoughts: Wheaty and warm with bright citrus and muted apricot.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Mario Anbretti

Redline: Mario Anbretti

Brewery: Redline Brewhouse

Location: Barrie  Ontario

Style: Sour Pale Ale

ABV: 5.7 %

Colour: Cloudy light gold

Aroma: Off aromas

Thoughts: Sour, wet dog, off flavours. The sample has likely gone bad.
Funk Factor: 0/6

Side Launch Pale Ale

Beer # 227 Side Launch Pale Ale

Side Launch Brewing Company
Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery
Pale Ale
5.3 % ABV IBU: 35 Aluminum Can 473 ml
$3.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 

Twitter: @sidelaunch

Another offering from the good people of Side Launch in Collingwood.The second of their three core beers, tonight's brew is a Canadian Pale Ale, but to me it is very reminiscent of a British Pale. 

Onto our tasting:
Pours a brassy gold with a massive off-white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is a toasty, citrus with note of hay and straw. First sip is deeply herbal with fresh bitter hops, clean and light and very refreshing. There is dandelion and chicory, some mild bitterness towards the end clean fresh malt taste and a touch of caramel. Aeration gives us a funky green herbal hoppiness, and a touch of bitterness on the finish to clean up the palate.

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:

An excellent take on the Pale ale style. Easy drinking and delicious. This will be a very good beer for you patio consideration this year. Try one soon.

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 137 Side Launch Wheat

Side Launch Wheat

Side Launch Brewing Company

Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Wheat 5.0 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$3.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @sidelaunch

Side Launch is a relatively new brewery in the Collingwood area of Ontario. Rich in shipbuilding history, naturally the brewery took on a nautical theme. Side Launch is a specific way to launch a large ship such as the grain carriers that were built in Collingwood to sail the Great Lakes. The video below from Youtube shows the recent side launch (December 2013) of the Littoral Combat Ship Milwaukee as an example. As you can see The ship leans over dramatically in the water, and accidents were common.




Back to Collingwood. Side Launch (the brewery) is a collaboration between Dennison's Brewpub founder and brewmaster Michael Hancock and a group of investors that wanted to bring a craft brewery to the Collingwood area. Side Launch as of yet doesn't seem to have a website (as they are technically still in the opening stages) but I found this announcement on the Dennison's Brewing Company's old website here. Dennison's had been without a home since 2003. Brewing it's two remaining brands by license at other breweries, Dennison's was mainly supplying kegs to craft beer bars in Toronto (ie C'est What, Bar Volo, and the Only Cafe). Then Hancock was offered the opportunity to become head brewer at the new venture in Collingwood where he brought his two well established beers and re branded them. Dennison's Dunkel  became Side Launch Dark Lager, and Weissbier became tonight's offering: Side Launch Wheat. Later this summer, a new beer is due out. A Side Launch Pale ale... which I am very excited to get my hands on.

Onto the Tasting... Launch away!


Colour is translucent light gold with a thin white head made of small bubbles. Aromas are banana and clove. Taste is sweet banana and spice followed by malted wheat. Slightly tinny. Lightly sour on the finish. Some citrus aeration gives us a burst of cloves 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:  4/6 PASS


Final Thoughts: 

A very good beer. It is the same recipe as the original weissbeer, the only thing different is the source of the water. My one and only complaint is that I feel this beer suffered from being canned. As it is such a light citrusy and vibrant beer the tinny under note really detracted from the flavour. I will stick to drinking this one on tap. But please, get out there and try this beer. Not only does it mark a new day for brewing in Collingwood, it honours a tradition of brewing in Toronto.
Cheers


CJT



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