FUNKFEST 2018: Pint Jockey (Sorta) Live Blog # 3

FUNKFEST 2018

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 421 to 430

Beer: Lodestar Dry Hopped Sour Ale with Pink Guava

Elora: Lodestar

Brewery:  Elora Brewing Company
Location: Elora, Ontario

Style: Sour Ale
ABV: 5.1 %
IBU: 12
Colour:  Cloudy with a pink tinge
Aroma: guava
Thoughts: Bright, pink, clean, and fruity. Gentle, smooth and sweet guava and tart.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Elora: Lady Friend

Beer: Lady Friend IPA

Brewery:  Elora Brewing Company
Location: Elora, Ontario 

Style: Dry-hopped IPA
ABV: 6.0 %
IBU: 50
Colour: Light amber gold with an off-white head
Aroma: Pineapple and passion fruit
Thoughts: Very perfumed, lots of bright pine, pineapple, passion fruit. Strong malty finish. Not a sour but very nice change midway through the day!

Funk Factor: 6/6 

Elora: Elora Borealis

Beer:  Elora Borealis Pale Ale

Brewery:  Elora Brewing Company
Location: Elora, Ontario 

Style: Pale Ale, American

ABV: 5.1 %

IBU: 30
Colour: Light gold

Aroma: Pine and pineapple

Thoughts: Citrus pale ale profile lots of tropical fruit and a nutty malty finish

Funk Factor: 5/6

Indie Alehouse: Lemonade Stand

Beer: Lemonade Stand

Brewery:  Indie Alehouse

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Lacto Sour Ale

ABV: 5.0 %

Colour: Cloudy yellow gold with a big white head

Aroma: Bright lemon

Thoughts: Very shandy like, mineral, and lemon. Reminds me of Dad's Olde Lemonade.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Sunkicked Blood Orange Imperial Wit

Indie Alehouse: Sunkicked

Brewery:  Indie Alehouse
Location: Toronto, Ontario 

Style: Flavoured Imperial Wit

ABV: 7.5 %

Colour: Cloudy raspberry red with an off-white head tinged red

Aroma: Citrus orange and raspberry

Thoughts: Sweet and tart caramelised orange, clove and clean acidity.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Naked Cannonball Splash

Waller Street: Naked Cannonball
Splash

Brewery:  Waller Street Brewing

Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Collaboration with: Sawdust City Brewing Company
Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario

Style: Barrel-aged Flavoured Stout

ABV: 5.5 %

Colour: dark chestnut

Aroma: Malty vanilla

Thoughts: Waller street took a keg of Sawdust's Skinny Dipping Vanilla Stout and barrel aged it for one year with their own four strains of Brett. The result is warm, nutty, malty, roasted malt, vanilla, cocoa, and leather. Mouthfeel is thick rich and chewy. 
Funk Factor: 6/6

Beer: Scotch River 2018 Spruce Tip and Birch Syrup Sour 

Waller Street: Scotch River 2018

Brewery:  Waller Street Brewing 
Location: Ottawa, Ontario 

Style: Flavoured Sour Ale

ABV: 6.8 %
IBU: 8

Colour: Cloudy orange gold with a massive off-white head

Aroma: Spruce on the nose

Thoughts: sweet birch bite with lots of spice, camphor and menthol from the spruce tips

Funk Factor: 6/6

Waller Street: Scofflaw

Beer: Scofflaw

Brewery:  Waller Street Brewing 
Location: Ottawa, Ontario 

Collaboration with: Tooth and Nail Brewing Company
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Farmhouse/ Saison

ABV: 7.0 %
IBU: 12

Colour: Bright red/ purple

Aroma: Blackberry, black currant

Thoughts: Barrel-aged farmhouse beer with black raspberries, black currant, rosehips and hibiscus. Brewed in 5 separate batches which were then all blended to make this beer. Raspberry dominates this beer with floral herbal notes some hints of barrel and brett.

Funk Factor: 6/6 

Beer:  Kauhale Pineapple Mango Saison

Town: Kauhale

Brewery:  Town Brewery

Location: Whitby, Ontario

Style: Flavoured saison

ABV: 5.5 %

Colour: Cloudy light gold

Aroma: Wheat and banana, some pineapple

Thoughts: very subtle whet flavour profile with banana, clove, fresh pineapple and mango.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Superfluous

Brewery:  Town Brewery

Town: Superfluous

Location: Whitby, Ontario 

Style: Double dry-hopped Sour Ale

ABV: 4.5 %

Colour: clear gold large white head

Aroma: Pine

Thoughts: Pineapple forward, very malty and smooth. Flavourful and rounded but still quite light. Very drinkable.
Funk Factor: 5/6

FUNKFEST 2018: Pint Jockey (Sorta) Live Blog # 2

FUNKFEST 2018

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 411 to 420

Crooked Stave: Vielle

Beer: Vielle Artisanal Saison

Brewery:  Crooked Stave Artisan Beer
Location: Denver, Colorado

Style: Barrel Aged Farmhouse Saison (1 year)
ABV: 4.2 %
Colour: Light gold
Aroma: Not much, dead
Thoughts: Some sour no life, age is not evident.

Funk Factor: 0/6

Beer: Up-Chite Kveik Flight Delay IPA Variant

Barnstormer: Up-Chite Kveik

Brewery:  Barnstormer Brewing and Distilling
Location: Barrie, Ontario

Style: Sour Farmhouse/IPA
ABV: 6.5 %
Colour: Light Chestnut, orange-red Good creamy off-white head
Aroma: Rye nose
Thoughts: Malty, liquorice, molasses, warm toasty, biscuit. Light sour, very smooth. One of the most delicious of the day.
Funk Factor: 7/6

Barnstormer: OakHai

Beer:  Barrel-Roll Saison "OakHai"

Brewery:  Barnstormer Brewing and Distillery

Location: Barrie, Ontario

Style: Flavoured and Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale

ABV: 5.4 %

Colour: Light cranberry red with almost no head

Aroma: Floral and oaky

Thoughts: Light barrel taste with florals and cranberry. Beer is Oak aged and flavoured with Hibiscus.

Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Spin Dive Salt and Pepper Gose

Lake of Bays Spin Dive

Brewery:  Lake of Bays Brewery

Location: Baysville, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Gose

ABV: 3.8 %
IBU: 11

Colour: Mid-toned gold

Aroma: Citrus and mineral

Thoughts: Huge citrus, lime salt and pepper from the start very smooth with hints of pineapple. Very, very good.
Funk Factor: 7/6

Beer: Transylvania Boogie

Henderson: Transylvania Boogie

Brewery: Henderson Brewing Company 

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Barrel Aged Sour Ale

ABV: 6.4 %

Colour: Murky dark chestnut

Aroma: Worcestershire Sauce!

Thoughts: Tamarind, molasses, oaky and malty. This would be so perfect for making ribs! This was the most interesting beer of the show.
Funk Factor: 7/6

Beer: Darling 100% Brett Sour Ale

Stone City: Darling

Brewery:  Stone City Ales

Location: Kingston, Ontario

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 4.5 %

Colour: Light gold/ straw slightly cloudy

Aroma: Citrus

Thoughts: Light citrus attack with a good funk, woody, and creamy finish.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Hey Beautiful

Shortfinger: Hey Beautiful

Brewery:  Shortfinger Brewing Company

Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 5.5 %

Colour: Hazy gold with a generous white head

Aroma: Brett nose with a good hit of citrus

Thoughts: Wheat, citrus, clove, very simple, smooth and tasty.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Vespers Saison

Brewery:  Dominion City Brewing Company

Dominion City: Vespers

Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 5.0 %

Colour: Cloudy Light Gold

Aroma: Light citrus nose

Thoughts: Caramel and banana, slight clove, light on sour, and creamy.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Gravity Well

Halcyon Barrel: Gravity Well

Brewery:  Beau's Brewing/ Halcyon Barrel House
Location: Van Kleek Hill, Ontario

Style: Sour Flander's Oud Bruin
ABV: 9.0 %
Colour: Medium Chesnut
Aroma: Molasses and sour aromas
Thoughts: Good hit of sour off the hop, oaky wood, smoke and Worcestershire.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: 7 Years Bad Luck

Brewery:  Beau's Brewing/ Halcyon Barrel House
Location: Van Kleek Hill, Ontario

Style: Brett Fermented Double IPA
ABV: 7.4 %
Colour: Golden orange-red
Aroma: Citrus pineapple
Thoughts: Lots of citrus with juicy pineapple funk and toast with a hint of biscuit.
Funk Factor: 6/6

End of part two

Cheers

CJT

 Let's Stay "Social" Follow my adventures here

   @pintjockey

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FUNKFEST 2018: Pint Jockey (Sorta) Live Blog # 1

FUNKFEST 2018

Sawdust City Brewery

Gravenhurst, Ontario

Beers 400 to 410

Beer: De Witte (2018)

Dageraad: De Witte

Brewery:  Dageraad Brewing
Location: Burnaby British Columbia

Style: Sour Ale
ABV:  5.2 %
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Bright wheat nose with hints of spice
Thoughts: Warm spices with cinnamon and cloves. Smooth, bland, slightly washed out. Hints of straw and a mild funk. Tastes like a sour Molson Golden. 
Funk Factor: 1/6

Beer: La Belle Farmhouse Saison

Powell: La Belle 

Brewery:  Powell Brewery
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Style: Sour Farmhouse Saison
ABV:  8.3 %
Colour: Honey, orange-gold
Aroma: Bright fruity nose
Thoughts: Orange and citrus, with some berry. Lingering camphor, and juniper. Finishing up with clove and honey. Reminds me a bit of a sour gummy worm.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Pomona Stone Fruit Sour

Four Winds: Pomona

Brewery:  Four Winds Brewing

Location: Delta, British Columbia

Style: Flavoured Sour Ale

ABV: 5.5 %
IBU 8

Colour: Hazy, and Muddy Gold

Aroma: Peaches and nectarines

Thoughts: Light fruity attack with bright peaches and plums airy hints of sour mixed in with a touch of baking spice and some cherries on the finish.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Darkwood Blackberry Saison (was listed at the show as Darkhorse??)

Brassroots: Darkwood

Brewery:  Brassroots Brewing Company

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Farmhouse Sour

ABV: 4.3 %

Colour: Dark orange-red

Aroma: Blackberry and pineapple on the nose

Thoughts: Fruity and sweet, pineapple, citrus, and juicy sweetness from the berries. Refreshing, but a slightly heavy mouthfeel.
Funk Factor: 4/6

Beer: Rage & Love Plum and Cardamom 

Rainhart: Rage and Love

Brewery:  Rainhard Brewing

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: Flavoured Sour Ale

ABV: 5.4 %

Colour: Pink and cloudy with an impressive white head

Aroma: Fruity and spicy

Thoughts: First sip gives us lots of spice, cardamom and cinnamon, sour and tart with fresh plums, hints of mint and chocolate. This was one of my favourites early on... There are a few more as good or better by this was a stellar entry.
Funk Factor: 6/6

Beer: Wild Brett

Rainhard: Wild Brett

Brewery:  Rainhart Brewing

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Style: American Wild Ale

ABV: 6.0 %

Colour: Golden Straw 

Aroma: Wheat and oak

Thoughts: Hints of vanilla from the barrel, light and effervescent with strong notes of wheat and clove, funky brett notes and mildly sour. This was brewed for the Brewery's 2nd anniversary and aged in barrels for 1 year and soured with four strains of brett.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Iron Horse Papaya Sour

Small Pony: Iron Horse

Brewery:  Small Pony Barrel Works
Location: Kanata, Ontario
Collaboration with: Microbrasserie Cassel Brewery

Location: Casselman, Ontario

Style: Flavoured American Wild Ale

ABV: 6.6%
IBU 1

Colour: Dun, straw, no head.

Aroma: Nose is muddy

Thoughts: Overripe papaya wheat, pineapple juice, oddly sour and wet dog. The sample may have been off. 

Funk Factor: 1/6

Beer: Jam Hands Raspberry American Sour

Small Pony: Jam Hands

Brewery: Small Pony Barrel Works 

Location: Kanata, Ontario

Style: Flavoured American Wild Ale

ABV: 5.0 %

Colour: Purple in colour with no head

Aroma: Nose is intense raspberry

Thoughts: Fresh jam flavour with a sour fruit punch body, viscous and reminiscent of sour raspberry jello. Quite tasty.
Funk Factor: 5/6

Beer: Levadura Sour Gose

Stillwater: Levadura

Brewery:  Stillwater Artisanal
Location: Brooklyn, New York; Baltimore, Maryland

Style: Flavoured Sour Gose
ABV: 4.6 %
Colour: Cloudy light gold
Aroma: Wheaty and mineral
Thoughts: Gose is Flavoured with salt, lime, and agave. Mineral lime/citrus with some cucumber, slightly sweet and a bit of wet dog. Tasted washed out like it had been pasteurised.
Funk Factor: 0/6

Beer: Crossfade Farmhouse Saison

Oxbow: Crossfade

Brewery: Oxbow Brewing Company
Location: Newcastle, Maine

Style: Farmhouse Saison
ABV: 5.0 %
Colour: Light green gold
Aroma: light wheat and citrus
Thoughts: Flat, dead tastes pasteurised. Some sweetness with a touch of sour.
Funk Factor: 0/6



End of part one

Cheers


CJT

 Let's Stay "Social" Follow my adventures here

   @pintjockey



The Pintjockey Online


pintjockey

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

Funk Fest, The Lowest of the Low and my busy, busy Canada Day Weekend.

Happy Canada Day!

Funk Fest 2018

Well, July has hit us here like a wave of lava. We are on our third or fourth day of extreme heat warnings and I picked this weekend to be extra busy. First up, on Saturday, June 30th,  was the wonderful Funk Fest at Sawdust City Brewing in Gravenhurst. For those of you who have never heard of our annual celebration of funky beers, Funk Fest showcases some of the best breweries in Ontario (and beyond now) that brew beers, which are considered "sour" or "funky."  It started out mostly as a character of Belgian beers, and Flander's Reds but breweries started to experiment and we now have Goses, Sour IPSs Sour Pale Ales, Auld Bruns, Farmhouse Saisons. It is a lovely mix of different beers. It is the third time The Queen of Pint Jockey Headquarters, and I have gone and quite frankly it gets better every year. This year we only sampled around 40 or so beers and the humidex was courting the forties (Celsius) and there wasn't much cloud cover or shade. They did have a misting tent this year which was a nice addition to the show, and they had a Paramedic on pancake duty, thankfully I don't think he was utilised much.  There were 40 Breweries this year pouring around 100 beers. In addition to about 33 Ontario Breweries, we had A la Fut rejoin us from Quebec, and three breweries from B.C: Dageraad from Burnaby, Four Winds from Delta, and Powell from Vancouver, and a few 

Tasty Sours

breweries from the USA. I'm very happy to say Funk Fest gets bigger and better every year and I can't wait for the next one. I did attempt to live blog again this year but, the same issue happened as last. With so many people at the event utilising the wifi is impossible. And I didn't want to see my cell phone bill after I uploaded so many pictures. So I broke out the old notebook and went analogue on this blog, so I am a little slow in posting my Funk Fest notes, mainly because I have to decipher my own handwriting.

The Lowest of The Low

Then on Canada day, after a long hot shift at work, we went off to The KEE to Bala, which if you are not from around here, is the Holy Temple of Canadian Music. (read it's a barn someone turned into a concert venue 75 years ago and anyone who is anything in the Canadian music scene has played there.) The Canada day concert this year featured my favourite Canadian band "The Lowest of the Low." They are perhaps one of the best indie artists to come out of Canada and are a truly genre-defying punk-folk-pop- rock-blues group. Their songs are lyrically driven guitar heavy pieces of art. and I suggest you check them out. I know many of you who are long-time readers have heard me natter on about them before... but truly they are worth the listen. It was the Queen's first time to hear them and she really did enjoy herself (she has good taste in music!) Oh, and I think Matt Mays was there too... not sure.

Anyway... I've rested... time to get those notes up. Stick around and see if I can figure out what I was trying to say.

Cheers


CJT