Category: Reviews

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

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

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

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

Elysian Brewing Company Split Shot Sweet Stout at 5.6% ABV (C$9.25 from Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours crystal clear (flashlight confirmed) ruby brown with one fat finger of medium dense beige head diminishing quickly to a thin skim, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is strong coffee, lactose sweet, mild dark roasty malt, light dark fruit. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium body tending a little to watery, slightly creamy texture, low carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

Not a bad coffee milk stout, but fairly pedestrian. Definitely smells better than it tastes, and clearly gets a lot of that smell from the added espresso, instead of from the grain bill. Despite the darkness and the presence of some roasted malts, I’m somewhat surprisingly getting essentially no chocolate at all, and the body tends to the thin and watery. I don’t say this often, but it could actually use a little more sweetness – the “milk” (lactose) sweetness usually brings more creaminess, and that might help the slightly watery body. On the up side, neither the coffee nor the dark malt comes through as harsh. Pleasant, without being all that exciting. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

New Belgium Brewing Company Rampant American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.5% ABV (C$8.50 from Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of dense off-white head, good retention and excellent lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus and pine resin, caramel malt, floral, mild stone fruit. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter, mild pepper spice. (7/10) Medium body and slightly oily texture, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter and slightly peppery finish. (4/5)

Big and beefy, but without the degree of malt forwardness I often associate with some IIPA’s. Initially decently well-balanced between the hops and the malt, with the big hops taking over in a lingering bitter and peppery finish. I’d like brighter citrusy hops, personally, but quite serviceable as it stands. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Alley Kat Dragon Series Red Dragon Imperial / Double IPA at 7.5% ABV (C$6.39 from Quarry Park Co-Op, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of loose rocky white head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is pithy grapefruit, resin, caramel malt, floral, catty. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Somewhat of a one-trick pony: sharp, though not excessively so, and nowhere near as catty as I was expecting for Simcoe single-hopping. A little less rich and complex as the White Dragon (Chinook) but not bad overall. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Bellwoods Brewery Grizzy Beer Brown Ale at 6.2% ABV (C$5.50 from Bellwoods Brewery, 500 ml, bottle date 2-Apr-2015)

Pours hazy brown with a fat finger of loose rocky tan head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is roasty malts, coffee, dark fruit, light citrus, toffee malt, mild smoke. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, long roasty and slightly smoky finish. (4/5)

What an interesting beer – it looks like a porter, tastes like a black IPA, smells like something in between. Hoppy and malty in balance, and much more interesting than your normal brown ale, but still largely within the definitions of the style if you’re a little flexible in your interpretation of the “Northern English Brown” variant. That said, it’s definitely much hoppier than typical examples of the style like Newcastle Brown or Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Upalong Brewing The Landwash Homebrew at 8.5% ABV (Gift from the brewer – thanks Chris! – 500 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours slightly hazy to cloudy pale gold with a short-lived short white head, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is tart peaches, mild brett, very light pale malt. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, mild bitter, moderate tart. (9/10) Light to medium body, lively to moderate carbonation, tart and crisp finish. (4/5)

I have no hesitation saying that this is – by far – the best home-brew I’ve ever had. An even-handed and well-balanced combination of fruity tartness and funky brett, with minimal hop character and just enough sweetness to balance. The ABV is nearly completely nonexistent, manifesting only as a mild warming towards the end of the bottle. If I could brew like this, I’d… well… I guess I’d be a professional brewer…? (17/20)

Brewer (Chris Conway of Habits Gastropub) notes:
Imperial Saison with Peaches.
This beer started out as an imperial saison (Pilsner Malt, Vienna, with some wheat – light Magnum bittering and Styrian Golding finishing hops) fermented warm with a Wallonian Farmhouse yeast strain. After primary fermentation was complete, I racked it onto six pounds of fresh Ontario peaches (something like 150g per L), a very tiny amount of French Oak, and a large culture of Brett grown up from a bottle of Crooked Stave. It then fermented the peaches for about a month before it was bottled and bottle conditioned.

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com