Double Russian Imperial Stouts By Innocente Brewing

A couple of Imperial stouts I picked up when I was in Waterloo and I felt it would be great for a side by side tasting.  Both of these stouts were aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels,  the first for 2 years and the second for 3. Let's get stuck in... 


Beer # 456 Until Proven Guilty  2015 Russian Imperial Stout

Brewery: Innocente Brewing Company



Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2014

Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels

ABV: 11.9%      IBU: ?

Format: Bottle  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $11.95 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

Pours a super dark chestnut, almost black with a very dark tan head made up of small bubbles. Nose is creamy with hints of aged cheese. Large spike of alcohol smell with a warm note of whiskey wood and old leather. First sip is very dry wood with lots of smoky leather. It is a deep contemplative sipper, complex, warming, dusty and earthy. Takes a long time to open up. Hints of meatiness, smoky sausage, umami. Aeration brings out more woodiness, soy sauce and Worcestershire.

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











Beer # 457 Until Proven Guilty  2014 Russian Imperial Stout

Beer Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels

ABV: 11.9%      IBU: ?

Format: Bottle  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $12.95 CAD     Purchased At: The Brewery

What a difference a year makes. 

The colour is the same, but the head is thinner. The nose is rich chocolate brandy and whiskey. Overwhelming, barrel influence, some corn, malt, molasses, and an almost medicinal nose. First sip is dry earthy and whiskey with hints of wood, fig and prune Taste is more closed than it's younger brother while the nose is wildly exciting. Some cooked and off notes with hints of oxidation. Aeration is hard, alcohol is very high but brings out a winey, grapey flavour with hints of caramel and tawny port.


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

Both are Excellent beers. The 2015 just edges out the 2014 in my opinion. I'm not sure if the extra year in wood oxidised the beer or what but there was just a certain something off about it. The aroma is fantastic but the body of the beer is just off somehow. Both are worth trying if there is any of the dwindling supply left.


Cheers

CJT

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Sothern Ontario Road Trip Day 3: Rose tint my world keep me safe from my trouble and pain

Our last day in Stratford started at my favourite coffee spot in the town Balzac's. Great coffee in a rickety old building. I had the "Las Rosas" a coffee produced by a Collection of 400 Female coffee growers dedicated to supporting women in the coffee industry. It was a perfect post-theatre buzz pick me up (seriously my body was still vibrating with excitement! it was such a good show!). The long trip home was supposed to include a couple of stops but The beer gods were not on my side. First I tried to get to Shakespeare Brewing Company which is in the nearby town of Shakespeare, just outside of Stratford. Sadly... they were closed. So I took a picture of their hops. Next year when we go to see "Little Shop of Horrors" we will stop in... and maybe make an appointment. So after some careful GPS reconsideration, we pointed the Beermobile North- East to Kitchener-Waterloo and headed to Innocente Brewing... which was open. Later we tried to have lunch at Elora Brewing Company, however, the Town of Elora must have been having the busiest day of the year and we could not find a table... In the WHOLE TOWN! the streets were super crowded with tourists, we just wanted a beer and a burger... but no dice. We ate pate and cheese with grapes in the Beermobile and bought some beer to take home (No drinking and driving kids!).

Innocente Brewing Company

Another non-descript brewery stuck in a suburban commercial development that totally belies the hidden beauty of this little spot. Such a warm and cosy space despite the noise and traffic and construction outside. The leather couches are comfy and inviting and the brewery gleams. The panoramic shot above does not even properly convey how nice this place is. You may have to click the picture and blow it up... better yet head out on a road trip and check this place out.

Beer # 452: Tafelbeir Belgian Table Beer

Tafelbeir

ABV: 3.1%    IBU: ?

Cloudy blonde with a grain-forward nose. Clove and banana with a wheaty, green, herbal and citrus body.




Beer # 453: Inn O'Slante Irish Red

Inn O'Slante Irish Red (almost forgot picture)

ABV: 5.0%    IBU: 18

Very dark crimson with a lacy head. Nose is sweet smoky malt. the first sip is all smoke and deeply roasted malt spice, wood, and caramel round out the body. The finish is a nice clean bitter green hops.




Beer # 454: Charcoal Porter (Forgot Picture)

ABV: 5.1%    IBU: 25

Very dark chestnut with a thin lacing of head. Smoky malt nose with an underlying sweetness. The initial attack is smoked meat a big round umami flavour. Smoke, malt, and caramel fill ou the middle. Very well balanced with a light mouthfeel. Finish is quite fruity.



Beer # 455: Two Night Stand Double IPA

Two Night Stand Double IPA

ABV: 8.5%    IBU: 100

Brassy gold in colour with a light lacy head. Intense pine and citrus nose. Very warming, well-balanced pine and malt. Lips are left sticky with a pineapple and guava finish spiked with hints of bitter hops.

Final Thoughts

Such a neat place, and wonderfully crafted beers. Just go there... you will enjoy it.

Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 11: Waterloo Roggenbier Applewood Smoked.

Beer # 259 Roggenbier

Waterloo Brewing Company 

Waterloo and Formosa, Ontario, Canada
Independent Brewery

Roggenbier, Applewood Smoke 5.3% ABV 
Aluminium Can 473 ml.

$2.75 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Twitter: @brickbrewery


Roggenbier means rye beer in German. I love rye beers and I was very intrigued by this one. Smoked beers, or Rauchbiers in German are also quite common so I was keen to try this beer that attempted to blend both styles.

Onto the smoke...

Pours a very dark chestnut with a tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is German rye bread with frying bacon. First sip fully delivers on the meaty promise of bacon in the nose. This beer tastes like breakfast to me! Hints of applewood smoke make me think of smoked English cheddar as well. Light in body but big on taste. Taste is slightly monochromatic though. The smoked rye certainly dominates the foreground of the taste. Unfortunately on the background of the taste I am picking up some chemicals, and creosote, some flavours that taste more like the chimney than the smoker. So I sadly believe that the rye, in this instance, has been over-smoked. Aeration gives us distant coal-fires, and wood-fire bread ovens. Finish is harsh bitter chemicals and carbonised wood.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 





Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 1/6 FAIL
Re-Order:  1/6 FAIL
Experience: 1/6 FAIL
Christmas Cheer:  1/6 FAIL

Final Thoughts:

This beer started out with so much promise and then dropped the ball in a big way. The aroma and nuances of the first sip of the beer made me long for breakfast; then the middle and the finish reminded me of cleaning the wood stove pipes at the old Farmhouse I grew up in. Toss this one into the avoid list for now. I hope they re-release this with better smoked rye in it, because if they do it right, I would love this beer.


Cheers

CJT


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Beer # 63 Radlermass

Radlermass

Brick Brewing Company 
Waterloo and Formosa, Ontario, Canada (Independent)

Radlermass or Alsterwasser 4.8% ABV Tall Can 473 ml.

$2.75 (Canadian) At LCBO.


Today's beer is more of a beer flavoured drink that a beer itself. 
Radlermass or Alsterwasser as defined by the German Beer Institute, is a blend of Lager and a lemonade or lemon soda. In England this is know as a Shandy. The story is best told from the back of the Waterloo can below:


"After World War I, bicycle riding became popular in Germany. A local innkeeper opened his own watering hole and arranged for a bike trail through Munich to his alpine meadow, only to find some 13,000 cyclists had descended upon his establishment and almost depleted him of his fine beer. Quick thinking led him to mix a stock of lemon soda with his remaining beer and he called it Radlermass (Radler meaning cyclist and Mass means litre of beer in German), which became a wonderful refreshing summer drink."

Brick Brewing Company is Ontario's first craft brewery. Opened in 1984 by Jim Brickman, Brick has grown substantially, producing a number of award winning beers. Brick started the "Buck a Beer" war in 2004 with it's Laker series, and the annoying catchy jingle "...Make 'er a Laker, it's a buck a beer." They also purchased and revived the Formosa Brewing company From Molson Canada and in the process salvaged the Fromosa Springs beer label. They also played upon the Nostalgia of the Canadian Beer drinker by being one of a (very small) handful of brewers to bring back the Canadian icon the "stubby" beer bottle. (the only other breweries that spring to mind using stubbies are Heritage in Ottawa (now Kichesippi Brewing Co.) Full Sail, and Red Stripe. Brick Brought back the iconic 50's and 60's  beer Red Cap in stubbies in 2002 (N.B. Brick has returned to using industry standard long necks for Red Cap)


Onto Tonight's Tasting:


Light gold in colour, off-white head made of small bubbles, with a good duration. Aroma is ginger, lemon, some hops, and a slight breadiness. First sip is effervescent soda like, lemon and malt. Very clean, with a citrus tang finish. Aeration bring the lager taste to the front with some bitter hops.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

                                                                                                               

Cost:  5/6  PASS

Colour:  5/6  PASS        

Beer Style:  5/6 PASS  

Re-Order:  3/6 SO-SO   

Experience:   5/6  PASS

Final Thoughts:
It is a delightful summer drink, but Shandy is what they give the kids in the UK, and I'm a big boy now! Ice cold on a patio, sure thing, just not my cup of tea today (or should I say glass of beer?) Very tasty though, glad I tried it.


Cheers
CJT