Month: December 2016

Browar Wąsosz / Humalove Brewing Pukki Grodziskie at 3% ABV _(Craft Beer Advent Calendar #12, 330 ml, best before 8-Apr-2017, acquired 25-Sep-2016, reviewed 12-Dec-2016)_

Appearance: dirty straw with one finger of creamy dense white head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: light smoke, grainy malt, cheese, slightly woody. (6/10) Taste: moderate-low sweet, moderate bitter, light tart, salt and umame. (6/10) Palate: light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lightly briny finish. (3/5)

Advent calendar day #12 brings probably the oddest one yet this year – heck, in any of the years I’ve had the calendar. This is the first Grodziskie I’ve had, which is hardly surprising considering the style was extinct and is still extremely rare. Similar to a Gose, but with a distinct hardwood smokiness, in addition to a slight ham and cheese umame flavour. (I’m not getting any of the spruce referred to on the label, just hardwood smoke.) Deeply weird, but not unpleasant. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mill Street Brewery Schleimhammer Roggenbier at 5.3% ABV | 12 IBU (On tap at Mill Street Brewpub YYZ, reviewed 12-Dec-2016)

Appearance: cloudy deep amber with a short off-white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: caramel, bready wheat, banana, light sour rye, light pepper. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter, light tart. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-low carbonation, slightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Slightly disappointing as a rye beer, perfectly serviceable as a somewhat darker than normal Hefe. I was hoping for a bit more rye presence here, and although I’m getting hints of both sour and peppery spice from the rye, it’s not as bold as I like to see. Like so many Mill Street beers, it ends up being inoffensive, but fairly forgettable. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mill Street Brewery Bob’s Bearded Red Irish Red Ale at 4.8% ABV | 23 IBU (On tap at Mill Street Brewpub YYZ, reviewed 12-Dec-2016)

Appearance: clear coppery medium amber with one finger of creamy nitrogen-charged light ivory head, excellent retention and heavy sticky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: mild/muted, caramel malt, bread, faint nutty, hint of coffee. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium creamy body, soft carbonation, short finish. (3/5)

A really pretty beer, with a great nitrogen head and associated creamy body. Unfortunately, that’s really the only thing special about this – the aroma and flavour are mild to the point of boring, and render it almost completely devoid of character. If you want a beer that looks great while you’re drinking it, have at it, but otherwise I don’t really see the point. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij de Molen Winter Saison Saison at 6.1% ABV | 53 EBU (2016 Craft Beer Advent Calendar #11, 330 ml, bottle date 10-Jun-2016, best before 10-Jun-2018, acquired 25-Sep-2016, reviewed 11-Dec-2016)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with one finger of medium white head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: apple, stone fruit, pale malt, pepper, light yeasty funk. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild peppery spice. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry spicy and lightly funky finish. (3/5)

I was pretty pleased to see a de Molen beer for Advent calendar day #11, and it didn’t disappoint. Well… not much, anyway. I like that they call it “saison-ish” on the label, and I think that’s a fair description, because it’s not really a saison, but it has some of those characteristics. If you ask me, you could just as easily have called it “Belg-ish” or “tripel-ish”. Solid, if a bit muddled. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

BIIR Brewers Belgium Equinox Triple IPA American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.4% ABV | 100 IBU (Craft Beer Advent Calendar #10, 330 ml, best before 20-Jul-2018, acquired 25-Sep-2016, reviewed 10-Dec-2016)

Appearance: hazy pale amber with a massive rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (5/5) Aroma: resiny pine, pithy grapefruit, mango, caramel. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

Advent calendar day #10 brings us a completely seasonally inappropriate beer, that I nevertheless enjoyed thoroughly. (Near double-digit ABV’s and triple-digit IBU’s tend to endear me, go figure.) This is a huge hop bomb that’s nonetheless pretty drinkable, with massive hops leading the way over a smooth caramel malt that’s well in the background (where it belongs). Actually, it reminds me of a couple of Mikkeller’s hop bombs – which is all to the good. Despite the aforementioned near double-digits, the ABV is well integrated and barely makes its presence felt. I really quite enjoyed this, and I’m starting to feel like the calendar might have begun to pull out of the nose dive it was in! (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Anchorage Brewing Company Whiteout (Batch #4) Witbier at 6.5% ABV | 20 IBU (C$15.00 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, bottle date 1-Jun-2015, acquired 18-Aug-2016, reviewed 9-Dec-2016)

Appearance: hazy pale straw with two fingers of rocky white head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: lemon zest, coriander, straw, white pepper. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate funky tart, mild-moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-light body, lively carbonation, bone dry funky finish. (4/5)

Excellent – Brett funk dominates over a pale Witbier base. This is my kind of beer! I don’t know how much I believe that 20 IBU, though: it feels a bit more bitter than that typically implies, possibly because of the astringency from the Brett. In fact, the flavours are more like a Saison or a Tripel, than a Witbier. Any way you slice it, though, this is a really good one. (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Fabryka Piwa Deep Space Foreign Extra Stout Foreign / Export Stout at 6.5% ABV | 50 IBU (2016 Craft Beer Advent Calendar #9, 330 ml, best before 1-Jan-2017, acquired 25-Sep-2016, reviewed 9-Dec-2016)

Appearance: clear deep brown with one finger of loose beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: roasty malt, coffee, dark stone fruit, hint of liquorice. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, mild tart. (6/10) Palate: medium-full body dropping off to watery, moderate carbonation, dry short duration mildly warming finish. (3/5)

Advent calendar day #9 brings another seasonally-appropriate selection that is unfortunately not all that great. Not terrible, mind you, just not great. It tends a bit thin for the style, especially in the finish, and this isn’t helped by the slightly high carbonation. On the up side, there’s a little tartness that works well with the dark fruit notes, and the appropriately high(er) ABV is well integrated. I was a bit perturbed to see that this was pasteurized, and can’t say that that’s helped the flavour any. Can’t say it’s worth your while to make a special effort to find. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg Silver Bottle Beer Euro Pale Lager at 4.9% ABV (Craft Beer Advent Calendar #8, 330 ml, bottle date 26-Jun-2016, best before 30-Jun-2017, acquired 25-Sep-2016, reviewed 8-Dec-2016)

Appearance: clear pale straw with one finger of fluffy white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, moderate lacing. (3/5) Aroma: grainy pale malt and corn adjunct, grass. (4/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (4/10) Palate: light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (3/5)

Well, that’s a bit of a craptastic choice for an Advent beer: a completely bog standard adjunct Pale Lager. Hell, it could easily be a Coors Light – and given the commercial description, that’s pretty much the intended demographic: club goers who drink from the bottle and can’t be trusted not to break glass. Aggressively unremarkable and seriously disappointing. (8/20)

4/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brewsters Brewing Company Blue Monk Barleywine (2015) American Barleywine at 10% ABV | 65 IBU (C$9.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 28-Sep-2015, reviewed 7-Dec-2016)

Appearance: clear medium amber with one fat finger of rocky light beige head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: orange peel, bready caramel malt, dark fruit, resin. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-full slightly slick body, soft carbonation, lingering bitter and warming finish. (4/5)

A decent implementation of the style: the double-digit alcohol is definitely present, but not solventy or excessively hot, and there are pleasant citrus, dark fruit, and hop notes present. I suspect the year’s cellaring has helped mellow this out, and in any case certainly hasn’t hurt. I’m interested to see how the bourbon barrel-aged version of this compares. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com