The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2019 Day: 3 Choqlette Porter Bomber Brewing Company

Beer # 503 Choqlette Porter

Brewery: Bomber Brewing Company


Type: Independent Brewery    Est.:  2015

Location: Vancouver, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Flavoured American Porter

ABV: 5.5%      IBU: 18

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: ?     Purchased At: Gift

bomberbrewing

    @bomberbrewing

So I had this can given to me as it is not sold in Ontario right now. I have tried to at least find a price online but to no avail. It is a regular seasonal at Bomber Brewing in East Vancouver. The beer is brewed with Chocolate malt and cocoa powder in the mash and then has cocoa nibs and Aramis hops added in for more flavour. It is brewed in the American Porter style which is quite wide-ranging and forgiving but is most notable for having either chocolate or coffee added to compliment the malt.

Onto our beer...

Pours a dark chestnut colour with a solid tan head made up of small to tiny bubbles. The aroma is very malt-forward with strong notes of chocolate red wine and hints of coffee. There are earthy tones with hints of bread and some mushrooms. The first sip is light-bodied full of cocoa powder lightly charred toast deep brown sugars and some caramels. Aeration gives us some rum notes and hints of coffee and fruit.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: -/6 N/A was gifted the beer
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

This is a pretty good beer; lots of flavour and a light body. It just doesn't wow me as much as I thought it would. Give it a try if you can find it.
CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 17: Trash Panda Hazy IPA by Parallel 49

Beer # 476 Trash Panda Hazy IPA

Brewery: Parallel 49 Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2015

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Beer Style: New England India Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%      IBU: 55

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 parallel49beer

    @Parallel49Beer

Ok this beer wins the award for my favourite name for this #2-4BeersofChristmas. I'm a big Marvel fan and one of my favourite scenes from Guardians of the Galaxy part 2 Involves The lovable Rocket Raccoon being called a "Trash Panda" by Star-Lord... Which always brought up the question: If Star-Lord left Earth in the late 1980's How would he have known the term Trash Panda since it didn't get coined until the age of the Meme in the 2010's? Oh well... can be any more unbelievable than his Sony Walkman lasting for 25 years without breaking down...

The beer tonight is a "hazy IPA" but it is, in reality, a New England IPA which is an unfiltered Fruit Bomb of an IPA style.

Onto our beer...

Pours a hazy medium gold with a huge white fluffy head made up of medium bubbles (which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I dropped the can on my foot before I opened it...) The aroma is grapey, grassy and full of spice. First sip gives us a light, airy, and spicy New England style IPA with caramel and malt. Tropical fruits dominate the middle with grapefruit being the star. Malt builds toward the finish with a lingering hint of grape. Aeration brings out the spicy hops.

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 light, fresh, and tasty NEIPA. Very refined and balanced, maybe not worthy of it's "Trashy" title but it is a great addition to our list this year.


Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas: Day 3 Lion's Winter Ale

Beer # 166 Lion's Winter Ale

Granville Island Brewing Company

Vancouver and Kelowna British Columbia, Canada
Operated by Six Pints Speciality Brewing Company
Craft Division of MolsonCoors
Wet Hop Pale Ale 5.3 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$7.95 (Canadian) At the LCBO
Twitter: @Itsgoodtobehere 

Our third instalment of the 2-4 Beers of Christmas is an offering from Granville Island which was a small craft brewery started in downtown Vancouver and later moved it's main production to Kelowna. It was then bought out by Molson (prior to the merger with Coors) and is now directed by it's subsidiary company Six Pints Speciality Brewing company which also manages Creemore Springs Brewery in Ontario.

Onto the Tasting...



Pours a clear chestnut brown with an off tan head made of tiny bubbles. The aroma is all about the cocoa and vanilla. The aroma is very intense and makes me worry that it is artificial. The malt is slightly sour and the flavour is very intense. The body is very thin and weak and the taste profile falls flat after the initial attack. The cocoa hangs on almost cloying, and dries the tongue. Aeration gives us more intense cocoa and vanilla and not much else.




Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 



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


Final Thoughts:


Not a fan of this beer it is too thin and the flavours are too intense making me think they are artificial (the can claims they are natural). 

Cheers And Beery Christmas


CJT


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Beer # 157 Sun of Hop Parallel 49 Brewing Company

Sun of Hop


Parallel 49 Brewing Company

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Independent
Belgian Golden Ale 5.1 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml.
$5.00 (Canadian) At BC Liquor Stores
Twitter: @Parallel49Beer

I was struck at first with the interesting label of this beer. I have seen many gimmicky labels over time, some flashy some very plain, but this one intrigued me. The Label is an obvious riff on the classic "Son of Man" (1964) by famed Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte (below left). You have my attention Parallel 49. Belgian art with a Belgian Golden Ale, I am digging the connection. 

Enough Art for art's sake... Onto the beer.

Son of Man (1964)

Clear gold with a distinct green tinge. Soft white head made up of tiny bubbles disperses quickly. Baking spice on the nose, some starchy, fruity hints, light green hops some medicinal qualities. First sip is clove that gives over to banana very quickly, then to toasted wheat. Tart green hops mingle with the malted grain near the finish. Aeration whips the beer up into a bit of a froth, with a super creamy mouthfeel. Bitter green herbs come out in the aeration as does a slight nuttiness, with more fresh ground clove and banana.

 Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

Not the most thrilling Belgian Golden I have tried but definitely drinkable. It is a back porch chilling, or patio people watching beer. Perhaps you can discuss Rene Magritte or the state of modern art and surrealism in post World War 2 Europe.
Just a suggestion...

Cheers


CJT



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Beer # 59 English Bay Pale Ale

English Bay Pale Ale

Granville Island Brewing Company 
Headquartered on Granville Island Vancouver B.C. Main Brewery in Kelowna B.C. Canada (Owned by  Six Pints Specialty Beer Co. a Separate Business Unit of MolsonCoors Canada )

West Coast Pale Ale 5.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 341 ml.

$12.95 per six pack (Canadian) At LCBO.

Twitter: @itsgoodtobehere


Wow. Yet another month has passed between blog posts. I had a whole plan of doing a number of Canadian Beers all through the month of July for the Canada day celebration. Best laid plans I guess. So I have three days to fit them all in. I am starting on the west coast and I have a few entries from different provinces. I am going to culminate with a Scottish beer (yes Scots are Canadians too!) that was aged in Canadian Whiskey Barrels.


Tonight's offering is a blast from my past. Vancouver is quite possibly one of my most favourite Canadian cities, and in the heart of this beautiful harbour is a tiny place called Granville Island. Ganville Island is a 35 acre reclaimed pair of sand bars that had previously served the Vancouver area First Nations as a fishing corral. As the Europeans settled, the small town of "Granville" was renamed Vancouver, and industrialisation began. In 1915 in a desparate search began for land along the newly laid CPR Rail line with access to the harbour. As a solution, the town council of Vancouver approved the dredging of False Creek and the expansion of the sand bars that became "Industrial Island." With great fortune the name didn't stick and people began calling it Granville Island after the steel bridge that crossed False Creek right above it and that still casts a shadow on the island to this day.


After the war, industry on the island began to decline, pollution filled the creek, fires ravaged the gradually emptying buildings and constant battles were being waged between the young city and delinquent businesses. So a new reclamation project began and Vancouver began to develop the island to be a meeting place for the people. A fresh market was opened and is one of the most important markets in Canada to this day. The Emily Carr University of Art and design was opened. Numerous artists and craft shops have also taken up residence making Granville island one of Vancouver's "Must See" locations. It was also here in 1984 when Mitch Taylor opened Canada's very first microbrewery: Granville Island Brewing Company. Their first beer was Granville Island lager which was followed up with Lord Granville Pale Ale in 1987, Subsequently this beer was renamed after the body of water that False Creek drains into: English Bay.


I first visited the brwery in 1997 and had my first taste of English Bay back then. Since then Granville Island expanded and moved it's main production facilities to the town of Kelowna in the interior of B.C. The headquarters still has an operating brewery which is used mainly for test batches, and is the location of the "Taproom." In 2009 Granville was sold by it's majority shareholder Andre's Wines, to Creemore Springs Brewing Company of Ontario, operating under the direction of the then Molson Canada. This year MolsonCoors decided to refocus it's craft beer division into a new business: Six Pints Specialty Beer Co. which will direct Creemore and Granville and allow them the freedom they need to operate their craft breweries.


Enough already... to the beer!


Dark copper in colour, yeast and bread on the nose. Light hints of herbs and medicine. Off white head made up of small bubbles. First sip gives us caramel, oiliness, black tea. Roasted malt flavour throughout well balanced  clean dry finish. There is an indescribable smell in almost every brewery. It's a warm, dry, inviting, sugary smell of malted barley cooking in the kettles. The finish of this beer captures the essence of that smell. That taste of the slowly simmering grains remains, keeping this beer very fresh and delightful.

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:

A wonderful malty, easy drinking beer. Excellent with food (I had BBQ ribs... ) Just as good as the day I had it in the brewery. I hope that is one thing that never changes. This beer reminds me of my time out west and brings back great memories. In fact it has made my feet itchy, and begs to lure me back to Vancouver. Some day... some day soon.


Cheers

CJT