Boreale Noire

Boreale Noire is Les Brasseurs du Nord's stout in their beer line. This Quebec brewery tries to hit all the beer colour categories, they also have a Blanche, Blonde and a Rousse.

Noire is a very solid stout. They didn't try to go gimmicky here; this isn't a milk stout or a chocolate stout. There are some coffee hints, but they're pretty subtle. I think this would stand up well in a side by side comparison to Guinesss, which is something I'd like to try in the future.

After trying a number of unique and gimmicky beers recently, I really enjoyed just having a straight-forward quality beer. I'm giving this six out of seven thumbs up.

Hitachino Nest, Real Ginger Brew

Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Brew from the Kiuchi Brewery is a Japanese beer brewed with fresh ginger root. I'm generally a fan of non alcoholic ginger beer, so when I saw this beer I had to try it.

The first sip was a little bit skunky, but that died down pretty quickly. The ginger flavor isn't as strong as most non alcoholic ginger beers, but it's definitely noticeable. I don't think I like the mix of ginger and malt flavours, it's kind of like someone just added ginger to a mediocre beer. I starting to suspect that what I really want in an alcoholic ginger beer is a normal strong non alcoholic ginger beer with vodka added. Sort of like Mike's hard lemonade. Just because ginger beer has "beer" in the name, doesn't mean it tastes good when mixed with real beer. Sort of like Mike's hard lemonade in the states where they can't use vodka for legal reasons and it's a bad "malt beverage" instead".

The beer isn't offensive, I just think the added ginger detracts rather than adds to the overall experience. Two thumbs up out of seven.

Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueuze

"Why would they sell this? It must be a joke" - Anonymous first taster

Why are you making me review this?

The guy at the boutique beer shop warned me that lambics are not for the faint of heart, and it took him a few years to appreciate them. He offered that there are some modern variants that add sugar in order to make it more palatable, but that wasn't very authentic. With some prompting, he chose the Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueze as a reasonably approachable, but unsweetened, introduction to the style.

A 'Gueuze' is actually two lambics: an old lambic blended and re-fermented with a younger lambic. And what makes a lambic? Mostly the difference is that instead of carefully chosen yeasts, the brew is exposed to the air, and collects whatever yeasts and bacteria happen to drift by. So take two soups of rotting malt and barley, and blend them to perfection. Yum! Connoisseurs describe the beer as sour and 'barnyard-y'...and those are the people who like it.
  

Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueuze
Price: About $9.00 USD for a 1 pint bottle.

6% Alcohol/Vol.

Drinking impression: The sour smell hits you as soon as you remove the cork. I give my house guest credit for at least taking a sip, but after his quote above, he put it down and wouldn't touch it again. The taste has the aspects of a citrus, but without the lemony flavour. If you took a sour, unsweetened grapefruit juice and poured it into a light lager, you'd be going in the right direction. Despite how awful that might sound, it actually works. I found the first drink disconcerting, but shortly found myself going back for sip after sip. My tongue got a little thick from what I assume is the acidity, but I really enjoyed drinking this.

Would you buy it again? Yup. Plus I'm now motivated to find more lambics and see how they compare.

Would you drink two in a row? Actually yes, which is not what I expected. I think you'd want to be careful not to dump too much acid in your stomach in one go.

Best time and place to drink it: Hard to say exactly. This beer is screaming out to be paired with a meal, but I'm not sure exactly what. Perhaps a trout dish served over rice. The citrus notes should go well with the fish, and the rice would help pad your tummy a bit. 

Out of ten: As a beer wonk looking for new flavours? An eight. But a warning: don't serve this to the timid.

Charbonniere

Dieu du Ciel!'s Charbonniere is a smoked malt beer from Quebec. The smokiness is very pronounced in both the nose and the taste, reminiscent of a peaty scotch. Under the smoke it's a pretty standard ale, this beer is really all about the smoke.

This beer feels like it needs a good food pairing, maybe a good smoked Gouda. The interwebs say smoked beer goes well with Chinese food, which is definitely worth trying. This beer isn't meant to be refreshing sit on the porch beer, it's really all about the smokey novelty. You're probabaly not going to drink more than one in a sitting. That being said, it does the smoke really well. I could see I high end restaurant using this as pairing to some unique haut cuisine.

It's not a beer you're going to want every day, but if you want a smoked beer, this is a very good choice. Five and half thumbs up out of seven.

Boatswain H.L.V.

Ales can be intimidating at the best of times. When they come with a name like "Heavy Lift Vessel", you can be sure that you're in for a mighty pour. The good folks at Rhinelander aren't messing around with this limited edition brew, available from Trader Joe's.

Boatswain HLV
Price: $2.50 USD for 650mL

7% Alcohol/Vol.

Rhinelander Brewing Company is from Wisconsin, and has an interesting history of boom, bust, fires, and rebirth. Oddly, they no longer actually brew out of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Liars!

Drinking impression: Heavy, even by ale standards. Bitter, but appropriately so, with faint coffee tones.

Would you buy it again? No. A decent brew, and a great price, but I'm not often in the mood for something this mighty.

Would you drink two in a row? No, I lack sufficient testosterone to even attempt that.

Best time and place to drink it: Toasting yet another collapse of the Maple Leafs, and the announcement that Ron Wilson is the scape goat this time around. Perhaps I'll send him a bottle.

Out of ten: A six. If you're into big ales, give it a try, but it's not for me. Best just to leave the room and find something else before someone can take your picture.

Griffon - Ale Rousse

Griffon is a red ale from the Brasserie McAuslan in Montreal. I used to be a big fan of red ales, particularly Rickards Red back before it went mainstream and changed the formulation. Lately I've been disappointed when trying reds, I'm still trying to figure out if my tastes have changed or I'm just picking poor beers.

Griffon is a bit of a watery ale on first blush, but with a sort of dry aftertaste. Sort of like a dry red wine. I think this dryness is the nuttiness that is mentioned on the label, but if it is nuttiness then it's not something I'd call a positive trait.

The beer did mellow a bit after sitting for five or ten minutes, and my overall impression improved a little. This improvement after sitting for a bit is something I've noticed recently with beers and something I'll probably track in future posts.

On first blush I was going to give this three thumbs up, but after letting it mellow I'm going to upgrade that to four thumbs up out of seven.

Trader Joe's 2011 Vintage Ale

We're on a weekend road trip to Cleveland and taking the opportunity to try some brews not available in Ontario. First up to bat is a Trader Joe's store brand made by Unibroue. Trader Joe's is fairly upscale so I went in with fairly high expectations.

This is a dark spiced ale, and appears to be trying for the winter ale niche. It's a smooth ale with no bitterness. The beer has a strong fennel overtone, almost a medicinal quality. I once has a Sam Adams winter ale that I really enjoyed, but other than that I've mostly been disappointed by winter ales. I'm just not very fond of the spice combinations they tend to choose, and this beer is no exception. It has all the characteristic of a good ale, dark color, full bodied, it's just the spices I don't enjoy. Three out of seven thumbs up, and this will probably be the last winter ale I try until at least November.

Trader Joe's 2011 Vintage Ale

Drinking beer while traveling in the US used to be a very meager adventure. Dominated by the big bland mega brewers, you were often stuck drinking weak yellow liquid that spawned naughty jokes about adult behaviour in canoes. Lately things are much improved, with microbrews available most everywhere.

Trader Joe's Vintage Ale

Price: $4.99 USD for 750mL

9% Alcohol/Vol.

Trader Joe's hardly qualifies as a microbrew, but this beer clearly reflects their desire to provide a premium product for customers seeking novel flavours. In fact, this is actually brewed by Unibroue, a brewer rapidly becoming the preferred provider to this blog. Produced annually in limited quantities, each vintage is said to have a unique personality. 

Drinking impression: Thick, dark and showing some complexity. Starts by reminding me of a trappist ale, though the finish is both slightly weak and a little bitter, lacking the fullness of a better brew.

Would you buy it again? Nah. Fun once, but not good enough to seek out again. 

Would you drink two in a row? No, and in fact 750mL of this needs to be shared. 

Best time and place to drink it: Drowning your sorrows after losing your second game in a row, forcing your team to curl at 8:30am on a Saturday.

Out of ten: A four. Thicker than it needs to be, even for a bottle conditioned ale, and a disappointing aftertaste. 

Beau's - Lug Tread Lagered Ale

If you're going to endorse a golf product, you need Tiger Woods. Tennis? Better find Federer or Nadal. Beer? You need Norm Peterson from Cheers. Next best thing? How about an unpaid endorsement from George Wendt, the actor who played Norm.

That's hard to beat.

Lug Tread Lagered Ale

Price: $15.85 for 4 x 600mL at the LCBO

5.2% Alcohol/Vol.

A lagered ale? Yup:
1) Make an ale
2) Lager it
3) Profit!

Drinking impression: Full bodied and crisp without being heavy, very flavourful, just the right amount of carbonation and a gentle aftertaste. If Plato had to identify Beer, it might just be this one.

Would you buy it again? Absolutely. This is a beer I'd like to keep in stock as part of my regular rotation.

Would you drink two in a row? Probably, but at 600mL, one is often enough.

Best time and place to drink it: Sunday afternoon watching a classic Cheers marathon.

Out of ten: A nine. Remarkable for being so general purpose, this is close to what a definitive Beer should be. If you have any friends who think Blue is what a beer should be, pour them a Lug Tread and educate the poor fools.

Trafalgar India Ink Black Pale Ale

I like hoppy, bitter beers, so I'm always on the lookout for good India Pale Ales.  And yet this whole time I'd never heard of the seemingly contradictory Black IPAs.  They appear to be more common from west-coast breweries, but $4.75 at the LCBO will get you a bottle of India Ink Black Pale Ale (650 mL, 5.0% abv) from Oakville's Trafalgar brewery (another nice bottle design, incidentally)

This is essentially a normal pale ale with some dark malt thrown in for colour; the result is a beer that looks like a red porter, or perhaps (god forbid) a Kalimotxo.  Not much head on it, but what there is sticks around -- it's been an hour since I poured mine and there's still a little bit floating on top.  The aroma has the usually nut and caramel scents of a darker beer; I don't get any of the citrus notes that some other reviews have mentioned.

The taste is where it gets interesting, but not for the reasons you'd think.  At first this beer tasted like a particularly hoppy porter; but then, if I closed my eyes, blocked out the image of drinking a dark beer, and had another sip, it was more like a regular IPA.  Eyes open, porter.  Eyes closed, IPA.  It got to the point where I could flip back and forth on each sip just by thinking about it.  The actual taste was the same, but the experience was notably different, like a synaesthetic version of this picture.

We're skirting the edge of the epistemic void here.  If the experience of drinking a beer changes depending on how you think about it, what does that imply for any kind of objective review?  Maybe it's best not to worry about it, since either way I still liked it.  And isn't that what this project is really about?

La Messagere Red Ale

Took a quick road trip to Montreal for the long weekend and picked up a variety of Quebec microbrews from Paradis de la Biere, an unassuming depanneur with a really impressive local beer selection.

Today's brew is La Messagere Red Ale from the Nouvelle-France brewery. This is a gluten-free ale made from rice and buckwheat.

The beer is quite a full bodied as I'd normally expect from an ale. There's definitely flavor there, but just a little too watery for my taste (the website calls it "delicate"). I think the predominant flavor is coming from the rice, unfortunately I don't know the right flavor word to describe it (the website describes it as "woody", but that's not the word that I would choose).

Not a beer I'd seek out again, but not offensive or overly boring, just not too exciting. If you're looking for a gluten free beer then this is worth trying. Three and half thumbs up out of seven.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

This weekend I was buying some wine at the local LCBO when I saw some Rogue Dead Guy Ale (6.6% abv) sitting on the checkout counter.  I asked if they were reserved for someone and was told no, they had just been brought over from the flagship store on Rideau.  I've had a few beers from Rogue brewery and they've all been worthwhile, so I accepted my fate and shelved the beer I'd originally bought this week in favour of a six-pack of Dead Guy.

Rogue has some of the better bottle designs out there, and this one is no exception.  Here's a link to a close-up, since the lens on my camera won't let me get closer than three feet.  The boney fellow is apparently related to the skeletons associated with the Day of the Dead (a festival which also provided the aesthetic for one of my favourite computer games ever).  I don't know why he's wearing a beehive hat; perhaps it gets cold in the afterlife.  At least he's got that pint to keep him warm.

Once poured, the beer is a rich orangey-copper colour, nicely translucent without actually being cloudy.  The taste is quite malty, balanced by a good dose of bitterness from the hops.  I'm not sure what the nose is; the closest thing I can think of is freshly made sugar candy, laid out just before it becomes caramel.  Overall a very good beer.  The one downside is cost: at $16.95 for six bottles it's not something I'd buy every time.  But as an occasional kiss of fate?  I'm willing to pay the price.

Guinness Irish Stout

Guinness is probably the most famous beer in the world. Even Afghanistan has an Irish pub. So to make this post somewhat unique I decided to review a rare type of Guinness; one I poured myself.

The Maple Leaf lounge at the Toronto airport had complimentary Guinness on tap. They even have a little info card with helpful directions on how to pour the perfect pint.

Aside from the novelty factor from getting to pour my own pint (which was a definite plus), how was it?

A very smooth beer with just a hint of bitterness. The pour is really key. The foam brushes the top of your mouth with every sip creating a very pleasant light robust texture that adds to the overall experience. It's not an overly complex beer flavor-wise, but that's probably one of the trade offs you make when you create a global brand.


I give it five out of seven thumbs up, with a shout out to Air Canada for letting me pour it myself.

Sam Adams Utopias

Let's face it, the main reason to write a beer blog is to find an excuse to drink crazy beers. Some beers are crazy concepts, some are in crazy locations, some have crazy prices. This is the last category.


Sam Adams Utopias

Price: $114.95 for 710mL

25.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Despite being exceedingly expensive, this beer is actually quite hard to buy. They only shipped a small number to Ontario, so the LCBO sold it over the phone, and it was sold out in about 15 minutes. Fortunately, I was one of the fools who got through.

This beer is best thought of as something like a scotch, something to sip, not chug. Consider:

We aged a portion of the beer in hand-selected, single-use bourbon casks from the award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery. The latest batch also spent time in Portuguese muscatel finishing casks, as well as sherry, brandy and Cognac casks.

I don't know what a Portuguese muscatel is, but I'm eager to try the beer.

Drinking impression: Unlike any other drink I've ever tried. No real comparison to a beer or scotch. The mouthfeel is vaguely thick, but not syrupy. The taste is complex, and goes through multiple layers. There are chocolate flavours, and some hints of a port or sherry. This isn't a drink I find myself craving, but I really enjoyed the experience.

Would you buy it again? For myself? No. For someone else who would really appreciate the gift? Absolutely. Any real beer nut would love to try this. It's not that it is fantastic, rather that it is so unique.

Would you drink two in a row? Seems like a waste. There are no bubbles, so this beer can be recapped and saved to savour again later.

Best time and place to drink it: With 8-10 good friends at the start of a sophisticated stag party.

Out of ten: A ten. This is something you should go out of your way to try. The price isn't as bad as it looks: for a 2oz drink, which is the right amount, it'll cost you $10, or the cost of two domestic bottles at a bar. Get some friends together and make it happen.

Russian Gun Imperial Stout

Russian Gun Imperial Stout is brewed by the Grand River Brewing company. Grand River Brewing is housed in the old Galt Knife Company building on the Grand River in Cambridge. This is a fairly new brewery that I've had high hopes for, but their beers have been somewhat hit or miss.

My particular bottle has a label saying it was bottled on Dec 20, 2011, definitely a feature I'm a fan of. The stout is a nice black colour, it's stoutness is obvious on first glance. The overwhelming flavor is a somewhat unpleasant burnt/smokiness that is somewhat off putting. There are some more interesting undertones, but the overtones really dominate.

I'm usually a fan of stouts, so I was excited at having one brewed so close to home, but this stout was a disappointment. This is a seasonal beer from Grand River Brewing, so I'll try it again next winter in the hopes that they tweak the recipe a little bit.

I give this beer 3 out 7 thumbs up.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

It's been a long day.  Up at 6:30am in Maryland, four hour meeting, drive to Philadelphia, fly back, go straight to a three hour class, then home.  Very tiring.  But in the middle of all this I had half an hour to spare in PHL and managed to find a bar.

This bar was surprisingly well-stocked for an airport watering hole.  I scanned the shelves for a minute and found at least half a dozen new beers to try.  Being in Pennsylvania, a case could have been made for Yuengling, but in honour of the unseasonably warm weather -- 18C when I landed last night! -- I chose a Samuel Adams Alpine Spring (5.5% abv; not available at the LCBO).  This is a a new one from Sam Adams, available for three months only as a seasonal beer (a traditional Boston spring being January through March, it seems).

The label claimed that "noble Tettnang hops, grown in the foothills of the alps, give the brew a bright citrus and floral aroma and flavor [sic]".  And it's true, there was a lot of citrus, to the point where it almost tasted like there was a lemon peel in the beer.  If that's done with hops only I'm impressed.  The floral notes also came through, although I'm not sure I'd describe them that way.  It was that same scent that's common to Belgian ales -- it was a surprise to find it in a lager, but a nice one.  Lots of fresh hops complemented both these tastes.

Overall it's a good, tasty beer.  It seems like a while since I've been able to say that (the last beer I tried left me struggling with the epistemic void -- see an upcoming post).  It's too bad you can't buy it around here; looks like there are a few LCBOs in town that have the regular Sam Adams lager though, which I definitely need to get again.

Quilmes Cristal

Order a beer in Argentina without specifying the type, and you're bound to end up with a big 1L bottle of Quilmes Cristal. This is the Budweiser of beers down here. Even the advertising campaigns remind me of the big bland American brew.

Price: AR$18.00 for 970mL (About $4 CAD/USD)

4.9% Alcohol/Vol.

Drinking impression: Surprisingly decent for a mass market brew. Similar to a Molson Canadian, but with a little more body, and a little less finish. Nothing glorious, but quite serviceable.

Would you buy it again? Yes, though largely because there really isn't a lot of variety in beers down here. There are only 4 major brands, and almost no microbrews.

Would you drink two in a row? The temperature has averaged 35C down here for two weeks....you bet I'll drink two in a row.

Best time and place to drink it: When you've walked around a Buenos Aires market for two hours, and your shirt is getting sticky.

Out of ten: A four. 

Otro Mundo Golden Ale

When travelling in foreign countries, you can sometimes come across situations where you feel as if you need to know more about how a group really thinks. For example: Otro Mundo Golden Ale, Export Quality. You must ask yourself: does this particular company care more for their own citizens, or foreigners? Perhaps beverages sold in country can have up to 1 part per billion of rat poison, anything that tests higher must be sold to foreigners? Or maybe they like the hard currency that outsiders can provide, and give them the good stuff?

Price: AR$18.00 for 330mL (About $4 CAD/USD)

5.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Drinking impression: So-so. A little tangy at first, but not much body. The search for a full flavoured Argentinian beer goes on.

Would you buy it again?  Likely not. Despite being of Export Quality, I don't expect to see this at the LCBO anytime soon.

Would you drink two in a row? Nah, too many other unexplored options to try.

Best time and place to drink it: When sitting with a senior Argentinian government official. Pour him a glass and see if he is willing to drink it.

Out of ten: A three. 

Traquair - Jacobite Ale

Jacobite Ale is a Scottish beer brewed in honour of Bonnie Prince Charles. The ingredients list is short and to the point: Strong Beer, Coriander.

This is a smooth dark ale, with herbal, almost medicinal, overtones. It started out interesting, but I got bored of it about half way through the glass. There just wasn't that much going on, and once I identified the medicinal flavour it became a little overwhelming. Not a bad beer per se, but not something that you'll drink more than one bottle of in a sitting.

Four out of seven thumbs up.

Schoune La place du marché

One of the nice things about living in Ottawa is the easy access to Quebec microbrews just across the river.  The Beer Store stocks a couple of Quebecois beers, and they're not exactly from craft brewers.  I'm much more likely to find something interesting in Gatineau, and if not, at least a case of Stella is cheaper.  Technically bringing any kind of alcohol back across the bridge is illegal, but I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it.

On our last trip to La Trappe à Fromage I picked up a few bottles of "La place du marché" (5% abv) from Schoune brewery (which I've never heard of) in Saint-Polycarpe, QC (which I've also never heard of).  The bottle was pretty unremarkable, but since Schoune's website was last updated in 2003 I'm guessing graphic design is not a priority.

Of course none of that matters as long as the beer is good.  Sadly it is not.  It's a yeasty blonde, and unlike last week's entry it has some character.  Unfortunately that character is mostly yeast.  The nose is sweet and cider-y, and yeasty.  The taste is best compared to yeasty apples.  The finish?  Well, you get where I'm going.  There seemed something overall off about this beer, although since the entire six-pack tasted the same wasn't due to a bad bottle.  I'm predisposed to like these obscure beers, but not this one.  Oh well, there are plenty more where that came from.

Derwent Real Ale

This week's beer is the Derwent Real Ale from the Two Meter Tall brewery (the name comes from the height of the brew master). This is a small batch brew made entirely from ingredients grown in the Derwent river valley in Tasmania. This particular batch was brewed on March 24 2011, and I tasted bottle number 1274.

The label says they are experimenting this time with some locally grown spelt. Unfortunately I don't think it was a very successful experiment.

The beer has an orange colour that I associate with fruity Belgian beers, but it isn't particularly fruity. The initial sip is inoffensive, but the aftertaste is where we run into trouble. It leaves some kind of coating (spelty?) in your mouth, which really isn't what you're looking for in a beer.

While I definitely applaud their beer making philosophy, and I'm glad they tried the spelt experiment,  I don't think it needs to be repeated in the future. Sometimes you need to be happy with a null result.

I give this two and half out seven thumbs up.

Waterloo Radlermass

Brick Brewery has a long history of brewing outside the box. Waterloo Radlermass  (German for "cycle-beer") was their major experiment over the summer. The story is that shortly after WWI, a german innkeeper was visited by a swarm of thirsty bicyclists on a sunny day. They drank and drank, and our poor innkeeper was at risk of running out of beer. So he started serving a mix of half-beer and half lemon soda and was quickly beaten to death by irate cyclists. The moral of our story is to never dilute beer.

Price at the LCBO: $1.95 for 473mL
4.8% Alcohol/Vol.

Drinking impression: Surprisingly good. More of a cooler taste than a beer, but far less sweet than a traditional vodka or rum cooler. The lemon taste is noticeable, but not overpowering. The carbonation seems a little lighter than normal, which helps to create a very refreshing impression. The aftertaste is a pleasant lingering lemon flavour.

Would you buy it again?  Yes, though as a seasonable experiment, it may not be available again.

Would you drink two in a row? Yes. On a summer day, this seems like a drink that would go quite nicely in a bottomless frosted mug.

Best time and place to drink it: I can certainly see enjoying this on a hot day after a long bike ride.

Out of ten: A seven. To score higher on a beer blog, it needs to taste more like a beer. A fine drink, and worth seeking if you can still find it.

Rickard's Blonde

As exciting as it looks

I've always had a soft spot for Rickard's Red.  It's not a particularly good beer, but we drank a lot of it in university.  It's the memories more than anything else that keep me coming back to these beery madeleines.  As a bonus, it's inoffensive enough that my wife is able to drink it if she's in the mood for beer.

In the mid-90s the Red was the only beer sold under the Rickard's name.  Since then Molson has followed the lead of successful brands everywhere and plastered the Rickard's logo on every colour of beer they're able to produce.  I'd previously tried the White (a vaguely Belgian style) and the Dark (something like a porter).  The "taster's pack" I bought on my last trip to the Beer Store ($22.95 for 12 bottles) included something new -- Rickard's Blonde (5.0% abv), a beer that claims to have "refreshingly flavourful taste" with "lively hop character".

In fact it has neither of these things.  This is one of those beers that is usually advertised as "best served cold" since it has nothing else to recommend it above tap water.  It tastes essentially like Labatt Blue or Molson Canadian, with just a little more hopping.  As for finish, there is none.  I literally could not taste anything from the beer after it had left my mouth.

There's nothing *wrong* with this beer exactly -- certainly if it was a hot day and someone offered me one I'd drink it -- but there's no reason to buy it either.  University-me knew better…I should have stuck with the Red.

Nickel Brook Gluten Free

Nickel Brook brewery offers "Penny for your thoughts! Nickel for your thirst!". In the case of their Gluten Free, they also offer, you guessed it, no gluten. In fact, the can says "Gluten Free" four times, and the beer has no other name. A rather direct, if perhaps unimaginative, piece of marketing.

Price at the LCBO: $2.95 for 473mL.

Drinking Impression: Flat, a little bitter, and disappears from the palette almost instantly. Give them some credit, it does taste like a beer. Just not a very good beer.

Would you buy it again: Not without doctor's orders.

Would you drink two in a row: Not without strict doctor's orders and no other beer options.

Best time/place to drink it: ...doctor's orders....

Out of ten: Two. 

Mountain Goat Steam Ale

Mountain Goat Beer is a small micro brewery in Melbourne. Their motto is "eat sleep drink goat".

Their steam ale is certified organic and made with Citra hops. The Citra hops give it just a bit of a sweet citrus flavor and aroma. Overall a nice refreshing summer beer. Five out of seven thumbs up.

Seven Sheds Willie Warmer

This week's beer comes from the Seven Sheds brewery in Railton,

Tasmania. Our map of Tasmania lists the following highlights for Railton: topiary, fiber optics & brewery. Today we' ll focus on the beer.

Hops

The Willie Warmer is advertised as a spiced dark ale, "guaranteed to warm the extremities". It's a rich beer without any harshness, and a hint of smokiness. Overall I give it six and half thumbs up out of seven.

The beer can be bought at the brewery for $10 (au) for a 750ml bottle. As an added bonus there is a hop garden next to the brewery for your viewing pleasure.

Mill St. Cobblestone Stout

A's mother wanted to treat us to dinner tonight, so we bundled up and went down to the Corner Bar and Grill.  This pub opened a few months ago, replacing the old neighbourhood standby, Puzzles.  It lacks the faded cigarette and stale beer ambiance of its predecessor, but the Grill has become one of our favourite places around here anyway.  It's usually not too busy, and the food is better than average for a pub.  Even our toddler, M, likes it, with her regular dish of sweet potato fries and chicken fingers.

The grill also has a decent beer list, featuring a slate of Mill Street brews along the usual domestic selection.  I don't know a lot about Mill St. other than that they're based in Toronto and are opening a brewpub in town later this month.  This I do know: the beers I've had from them have been tasty, so I'm always willing to give another one a try.

Tonight's selection was the Cobblestone Stout ($5.50), described on the menu as a "traditional style Irish black stout with roasted malt flavour and a hint of toasted walnut and chocolate in the finish".  The beer was a little slow to arrive, causing M to wander over to the bar and ask "where's my daddy's beer?".  Luckily they were bringing it out then so she was appeased.

The beer itself was as advertised -- a good stout, not too heavy, with a nice finish that was slightly nuttier than a Guinness.  Just the thing for a cold (and getting much colder) night.  I'm definitely looking forward to checking out Mill St's brewpub when it opens.

Innis & Gunn Original

Legend has it that Innis & Gunn was discovered by accident by a crew of warehouse workers who were drinking on company time. Good story, and it might even be true. They brew an ale, then let it soak in oak casks for 77 days before bottling.

Price at the LCBO: $ 3.00 / 330 mL bottle
6.6% Alcohol/Vol.

Drinking Impression:A complex, slightly thick tasting beer. Definitely something to sip and savour, rather than chug.  A tasty beer.

Would you buy it again?: Oh yes.  

Would you drink two in a row?: Probably not. A little on the expensive side ($72/case) for that sort of thing. Best enjoyed as a treat.  

Best time/place to drink it: On a fall evening after some really good BBQ.

Out of ten: A solid 9.