April 28, 2021

148/3498) Home:  Sam Adams' Utopias (2015) by Boston Beer Company of Massachusetts, U.S.A.:  *****; 28%, 25 ibu; bottle number 10750; this is a blend of ales brewed with maple syrup, aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels, ruby port, sweet madeira, white carcavelos, cognac and Armagnac barrels; brewed with two row pale malt, cherry wood and peat smoked Briess Extra Special, Munich, Caramel 60 malts, three varieties of Noble hops: Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittel Freuh and Tettnang Tettnanger as well as English Goldings hops and a variety of strains of yeast, including champagne yeast; pours the colour of port; boozy nose with oak and dried fruit; sweet, boozy, port-like notes, sherry, raisins, oak;  no carbonation; 

The batches that make up this blend are up to 22 years old which takes us back to 1993 when the Toronto blue Jays were World Series champions.  I have seen this going for as much as C$620. 

April 27, 2021

147/3497) Home:  Hazy IPA by Wayne Gretzky Craft Brewing of Ontario:  ***1/2; a 6.0% New England IPA brewed with barley, oats and wheat; mildly hazy with a soft, fluffy head; tropical nose; similar flavours, no bitterness to speak of;

April 26, 2021

146/3496) Home:  Vintage Ale (2005) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  ****1/2; 8.5%; brewed with floor malted Optic malt and Fuggles hops; best before date is the end of 2008; bottle conditioned; deep amber in colour; nose of caramel, toffee, sherry and marmalade with ever so mild oxidation; tastes of caramel, sherry, dried fruit and marmalade; here again, I have seen this listed for as high as U$318; bottle 08213 of 95,000;

This is the last of my Fuller's collection.

April 25, 2021

145/3495) Home:  Vintage Ale (2006) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%; brewed with floor malted Optic malt; hopped with Fuggles and Slovenian Super Styrian hops; pours a very dark reddish brown; nose of sherry, caramel; I let this sit for a moment and was rewarded with notes of caramel, toffee, dried fruit, marmalade, sherry, fruitcake - I am thinkin here of my late brother-in-law's outlandishly boozy fruitcake - and raisins; bottle 39,548 of 100,000;

The best before date is the end of 2009.  This was purchased at the beerbistro.  It was their oldest, which means I did one better than the beerbistro.  I have stated that possibly 8 to 13 years is the peak aging time but I gave this 5 of 5 so who knows? This one goes for U$318 or approximately C$397.

April 24, 2021

144/3494) Home:  Vintage Ale (2007) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  ****; 8.5% 40 ibu; their 10th anniversary edition; bottle conditioned;  hopped with Fuggles, Target and Super Styrian hops; grain bill is Maris Otter malted barley; "best before 2010 end"; rich deep copper; mildly sweet nose; caramel, hint of oxidation, sherry, touch of alcohol; bottle 10471 of 150,000; 

I have seen this selling for as much as U$117.  I may have exceeded the optimal aging period here.

April 23, 2021

143/3493) Home:  Vintage Ale (2008) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%, 40 ibu; brewed with Challenger and Northdown hops as well as Maris Otter malted barley (floor malted); deep brown; nose is sweet with mild spice, caramel and dark fruit; tastes of caramel, marmalade, apricot; another beerbistro purchase, "best before end 2011"; bottle 82166 of 145,000;

April 22, 2021

142/3492) Home:  Vintage Ale (2009) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%; brewed with Kent grown Goldings hops and East Anglian Tipple malted barley; rich chestnut colour; nose of caramel. marmalade and jam; flavours of caramel, sherry, marmalade, fruit, dark sugar; I found that this benefitted from sitting for a minute to settle; bottle 038385 of 160,000;

April 21, 2021

141/3491) Home:  Vintage Ale (2010) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%; Goldings and Fuggles hops added to the boil; dry hopped with Goldings and Target; pours ruby red; nose features sherry notes, nutty, sweet caramel and marmalade; flavours of cognac, marmalade, caramel; bottle 032146 of 125,000; 

This was on of my beerbistro purchases to fill in the gaps.  It is hard to imagine how this series could be any better than this version at this age.

April 20, 2021

140/3490) Home:  Vintage Ale (2011) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%, 40 ibu; bottle conditioned; hopped with Goldings, organic First Gold and Sovereign hops; brewed with barley grown by Sir James Fuller on Nelson Park Estate; pours copper; nose of caramel, dark fruit and marmalade; flavours of marmalade, stone fruit, caramel and a hint of sherry; bottle number 092424;

The 2012 edition was listed some time ago.

April 19, 2021

139/3489) Home:  Vintage Ale (2013) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%, 40 ibu;  bottle conditioned; brewed with Pearl malt, a winter barley; hopped with Goldings, Sovereign, Challenger and Admiral hops from the U.K.; pours copper; nose of fruit, caramel and a touch of wine; tastes of caramel, mild spice, fruit, jam; bottle number 020616;

April 18, 2021

138/3488) Home:  Vintage Ale (2014) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  ****1/2; 8.5%, 40 ibu; bottle conditioned; brewed with Goldings hops from the U.K. for bittering, dry hopped with Liberty and Cascade hops from the U.S.A.; grain bill is Pearl malt, a winter barley; pours a copper colour; nose of fruit, caramel and a touch of wine; flavours of caramel, mild spice, fruit, jam; bottle number 064826

April 17, 2021

137/3487) Home:  Vintage Ale (2015) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  ****; 8.5%; bottle conditioned; floor malted Maris Otter with Target, Northdown, Challenger and Goldings hops; pours a rich copper; nose of toffee and marmalade; mild sherry, marmalade, mild tannins, toffee; bottle No. 057137'

April 16, 2021

136/3486) Home:  Fountain Green by Furnace Room Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6.1%, 40 ibu; brewed with malted barley and wheat; aromas of citrus with herbal notes; mild bitterness from dank hops, not pulpy or juicy as I might have been expecting but with citrus notes;

The town of Fountain Green is now known as now known as Limehouse. 

April 15, 2021

135/3485) Home:  Doppelbock by Stonehooker Brewing Company of Ontario:  ****; 8.2%, 25 ibu;  bottled on St. Patrick's Day; pours a dark brown; mildly sweet with caramel notes, rich and malty, bready; a tiny bit like Growlers' bock that I go on about at the slightest provocation;

The label relates how during winter stonehookers would harvest ice for use in the summer.

April 14, 2021

134/3484) Home:  Spanker by Stonehooker Brewing Company of Ontario:  ***1/2; 8.2%, 32 ibu; a Double New England IPA brewed with malted barley and flaked oats; hazy; tropical and citrus nose; similar flavours but with a slight, bitter alcohol edge;

April 13, 2021

133/3483) Home:  Imperial Porter by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 9.0% Imperial/Double Porter; black with a tan head; nose of roasted malt with hints of cocoa; bitter dark chocolate, cocoa, roast and just a hint of alcohol;  

There are rumours of barrel aged version in the future.

April 12, 2021

132/3482) Home:  Mingle (March 2021) by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6.5%; Mingle is a series of beers where Badlands blends various hops, in this instance Sabro, HBC 586 and El Dorado; only cloudy which is uncommonly clear for Badlands; pineapple dominates the nose alongside tropical notes; pineapple, citrus, tropical flavours with coconut towards the finish;

April 11, 2021

131/3481) Home:  GMA by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 6.5%; brewed with Galaxy, Mosaic and Azacca hops; swampy appearance; nose of pineapple; sharp pineapple, berries, peach, melon flavours;

April 10, 2021

130/3480) Home:  Dora #40 by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 6.5%; this variation is based around a modified water profile; hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, Talus and HBC 630; murky; nose of melon, citrus, grapefruit; flavours are mostly melon and grapefruit;

April 9, 2021

129/3479) Home:  Vintage Ale (2016) by Fuller's Brewery of England:  *****; 8.5%; brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops for bittering and dry hopped with U.K. Challenger, Goldings and Northdown hops; reddish brown with a light tan head; aromas of caramel, toffee, dried fruit; malty with dried dark fruit, toffee and marmalade; white wine flavours supplied by Nelson Sauvin hops are there but muted with soft edges;

 "Brewed beside the Thames since 1845"

April 8, 2021

128/3478) Home:  Helheim by Zero Issue of Alberta:  ***; a 5.6% dark saison, "Issue 36"; looks like Pepsi; nose of spice and dark chocolate, yeast; mild spice, dark chocolate, hint of pepper;

April 7, 2021

127/3477) Home:  Vanilla Porter by Nine Locks Beer Company of Nova Scotia:  ***1/2; 5%, 35 ibu; pours dark as night with a tan head; nose is mostly vanilla with mild roast; sweet vanilla and roasted malt flavours;

The tin advises, "If someone asks for a donation for their local swimming pool, give them a glass of water.  That would be funny."

April 6, 2021

126/3476) Home:  Thirteen Months of Sun, a collaboration between Two Roads of Connecticut, U.S.A. and Evil Twin of Denmark (or Two Evil);  ***; a 7.0% Hazy India Pale Ale with teff and a hint of coffee (Ethiopian Sidamo coffee beans); alternately billed as an Ethiopian Hazy IPA; brewed with members of Omnipollo and Embilita brewpub; Teff is a grain believed to be one of history's earliest cultivated crops; pours a cloudy orange colour; tropical nose with a hint of coffee; mostly topical flavours, not so juicy as many hazy IPAs, with coffee, especially towards the finish; I might have liked this more without the coffee;

Ethiopia once advertised for tourists with the promise of "Thirteen Months of Sunshine".

April 5, 2021

125/3475) Home:  Haze On The Horizon by Coronado Brewing Company of California, U.S.A.:  ***1/2; a 6.7%, 55 ibu Hazy India Pale Ale brewed with Nelson, Citra, Sabro and Motueka hops; hazy straw colour; tropical and citrus nose; citrus, tropical fruit, white wine with a trace of coconut towards the finish;

April 4, 2021

124/3474) Home:  Seventh Orbit by Ecliptic Brewing of Oregon, U.S.A.:  ***1/2; 8.0%, 20 ibu; a Raspberry Golden Ale with chocolate; their seventh anniversary release; brewed with Enigma and Ariana hops; a translucent off red in appearance; raspberry aromas; tastes mostly of tart raspberry with unsweetened chocolate in the background and, mildly, at the finish with the hops in between;

April 3, 2021

123/3473) Home:  Deal With The Devil by 18th Street Brewery of Indiana, U.S.A.:  ***1/2;  an 8.5%, 75 ibu Pale Ale; unfiltered, no mention of abv on the tin; translucent copper colour; nose is dank, citrusy and mildly tropical; flavours of citrus with an herbal bitterness;

April 2, 2021

Well, that didn't last long.  We have had about a dozen days of patios and as of midnight we are back to a stay at home order.  The beerbistro had been reluctant at first to order in draught beer but they must have done so after I had been because I received an e-mail declaring $5 draught today only.  

Normally, I do not drink beer on Good Friday but my wife had sympathy for me and she ordered me out to Tracks Brewpub.  This sort of thing is likely why the Big RIg Kitchen and Brewery in Mississauga has kept its doors shut.  We are beyond four hundred days into "only two weeks".

April 1, 2021

121/3471) Home:  Symphony Hazy IPA by Rhythm & Brews Brewing Company of Ontario:  ***1/2; a 6.9%, 40 ibu New England IPA brewed with malted barley, malted wheat and oats; hazy, pale straw colour; nose of pineapple, tart by not in the manner of a sour; fruity, tropical, zest, oddly enough, a bit washed out;

122/3472) Home:  Truth Serum by Rorschach Brewing Company of Ontario:  ****; a 6.5% double dry hopped IPA; grain bill includes barley malt and golden oats, hopped with Citra Simcoe and Mosaic; pours a cloudy golden yellow; nose is juicy and citrusy with zest; up front citrus zest, dank bitterness, pineapple, grapefruit and resin;