Beer # 114 Double Trouble Brewing Co. Fire in the Rye

Fire in the Rye

Double Trouble Brewing Co.

Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Unfiltered Rye Pale Ale 6.1% ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$2.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @hopsandrobbers

This will be my third Claude and Nathan brew I have tried, sadly I believe it the first that has made it onto my blog, a fact that I will have to correct soon because Double Trouble makes good beer. Their flagship beer Hops and Robbers has been my goto summer beer here at Pint Jockey Headquarters for the past 2 years and is frequently the guest star at our BBQs (it makes an awesome beer butt chicken!!) Tonight's brew is a roasted RPA or Rye Pale Ale, Which is a relatively new style on the craft market that I am seriously getting behind. It is a great way for brewers to update an old standard and infuse more flavour into what would otherwise be just "another IPA." Claude and Nathan use a fire roasted rye malt and hop it exclusively with Centennial hops to produce a straightforward but very flavourful beer.

Enough already... onto the tasting.

Dark amber to a light chestnut in colour with and off white, grey tinged head made up of medium sized bubbles. Aroma is very nutty especially almond, sweet and woodsy. First taste gives us roasted grain, and toasted bread, smoke, wood, transforming into a light floral middle with green hints of hay, alfalfa, and geraniums. The rye is very evident, very bready and sweet. The style is excellent giving me all I could ask for, from a pale ale. Alcohol is evident but not overwhelming. Aeration gives us a very clean crisp and light clover honey taste. The 60 IBU hums a little on the finish with a mild bitterness, just enough to clean up the taste buds ready for another sip.

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:

Very high marks to this beer. A wonderful well put together brew. Excellent flavour; another great summer sipper. Rush out and get one of these. I will definitely be trying this next time we BBQ chicken.

Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 113 Trou du Diable La Morsure

La Morsure 

Micro-Brasserie Le Trou Du Diable

Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada
Independent
Unfiltered APA 6.5% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 600 ml
$6.35 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @troududiable

Named after a reputedly bottomless whirlpool on the Saint-Maurice River, Le Trou du Diable (the Devil's Hole) is  small brewery in the city of Shawinigan in the Province of Quebec. They first gained fame outside of their home province for naming one of their beers "The Shawinigan Handshake." Which, if you are not familiar with Canadian history, refers to an incident where former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was being obstructed by a protester in Hull Quebec, he grabbed the man in a choke hold and threw him to the ground. Jean Chrétien was of course born and raised in Shawinigan. I am very happy to say I met the Prime Minister and shook the very big hand in question. ( and am very very glad it was never wrapped around my neck I can tell you!) Tonight's beer is, maybe not as steeped in history as that but it does have another unusual name. La Morsure, for those who don't speak French, translates as "The Bite."

Onto the tasting... allons-y!


Pale cloudy gold in colour with a large fluffy white head made up of small to medium sized bubbles. Cloudy with a touch of yeast sediment. Aroma is very green, lots of vegetation, herbs and light fruit essences, grape and apple. First sip is very light and smooth almost creamy. There is some sugar and a slight hint of caramel, but the malt is not the major player here. The yeast is the key in this beer. Just like a wine that has been left on the "lees" the leftover yeast in the bottle has softened the beer, making it smooth and creamy with a mouthfeel similar to a chardonnay that has undergone Malo-Lactic Fermentation. There is a light pine scent and mild herbaceous taste from the hops which balances out the creaminess of the yeast. Aeration tweaks the senses with grapefruit, a touch of pine, and a tingle of the high alcohol on the tongue.

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:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

This is an excellent beer. Very unusual in that one does not often see an APA treated... with such reserve. Usually brewers try to cram so many different hops in and play with the steeping and boiling times to maximise intense hoppiness. Bold fruits and searing pine seem to be the way to go with the APA. However, here the the brewer has brought out the softer side of the APA. It is almost the demur feminine side of the beer.

Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 77 Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale

Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale


Thornbridge Brewery
Bakewell, England, U.K.
Independent
Pale Ale, Unfiltered 5.2% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$4.75 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Twitter: @thornbridge

Another offering from the interesting gentlemen from Bakewell. Kipling, billed as a "South Pacific Pale ale"... due to the exclusive use of the Nelson Sauvin hops variety (developed in New Zealand and named for it's characteristic gooseberry aroma which is most often found in Sauvignon Blanc wines). Bottle did contain some sediment but not as much as the previous beer I had from this brewery "Jaipur".


Without further ado:


Pours light bronze in the glass with a frothy white head made up of medium sized bubbles. Aroma is all tropical, gooseberry, passion fruit, and guava. Fruit also leads the charge in the attack , but is slowly overtaken by a warm malty taste. Toased malt burnt sugars and a slight bitterness counterbalances the sweetness in the brew, oaky and slightly earthy. Finish is toasted malt with a hint of herbals. Aeration pulls out more papaya - mango, and very earthy grain flavours.



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:

A very good use of the Nelson Sauvin Hop variety. I think we will be seeing it used more and more in the coming years, as brewers experiment with a wider flavour pallet, and deeper complexities.


Cheers
CJT


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Beer # 76 Jaipur IPA

Jaipur IPA


Thornbridge Brewery
Bakewell, England, U.K.
Independent
India Pale Ale, Unfiltered 5.9% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$4.55 (Canadian) At LCBO.


Twitter: @thornbridge


Thornbridge is a young, but already, quite renowned brewery, that has received many awards in their short 7 year history. Started in 2005 on the grounds of Thornbridge Hall in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The brewery has been led by an erudite collaboration of no less than 8 people over the years (as some member have moved on to other projects). The brewers have a diverse history, from microbiologists to chefs, food technologists, brewers distillers, and a New Zealand Homebrewing Champion. From what seems a very chaotic mix of managers, comes a harmonious product. Thornbridge has been awarded over 130 brewing awards and distinctions, and as we will see tonight... they know what they doing. Since they have opened the sales have increased almost exponentially, requiring a move off of the old Hall brewing grounds to a larger purpose built facility, called the Riverside Brewery.


Enough history... onto the beer.


It pours a slightly cloudy, off clear gold. Head is fluffy and white made up of medium sized bubbles. Aroma is floral with hints of honey, lychee, and grapefruit. First sip gives us a burst of aromatic herbal hops, then slides through a sweet malt, and finishes with a tangy grapefruit. Finish is fairly short with a touch of hay and pricks of citrus. Aeration turns the grapefruit up to 11, and brings out a very mineral, flinty, stony flavour. Also present is some yeasty, bready character ( more than likely due to the sediment, as it is unfiltered.)



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:

Very interesting, lovely little brew. Quite tasty and not what I would expect from a British Brewery, as it has more of an American craft IPA feel to it. Not a hop bomb, per se, but the hops are very present, and not shy. The balance of the hops is calculated and appreciated, leaving us with a flavourful and well rounded beer. I must note, that when I first brought the bottle home I did not read the label and stored it immediately on it's side in my wine cooler. When I initially took it out to taste, I noticed the sediment. Then I read the warning that the bottle had to be stored upright. Lesson learned, I actually left it for a few days in my refrigerator to completely settle, and I still see a fairly large mass of unfiltered yeast at the bottom of the bottle.(DO NOT FEAR THE SEDIMENT!!) I am not worried at all as sediment can be the sign of a very good beer. Leaving a beer unfiltered can often present us with some flavours that are lost during the filtering and pasteurization process, try it, you may like it.


Cheers


CJT


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Beer # 64 Hitachino Nest White Ale

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Kiuchi Brewery
Kounosu Naka-Shi Ibaraki, Japan (Independent)

Belgium Style Wheat 5.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.

$3.85 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Today is International Beer day and to celebrate I have a couple of international beers to post. First trip out we are heading to Japan to a place that was ravaged by the earthquake earlier this year. The brewery in question had some roof damage, heaved roadways, a broken bottling line, and *Gulp* 500 smashed bottles of product and 800L of lost sake! But in true rebounding spirit, the brewery fixed it's bottling line and began bottling water to aid survivors and rescue crews during the clean-up of one of the worst earthquakes in Japanese history. The Brewery has since restarted and is back up to full capacity.


Kiuchi Brewery began life in 1823 when it's founder Kiuchi Gihei started a small sake operation. Over their 180 years they perfected the art of sakes and decided to expand. in 1996 They began the Hitachino Nest beer line and began using the iconic "white owl" as the logo for the beer. The brewery also makes Shochu a rice wine that is part rocket fuel. As of 2004 Kiuchi had started purchasing grapes with the intent of making wine.

Onto tonight's tasting:

Washed out straw colour, translucent with copious amounts of sediment and particulate. Head is bright with small bubbles and short lived. Cinnamon and clove on nose with slight mustiness. Dry wheat sweet flavour of concentrated orange juice and bitter orange peel. Aeration brings out orange peel and sharply bitter hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

                                                                                                               

Cost:  5/6  PASS

Colour:  5/6  PASS        

Beer Style:  5/6 PASS  

Re-Order:  4/6 PASS   

Experience:   4/6  PASS

Final Thoughts:
I was excited to try this beer as I had only previously had the Japanese staples (Sapporo and Kirin) It does reflect the Belgium style for a wheat beer, but it is not spectacular. 


Cheers
CJT