August 1, 2023

159/4120) Home:  Red Ale by Torched Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 5.4%; with added wheat;  pours deep red; nose is grassy maltiness with notes of caramel; malty caramel flavours;

Torched was formerly known as Brewster’s Mill Brewing Company.  The original mill was torched in the early 1800s, hence the (new) name.

160/4121) Home:  1832 Irish Stout by Torched Brewing of Ontario:  ***1/2; 4.4%; Irish Dry Stout; dark with a thin, wispy head; nose of sweet chocolate and roasted malt; roasty with mild chocolate notes; moderately thin mouthfeel for the style;

July 31, 2023

157/4118) Home:  River Pigs IPA by Torched Brewery of Ontario:  ****1/2; 5.7%, 50 ibu; with oats and wheat; pours amber, translucent; nose is floral and piney; malt is present but mostly mild floral and nearly harsh pine/resin notes; very old school;

The name of this beer is a tribute to those who kept the logs flowing on Ausable River to Brewster’s Mill in Grand Bend.

158/4119) Home:  Hazy IPA by Torched Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 5.5%; Double Dry Hopped; somewhat hazy; mildly citrusy nose; tastes of mild citrus but it is not especially pulpy or juicy;

July 30 ,2023

156/Home:  Bootleg Cream Ale by Royal City Brewing of Ontario:  ***; 5.5%, 20 ibu; pours clear; bready, herbal nose; grainy sharp bitter herbal notes; none of the minerally flavours one often encounters in a cream ale;

The label informs us that this “may contain wheat” which is something that uniformly bothers me.  Don't they know what is in their product?  To be fair, back in the day the miller had a good many customers and there may have been traces of the last order mixed in with yours.

A comment from untappd.com:  “not creamy”.  I wish I was certain that this individual is kidding.

July 29, 2023

154/4115) Home:  Florida Stole My Parents by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ****; 6.5%, 15 ibu; brewed with wheat and oats, hopped with Comet and Eclipse; infused with orange and tangerine; described as an “OJIPA 100% hazy”; pours hazy as advertised; scent of orange juice and zest; tastes of zest and orange with hints of grapefruit and pineapple towards the finish;

155/4116) Home:  Chilly Tins by Nickel Brook of Ontario:  ***1/2; 4.5% New Zealand style IPA with wheat and oats; hazy; hopped with New Zealand hops:  Waimea, Nelson and Sabro; nose is white wine, fresh tropical; more Sabro (coconut) in flavours than nose, with mild wine, tropical and herbal notes;

July 25, 2023

153/4114) Home:  Tropical Thunder by Brock Street Brewing Company Ltd. of Ontario:  **1/2; 6.4%, 50 ibu; New England style IPA brewed with Kviek yeast; and Melody hops; grainy nose; herbal, dry flavours – not much tropical to speak of here;

July 24, 2023

152/4113) Home:  Astrophysics by Equilibrium Brewery Of New York, U.S.A.:  ****1/2; 6.5%; American style IPA brewed with the addition of wheat; pours opaque, yellowy orange; frothy foamy head; candied citrus nose with mango and papaya; tastes like a candied fruit salad with berries;

“Beer balanced by science”

July 23, 2023

151/4112) Home:  Stonehammer Dark Ale by Fixed Gear Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***1/2; 5%, 20 ibu; translucent; nose is rooty with a hint of chocolate; I am getting mostly mild chocolate and hints of roasted malt; with a fuller mouth feel I might have mistaken this for a Porter;

This is one of the beers rescued after Stonehammer’s demise.  Stonehammer was formerly known as F&M Brewing.