March 12, 2016

41/1626) Great Lakes Brewery:  Swamp Juice #22 by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario:  **;  this is a blend of Canuck Pale Ale, Lake Effect IPA and Body Dubbel;  it's all about the hops;  there are scarcely any Belgian characteristics in either the nose or the flavours;

March 4, 2016

38/1623) Caffe Volo:  Skeleton Key by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2;  13%;  a rum barrel aged Imperial Stout;  sweet boozy nose of rum and oak;  sweet oaky boozy dry red wine, spices and rum;  wow;

39/1624) Caffe Volo:  Juggernaut by Stone City Ales of Ontario:  **;  a rum barrel aged foreign extra stout;  nose is sharp and not as sweet as the other rum barrel aged beer from tonight;  dry mocha flavours - I might have guessed it started out as a porter had I not known otherwise;  grainy dry mocha notes, only the subtlest presence of rum;

The chalkboard indicates that the abv is 6% although on-line sources give a reading of 9.5%.  It could be this is a second batch.

40/1625) Caffe Volo:  Veniel 2016 by Dieu du Ciel! of Quebec:  **;  a 6.5% coffee stout;  bitter, dark coffee/expresso nose;  dark, dry, almost astringent coffee flavours;

March 2, 2016

I learned today that the Brunswick House is closing at the end of the month.  I went a couple of times during my first year at the University of Toronto and not again until a few months after I graduated.  I imagine I was atypical in that I didn't drink much at all at University.  They would have live music on Saturday afternoons and that is where I first saw the Shuffle Demons play.  I went a couple of times after and came out unimpressed with the people working there in particular.

I mentioned the closing to a few people and what I observed was that recent graduates had scarcely heard of the place.  They had certainly never been and that might explain their demise.

On the plus side of the ledger, Batch will be (finally) opening next week.  At least that is what they say.

March 1, 2016

37/1622)  Home:  Hopfenstopper Dry Hopped Pale Ale by Junction Craft Brewing of Ontario:  **;  6%, 46 ibu;  the nose is malty with a dry hop edge;  moderately hoppy with a dry bitter finish;

February 27, 2016

35/1620) Junction Craft Brewing:  Brown Ale by Junction Craft Brewing of Ontario:  **;  5.5%, 47 ibu;  rich and malty with a mildly bitter after taste;

I was hoping to find their Station To Station, a David Bowie tribute red ale, but I arrived too late.

36/1621) Great Lakes Brewery:  Shinny Pants Session Stout by Great Lakes Brewing of Ontario:  **;  4.8%, 8 ibu;  coffee, chocolate nose;  grainy chocolate flavours;

February 26, 2016

31/1616) C'est What:  Elephant Monsoon Peanut Butter and Grape Porter by Beau's All Natural Brewing of Ontario:  **;  6.7%, 30 ibu;  this week's Feb-Brew-ary installment;  the Barmaid tells me it is brown like a stout;  the nose is mostly grape with a hint of coffee;  the grape flavour is the most up front of all, with only a hint of peanut at the finish;  it's a weird one but it really does work;

The significance of my mention of the barmaid advising me as to the colour is something I don't think has been mentioned here before but I suffer colour-blindness in a certain portion of the spectrum.  Any time I mention a beer's colour it means there was someone nearby who filled me in.

32/1617) C'est What:  Parachute Porter by Barnstormer Brewing of Ontario:  **;  5.1%, 39 ibu;  nose is dry mocha;  grany mocha flavours, almost cola-ish notes and mouthfeel;

33/1618) C'est What:  Wicked Wench by Forked River Brewing of Ontario:  *;  5.7%, 10 ibu;  a sour bourbon aged stout, thankfully I was warned it was a sour and I ordered the smallest glass I could;  the nose is funky and cidery;  tastes sweet with tart cherry like, nearly astringent notes;

34/1619) C'est What:  Mad Cow Milk Stout by County Durham Brewing of Ontario:  **;  4.8%, 29 ibu;  the nose features alcohol more strongly than the abv might suggest;  there is a sweet fruitiness as well;  I am not getting the lactose sweetness one commonly associates with a milk stout but in general this one does work for me;

February 25, 2016

30/1615) Home:  Cuvée Barrique Tap X by Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH of Germany:  **;  a 9.5% Wheat Doppelbock;  brewed with wheat and barley malt;  2015 limited Edition;  ruby colour;  cidery nose;  tart, dry, cidery;