Did you miss me?

I thought the anniversary of my initial post would be a good time to return from my self-imposed hiatus.  I don't expect I will be tasting 365 new beers in 2012 but I expect I will try a few.  I read recently that scientists have identified a "novelty-seeking" gene.  I am willing to bet I am blessed with such.

The plan, much as it was a year ago, is to catch up on the back-log from my less formal Excel spread-sheet, though I'm not facing quite the job I was this time last year.  I have been spending more time with old favourites and I have been consuming a larger portion of my beers outside the house than last year.  Given that I limit my consumption but not my purchases this is leading to some difficulties. 

An unusually warm March means I shouldn't be storing beer in the garage but on the other hand, the fact that I have shoe-horned more bottles into my beer fridge than might be wise may have had something to do with the pool of water I encountered in the kitchen last week.  It turns out that ice had blocked the water drain and an unplanned defrosting was in order.  Things seem to be working well now but so long as the LCBO continues to have seasonal beer features of short duration with limited quantities I will be buying one of most anything new I find.

I will soon be starting my attempt to see how many of the 1001 beers listed in the book I had mentioned last time out I can manage.  I have achieved a number and I have spotted even more but I am afraid to ask what they might cost.

Onward!

Where I have been and where I might be going

Let's get this out of the way:  over the course of the year I shed 2.1kg.  This journey has been a lot of fun and I think I have benefitted.    I tried a number of new beers and I revisited and enjoyed several I had dismissed a long time ago.  There is nothing like putting something on record to inhibit one from ordering, say, a Rickard's Red which regrettably is often as good as it gets in Brampton.

I have had a beer or more in more than forty joints.  I have consumed beer from over one hundred and fifty brewers from over twenty countries. 

Of course I have had readers from Canada and the U.S.A but also Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, the Ukraine, India, Hungary, Indonesia, Latvia, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

What is planned for 2012?  I haven't settled on anything just yet.  At some point I will run out of new beers if I continue for a new beer a day but I do want to keep listing new finds.  One thought comes courtesy of a lady from Campbellford (home of Church Key Brewing) who gave me a book for Christmas called 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.

The joy and the frustration of this sort of book is how very subjective it is.  I reviewed a similary themed and titled book on pop records - I could reproduce it here if there is demand - and I concluded that a number of things were included to show that the author had street cred and a number of others were there for their pop culture significance and not for their merit.

For starters I will never taste every beer listed.  Too much travel would be involved but it might be interesting to see how close I get.  I am going to think about it for a while and if thinking gets in the way of publishing there will some cramming to catch up.

I also think about going back and tidying things up, adding tags for the benefit of newcomers and maybe even photos.

Thank you for following along.  I will return very soon.

December 31, 2011

399)  Home:  Biere du Boucanier Red by Icobes B.V.B.A. of Belgium:  **;  the nose is sweet and yeasty;  notes of yeast malt and banana;

400)  Home:  Biere du Boucanier Dark Ale by B.V.B.A. of Belgium:  **;  hints of fruit;  the beers in this mixed pack are hard to rate - they are better than most but in the universe of Belgian beers they are a shade ordinary;

I kept it to myself until the end that when I hit 365, I re-set my goal to 400.

December 30, 2011

398)  Home:  Grasshopper Wheat Ale by Big Rock Brewery of Alberta:  **;  has a malty, biscuity nose;  very well balanced with a hint of citrus to boot;  the label reads, "sunshine in a glass";  as it suggests, while it would be great in the summer it is interesting enough to enjoy in the cooler months;  a big thank you to my niece for sending it in my direction;

Shame on me - this is the first Big Rock product all year.  They deserve better than that from me.

December 29, 2011

397)  Home:  Black Coal Stout by Railway City Brewing of Ontario:  **1/2;  as I said earlier this one is impossible to find (I think they only brewed enough for 600 bottles) but my brother found it so it's three cheers for him;  notes of sweet mocha with a mild hop presence;  it reminds me of the stout I helped brew a couple of months ago at Black Creek Pioneer Village;

Railway City is among my favourite Ontario breweries.  Dead Elephant IPA is a classic and when it is available I always go looking for Double Dead Elephant double IPA. 

Railway City cannot go wrong with dark beers.  Black Coal is the latest example and in a few weeks I am going to start looking for Sham-Bock.  I found it by accident last year at The Burger Bar & Tequila Tavern.  Their taps change so rapidly that the handles do not always stay current so at the risk of sounding foolish, I always ask what they have even though the handles are in front of me (the outstanding barmaids there would never allow anyone to feel foolish so don't be shy).

Speaking of Dead Elephant, I am seeing it in tins now which makes me think the bottles are being discontinued.  I am hanging on to one bottle for the label which looks a lot nicer than the can.

December 28, 2011

396)  Home:  Winter Beer 2011 by Innis & Gunn of Scotland:  **1/2;  I thought I detected less sweetness than in the Spiced Rum Finish;  there are notes of brown sugar and dried fruit;  dark, rich caramel flavours;  matured for 48 days;

I should use this space to declare that my wife "got" Innis & Gunn long before I did. 

Their web-site has received a good deal of praise of late:  http://www.innisandgunn.com/.  It is worth a visit just for the story of how they came to create their beers in the manner that they do. 

As best I can tell, the only way to get the Winter Beer 2011, not to mention the Spiced Rum Finish, is in the gift pack with the glass and I am sorely tempted to purchase another.  I am starting to see the original Innis & Gunn on draught.  I had a glass at the beerbistro and it is quite a treat on tap.

December 27, 2011

395)  Home:  Utopias 2011 by Samuel Adams Brewery of Massachusetts, U.S.A.:  **; I found the nose to be a combination of fruitcake (my brother-in-law's wonderfully boozy fruitcake in particular) and brown sugar;  tastes of brandy and dried apricot;  my wife, who I think likes this more than I do, said it reminds her of sherry;

I am advised that this is best served at room temperature.  It comes in a beautiful ceramic decanter.   A label on the decanter points out that Utopias 2011 is brewed with maple syrup.  The yeast is a strain normally used for champagne.  This edition is a blend of batches, as many as eighteen years old, aged in a variety of woods.  The casks used once stored bourbon, Spanish sherry, madiera, brandy, cognac and port.  It makes for very complex sipping.  Of the spate of "strong" beers from the last year or two, Stephen Beaumont opines that this is the strongest of the lot that is actually brewed in the manner of a beer - the others are made by a process more akin to distilling.  One reference advised to consider this a beer liqueur.  At 27% (not to mention $114.95 for 710ml) I am treating this as I would a spirit with one ounce servings.

I really should give this a couple more spins before forming an opinion but I don't want to get too far behind in publishing either.