August 2, 2014

171/1152) Home:  The Matador Version 2.1 El Toro Bravo by Flying Monkeys of Ontario:  **;   a 10.1%  Imperial Dark Rye Ale aged on a bed of Spanish cedar;  the inside of the crown reads. "Be nice or leave - gossip responsibly";  very strong cedar nose;    sharp and peppery with sweet toffee notes; cedar and cigar smoke finish; my wife was crazy about it which inflated my score just a bit;

172/1153) Home:  Split Personalité, a collaboration between the Indie Ale House of Ontario and Brasseurs du Monde of Quebec:  **;  7%;  a Belgian dubble style wit brewed with candi sugar and Belgian yeast;  deep rich brown colour;  hint of cocoa to the nose; there is a touch of dark fruit and oak;  not as sweet as most abbeys;

August 1, 2014

Another beer I miss is Gritstone Premium Ale by the Niagara Falls Brewing Company.  I can remember when this was on tap at the Pilot in Toronto.  The Niagara Falls Brewing Company was bought by Moosehead and re-named the Niagara Brewing Company but most of its memorable beers are gone.

July 31, 2014

170/1151) Hoperation Tripel Cross Belgian IPA by Phillips Brewing Company of British Columbia:  **1/2;  7.3%;  "You can almost hear the sirens as you pop the cap on this bomber.";  very strong hop nose with the edge only mildly rounded with citrusy fruitiness;  there is a touch of sweet citrus along side the hops and at the finish but this is undoubtedly an IPA first;

July 29, 2014

169/1150) Home:  Nebuchadnezzar Imperial India Pale Ale by Omnipollo of Sweden:  **1/2;  8.5%;  grapefruit nose;  fresh citrusy flavours;  dry finish, sweet aftertaste; a delicious IIPA;

July 28, 2014

168/1149) Home:  Cock Puncher by Indie Ale House of Ontario:  **1/2;  11% IIPA;  "Ultra Rare", brewed four times a year;  "Some beers should come with a warning label - this one does;";  pours opaque;  rich hopped nose with notes of citrus;  full hop flavours, earthy, citrusy;

July 20, 2014

166/1147) Home:  Framboise Lambic by Brouwerij Lindemans of Belgium:  **1/2;  2.5%; spontaneously fermented, which always sounds chancey to me;  in addition to the regular ingredients they used wheat, raspberry juice and sugar;  the hops are aged and the yeast is wild, hence spontaneously fermented;  wheaty, raspberry nose;  cidery mouthfeel;  very strong, tart raspberry flavour;  delicious;

167/1148) Home:  Vedette Extra White by Duvel Moortgat of Belgium:  *1/2;  4.7%;  nose is lemon with yeast and wheat notes;  the most prominent feature is sweet yeastiness;  a bit watery;  it does not live up to the promise of that nose but it would still be nice on a patio with a salad or fish and chips;

July 19, 2014

165/1146) Home:  Chocolate Milk Stout by Wellington County Brewery of Ontario:  *1/2;  7.2%;     brewed with flaked oats, lactose, cocoa, roasted malts;  very sweet chocolately nose;  flavours are very sweet, quite nearly overly so, chocolate with a bitter alcohol finish;  I am reminded of Southern Tier Choklat but this is not so extreme at either end of the scale;  it is a refinement, but not an improvement, of an offering from earlier in the year at C'est What, which was tried out under another variation of the name a couple of years earlier;