August 12, 2017

257/2075) Home:  Ruff Draught by Muskoka Brewery of Ontario:  *1/2;  a 5%, 25 ibu Tropical Blonde Ale; a collaboration with Born Ruffians, a Canadian indie band originating from Muskoka;  it was the first place winner at the Sessions Beer Festival;  malty nose;  not much tropical to speak of initially;  a standard blonde ale with an ever so mild hint of tropical citrus at the finish;

258/2076) Home:  Upside IPA by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2;  6.8%, 58 ibu;  brewed with the addition of wheat and oats;  an East Coast style IPA using Vermont style ale yeast;  hazy, gold colour;  peaches and grapefruit nose;  peachy and citrusy flavours with tropical notes;

August 10, 2017

256/2074) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Hungry Thighs by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  *;  Thursday cask;  mix of their brown and their IPA with Falconer's Flight 7C's and Pilgrim hops;  reminds me of Wellington Terrestrial IBA but I prefer this hop profile;  the nose is dry with a hint of bitter citrus and lots of roasty malt;  blend of roasted malt with dry hop notes and a bitter after taste;  the chocolate notes of the brown are largely masked;

Pilgrim is an English hop while Falconer's Flight 7C's (the use of the apostrophes is theirs) is a proprietary blend of seven different hops, most, but not all, of which begin with the letter C.

August 7, 2017

255/2073) Home:  Chanan by Merit Brewing Co. of Hamilton:  *;  a 5.3% dry hopped saison with orange peel and Indian coriander;  tropical, citrusy nose with musty saison yeast;  I am not really getting the coriander;  the hops seem to take centre stage at first but the tropical and orange zest notes emerge leaving a lingering bitter finish;  not sure about this one;

August 6, 2017

253/2071)  Home:  Skull Rock Oatmeal Stout by Sleeping Giant Brewery of Ontario:  **;  5.1%, 30 ibu;  strong roasted malt nose with a hint of alcohol;  very roasty flavours - does not suffer for lacking coffee or chocolate notes of many stouts;  dare I say, a "Superior" stout?;

Sleeping Giant National Park is located near this Thunder Bay brewery but Skull Rock Narrows is a ways west and a bit north so I don't know if this is the reference or if it is a Peter Pan inspired name.

Compliments must go out to Sleeping Giant for naming a beer after one of Canada's greatest super-heroes, Mr. Canoehead.  I absolutely must try that one, posthaste.

254/2072) Home:  Piña Grande by Lake of Bays Brewing Company of Ontario:  *1/2;  4.2%;  a wheat ale brewed with "pure pineapple juice";  also Magnum, Perle and Belma hops;  not much pineapple to speak of;  nose is like a malty lager;  mildest of pineapple edges;  between the pineapple juice and the belma hops I was wishing for more;

August 5, 2017

252/2070) Home:  First World Problems by Stewart Brewing of Scotland:  **;  6.2%, 80 ibu;  billed as a Belgian IPA;  brewed with rye and oats;  the recipe is by James Hardacre, winner of a home brewing competition;  the Belgian elements are revealed in the yeasty nose alongside floral hop notes;  mildly citrusy, not overpowering;  more a variation on a pale ale to my mind - it's not overly "Belgian";

An alternate set of captions from Stewart's website reads, "Forgot I was watching a recording/sat through the commercials".  I like this one better.

August 4, 2017

250/2068) Home:  Unfiltered Pils by Double Trouble Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2; 4.6%;  contract brewed at Wellington in Guelph;  brewed with added wheat flakes;  as you will imagine it is cloudy;  mildly sweet nose with grassy notes;  mild citrus flavours;  another unusual pilsner - is this going to become a trend?;

251/2069) Home:  Grapefruit IPA by Double Trouble Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2;  5.9%;  here again, they have added wheat flakes and also "natural red grapefruit flavour";  grapefruit nose;  as much a radler as anything and I still think these are best prepared fresh at home;  in spite of the "natural" grapefruit it tastes a little artificial, nearly soda-like to me;  bitter after taste;

August 1, 2017

248/2066) Home:  The Sociable Pilsner by Common Good Beer Co. of Ontario:  **;  4.7%, 26 ibu;  brewed with Citra hops;  nose is grassy with a mild hop edge;  grassy with fruity hop notes;  as pilsners go this is pretty good;  it was an inspired idea to add Citra hops, in place of Saaz;

249/2067) Home:  Stash by Collective Arts of Ontario:  *;  5% ;  fruity nose;  it's the sugary sweetness that grabs one's attention - sweeter than Sprite;  not revolting but I wouldn't risk another;

You will note we are instructed to "Drink From the Can" and I did consume nearly half this way but it didn't improve things.

July 31, 2017

247/2065) Home:  [Extra] Terrestrial Imperial IBA by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  **;  8.2%, 90 ibu;  stands for India Brown Ale;  brewed with twice the amount of malt as the original, which I recall first tasting at the late, lamented Burger Bar and Tequila Tavern;  very roasty nose with a bit of cocoa but you cannot miss all those piney hops;  opens with sharp hop notes yielding to cocoa and roast with a dry finish;

My wife picked this up at the brewery in Guelph.

July 30, 2017

246/2064) Home:  India Pale Ale by Alexander Keith's of New Brunswick:  *;    5%;  clear pale amber;  smells of grain, adjuncts;  a bit of sweetness;  not offensive, just dull, very dull;

Here I fear I must be ungallant:  my wife bought this.  A third of a century ago, this one was just a bit edgy.  People from the maritimes referred to it as Vitamin K and the Shuffle Demons had a tune dedicated to it.