December 27, 2025

264/4745) Home:  County Ale by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  ****; 5%, 24 ibu English style brown ale; “may contain wheat”; originally County Brown Ale from 1985; mahogany; malty, nutty aromas; tastes of  toasted malts, nutty, hint of caramel; a great take on a classic style; 

This is a great mix pack – I would buy it again. 

265/4746) Home:  Black Knight Classic Porter by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 4.5%, 29 ibu English Porter with oats; dark with a pale head; nose of roasted malts; dark roasted malts, hint of chcolate towards finish;

A revival of a beer from the early 1990s.  Wellington also had Iron Duke Porter, mind this was 5.7%;.  That one was discontinued early in the current century, shortly after I had come across it at an event called the Ale Trail.

December 26, 2025

262/4743) Home:  Delirium Christmas (Noel) by Brouwerij Huyghe of Belgium:  ****; 10%, 26 ibu; trriple fermented Winter Ale/Strong Dark Ale; amber; sweet, spiced nose; spiced malty, warming;

From the Delirium Christmas pack, purchased at the LCBO.  

263/Home:  40th Anniversary India Ale by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  ****; 5.6%, 49 ibu English IPA; “may contain wheat”; copper; herbal, resiny, floral nose; resin, herbal, dry, nearly bitter;

From their Craft Classics Mix Pack purchased at the LCBO.

December 24, 2025

260/4741) Home:  Apatxe by Mala Gissona of Spain:  ****1/2; 5%, 34 ibu American pale ale; brewed in Spain's Basque region; translucent with a frothy head; sweet aromas with a malty back drop, grapefruit and pine; grapefruit, tastes of pine; grapefruit, pine with a touch of citrus; 

Day 23

261/4742) Home:  Northern Winter by Bridge Brewing Company of British Columbia:  ****; 5.5%, 20 ibu Spiced Ale with wheat, blood orange, spices, orange peel and Canadian Whiskey; translucent; aromas of winter baking spices, orange and whiskey; flavours of orange, whiskey, zest, reamarkably boozy for 5.5% abv;

And so the 2025 Advent calendar finishes, and on a good note.

December 23, 2025

258/4739) Home:  Cerveza by Fierce Beer of Scotland:  ***; 4% Mexican Lager with Lime; gluten free; with  wheat, “gluten removed post-fermentation”; clear, straw; nose is like lime soda – 7-Up?; lime obscures mild lager fruitiness;

Day 21

259/4740) Home:  Ruling Elites by Henderson Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 7% Export Stout; dark, thin wispy head; nose of semi-sweet chocolate; flavours of sweet chocolate;

Henderson has brewed a Belgian Dubbel by this name in the past.

Day 22

December 22, 2025

257/4738) Home:  Wild Oud Dark Ale, also known as the Inconstancy of Nothingness by White Pony Microbrewery, based in Italy but brewed in Belgium:  ***;  11.4% Wild dark Ale/oud bruin;

A long description follows, from the tin:  barrel aged and blended, with wheat, oats, sugar, red currants, cherries and blackberries; "blend of three quadrupels aged in biodynamic Bourgoyne rouge barrels for four years with tart cherries and blackberries, a stout aged in Bordeaux red wine barriques for six years and a tripel aged in biodynamic Bourgoyne barrekw with red currents for three years"

the nose is tart, with cherries and cranberries, boozy and fruity; tastes tart, boozy with astringent tannins;  a lot of effort but I am not entirely sure about this;  

Advent day 20

December 20, 2025

255/4736) Home:  Juice Punch by Frontaal Brewing Co. of Netherlanmds:  ****1/2; 5.8% New England IPA; “summer in a can”; hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Sabro; vegan friendly; grain bill is barley malt, wheat malt, spelt malt and oats; hazy; fruit salad aromas, primarlily tropical; a delicious tropical fruit blend; 

Day 18

256/4737) Home:  Caporale Poivre by À La Dérive Brasserie Artisanale of Quebec, Canada:  ***; 5% Grisette brewed with alder pepper, foraged in Quebec, and wheat; hazy; nose is peppery and, as the can suggests, features spruce; similar flavours, even stronger, pepper, spruce and malty; an odd one, I am not entirely sold on this one;

Day 19 

The name translates as Corporal Pepper, who was presumableypromted in 1967 or earlier.  

December 19, 2025

253/4734) Home:  Passion Fruit Sour with Guava by Bridge Road Brewers of Australia:  **1/2; 4.3% “sessionable sour ale”; a fruited sour, brewed in the style of a traditional gose; “a mountain of passionfruit and just the right amount of guava; cloudy, straw; saline nose; tart, salty, minerally with passion fruit and guava;

Day 16

254/4735) Home:  Small Batch 005 American Lager by Village Brewery of Alberta:  ***; 5.7% American Lager brewed iwth four ingredients; clear; mildly fruity nose; fruity, mildly sweet;

Day 17