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

December 17, 2025

251/4732) Great Lakes Brewery, Etobicoke:  Pelotari by Great Lakes Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 7.0%, 53 ibu American IPA brewed in collaboration with the Wooly pub (which I think I used to know as the Woolwich Arms) on their 35th anniversary; brewed with exclusively the traditional four ingredients;  pours clear; nose of candied orange peel and clementines; similar flavours with caramel note in the background;

 

Pelotari is Spanish for a ball player, particularly jai alai.

252/4733) Home:  Shag Harbour UFO Invasion by Boxing Rock of Nova Scotia:  ***; 5% Blonde ale; brewed with only four ingredients; translucent golden; nose and flavours typical of a sweet golden ale; 

Day 15 of the Advent calendar.

This beer is named for the Shag Harbour Incident of October 4, 1967, specifically the reported impact of a large object into the waters near Shag Harbour, a small fishing village.

December 16, 2025

250/4731) Home:  Night Watchman by Wold Top Brewing of England:  ***1/2; 4.4% “Dark smooth stout”, also described as an oat stout; dark with a wispy tan head; aromas of chocolate, caramel and grains; tastes of grainy chocolate notes with hints of caramel;

Day 14

December 15, 2025

248/4729) Home:  Wit by Uiltje Brewing Company of Netherlands:  ***; 6.2%, 30 ibu Witbier with wheat, coriander and “some citrus”; translucent; nose of coriander and cloves; notes of citrus, cloves and coriander;

 

Day 12 - halfway through

249/4730) Home:  Cowboy by Origin Malting and Brewing Co. of Alberta:  ***1/2; 5.0%, 45 ibu Dry Hopped Pale Ale; translucent; faint grapefruit aromas; mildly washed out fruity flavours with grapefruit notes;

Day 13

December 11, 2025

246/4727) Home:  Mt. Dirty by Long Bay Brewery of New Brunswick:  ***1/2; 5.5%, 25 ibu Oatmeal Stout with wheat; pours dark with a tan head; nose of roasted malt; roasty, hints of chocolate;

The jokes derives from their "shorthand" for empty, MT, and distinguishing between clean and dirty tanks, in need of cleaning.

Day 10

247/4728) Home:  IPA by Monyo Brewing of Hungary:  ****1/2; 6.5%; hopped with Citra and Centennial; very highly carbonated; nearly clear; pine aromas; grassy pine flavours with a hint of tropical fruit; 

Brewed in Budapest - only my second Hungarian beer since I began tracking them.  

Day 11

December 9, 2025

244/4725) Home:  Autopop - Shirley Temple by Blood Brothers of Ontario:  ****1/2; 4% Session Sour with Pomegranate and Oranges; with wheat, pomegranate, orange juice and natural flavours; opaque, dark gold; nose of cherries, ever so mild hint of tartness and oranges; more like a cocktail, or perhaps a soda, than a beer; tastes of cherry, pomegranate and orange; very unusual;

Day 8

245/4726) Home:  Shipwreck Coast by Firebrand Brewing of England:  ***; 4% Amber ale; Celeia, Styrian Golding and Columbus hops; with wheat but the gluten has been removed; amber; nose is sweet and malty with mildly earthy hop notes; tastes malty and mildly sweet;

Day 9 of the Advent calendar which is to say I am caught up, for now.  

About that calendar:

This year's theme is award winning beers.  Plenty of international beers but, pointedly, no American beers.

December 8, 2025

242/4723) Home:  Blanket Season by Brewster's Brewing Company of Alberta:  ***1/2; 5.5% American Porter with Cacao; pours black with a tan head; mild cacao nose; tastes of cacao with a hint of cola, moderately grainy; thin mouth feel;

Advent calendar day 6

243/4724) Home:  Heavy Lifting by 71 Brewing of Scotland:  ***1/2; 3.9% Scottish Heavy; “vegan friendly”; rich dark brown; mildly sweet nose; malty with notes of caramel and molasses;

 

Day 7

December 6, 2025

241/4722) Mascot Brewery, King Street, Toronto:  Mondo West IPA by Mascot Brewery of Ontario:  ****1/2; 4.5% West Coast Session IPA hopped with Cascade, Cenennial and Amarillo; dry, resiny nose and flavours;

This was a can pour.

December 5, 2025

239/4720) Home:  Scrumpers by Smugglers' Trail Caskworks of British Columbia:  ****; 5% 10 ibu mulled winter spiced ale with Cabernet Sauvignon, sweet orange peel, coriander and winter spices; opaque, amber; tart, spiced nose; mildly tart with notes of wine, spice, and mildly bitter orange;

"our take on mulled wine”;

Day 4 of the calendar;

240/4721) Home:  Naughty Hopper by Double Vision Brewing of New Zealand:  ****1/2; 8.9%, 72 ibu Imperial IPA hoped with Simcoe, Amarillo and Mosaic; nearly clear, brownish; nose of grapefruit, pine and resin; similar flavours - an old school west coast IPA;

Calendar day 5

December 3, 2025

238/4719) Home:  Repeater by Full Circle Brew Co. of England:  ****; 4.2% Session IPA with oats and hopped with Centennial, Amarillo and Mosaic; cloudy; citrus is most prominent with tropical aromas; tropical is more forward in the flavours with citrus, and the mildest hint of pine at the finish; very flavourful, session or otherwise;

“suitable for vegans"  Day 3 of the Advent calendar

December 2, 2025

237/4718) Home:  Unsolicited Advice by Manual Labour Beer Co. of Alberta:  ****; 3.5% Dark Mild brewed with caramel, pale and chocoalte malts, Mount Hood hopsand Old English yeast; pours brown; nose of toasted bread and molasses; bready with notes of molasses;

Day 2 of the Advent calendar.  When I was in the ninth grade, an outstanding math teacher named Mr. Bergey counselled, "Free advice is usually worth what you paid for it.".

December 1, 2025

236/4717) Home:  Mwsh Lager by Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mŵs Piws) of Wales:  ***1/2; 4.7% Kôlsch style lager brewed with wheat; clear, golden; lemony nose; lemony with toffee ; finish is mildly dry lemon; very flavourful for a lager;

Canada Craft Advent Calendar day 1

November 28, 2025

234/4715) Home: Origin of Darkness 2025:  Nitro Coffee Stout by Collective Arts in collaboration with Third Moon Brweing Co. and Monigram Coffee Roasters, all from Ontario:  ****; 8% coffee stout;  brewed with oats and Nicaraguan coffee; pours jet black with a thick, finely bubbled tan head; strong dark roasted coffee bean aromas; rich, dark coffee flavours with a hint of caramel sweetness; 

235/4716) Home:  Origin of Darkness 2025:  Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee Stout by Collective Arts in collaboration with Monigram Coffee Roasters, both from Ontario:  ****1/2; 11.9%;  brewed with wheat, oats and Nicaraguan coffee; pours jet black with a short lived, thin bubbly head which quickly turns thin and wispy; nose of bourbon, alcohol, vanilla, chocolate and coffee; similar flavours; thick, very well carbonated mouth feel; 

November 27, 2025

232/4713) Bobhouse Banger by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6%, 5 ibu Peanut Butter Porter brewed with oats and peanuts, in the form of real peanut butter; chestnut colour; peanut outshines chocolate in nose; peanuts are a bit more subdued in the flavours alongside rich chololate; 

“...the perfect beer for downhill skiing, building snowmen AND frolicking along the shore of Lake Huron on a 34 degree  summer day”

This is the last entry from the Winter Sports Beer League mix pack.

233/4714) Home:  Summit Peak (IPA 31) by Collective Arts of Ontario:  ****1/2; 6.9% West Coast IPA hopped with Simcoe, Chinook, Vic Secret and Columbus Cryo; wheat added to the grain bill; hazy golden; nose of resin, pine and grapefruit; dry pine wirh a dry after taste;