Month: April 2015

Stone Brewing Company Enjoy By 4.20.15 American IPA at 9.4% ABV (C$10.26 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, best before 20-Apr-2015)

Pours clear pale gold with two fingers of white head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, spotty lacing. (4/5) Nose is pine resin, caramel malt, light boozy stone fruit. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, strong bitter. (9/10) Medium to full body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (4/5)

Don’t tell me how to live my life, bottle! (Again.) You’re not the boss of me! You’re also not the most impressive of the Enjoy By series, so I don’t see where you get off, being all demanding. “Devastatingly dank”? Nope, sorry. Gotta count this as a little bit of a swing and a miss for Stone. (But if we’re being honest, only a little.) I was expecting true West Coast dank from the 4.20 – for obvious, if somewhat sophomoric, reasons – and though it’s nice, it’s not legen-wait-for-it-dary. Not malt-forward, perhaps, but malt-emphatic, for sure. Hey, I drank it the day I got it, that’s as fresh as I could do – what do you want from me? But I don’t think it’s really an age issue. Damn nice, but not quite up to the bar set by the previous iterations. (18/20)

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Caldera Brewing Company Ashland Amber Ale American Amber / Red Ale at 5.6% ABV (C$2.16 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355 ml, canning date 11-Mar-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of light tan head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel malt, hoppy citrus, light toast. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

A pretty good amber. Decently hoppy, but in a supporting role that doesn’t turn it into a brown IPA – it doesn’t lose the malt-forward character that you’d expect for an amber, but instead builds on it. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Caldera Brewing Company Caldera IPA American IPA at 6.1% ABV (C$2.16 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355 ml, canning date 18-Mar-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with three fingers of off-white head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderately well-defined lacing. (4/5) Nose is bright citrus, tropical fruit, mild grainy caramel malt, very slight onion and garlic. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderately strong bitter. (8/10) Medium body with a slightly oily texture, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

A nice balance of Amarillo, Centennial, and Simcoe – there’s a lot of bright citrus and pleasant tropical fruit, with an interesting savoury aspect that really does come through as onion and garlic, especially on the aftertaste. (But not in a negative way.) (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Boulevard Brewing Co. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale Saison at 8.5% ABV (C$3.87 at Quarry Park Co-Op, 355 ml, best before 10-Nov-2015)

Pours hazy straw with three fat and growing fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is lemon zest, light stone fruit, light wheat, bready yeast, coriander, clove, mild funk. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter, mild tart, light pepper spice. (8/10) Medium to light body, lively carbonation, dry peppery and mildly tart finish. (4/5)

Quite a nice saison – a decent balance of citrus, Belgian yeast, and dry funk. Fairly complex, without being the kitchen sink it might sound like. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Boulevard Brewing Co. Single-Wide IPA American IPA at 5.7% ABV (C$2.62 at Quarry Park Co-Op, 355 ml, best before 1-Mar-2016)

Pours clear pale amber with three fingers of rocky white head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus, tropical fruit, light bready malt, lightly grassy. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

A decent implementation of a fairly standard style of A/IPA. The citrus could be brighter and the tropical fruit could be fruitier, but no real negatives. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mill St. Brewery Spring Thaw Irish Red Ale at 5% ABV (On tap at Mill St. Brewery brewpub at YYZ)

Pours slightly hazy medium amber with a short light tan head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is moderate smoke, mild maple syrup. (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, moderate smoke. (4/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

The brewery says this is an Irish Red, Beer Advocate says it’s a Scotch Ale, and RateBeer says it’s a Spice/Herb/Vegetable. Me, I don’t see any reason not to call this a rauchbier – smoke is pretty much the dominant flavour, followed by mild maple syrup. Actually, when I first smelled it, it reminded me of nothing so much as kippers – though on followup, there is actually no fish flavour. Not unpleasant, but I remain less than convinced when it comes to most smoked styles. (10/20)

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mill St. Brewery Frambozen Radler at 5% ABV (On tap at Mill St. Brewery brewpub at YYZ)

Pours clear reddish medium amber with a short light tan head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is raspberry and not much else (maybe a little wheat). (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild tart. (5/10) Medium to light body, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

I’m a sucker for a radler, so I’m fairly favourably inclined towards this from the start. That said, it’s not a great radler – but it’s decent enough. Fruitier than it is sweet, with a little pleasant acidic tartness. Not great, but drinkable. (10/20)

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Parallel 49 Salty Scot Scotch Ale at 7.5% ABV (C$5.79 from Quarry Park Co-Op , 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear deep amber with a short, short-lived light tan head, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is caramel, mild brine, lightly boozy. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild salt. (6/10) Medium body, low carbonation, fairly abrupt finish. (3/5)

About what I expected – which is to say, something that could easily have come in an I&G bottle. Not disappointing, as such – because I had no heightened expectations. Not unpleasant, and mildly interesting with the salted caramel, but hardly exciting. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie McAuslan St. Ambroise Vintage Ale Millésimée (2014) Barleywine at 10% ABV (C$5.49 from South Trail Co-Op, 341 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours a clear medium to deep amber with one finger of loose beige head diminishing quickly to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Nose is toffee and caramel, candi sugar, dark fruit and spice, with a boozy edge. (8/10) Taste starts burned sugar sweet and gives way to building bitter as the sweet fades. (8/10) Medium to heavy body, slightly slick texture, low carbonation, sticky mildly bitter and boozy finish. (3/5)

Very similar to last years’ vintage, with a lot of warm sweet toffee upon pouring, dark fruit and booziness following shortly thereafter. Bitterness comes forward as the sweetness fades, and is more of a burned sugar acridness than a grassy or floral hop bittering, but isn’t unpleasant. The ABV is very well-behaved, and this doesn’t feel like a double-digit beer, even when allowed to warm from cellar temperatures (per the label) before drinking – my infrared thermometer said 15ºC when I opened it, and it warmed beyond that while drinking. I’m not sure whether the warmer temperature helped with the harshness I noticed last year, or whether this year’s vintage is smoother, but either way this one does seem slightly more civilised. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com