RyansBooze

Stone Brewing Company Coffee Milk Stout Sweet Stout at 4.2% ABV ($3.33 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355ml, best before 11-Feb-2015)

Pours opaque deep brown with amber-brown highlights, two fingers of dense beige head diminishing rapidly to a thick cap, heavy lacing. (5/5) Nose is dark roasty malt, coffee, dark chocolate, cream, toffee, faint cattiness. (7/10) Taste is mild lactose sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate sustained carbonation, dry bitter finish. (4/5)

A mild and approachable milk stout, with less of the lactose sweetness the style often brings. That seems to result in a little less smoothness in the texture, and a little more coffee bitterness on the tongue, but not to the point of it being unbalanced or excessively acrid. Probably the most sessionable milk stout I’ve ever had – not just because of the low ABV, but also due to the light body and reasonably smooth texture. An interesting balance between big flavour and appearance, and light body and ABV. It’s no Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, but it’s also one-third the price! (Though, it’s also less than half the ABV, so all things considered I think I’d rather have one of the Weasel than three of this one…)(14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Stone Brewing Company Go to IPA Session IPA at 4.5% ABV ($3.33 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355ml, best before 13-Jan-2015)

Pours slightly hazy pale gold with a short white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal lacing. (4/5) Nose is brightly hoppy, citrus and piney, tropical fruit, light malt. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (7/10) Light body tending to watery, moderate to low sustained carbonation, dry, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

A pretty well done ISA. The nose is stupendous – lots of bright, beautiful hops and just a hint of a supporting malt backbone. But the taste, while fine, falls a little short of the braggadocio of the nose, coming across a little thin, with a sudden finish. It’s probably fair to say Stone didn’t have a lot of choice but to jump on the session IPA bandwagon. And, it’s also fair to say that they did a pretty fine job of it. But, it might also be fair to say they’ve got better beers, and I’d probably rather take the ABV hit on a single bomber of one of their hop bombs, instead of drinking three or four of these. Usually. Unless you’re looking for a really well-done thirst quencher at a really good price – in which case, hells yeah this does the job! (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Dandy Brewing Company Dandy In the Underworld Sweet Stout at 5% ABV ($7.29 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours opaque deep brown with amber-brown highlights, short light beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal lacing. (3/5) Nose is predominantly coffee, with some dark chocolate, biscuity malt, and maybe weak earthy hops. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (7/10) Medium body, low sustained carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

(Had to have at least one stout on #InternationalStoutDay!) Not a bad sweet stout. Certainly not too sweet, which is good. What is there, is almost a lactose sweetness, giving it a café au lait feel. The finish is perhaps a bit too bitterly astringent and dry for the style, though. Could be a little smoother, and the head is disappointingly short – this might be a lot better on a nitro tap! All of that said, it’s a fairly impressive first attempt for a nano brewery. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Dandy Brewing Company Golden Brown Dandy English Pale Ale at 6% ABV ($7.29 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy medium amber with a shot-lived finger of loose off-white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skin, minimal lacing. (3/5) Nose is muted, cereal malt, nutty, fruity and herbal hops. (6/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (6/10) Medium body, low sustained carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

Well, right off the hop (no pun intended), this doesn’t look, smell, or taste like a Pale, English or otherwise – It’s a lot more like an ESB or an English Brown. As Pale, it’s  bland and underwhelming. As an ESB or a brown ale, it’s… well, bland and underwhelming. But a bit less so. Not a bad first try for a local nano brewery, and I’ll keep giving their products a try, but it’s not exactly an unqualified success either. At the very least, I’d like to see a little more carbonation to kick things up a notch and sharpen the flavour and finish. Speaking of the finish, it’s not entirely boring – there are herbal/floral notes that gradually become apparent, but it’s a case of too little, too late. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brauerei Aying Celebrator Dopplebock at 6.7% ABV ($4.42 at South Trail Co-Op, 330ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear deep brown with deep amber around the margins, one fat finger of light beige head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, minimal lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark fruits (raisins), chocolate and roasted malts. (9/10) Taste is moderate sweet and mild bitter. (9/10) Light to medium body, slightly oily texture, low sustained carbonation, lingering bitter, slightly smokey finish. (4/5)

Excellent traditional dopplebock. The ABV is very well-integrated, and is apparent in neither the nose or the taste, but only as a gentle warming toward the end of the glass. Surprisingly light body and texture given the appearance. Definitely appropriate as a winter warmer at whatever midwinter celebration you observe. (18/20)

My 120th from the 2010 Edition of 1001 Beers, 113th by the 2013 Edition, and 123rd overall.

9/10 #1001beers   #ryansbooze  ryansbooze.com

Wychwood (Marstons plc) Black Wych English Stout at 5% ABV ($3.99 at NLC Sobey’s Mount Pearl, 500ml, best before 20-Jul-2015)

Pours nearly black with hints of ruby around margins, two fingers of beige medium-density head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is muted, roasty malts and coffee, faint dark fruit. (6/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (7/10) Light to medium body, moderate to low sustained carbonation, decent bitter finish. (4/5)

Continuing with the Halloween theme for the evening. [Ed: Oversight on my part – not sure how/why this didn’t get posted 4 days ago when I wrote this, but here it is now.] And actually, not bad at all. A little confusion as to whether this is a porter or a stout – it seems like the description used to be a “Spellbinding Stout”, but now it’s “A Dark Mysterious Spellbinding Porter”. Well, either way, it’s a decently bitter dark beer with a little dark malt sweetness. Body is definitely thin for a stout, and actually on the thin side for a porter, but overall it’s fairly drinkable. (12/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Central City Brewing Red Racer Imperial IPA Imperial/Double IPA at 9.0% ABV ($8.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of off-white head, excellent retention, well-defined heavy lacing. (5/5) Nose is caramel malt, pithy citrus, pine resin. (8/10) Taste is moderate to strong sweet, moderate to strong bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate sustained carbonation, strongly bitter finish. (4/5)

Just a little too much emphasis on the malt for my taste. Not “malt forward”, as such, but a balanced malt/hop presence – and for a DIPA, that’s too much malt for my preference. And yes, perhaps I’m damning it with faint praise, because overall it’s very well done, and very dangerous – that 9% ABV doesn’t make any sort of appearance at all until well into the second glass – but it could’ve been so much better with just a little tweak of the grain bill. Mind you, that being said, I’m wondering if maybe it’s the Maris Otter that I’m not the biggest fan of… Regardless, this is an excellent DIPA, and hard to beat for the price. And damn, is it pretty. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com