November 1, 2018

315/2536) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  3 Dressed Up As A 9 by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **; 5.2%, 42 ibu; cask; Cat's Pajamas Nitro IPA with Nelson Sauvin and Amarillo hops;  hazy, opaque; nose is citrusy, grapefruit; pleasantly citrusy with a bitter after taste all the more surprising given the hint of sweetness towards the finish;

October 31, 2018

314/2535) Yummy! North East Pale Ale by Beyond The Pale Brewery of Ontario:  **;  5.4%, 40 ibu; brewed with barley, wheat and oats; pours opaque, straw colour; nose is tropical with resiny notes; citrusy and tropical with a mildly resiny after taste;

October 30, 2018

313/2534) Home:  Runes:  Mosaic and Summit Double Dry Hopped IPA by Bellwoods Brewing of Ontario:  **; 6.7%; hazy; very nearly a New England style nose with peaches and stone fruit; citrus, berries, stone fruit flavours;

October 29, 2018

312/2533) Home:  Bine Hunter Wet Hop Pale Ale by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario:  **; 5%; brewed with Comet hops; strong, fruity, citrusy nose;  citrus and stone fruit flavours;

October 28, 2018

311/2532) Home:  Oatmeal Stout by Black Isle Brewing of Scotland:  **1/2; 9.5%; East Coast Edition 2018; from their Barrel Aged series; brewed with malted barley as well as wheat and oats; dark roasted malt nose with a hint of alcohol; roast, vanilla and oaky flavours;

October 27, 2018

310/2531) Thirsty and Miserable:  Alouette 1 Galaxy IPA by Dominion City of Ontario:  **; 6.5%; named for Canada's first satellite, launched in 1962; opaque; nose is peaches; flavours of peach and tropical fruit, especially guava;

October 25, 2018

308/2529) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Pillow Case by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **1/2;  cask; 3.7%, 6 ibu; their Raspberry Sour with strawberries, marshmallows and lactose; going for strawberry marshmallow Halloween candy and achieving it; sweet with a fruity tang; sugary sweet nose;

309/2530) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Harvest Ale (2018):  *;  4.5%, 40 ibu; brewed with a single malt and a single hop: Alberta Heritage Select malt, Chinook hops; off-puttingly musty, dry, bitter adstringent nose; similar flavours;  a bit much;

October 24, 2018

307/2528) Home:  Chocolate Blossom Chocolate Cherry Stout by Mill Street of Ontario:  **; 6.8%; brewed with malted and roasted barley, dark sweet cherry puree and cocoa nibs; nose is bitter, unsweetened chocolate and cherries;  not sweet enough to be considered alongside the Black Forest style beers of late; bitter chocolate, tart cherry flavours;

October 23, 2018

305/2526) Home:  Inedit Damm by CC Damm (Barcelona) of Spain:  **;  4.8%; brewed with barley, wheat, spices and ascorbic acid "antioxidant"; my first thought was Belgium by way of Spain - it is very much in the Belgian style; yeasty spiced nose; sweet, malty, spicy, yeasty; surprising;

306/2527) Home:  Collective Project IPA No. 7 Southern Hemisphere IPA by Collective Arts of Ontario:  **1/2;  7.1%; features Nelson Sauvin and Citra hops; nose is white wine and melon;  just a little hazy; in the New England style; citrus and white wine flavours; delicious;

October 21, 2018

304/2525) Norse Golden Ale by Norse Brewery Inc. of Ontario:  *; 5.0%; malty, grassy nose; malty, grainy, hint of fruit; a bit ordinary;

The tin instructs that the word ale is related to the Norse word ØL, with roots in Saxon ALO and Danish-Norwegian ALU or EALU.

October 20, 2018

302/2523) Home:  Hobgoblin IPA by Wychwood Brewery of England:  **;  5.3%; brewed with Fuggles, Goldings, Styrian hops and "some mighty American hops"; fruity nose; fruity with an astringent edge;

303/2524) Home:  The Blood of Cthulu by Sawdust City of Ontario:  **1/2; 9.5%, 50 ibu; Imperial Stout with cherries, raspberries, cranberries, demerara sugar; dark, roasty, nearly burnt nose with bitter chocolate; roasty with sharp berry flavours towards the finish;  elements of IPAs from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean;

October 19, 2018

301/2522) The Biermarkt, Mississauga:  Peter, Pale and Mary Pale Ale by Mikkeller of Denmark:  **; 4.5%, 45 ibu; dry citrusy nose; dry citrusy flavours with a bitter, nearly astringent aftertaste;

October 18, 2018

299/2520) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Gettin' Basted by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  *1/2; 4.7%, 18 ibu; their White with rosemary, thyme, sage, orange peel and coriander;  nose of delicious sage stuffing; I am tasting all the spices with a dash of orange zest towards the finish;

300/2521) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  The Carrot (La Carrotte) by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  *1/2; 5%, 20 ibu; a dry hopped pale ale with shredded carrots, Eureka hops and Nugget hops; nose is citrusy; hoppy citrus notes, carrots don't make their presence known until the finish;

By this point we were looking for the mashed potatoes.

October 17, 2018

298/2519) Home:  Mylarshark DIPA by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario in collaboration with Other Half Brewing Company of New York, U.S.A.:  **; 8.9%; another cloudy one; peaches and pine to nose; blend of pine and citrus;

October 16, 2018

297/2518) Home:  Wizard Wolf - Loral/Simcoe by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario:  **; 4.8%; as opaque as a milkshake; nose is peaches; flavours of citrus, especially lime;

October 15, 2018

296/2517) Home:  Wizard Wolf Pale Ale - Citra/Sterling by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario:  **; 4.8%; murky - my wife says it looks like orange dish soap; citrusy nose with light pine; low carbonization; thin mouthfeel; fresh citrus flavours with very little bitterness;

October 11, 2018

294/2515) Home:  Bongo Grapefruit Radler by Big Rig Brewery of Ontario:  **; 2.9%; made with "grapefruit soda"; in spite of concerns about the soda, this  tastes fairly natural, with bite;

295/2516) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Escape Goat by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **; a 4.5%, 42 ibu cask feature; their Cat's Pajamas Nitro IPA with El Dorado and Cascade hops; dry citrusy nose; hint of citrus sweetness only partially offsets dry, nearly bitter earthy pine notes;

October 9, 2018

292/2513) Batch:  Double Dry Hopped IPA by Batch of Ontario:  **1/2; hoppy, grapefruit nose; citrus, especially grapefruit, and zest flavours; 

293/2514) beerbistro:  Fresh Squeezed IPA by Deschutes Brewery of Oregon, U.S.A.:  *1/2; 6.4%, 60 ibu; uncommonly malty nose for the style with a citrus zest edge; fruity flavours, strong malt presence;

October 6, 2018

290/2511) Home:  Lost In Orbit Session IPA by Nickel Brook of Ontario: **;  4.5%, 16 ibu; brewed with Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe hops, Vermont Ale yeast; wheat and flaked oats; it is a lot like B from Mystery Pack but I don't recall the oats so this gets its own listing;

291/2512) Home:  Festbier by Waterloo Brewing Co. of Ontario:  *1/2; a 5% Märzen; sweet, malty; a fine example of the style;

October 5, 2018

289/2510) Biermarkt, Mississauga:  Sculpin IPA by Ballast Point Brewing Company of California, U.S.A.:  **1/2; 7%; sweet fruity nose; candied lemon and orange flavours, mildly dry after taste;

October 4, 2018

288/2509) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Nuttin' On You by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **1/2;  a 4.8%, 27 ibu cask selection; their Brown Ale with peanut butter, chocolate and vanilla; Justin was going for a Reese's Pieces type of beer; sweet creamy vanilla nose with peanuts against a backdrop of cocoa which brings out the chocolate notes of the Brown; rich peanut chocolate and vanilla flavours;

October 3, 2018

287/2508) Home:  Optimal Wit by Port City Brewing Co. of Virginia, U.S.A.:  **; a 4.9%, 15 ibu Belgian style white beer brewed with spices;  also brewed with Virginia grown wheat, Spanish orange peels, coriander, grains of paradise and oats;  "tastes like Sunshine and Happiness" - it was their idea to make these proper nouns, not mine; pours mildly hazy; the nose is orange, zest, yeast; spiced flavours of orange, yeast, zest; an interesting wit with a citrusy finish;

October 2, 2018

286/2507) Home:  À Tout le Monde (Megadeath) by Unibroue of Quebec:  **1/2; 4.5%, 22 ibu; described as a Saison Ale on lees; dry hopped, bottle refermented; pours cloudy with a fine, persistent head; spiced, yeasty, lemony with a mildly sweet after taste; tastes like a beer with a much higher abv; surprising; very nice;

This was brewed at the request of Megadeath vocalist Dave Mustaine.  Some trivia from the Unibroue website:  this has the lowest abv of any Unibroue beer.  The name is taken from a track on their 1994 LP Youthanasia.

October 1, 2018

285/2506) Home:  Theoretikal Zero Double Dry Hopped Session IPA by Flying Monkeys of Ontario in collaboration with L'anjub Vinebro of Spain: **;  4.8%; no hops are added during the boiling so, in theory, this has an ibu of zero; unfiltered; nose of peach and citrus; peach, bright citrus, no hint of bitterness;

September 30, 2018

284/2505) Home:  Trailer Park Boys:  Green Bastard IPA by North American Craft of Ontario:  **;  6.5%; brewed with barley malt, rye malt and wheat flakes as well as Citra, Amarillo and Cascade hops; pours clear; malty nose with pine; perhaps this is best described as an hybrid English/ North American style IPA; piney hops are nearly entirely overshadowed by the aggressive maltiness;

September 27, 2018

283/2504) The 3 Brewers, Heartland:  Tribe Has Spoken by The 3 Brewers of Ontario:  **1/2; 4.5%, 50 ibu, cask; billed as an IPA - India Session Ale;  their Cat's Pajamas Nitro IPA with Summit and Citra hops added; the nitro replaced by carbon dioxide in the casking process; citrusy nose; lemony notes, pineapple, citrus, bitter after taste;

September 25, 2018

281/2502) Home:  Ƚomża Export by Ƚomża Brewery of Poland:  *1/2; 5.5%; pours clear; a typical Euro lager; sweet, (mildly) grainy with a touch of berries;

282/2503) Home:  Collective Project:  IPA No. 6 by Collective Arts of Ontario:  **;  6.7%;  brewed with Amarillo and Wai-iti hops, wheat, barley and pureed peaches; murky peach colour; nose of peaches, primarily, with a touch of lemon; peach with pineapple notes; thick mouthfeel;

September 22, 2018

279/2500) Home: Coconut Lemongrass Thai PA by Louis Cifer Brew Works of Ontario:  **; 6.7%; brewed with creamed coconut, lemongrass and lime;  there is a whiff of lime to the nose; sweet coconut, lemongrass and lime flavours;  unusual but very nice;  it is no surprise that this is used in a couple of the recipes on the brewpub's menu;

280/2501) Home: Go Lanny Go! by Henderson Brewing of Ontario in collaboration with Trolley 5 of Calgary:  **;  6%; a West Coast IPA; citrus and pine nose, similar flavours; very dry after taste; in honour of the great Lanny McDonald, who scored the goal that gave the Calgary Flames their first, and so far only, Stanley Cup;

The label comes complete with a peel-off mustache in case of emergency, though it is the wrong colour.  For another of Lanny's finest moments (this time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs) have a look here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cG7BgA0YWw

September 21, 2018

265/2486) C'est What:  Prospect Single Hop IPA - Simcoe by Left Field Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2;  6%, 60 ibu; pineapple, tropical nose; tropical citrus flavours;  each version of their Prospect series uses the same malt bill and showcases a unique hop variety;

Today is C'est What's Fall Festival of Craft Brewers.  Everything was in tiny sample sized cups.

266/2487) C'est What:  Madagascar Vanilla Cream Ale by Cameron's Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2; 5%, 23 ibu; brewed with Noble hops; grainy, minerally nose; mineral flavours with a touch of vanilla, mild citrus;

As I have often said, C'est What does a beer festival the right way.  No admission and their kitchen is open should you find yourself hungry.

267/2488) C'est What:  Mr. Brown Has Gone Coconuts Brown Ale by Nita Beer Company of Ontario:  **1/2; 5.5%, 40 ibu; pours dark with a coconut nose; strong, sweet coconut flavours; I'm not sure I could manage a pint due to the sweetness, but I might;

268/2489) C'est What:  Inn O'Sláinte Irish Red Ale with Rooibos Tea by Innocente Brewing Company of Ontario:  *1/2; 5.2%, 18 ibu; strong tea nose; sweet with sarsaparilla notes;

269/2490) C'est What:  Session 7 IPA India Session Ale by Side Launch of Ontario:  **; 4.6%, 35 ibu; brewed with Idaho 7 hops; sweet piney nose; pine flavours;

270/2491) C'est What:  Low Impact DDH American Pale Ale with Moteuka hops by Collective Arts of Ontario:  **; 4.5%, 35 ibu; brewed in collaboration with Garage Beer Co. of Spain; fermented with London Fog yeast; citrus nose; citrusy flavours, on the sweet side;

271/2492) C'est What:  Pumpkin Ale with Vanilla by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2; 5.5%, 15 ibu; fresh pumpkin nose and flavors of the original with sweet vanilla, making it even better; like pumpkin pie with whipped cream;

272/2493) C'est Whst:  Alive 'N Well Southern Hemisphere IPA by Stone City Ales of Ontario: **; 6.9%, 70 ibu; brewed with a blend of hops from the Southern Hemisphere; strong, sharp citrus nose; pulpy sweet citrus flavorus, very nearly in the New England style, oddly enough;

273/2494) C'est What: Oktoberfest Marzen by Royal City Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2; 6%, 20 ibu; malty nose and flavours; a top shelf Marzen

274/2495) C'est What:  Conscience with Pineapple by Innocente Brewing Company of Ontario:  **; 5.7%, 80 ibu; on cask; pineapple nose; pineapple compliments the tropical hops nicely with a dry, bitter finish;

275/2496) C'est What:  Toronto Island Time by Great Lakes Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2; a 5.8%, 25 ibu Norwegian Farmhouse Ale; the official beer of Toronto Beer Week; brewed with mango and strawberry; the nose is fresh strawberry and mango; hazy; fruity and yeasty with a dry finish;

276/2497) C'est What:  Eric The Red by C'est What of Ontario:  *1/2; a 5.0% 32 ibu Red Ale; sweet and malty with toffee flavours and a small hint of mocha;

277/2498) C'est What:  Sour Cherry Porter by MacLean's Ales of Ontario:  **; 5.6%, 25 ibu; on cask; tart cherry nose; tart, not sour, cherry notes with chocolate; very nice;

278/2499) C'est What:  Mocha Porter by C'est What of Ontario:  *1/2; 6%, 33 ibu; coffee, mocha nose; rich, creamy mouth feel due to the nitro pour; I miss the complexities of their previous dark beers, the hazelnut, the orange, the chocolate; a bit dry for my taste, as far as this style is concerned;