FUNKFEST 2017 Live Blog # 3

FUNKFEST 2017

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 334 to 341

Missed this picture!

Beer: Clean Slate Brett Saison 2016

Brewery: Bench Brewing
Location: Beamsville, Ontario

Style: Bottle aged Sour Saison
ABV: 5.7 % IBU  35
Colour: Super clear golden with hints of green
Aroma: Woodsy and citrus
Thoughts: Wood and mushrooms umami and roundness muted fresh fruit and hints of sour lemon.

Funk Factor: 5/6

Brett By Moonlight

Beer: Brett by Moonlight

Brewery: Waller Street Brewing
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Style; Barrel Aged brett Stout
ABV: 6.3 %
Colour: Dark chestnut
Aroma: Toasted nuts wood charcoal
Thoughts: Toasty warm nutty wood and charcoal slight sour funk
Funk Factor: 6/6

Scotch River Sour

Beer: Scotch River Sour

Brewery: Waller Street Brewing
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Style; Birch sap and spruce tip Saison
ABV: 6.8 % IBU 8
Colour: Slightly cloudy gold
Aroma: Super sweet bright 
Thoughts: Sweet fruity pine and maple syrupy with some light spice
Funk Factor: 7/6 Exceptionally Funky

Missed this picture!

Beer: Livery Stable Blues

Brewery: Waller Street Brewing
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Style; Farmhouse
ABV: 6.0 % IBU 23
Colour: Brassy gold
Aroma: Spunky fresh herbal medicinal
Thoughts: Sweet and medicinal nutty and biscuity
Funk Factor: 5/6

Wild Child Apricot

Beer: Wild Child Apricot

Brewery: Black Swan Brewing
Location: Stratford Ontario

Style: Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.9 %
Colour: Cloudy white gold
Aroma: Funky sour aldehyde hints of dried fruit
Thoughts: Dusty, off flavour
Funk Factor: 2/6

Wild Child Raspberry

Beer: Wild Child Raspberry

Brewery: Black Swan Brewing
Location: Stratford, Ontario

Style: Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.9 %
Colour: Salmon
Aroma: Sweet and sour bright raspberry
Thoughts: Tart-sweet cooked raspberry... some off flavours
Funk Factor: 3/6

1854 Barrel Aged Anniversary Ale

Beer: 1854 Barrel Aged AnniversaryAle

Brewery: Collingwood Brewery
Location: Collingwood, Ontario

Style; Belgian Ale
ABV: 6.8 %
Colour: Light chestnut
Aroma: Toasty citrus wood and nuts
Thoughts: Sweet and sour, caramel and vanilla. Lots of wheat malt

Funk Factor: 5/6

Hype with Blackberries

Beer: Hype on Blackberries

Brewery: Block 3 Brewing
Location: St. Jacobs, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Saison
ABV: 6.5 % 
Colour: Cherry red
Aroma: Sweet fruit nose
Thoughts: Sour tart blackberry fresh fruit grenadine syrup sour candy finish

Funk Factor: 4/6

FUNKFEST 2017 Live Blog # 2

FUNKFEST 2017

Sawdust City Brewery
Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 326 to 333

Coalition

Beer: Coalition

Brewery: Tooth and Nail Brewing Company
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Style: Belgian Brown with merlot grapes
ABV: 6.0 %
Colour: Reddish brown
Aroma: Sweet, woody, grapey, hints of sour
Thoughts: Sweet smooth woody and winey.
Funk Factor: 6/6

Streif

Beer: Streif

Brewery: Tooth and Nail Brewing Company
Location: Ontario

Style: American Wild Ale
ABV: 7.0%
Colour: Gold with off white head
Aroma: bitter herbs yarrow fruit and sour
Thoughts: lots of aldehydes... some faults bitter lemon
Funk Factor: 2/6

Dead Parrot

Beer: Dead Parrot

Brewery: Forked River Brewing Company
Location: London, Ontario

Style; Sour English Brown with cherries
ABV: 7.7%
Colour: Dark chestnut brown with an off tan head
Aroma: Sweet with sour cherry
Thoughts: Wheat dark malty coconut sweet tart cherry sticky lips
Funk Factor: 6/6

Abbey Normal

Beer: Abbey Normal

Brewery: Forked River Brewing Company and Sawdust City
Location: London Ontario

Style; Abbey
ABV: 5.5 %
Colour: Off brown and cloudy
Aroma: Wheaty woody 
Thoughts: Rye bread, some off flavours
Funk Factor: 2/6

Hermit Kingdom

Beer: Hermit Kingdom

Brewery: Bar Hop
Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style; Belgian Golden Ale
ABV: 7.2 %
Colour: Cloudy Bright Gold
Aroma: Cedar Eucalyptus 
Thoughts: creamy scents of barber shop sweet and sour wheat
Funk Factor: 6/6

Spanish Red

Beer: Spanish Red

Brewery: Bar Hop
Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Sour Farmhouse red... blend of a fresh and aged beer
ABV: 5.5 % IBU 17
Colour: Rusty red
Aroma: tart cherry pie 
Thoughts: sour creamy lip coating delicous
Funk Factor: 6/6

Cellar Biere de Garde

Beer: Cellar Biere de Garde

Brewery: Bench Brewing
Location: Beamsville, Ontario

Style: Biere de Garde
ABV: 6.8 % IBU 15
Colour: Light chestnut
Aroma: Woody and wheaty
Thoughts: Woodsy licorice spicy a little wine notes. Caramel and biscuit
Funk Factor: 5/6

Citra Grove

Beer: Citra Grove

Brewery: Bench Brewing
Location: Beamsville, Ontario

Style: Dry Hopped Sour Ale
ABV: 6.0 % IBU 14
Colour: clear gold
Aroma: Bright citrus and tropical fruit straw aged soft cheese
Thoughts: Fresh delicous well balanced sweet and tart. Bright citra hops notes
Funk Factor: 6/6

FUNKFEST 2017 Live Blog # 1

FUNKFEST 2017

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Due to technical difficulties, yesterday's live blog could not be posted until today. Sorry about that, but please enjoy.

Saison du Parc

Beers 318 to 325

Beer: Saison du Parc

Brewery:  Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!
Location: St-Jérôme Quebec, Canada

Style; Sour Farmhouse Ale
ABV: 4.2%
Colour: clear gold large white head
Aroma: bright citrus and wheat
Thoughts: floral wheaty citrus spicy light sourness... bright and tasty

Funk Factor: 5/6

Solstice d'ete Framboise

Beer: Solstice d'Eté Framboise 

Brewery: Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!
Location:  St-Jérôme Quebec, Canada

Style: Sour Berliner Weisse with Raspberries
ABV: 5.9%
Colour: cherry red
Aroma: Explosion of fresh raspberries
Thoughts: sweet and tart raspberry coulis... sour candy finish

La Tripe a Trois Lambicus

Funk Factor: 6/6

Beer: La Tripe a Trois Lambicus (Édition Spcéciale Houblonnée)

Brewery: À la Fut
Location: Saint-Tite, Quebec, Canada

Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 8.8%
Colour: Dark gold
Aroma: Sweet, wheat, sour cherry
Thoughts: Sour, smoky, creamy, slight medicinal hops

Session IPA Sure

Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Session IPA Sure

Brewery: À la Fut
Location: Saint-Tite, Quebec, Canada

Style; Sour IPA
ABV:3.5 % IBU 50
Colour: tinny gold
Aroma: fruity sweet sour tropical fruit
Thoughts: thin watery too much lemon pith slightly off flavours

Funk Factor: 2/6

Willow Gose

Beer: Willow Gose

Brewery: Trou du Diable
Location: Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada

Style: Sour Gose
ABV: 4%
Colour: brassy gold
Aroma: Mineral, grassy
Thoughts: Tart lemonade. Mineral, salt so refreshing... like gatorade for beer drinkers

Dulcis Succubus

Funk Factor: 6/6

Beer: Dulcis Succubus

Brewery: Trou du Diable
Location: Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada

Style: Sour Ale
ABV: 7%
Colour: Cloudy gold 
Aroma: Tart, grainy, and citrus
Thoughts: Sweet and sour candy, spice and wheat. With hints of sour orange.

Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Double Pale Ale Americane Sure

Double Pale Ale Americaine Sure

Brewery: À la Fut
Location: Saint-Tite, Quebec, Canada

Style; Sour Pale Ale, American
ABV: 7.5 %
Colour: Cloudy, brass-gold

Aroma: Fruity, woody, sour, nutty
Thoughts: Lots of fruit and wood with pale ale notes some spice and a creeping sour on the finish. Some slight off flavour
Funk Factor: 4/6

Berlinerweisse

Beer: Berliner Weisse

Brewery: Les Trois Mousquetaires
Location: Brassard, Quebec, Canada

Style: Sour Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.0 % IBU 5
Colour: Cloudy, creamy, tan
Aroma: Tart, woody, sour cherry
Thoughts: very sour woody tart sour cherries tastes very alive like yeast is still active reminds me of chicha

Funk Factor: 4/6

Update, Canada Day, Canada Beer Month, FUNKFEST Live Blog, and a Yeast Named Brett,

Well first off it's Canada Day, So let's mention that right up front. Today we celebrate the 150 years of Canada officially being Canada. This year has been sort of controversial in that regard because Canada is certainly not 150 years old to many people; it is mostly a metric of British colonization. Montreal Recently had their 350 anniversary, and Quebec City is Celebrating 409 Years.And without getting too deep into the major politics of Canada Day, the Indigenous Peoples of Canada have been calling this place home for 50,000 years. While I'm a proud Canadian and enjoy the benefits of what calling myself Canadian means around the world; I like many people feel the need to open a dialogue on how we can best celebrate this nation, our long history, and it's many people. Anyway, that is too heavy a subject for today and my little beer blog. Just keep in mind as you raise a beer for this sesquicentennial celebration of the greatest nation, it's not about the numbers, it's about our people.

Yes. I know. I've been gone a long time. Sorry. My new job keeps me pretty busy so I haven't had much time to Blog. So I am taking the opportunity this month to fix that; I declare this the Second Annual #CanadianBeerMonth. The Fridge of Fame is stocked with some awesome Canadian Craft Beers from a few different provinces, and I'm going to get to as many of them as possible.

You are probably wondering why I am up so early, and it can only be one thing: it's FUNKFEST! Every year on the Canada Day Lond Weekend, Sawdust City Brewery hosts... oh, about a thousand or so of their closest friends to celebrate Sour Beers. They have invited over 40 breweries down to pour special one-off and seasonal brews for a total of around 85 beers! It is an amazing time. I went last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I have been looking forward to this year's Fest for quite some time. So throughout the day, I will be posting updates from the Fest with beer tasting notes, pictures, and maybe a video or two (we'll see how my poor phone holds up under the battery strain). Just don't expect any Pulitzer prize-winning narratives... (85 beers remember!). Follow me on Facebook, and Twitter with the hashtag #PintJockeyLiveBlog.

Onto the last item, I wanted to talk about this morning. Brett. When you ask what makes a sour beer, and more importantly why would I want to drink one, the answer begins with Brett. Or Rather Brettanomyces. Brettanomyces if a particular yeast strain that grows on the skins of fruit. It was first discovered in Brittain when people started to investigate what was causing some off flavours in some Brittish beers. They discovered that this on particular yeast strain contributed a "funky" citric acid taste to the beer. Not desirable for the Britts. The yeast strain was named "Brettanomyces" which literally means "Brittish Fungus." ( I dare you to come up with a better name for a punk band than Brittish Fungus). However, there are certain styles of beer where this little sugar chomper is desirable. And many of these styles have become popular in recent years with the craft brew crowd. Lambics, Gueuze, certain Saisons, Old Bruin, and Flander's Red style ales all take advantage of the fruity sour hint of Brettanomyces. It is also used in barrel aging beers to produce a brighter more complex beer. I have seen Brett applied to more and more styles lately, especially the crowd favourite IPA, which, when balanced with juicy hops can make a thirst-slaking refreshing brew.

I will try and talk more about Brett in some upcoming posts. Right now I want to drink some. Well, Funk Fest Starts in just over 3 hours. So if you are going hope to see you there, if you are not, please follow along as I taste my way through as many beers, as I can safely consume. (Don't worry, there is a bus!)

Cheers
CJT

the 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 20: Market Pils Kensington Brewery

Beer # 317 Market Pils

Brewery: Kensington Brewing Company

Type: Contract brewery     Est.: 2011

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Pilsner

ABV: 4.7%      IBU: 35

Format: Aluminium Can  Size:  473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter: @DrinkGoodBeer

Kensington is one of those breweries that one wishes they had a bricks and mortar location because I would just love to go soak up some Kensington Market atmosphere until they decided to throw me out. Fish-Eye PA one of their other brews is a big favourite of mine as is Augusta Ale. It seems that with their foray into the area of Pilsners has been equally successful.

Onto our beer...

Pours a translucent light gold with a massive white head made up of small and medium bubbles. Aroma is a spicy mix of malt, citrus, and flint. light hints of grassy hops, and some light honey. First sip is bright effervescent citrus and hops. Nice dry mineral character. Beer is very clean with a light and airy mouthfeel. Aeration brings out the maltiness, and green grassy hops.

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: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer: 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

I don't like to rave about pilsners, because I generally don't like them. They tend to be watery and bland; seemingly meant to be drunk as cold as possible to deliver alcohol as quickly as possible. This beer embodies nothing of those characteristics. This is a complex, flavourful, well crafted, and near perfectly executed pilsner. If you are on the fence or know someone who is, about making that final kick off of Macro Brewery lager swill; this is the beer to do it with. Pop one of these in the hands of that friend who won't put down the "Bud" and you should spark a craft beer revolution. Run... do not walk... to your nearest LCBO, or better beer bar and put one of these in your hand, and learn what a good pilsner tastes like



Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 19: Bryggmästarens

Beer # 316 Bryggmästarens 

Brewery: Åbro Bryggeri

Type: Independant National brewery     Est.: 1856

Location: Vimmerby, Sweden

Beer Style: Pale Lager

ABV: 5.7%      IBU: ?

Format: Aluminum Can  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $2.35 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter: @AbroBryggeri (In Swedish)

I'm not a huge lager fan, but it seems everywhere you turn today craft breweries are putting their spin on the style. Initially, I imagine they wanted to distance themselves from the Macro breweries, who brewed almost exclusively watered down pilsners and lagers specially designed to have as much flavour removed from them as possible. Beers that are meant to be drunk frost-bitten cold as quickly as possible. Now I think that craft breweries are brewing them to lure new customers away from the large labels. Reel them in on a lager and then sell them the Quadruple IPA, single varietal hop picked by virgins under a full moon. Don't worry I'm not getting cynical, I already drank the kool-aid... I love my weird beers, actually the crazier the story behind the beer the more I need it. But I can definitely understand the need for a gateway for the large portion of beer consumers, who are use to nothing more than alcoholic water. For some of us that gateway was a progression over time, an internal, flavourful journey, for a lot of people I see at the breweries, it's "Give me something that tastes like Bud..." But I fear not, the movement back to good beer is gaining momentum and speed. I see a lot more people, I would have never expected to be in a craft brewery, trying them out

Tonight's beer is a lager from Sweden. Scandinavia, and Europe are kind of the exception when it comes to Lagers. While there are still a lot of lagers that are brewed specifically to be alcohol deliver systems, They do take pride and care in their bottom fermented beverages, unlike the Macros do here in North America. There you can still find small batch, hand crafted Lagers.

Let's Try one...

Pours a rich golden colour with a short white head made ups of small bubbles. Aroma is sweet and grainy with hints of mineral and citrus. First sip just us some deeper malt complexity with a good sweetness. Bready and yeasty notes dominate with a nice dry mineral finish. Aeration is more of the same bread yeast mineral 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: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer: 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

For a European lager, this was quite good, bright crisp and mineral. You could tell the beer was made from good water. Not just de-chlorinated tap water. Still lagers are not going to be my favourite, but I could certainly drink this one again. Give it a shot.

Cheers

CJT

Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online

And don't forget to "Friend" me on Untappd.