December 31, 2013

325/974) Caffe Volo:  Barney Dubbel by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario:  *1/2;  8% abv.; a Merlot barrel aged dubbel;  sharp, tart, oakey wine nose;  wine notes over-shadow the Belgian style sweetness, especially at the finish; an oakey wine after-taste;

326/975) Caffe Volo:  Space Invader by Amsterdam Brewery of Ontario:  **;  a 6% American Citra Pale Ale;  very strong hop (earthy, pine, grapefruit) nose;  this is a real hop bomb;  astringent, bitter, earthy hop flavours;

327/976) Caffe Volo:  Tsarina Esra Imperial Porter by Brouwerij De Molen of the Netherlands:  **1/2;  the brewery's  name translates as The Mill;  I cannot find an historic reference to Esra though there is a Facebook page for one Princess Esra of Hyderbaad;  a five ounce glass poured from a bottle;  bitter alcohol and espresso nose;  there is a surprising sweetness at first; bitter alcohol, dried fruit, bitter coffee, raisins and fruitcake all play a part in this wonderful beer;

328/977)  Caffe Volo:  Rasputin Imperial Stout by Brouwerij De Molen of the Netherlands:  **;  winey nose with coffee notes;  tastes of coffee, raisin, dried fruit; again, a five ounce glass poured from the bottle;

329/978)  Caffe Volo:  Imperial Russian Stout 2008 by Stone Brewing of California:  **1/2;  wow;  nose is dried fruit, raisins, fruitcake, coffee;  flavours of dark coffee, sweet fruit, raisin; five ounces poured from the bottle;

330/979)  Caffe Volo:  Zombie Apocalypse by the Indie Ale House of Ontario:  **1/2;  a 10% Imperial Stout;  the nose features espresso with a touch of dried fruit;  bitter coffee and raisin flavours with a dry bitter after taste;

331/980) Caffe Volo:  Bobo's Reserve by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2;  a 12% imperial stout;  coffee figures strongly in the nose;  alcohol, figs, raisins, dates all figure into the blend of flavours;

332/981) Caffe Volo:  Swag Out Imperial Stout by House Ales of Ontario:  **;  8.5%;  an Imperial Stout with swag;  sweet mocha,coffee, alcohol nose;  flavours are coffee, dried fruit, raisins, figs;

Of the very many things the Volo gets so very right my favourite remains their New Years Eve extravaganza with treasures coming from their cellar on the half hour and a general good feeling all around.  It may appear that I was misbehaving but a number of the draught selections were on the small side, as small as 150ml -  less than a half pint.  Even so, my handwritten notes were leaning towards the illegible towards the end of the festivities.