January 19, 2024

25/4252) Home:  Super Dope by Town Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6.4%; West Coast IPA; hopped with Columbus, Azacca, Citra, Zappa and Comet; pours translucent; bitter lemon nose; notes of lemon, lime and citrus zest; not exactly a throw back but rather an alternative to today’s NEIPAs;

January 18, 2024

24/4251) Home:  Bourbon Barrel Bestowed (Gold Wax) by Third Moon Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ****1/2; 13%; from Third Moon's Third anniversary pack; an Imperial Stout aged 14 months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels; nose is bourbon and alcohol; tastes of bourbon, oak, vanilla and roasted malt;

January 17, 2024

23/4250) Home:  Time Takes Time Blend 1 by Third Moon Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***1/2;  13%; blend of Heaven Hill 14 month barrel aged Imperial Stout and Buffalo Trace 14 month barrel aged English style barleywine; pours very dark with a thin, wispy head; nose is very strong bourbon which seems to overpower all else; strong boozy bourbon flavours with dark chocolate and roasted malt; it’s an odd blend and very nearly too much; 

This is among three from their third anniversary pack that I chose to age until a cold snap.

January 14, 2024

21/4248) Home:  Little Thrills by Grain & Grit of Ontario:  ***; 4.8% German Pils; four ingredients; clear, soapy head; nose is bready; mildest hint of Saaz like hope bite, bready, grainy, malty; a solid pilsner;

22/4249)  Home:  M31 Sirrah by Wellington Brewery of Ontario:  ****;   10.9%, 60 ibu Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, chillies; wheat and  oats; nose is primarily sweet bourbon and especially vanilla; tastes of sweet cocoa, vanilla, muted cinnamon with chillies, especially in the finish and after taste; masterfully done; 

From the M31 Gift Pack, which was called UVB-76 at one time but things Russian are out of fashion these days.  This beer reminds me of Mikhail but it is listed separately at the same sources that point out that M31 Andromeda was formerly UVB-76 Roman.  M31 is another name for the Andromeda Galaxy.

January 13, 2024

19/4246) Home:  Double Choc Hazelnut Brown by Bad Shepherd Brewing Co. of Australia:  ***1/2; 7.2%, 32 ibu; with Pahto hops, which as far as I can recall are new to me, hazelnuts, and cocoa; a double chocolate variation on their Hazelnut Brown; pours a deep rich brown with a pale tan head; nose is chocolate and hazelnut; tastes of semi sweet cocoa, sweet hazelnut with faint roast notes;

20/4247) Home:  Tropical Feel by Grain & Grit of Ontario:  ****; 6.3% India Pale Ale with wheat and sugar; tropical fruit nose; similar flavours; very pleasant;

January 12, 2024

17/4244) Home:  Winter Wizard by Nickel Brook of Ontario:  ****; 6.2%, 52 ibu “Magical India Pale Ale”; grain bill includes wheat and oats; pours hazy; nose of resin, zest and tropical fruit; tropical fruit is more forward in the flavours with citrus zest, grapefruit and resin;

18/4245) Home:  Chocolate Milk Peanut Butter Porter by Imperial City Brewhouse of Ontario:  ***; 6.2%. 30 ibu; brewed with lactose, natural flavours and artificial flavours; nose is primarily peanut butter; tastes mostly of peanut butter with notes of chocolate, caramel, espresso; a bit sweet for me;

A couple of sweet dark beers.

January 11, 2024

15/4242) Home:  Nautical Disaster by Lake of the Woods of Ontario:  ****1/2; a 7%, 55 ibu Double IPA version of an earlier entry; with “Triple C hops” which I take to be Cascade, Centennial and Columbus; translucent, nearly clear; grain bill includes malted barley, malted oats and flaked corn; resiny, grapefruit nose; tastes of resin, pine, grapefruit; very old school;

16/4243) Home:  Gus by Volo of Ontario:  ****; 5.4%, 30 ibu Porter in the English style; “Named after Grandpa Gus who loved dark ales”; sweet coffee, mocha nose; roasty, mildly sweet coffee notes with a hint of mocha;

Purchased at Bar Volo and recommended by the barmaid.

January 10, 2024

14/4241) Home:  Two Pad Stack by Sawdust City of Ontario:  ****1/2; 9%, 60 ibu Imperial IPA; brewed with flaked wheat, Simcoe, Citra, Chinook and Nectaron hops and California yeast; collaboration with beer blogger Drunk Polkaroo; billed as “an old school West Coast IIPA”; clear; nose is citrus, grapefruit; tastes of grapefruit, dank, resiny, mildly off-set by malty sweetness;

Three strong IPAs.

January 9, 2024

13/4240) Home:  Yummo by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6.3%, 24 ibu Citrus Punch IPA; dry hopped with Superdelic, Rakau, Riwaka and Mosaic; conditioned on papaya, apricot, Cara Cara and orange purees; also brewed with pineapple juice and wheat; plenty of sediment, looks like a pulpy orange juice; I strained it and filtered it; fruity, citrusy, zesty nose; I am experiencing all the fruits listed with a  mild bitterness; shame about the sediment;

January 8, 2024

12/4239) Home:  Squishy by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario:  **1/2; 6%, 24 ibu Marshmallow IPA with wheat, “sugar(lactose)’, vanilla bean and natural marshmallow; hopped with Idaho 7 and Sabro; dry hopped with Idaho 7 and  Mosaic; clear; sweet marshmallow and vanilla nose; absurdly sweet vanilla and marshmallow flavours;

January 7, 2024

10/4237) Home:  Gloop by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario:  ***; 6.1%, 27 ibu Breakfast IPA, hopped with Mosaic, Idaho 7 and Citra and dry hopped with Nectaron, Citra and HBC586; also brewed with wheat, oat malt and “Natural Tutti Frutti Flavour”; pours clear, golden; nose is vanilla, peaches; tastes of  vanilla throughout as well as, peaches and tropical fruits with a  dry, nearly bitter finish; reminds me of another recent Flying Monkeys effort whose name escapes me; 

From their IPA Box Set.

11/4238) Home:  Meep Morp by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario:  ***1/2; 6.7%, 40 ibu “High Density Hop Charge IPA”; brewed with wheat, hopped with Ekuanot Cryo, Idaho 7, El Dorado, Citra and Mosaic Incognito and dry hopped with El Dorado, Mosaic and Citra; mildly hazy; fruit salad nose of citrus and tropical; mildly, but not overly, sweet tropical and citrus;

January 6, 2024

8/4235) Home:  Darren's Internet Search History by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***1/2; a 7%, 25 ibu "Melon IPA" hopped with Belma, Cashmere and Enigma; pours opaque; honey coloured; nose is melon with citrus; flavours are melon and berries;

9/4236) Home:  Thunderous Applause by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 6.5% IPA; hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy; murky, nearly swampy; nose is mostly pineapple; tastes of pineapple with berries;

January 5, 2024

5/4232) Badlands' Greenhouse:  Degausser by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 6.5% IPA; dry hopped with Citra and "Nelson"; murky; nose is peaches; tastes of peaches and melon;

Badlands defines degausser as "the process of reducing or eliminating an unwanted magnetic field (or data) stored on tape and disk media such as computer and laptop hard drives, diskettes, reels, cassettes etc."

6/4233) Badlands' Greenhouse:  January DIPA (2024) by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 8.2%; it was described to me as "hop salad”, to be specific it is hopped with Galaxy, Idaho 7 and HBC 586; grapefruit, mixed citrus nose; mild dankness is offset by sweet citrus; 

7/4234) Home:  Van Full Of Weirdos Juicy IPA by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***; 6.2%, 30 ibu; “Simcoe heavy”; cloudy; nose is tropical and citrus; mild citrus and tropical, a bit subdued for my liking but it  may not have been fresh;

January 4, 2024

4/4231) Home:  Tracksuit by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ***1/2; 45%, 20 ibu; SMASH (Single Malt And Single Hop)IPA; hopped with Nectaron; pours hazy; nose is peach and pineapple; peach, pineapple and grapefruit flavours;

January 3, 2024

3/4230) Home:  Home:  Nothing To See Here by Refined Fool Brewing Co. of Ontario:  ****; 6%, 28 ibu East Coast IPA “with Cryopop!”, "a supercharged hop"; mildly hazy straw colour; nose is peach and grapefruit; tastes of peaches and grapefruit with a hint of pine;

From Refined Fool's IPA Fun Box ,7th Edition.

January 2, 2024

2/4229) Home:  True North Imperial Stout by Magnotta Brewery of Ontario:  ****1/2; 8.0%, 37 ibu; nose is dark, unsweetened chocolate and dark coffee; tastes of semi sweet chocolate and bitter, nearly burnt, dark coffee; the remarkable thing is there are only four ingredients - no adjuncts, no barrels, just a top notch Imperial Stout;

January 1, 2024

1/4228) Home:  Dora #65 by Badlands Brewing of Ontario:  ****; 6.5%; an effort to reduce the amount of particulate; still murky; nose is citrusy, flavours are similar but "cleaned up” with fewer distractions from the hop flavours;

December 30, 2023

266/4227) Bar Volo:  When I Worked At Volo by True History in collaboration with Volo, both of Ontario:  ****; 6.4% Baltic Porter; roasted malt nose; hearty, roasty with coffee notes; it's a lower abv than I am used to seeing in a Baltic Porter but the flavours do not suffer for it in any way;