Category: Reviews

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

Gæðingur Öl Gæðingur Stout Stout at 5.6% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #10, 330ml, bottle date 03/04/15)

Pours opaque black with only hints of amber brown around the margins, a fat one finger of tight tan head, great retention, chunky patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is mild coffee, dark roasty malt with hints of oatmeal, faint liquorice. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter. (7/10) Medium body, prickly to moderate carbonation, slightly sticky and moderate bitter. (4/5)

A very easy-drinking stout. Surprisingly light in the body, assisted by the surprisingly prickly carbonation. Getting really very little liquorice, but I’d’ve sworn this was an oatmeal stout at first. That impression backs off as the glass progresses, and the little bit of liquorice builds slightly, without ever becoming emphatic. The finish is both sticky and bitter, with a pronounced coffee astringency. I like this. Hey, Icelandair is doing direct flights to Reykjavik from Edmonton – maybe I should take a quick jaunt over for the weekend and see what else they have worth drinking! (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mikkeller All Other Pales Pale American Pale Ale  at 5.8% ABV ($5.50 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 330ml, best before 27-May-2016)

Pours hazy pale amber with one finger of loose off-white head, excellent retention and lacing. (5/5) Nose is pine, grapefruit, mild caramel malt. (8/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, long bitter finish. (5/5)

Oh, Mikkeller, you magnificent bastard, you. I actually laughed out loud when I realized the script printed on the label (entitled, appropriately enough, “ALE”) actually has the second page very faintly visible: “We should drink these all night” (Nods in agreement). Awesome. But seriously, “All other pales pale”? Arrogant much? I’d say 95, 97% tops, of other pales pale. This is one helluva beer, but don’t get cocky. Maybe if you’d stop brewing, like, 150 different beers a year, you could improve on those numbers. (I swear, Sherbrooke must’ve had 30 or 40 different Mikkellers in stock. Maybe more. Someone needs to nail his feet to the floor in a brewery, or burn his passport, or something.) (18/20)

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Russell Brewing 19th Anniversary IP G’Day! American IPA  at 6.5% ABV ($6.30 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of tight light tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (5/5) Nose is pine, citrus, tropical fruit, mild caramel malt. (8/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, strong bitter. (8/10) Medium to full body, moderate carbonation, long bitter finish. (4/5)

Keeping my multi-day ANZ streak going here, if barely – brewed in Surrey, so a lot closer to home, but with Australian hops, and lots of them. (And yet they still can’t be arsed to date the damn bottle. Listen, brewers, I’ll come over with a Sharpie and date them for you if that’s what it takes, OK? I just want to know how your beer is supposed to taste, is that so unreasonable?) Anyway, this can’t be a very old bottle, so it’s a bit of a moot point – lots of fairly bright hops, with the caramel malt nicely in the background, where it belongs. Not quite a palate wrecker, but it does deal out a bit of a light bludgeoning. A little on the brash and uncouth side, but so am I, so it’d be a bit unfair to hold that against it. (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com