Author: dpatrickryan

Granville Island Brewery Cocoa Loco American Double / Imperial Stout at 8.7% ABV ($7.59 at South Trail Co-Op, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear brown with amber-brown highlights, one finger of dense tan head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark chocolate, dark roasty malt, slight booziness, faint vanilla. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (5/10) Medium to full body, soft carbonation, moderately strong, slightly harsh bitter finish. (3/5)

To be clear: this is neither black, nor opaque, unless you’re not paying attention. It’s no more black than Coca-Cola, which is a clear deep red. (Lazy reviewers annoy me.) As far as the beer itself goes, this isn’t a great Imperial Stout. It’s OK, but the finish in particular has an edge tending to the harsh. Passable, without being particularly memorable. Too many other solid candidates out there at this price point to give this an unqualified recommendation. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Clown Shoes Beer Space Cake Double IPA American Double / Imperial IPA at 9% ABV ($10.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650ml, bottle date 20-Oct-2014)

Pours slightly hazy pale amber with two fingers of loose off-white head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate chunky lacing. (4/5) Nose is pithy citrus, pine, caramel malt. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (8/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, moderately strong bitter finish. (4/5)

Lots of hops, without being a palate wrecker – presumably more in the way of dry hopping, than wet. Can’t find the IBU rating anywhere, but I’d guess it’s somewhere around 50. A decent balance of malt and hops that I find nicely palatable even though I usually prefer a more hop-forward character. A solid, pleasant DIPA. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

To Øl Raid Beer Czech Pilsener at 5.2% ABV ($6.50 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 330ml, best before 19-Mar-2016)

Pours hazy pale amber with one finger of pillowy dense off-white head, excellent retention and heavy, chunky lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus, piney dank resin, musk, caramel malt. (9/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, mild bitter finish. (4/5)

So, what did you do tonight? Oh, just had the BEST PILSNER EVER. Lovely hoppy lager – in this case, a pilsner – that has about as much relationship to fizzy yellow adjunct garbage as chalk to cheese. Getting more of the Centennial and Citra citrus, and Simcoe west coast dank, than the Nelson Sauvin (my new favourite hop!) vinous character, but very nice regardless. Decently complex and layered, with lots of character. (Gee, hard to tell that these guys are old brewing buddies and students of Mikkeller’s, huh?) But, unlike his Øllen Om Bogen, this isn’t a hop bomb at all. I keep expecting the hops to blow up and storm my taste buds in an all-out assault, but they’re actually extremely polite as they completely redefine what a lager can be. The label says “Sometimes when you’re drunk you can see better” – I could drink enough of these to see better, for sure. (18/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Big Sky Brewing Company Biere De Noël Belgian Strong Dark Ale at 10.1% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #12, 355ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear deep amber with one finger of loose light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark boozy fruit, brown sugar, slight chocolate and roasty grain. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild alcohol. (7/10) Medium body, prickly to moderate carbonation, sticky boozy mild bitter finish. (3/5)

Overall an enjoyable BSDA, tending towards abt/quad in the flavouring, but a little light in the body. I found the carbonation to be not-unpleasant prickly to moderate, but it tended to lift the body even further. Given the big flavours and big (though very polite) ABV, this beer might’ve been better implemented with a heavier body. Definitely a solid performer, though, and stylistically quite in keeping with the Advent calendar theme. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Evil Twin Brewing Ron and the Beast Ryan Saison at 7% ABV ($13.00 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy pale gold with two fingers of fluffy loose white head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is moderate to strong Brett funk, citrus, mild honey. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate to strong bitter, mild peppery spice. (9/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, dry peppery bitter finish. (4/5)

Oh my goodness, this is my kind of beast – it’s even named after me! Lovely funky barnyard notes that are pure Belgian all the way. Reminds me of a De Ranke XX or a Goose Island Matilda. Heckuva nice beer. (18/20)

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

8 Wired Brewing Company Saison Sauvin Saison at 7% ABV ($9.29 at Willow Park Wines & Spirits, 500ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy gold with two fingers of fluffy loose white head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is strong vinous Sauvin hops, citrus, slight funk. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild peppery spice. (8/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, off-dry slightly peppery bitter finish. (4/5)

Wow – this has got to be the clearest, most emphatic implementation of the Nelson Sauvin hops I’ve seen so far. This thing really does smell an awful lot like a sauvignon – hard to believe there’s no grapes in there! To some extent, that’s unfortunate, because it tends to overwhelm the other saison flavours which actually are there, but lurking in the shadows of the big Sauvin hop punch. That being said, I really do like those Sauvin hops, so that’s not entirely a bad thing. Really interesting, and another solid performer from a brewery I’m really starting to appreciate. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Cervejaria Wäls Tropical Christmas Saison Saison at 7.0% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #11, 330ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. (3/5) Nose is yeast, coriander, dark fruit, pithy citrus. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, slight pepper. (5/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, slightly sticky and moderate bitter finish. (4/5)

Not a bad saison, but not a great one, either. The dark fruit (raisins, figs) certainly adds a little to the “christmasy-ness” of it, but also detracts from the crispness that I associate with a nice saison. A little muddled and not all that impressive. On the other hand, the high ABV is very well integrated, adding just the faintest hint of booziness when the glass is mostly gone. I’m definitely not unhappy to have seen it in the calendar. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Big Rock Brewery Coloborador Español Saison at 7% ABV ($6.79 at Willow Park Wines & Spirits, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy gold with three fingers of fluffy white head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is strongly spicy cloves, light fruit and doughy yeast. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter, moderate peppery spice. (7/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, peppery bitter finish. (4/5)

The clove spiciness seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but I’m warming up to it. I was pretty skeptical of the likelihood of success for a Franco-Belgian style at the hands of a guest Spaniard brewer at a western Canadian brewery, but it seems to be working. Definitely have to give props to Big Rock for continuing to try new things! (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Fallentimber Meadery Hopped Mead Mead at 7.5% ABV ($8.49 at Willow Park Wines & Spirits, 500ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours bright clear light yellow with no head or lacing. (2/5) Nose is honey, mild citrusy hops. (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, harshly vinous bitter. (3/10) Light body, low to no carbonation, moderate astringent bitter finish. (2/5)

I’m trying to find something good to say about this, but, man, this is just a bag of hurt. It’s got some weak starts-with-C hoppiness going on, but the predominant characteristic is cheap white wine. The fact that it’s a honey wine doesn’t make a heck of a lot of difference to the overall palatability of it. I started drinking it cold and let it warm to see if that would help, but again, not a big difference. Not a fan. (6/20)

3.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mikkeller Øllen Om Bogen American Pale Lager at 4.2% ABV ($5.80 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 330ml, best before 1-Apr-2016)

Pours hazy gold with one finger of loose white head, excellent retention, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is dank weedy hops, pithy citrus, very faint crackery pale malt. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, strong bitter. (9/10) Light to medium body, prickly to moderate carbonation, long bitter finish. (4/5)

To be honest, the only reason I bought this was to see if there’s a beer style so boring, Mikkeller can’t do anything with it. Damn you Mikkeller! You managed to make a near-hop bomb out of a low gravity pale lager? What the hell is up with that? Great beer. Probably the best lager I’ve ever had. (18/20)

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com