Author: dpatrickryan

Beer Here Pale Hops American Pale Ale at 5.5% ABV (C$9.00 at Zyn, 500 ml, best before 28-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with two fat fingers of pillowy tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel and bready malt, pine and citrus. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, slightly oily finish. (4/5)

A somewhat malt forward APA that might be suffering slightly from a slight dimming of the hops as a result of being a little after its best-by. Nothing too dramatic or interesting, but solid. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mikkeller / To Øl Betelgeuze Geuze at 5.5% ABV (C16.90 at Sherbrooke Liquor  375 ml, best before 27-Feb-2024)

Pours hazy pale gold with a short-lived finger of white champagne-like head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is funky horse blanket, tart citrus, pineapple, woody and herbal. (9/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate tart, very mild bitter. (9/10) Light bodied, prickly carbonation, clean finish. (4/5)

Very little hop character, but that’s not a negative for this style as far as I’m concerned. Tart and funky, with a crisp highly carbonated texture. A pleasant gueuze, if not particularly complex. I’d drink this any time it was offered. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Upright Brewing Company Six Rye Saison at 6.7% ABV (C$11.95 at Sundance Wine Market, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy deep amber with three fat fingers of pillowy beige head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel malt, black pepper, dark chocolate, wood, stone fruit, horseblanket. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild tart. (7/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, clean finish. (4/5)

Well, it’s different – and different is always good. I’ve literally never had – or even heard of – a rye saison before. I can see the rye and saison characters, but the interesting thing is, together they almost come across as a dubbel. It’s one heck of an interesting beer: sweet, deep and complex, with just a little sour funk. Hellishly difficult to pour, though! (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Elysian Brewing Company Savant IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV (C$9.29 at South Trail Co-Op, 650 ml, bottle date 5-Jan-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with three fingers of pillowy light beige head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is pineapple, grapefruit, caramel, malt, mild floral and pine. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (7/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

A middle of the pack effort for Elysian: Better than Loser, similar to Superfuzz, not as good as Space Dust or Avatar Jasmine. (And, holy hell, how many Elysian IPA’s have I tried?) A solid, pleasant hop-forward IPA with a nice amount of bitterness. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH Goldbräu (Stiegl Beer) Märzen / Oktoberfest at 4.9% ABV (C$3.39 at South Trail Co-Op, 500 ml, can date 27-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale straw with one finger loose white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Nose is crackery pale malt, toast, grassy, faint fruit. (4/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, mild bitter. (4/10) Light bodied, moderate carbonation, crisp abrupt finish. (3/5)

Pretty straightforward lager from the “cold, wet, and thirst-quenching” family. Mildly flavoured and mildly sweet, low bitter. Nothing unremarkable. (10/20)

My 151st from the 2010 Edition (144th from the 2013 edition), and 161st combining both editions.

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Saugatuck Brewing Company Neapolitan Milk Stout Sweet Stout at 6.0% ABV (C$8.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear brown with one finger of loose beige head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, moderate patchy lacing. (3/5) Nose is strawberry milkshake, roasty chocolate malt, mild vanilla and coffee. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

Doesn’t entirely work for me – the strawberry is intrusive and not all that authentic. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

8 Wired Brewing Company Rewired Brown Ale at 5.7% ABV (C$9.90 at Liquor Crossing Red Deer, 500 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear amber brown with one finger of loose light tan head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is toffee, earthy and piney hops, slight bitter chocolate. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

An interesting variation on the brown ale theme, but I’m not entirely sold on the combination of the traditional brown maltiness and piney hops. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Howe Sound Brewing Super Jupiter American IPA at 4.5% ABV (C$10.90 at Liquor Crossing Red Deer, 1 l, bottle date 12-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale to medium amber with one finger of pillowy off-white head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus dominated by pithy grapefruit, pale malt. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium bodied, lively to moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

Quite a decent session IPA – lots of bright hops flavour (yes, the grapefruit is definitely there) in the nose and on the tongue, with a fairly low ABV. Glad I got this within a reasonable time frame after bottling, but I’d still like to try it even fresher, mind you. The swing top cap on the big boy bottle isn’t a bad idea, though it’s so easy to drink this that I suspect it’s unnecessary in most cases. (14/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Cameron’s Brewing Company Rye Bock Maibock at 6.3% ABV (C$7.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of rocky light tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is muted, grainy malt, mild tropical fruit and earth. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. (3/5)

Pretty plain. Not a lot of rye presence, actually, though it eventually comes through in the finish. Regardless of whether you call it a Maibock or a Heller, ultimately it’s a lager, and yet again, it’s so hard to make a lager interesting I keep wondering, why bother? (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com