January 31, 2017

50/1868) Home:  The Crimson Bird by Naparbier of Spain:  **;  a 6.1% saison brewed with raspberries;  nose is grain, mild spice and raspberry;  very strong fresh raspberry flavours, with a hint of yeast and spice;  another example of a saison made tolerable by adulteration;

51/1869) Home:  Sauerkirsche Stout, a collaboration between Cervesa de Montgeny of Spain and Evil Twin Brewing:  **1/2;  brewed at Montgeny by Evil Twin;  a 10% imperial stout with sour cherries;  dry roasty nose ; flavours of alcohol, chocolate, cherries;  warm alcohol finish;  a wonderful blend of chocolate, dark coffee and above all else, cherries;

January 30, 2017

48/1866) Home:  Pukki by Browar Wąsosz of Poland in collaboration with Humalov Brewing of Finland:  *;  3%;  brewed in Poland;  the label notes that this is a "Beer Advent Calendar Special" a "smoked beer in 'grodziskie style'" and an "historical Polish beer style with a Finnish twist";  brewed with smoked wheat malt in place of barley as well as spruce shoots;  pours clear, nearly colourless;  the nose is mild spruce overwhelmed by dark smoke - it smells like a fire at the Christmas tree lot;  spruce notes early on with a smokey finish;

49/1867) Home:  Deep Space Foreign Extra Stout by Fabyrka Piwa of Poland:  **;  6.5%, 50 ibu;  brewed with 8 malts;  scarcely any head to speak of, even after pouring directly onto the bottom of the glass;  dry roasty nose with coffee notes;  dry with coffee flavours and a coffee finish;

January 29, 2017

46/1864) Home:  Gno More Gnomes a collaboration between Brewski of Sweden and Evil Twin Brewing:  **1/2;  brewed in Sweden;  while the Evil Twin head office is in Brooklyn, e-mails go to Denmark addresses;  10%;  dark, chestnut brown;  an American style barley wine brewed with figs;  nose is dark fruit with warming alcohol;  dark fruit, caramel, mild spice flavours with warming alcohol at the finish;  a perfect slow sipper for a cold day;  at one point I thought the Estonian beer was the "star" of the Advent calendar but now I'm wavering;

I picked Sweden out of turn to mark NHL All-Star weekend and meeting the great Borje Salming at the Hockey Hall of Fame a week ago;

47/1865) Home:  Préaris Quadrocinno by Vliegende Paard Brouwers of Belgium:  **;  "coffee infused";  the original label reads 8.5% but a label slapped on by the LCBO reads 9.5%;  coffee is only subtly present in nose and coffee notes are subdued until the finish;

January 28, 2017

42/1860) Home:  2017 Helles Golden Lager by Amsterdam Brewery:  *1/2;  5.2%, 17 ibu; released to mark their 30th anniversary;  brewed in the style of one of the first beers produced at the original brewpub on John St. which I used to go to when it was mostly warehouses in the area - long before it became the "Entertainment District";  I missed drinking this on New Year's Day so I'm marking Chinese New Year;  malty, grassy nose;  the almost pilsner like flavours take us to central Europe;

43/1861) Home:  Rascal London Porter by The Inveralmond Brewery of Scotland:  **1/2;  5.6%;  Inspiration Series #3;  "inspired by the mighty brewing styles of 18th century London";  certainly a hearty brew;  spiced nose with a touch of alcohol;  rich, very dry mocha flavours with notes of roasted grain;

44/1862) Home:  Farm Style Vienna Lager by Beau's All Natural Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2;  4.7%;  dry Eurohop nose with soft edges;  very much a blend of the styles;  dry finish;

45/1863) Home:  Kentucky Cow by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  **;  Bourbon Barrel Aged Chocolate milk stout;  7.5%, 18 ibu;  brewed with flaked oats, lactose and cocoa;  oaky nose; flavours of vanilla, bourbon; alcohol is quite prominent at first;  the wax seal suggests it is a candidate for aging;

This looks bad but my son was home for the weekend and there was sharing going on.

January 27, 2017

Yet another revolting development:  the Victory Café, in Mirvish Village is closing at the end of the month.  This one received four pint glasses of a possible five from my favourite pub review site:  https://torontopubs.wordpress.com/

Quite plainly, Toronto does not have nearly enough condominiums.

January 26, 2017

41/1859) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  The King Under The Mash Tun by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **1/2;  this cask is their feature beer, The Blizzard, with added Amarillo, Citra and Centennial hops;  the Citra hops are very prominent in the nose;  the blend of hops gives pineapple notes and it looks like a glass of pineapple juice as well;  sweet butterscotch notes;  the hops turn out to be a good counter to the aggressive sugariness of The Blizzard;

January 25, 2017

39/1857) Home:  De Mons Belgian Abbey by The Inveralmond Brewery of Scotland:  *;  brewed with barley and wheat;  from their Inspiration Series, #2;  this is their take on a Trappist beer;  it's vaguely like a Trappist with a faintly yeasty, fruity nose;  bland taste, hints of fruit and malt;

I am taking Scotland out of turn in my journey through the 2016 Beer Advent Calendar today in honour of Robbie Burns Day.  Sure, I am a mongrel, and my children moreso, but my father's mother was a McCordick and my mother was an Armstrong.

40/1858) Home:  Clootie Dumpling by The Orkney Brewery of Scotland:  **1/2;  named for the traditional Scottish spiced pudding and the cloth (cloot) it is wrapped in;  brewed with wheat and barley as well as cinnamon, sugar, allspice;  dark brown;  the nose features all three spices;  delicious gingerbread like flavors but not sweet;

No fooling, I am going to seek out a Scottish bakery and bring home a few Clootie Dumplings.

Lang may yer lum reek.