It's a great day for a beer!: December 2024

Tuesday, 31 December 2024

December 29, 2024

253/4480) Home: menagerie Single Hop Pale Ale (Nelson Sauvin) by Fairweather Brewing of Ontario: ****; 5.4%; brewed and dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin; hazy, pale yellowy gold, frothy head; nose of white wine, goose berries; tastes of white wine with mild citrus and goose berries;

December 27, 2024

252/4479) Home: High Grade by Fairweather Brewing of Ontario: ****; 6.2% “IPA brewed with barley, oats & a fat bag of Idaho 7, Citra & Mosaic”; also wheat; hazy; citrusy nose; tropical and citrus blend of flavours; seems a bit flat; re-tooled from previous version;

December 18, 2024

251/4478) Collective Arts Taproom and Café, Toronto: Dulce du Leche by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario: ****1/2; 11.9%; dark as night; nose is sweet, nutty, boozy, nougat, marzipan; sweet wtih similar flavours and a sense of creaminess;

December 17, 2024

250/4477) Old Flame Brewing Co. in Toronto's Distillery District: Perry's Chocolate Orange Stout by Old Flame Brewing Co. of Ontario: ***1/2; 5%; sweet chocolate and orange nose and flavours;

December 14, 2024

249/4476) GLB Brewpub, Toronto: Stocking Toe by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario in collaboration with the Wooly Pub: ***1/2; 4.5%, 25 ibu Clementine Pale Ale brewed with malted barley, wheat, oats and Clementines; hazy; nose and flavours feature Clementines and while it is not so subtle that one needs to search, it is not excessively strong; Clementines linger into the after taste; there is an element of graininess to flavours along with citrusy hops;

December 12, 2024

248/4475) Home: P'tite Maudite by Unibroue of Quebec: ***1/2; 4%, 30 ibu “Single Brown/Light Beer”; pale brown; spiced and malty nose, sweet and yeasty with cloves; yeasty with flavours of cloves and very malty; well carbonated, nearly fizzy; a bit more worthy of the name than the previous entry;

“While the era of the Chasse-galerie legend is in the psat, today’s generations still feel the same longing for pleasure”

December 10, 2024

247/4474) Home: Ce N'est Pas La Fin Du Monde by Unibroue of Quebec: ***1/2; 9.5%, 50 ibu Belgian IPA; opaque; stronger than La Fin DI Monde, which weights in at 9% and 19 ibu; grain bill is barley and wheat; sweet, yeasty nose with sharp dry hops; tastes of dry, earthy herbal hop flavours with sweet Belgian flavours;

Described as a Belgian Tripel with New World IPA hops.

December 8, 2024

245/4472) Home: Beer Geek Breakfast by Mikkeller of Denmark: ****; 7.1%; coffee stout with barley malt, oats and coffee; “the beer that started it all for Mikkeller”; seven varieties of malt; Centennial and Cascade hops; dark as black coffee, thin tan head; nose is coffee, roated malts; rich, roasty coffee flavours; hint of smoke, touch of sweetness;

Here again, while Mikkeller is a Danish company this was brewed in Ontario.

246/4473) Home: Krampus Christmas Ale by Sleeping Giant Brewing Company of Ontario: **1/2; 7.6%, 54 ibu barley wine; herbal nose; bitter, nearly harsh herbal flavours, bitter after taste; perhaps it is intended as a penance to contrast the delights of Samichlaus that has been in my fridge since February;

Krampus Day is December 5, the day before the feast of St. Nicholas, when I drink Samichlaus, but in my defense I did not purchase this one until yesterday.

December 4, 2024

243/4470) Home: Lower West Side by The Craft Brand Company of Ontario: ****1/2; 6%, 62 ibu West Coast IPA hopped with Centennial, Columbus, Citra and (a "touch of ") Mosaic; also wheat and oats; persistent, frothy head; amber/bronze; nose is very malty with grapefruit; strong malty backbone with grapefruit and pine; another classic;

The tin asks, “Remember when you had yoru first West Coast IPA?”. In my instance that would be the Volo, 2009 or so at the old Yonge Street location. It was either GLB's My Bitter Wife, or maybe Duggan’s #9 or possibly Smashbomb.

244/4471) Home: Full Tilt by Willibald Farm Distillery and Brewery of Ontario in collaboration with Sudden Death Brewing Co. of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany who states,“Our Beer Team has a Hockey Problem”; : ****; 8.5%; Double IPA brewed with barley, oats and wheat; hopped with Nectaron, Citra and Waimea; cloudy; nose is juicy with a dank edge; mostly tropical flavours, dankness is muted; “juicy” with not the slightest hint of that abv.;

December 2, 2024

241/4468) Home: Fantom House by Omnipollo of Sweden: ***1/2; 6.1%, 55 ibu; grain bill is malted barley, wheat and oats; dry hopped with Citra and Nelson Sauvin; hazy; citrusy nose; citrus flavours;

This was packaged in July – I would welcome the opportunity to try this fresher.

I never know what to write in terms of Omnipollo's location. While they are based in Sweden, they are a contract brewery and this beer was brewed in Ontario.

242/4469) Home: San Diego Style Supe Sauce by Rouge River Brewing Company of Ontario: ***1/2; 8.5% West Coast IPA brewed with just the four traditional ingredients; hopped with Simcoe and Mosaic; mostly clear; frothy head; nose is citrusy with lemon very prominent; similar dry flavours;

December 1, 2024

240/4467) Home: Monogamy (Loral) by Bellwoods Brewery of Ontario: ****; 6.4%; brewed with oats and wheat; cloudy; nose is tannins and mild orange; tastes of orange with vanilla notes;

Sunday, 1 December 2024

November 30, 2024

238/4465) Home: RunTOBeer by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario: ***1/2; 4.5%, 20 ibu New England Pale Ale brewed in collaboration with RunTOBeer for Toronto's Waterfront Marathon; oats, wheat; foggy; juicy, citrusy nose and flavours, somewhat muted;

239/4466) Home: December DIPA (2024) by Badlands Brewing of Ontario: ***1/2; 8.2%; hopped with Riwaka and Motueka; cloudy; mildly dank tropical nose; uncommonly sweet, almost sugary, tropical flavours;

November 28, 2024

236/4463) Home: Karma Citra by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario: ****1/2; 6.6%, 65 ibu IPA; lower abv than the draught version listed earlier; nose of grapefruit; grapefruit and resin flavours; Old School;

237/4464) Home: Sultana Solera by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario: ****; 6.3% New England style IPA with oats and wheat; cloudy; sweet tropical nose; mixed tropical flavours;

“You know the drill, it’s a NEIPA!”

November 26, 2024

234/4461) Home Li'l Heathen by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario: ***1/2; 4.2% hazy IPA with added barley and oats; hazy; nose of peaches with tropical notes; bitterness in the backdrop throughout with candied grapefruit flavours;

235/4462) Home: Peach Donut Krispee Dreamz by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery of Ontario: ***; 9% “donutless dream IPA” hopped with Motueka, Idaho 7; brewed with malted barley, wheat malt, peach puree (peach terpenes), natural peach flavour, natural glazed donut flavour, natural graham cracker flavour; hazy; nose is strong peach; tastes of peach, sugary but with a dry bite; bready notes suggest doughnuts;

I am not sure what natural glazed donut flavour is but that is what the tin reads.

November 25, 2024

232/4459) Home: Perpetuator by Steadfast Brewing Company of Ontario: ***1/2; 6.8% Doppelbock; very dark chestnut; nose is malty, sweet; sweet, malty, nutty flavours;

233/4460) Home: Hidden Rivers Pale Ale by Steadfast Brewing Company of Ontario: ****; 5.6% American Pale Ale; clear, copper; Steadfast seems to showcase its malts consistently well; clear; light pine nose; dry, herbal; notes of pine against a malty backdrop;

“a nod to Toronto’s lost waterways”, the most memorable to me would be Taddle Creek, which has a road named after it in the vicinity of the University of Toronto.

November 24, 2024

230/4457) Home: Gourd Intentions by Steadfast Brewing Company of Ontario: ****; 5.6%; brewed with pumpkin, barley, lactose, spices, molasses and wheat; deep brown, nearly black; pumpkin pie nose; a stripped down verion of PSL Gourd Intentions with strong spice and pumpkin flavours;

231/4458) Home: Elixir Imperial IPA by Steadfast Brewing Company of Ontario: ****1/2; 10%; clear, copper; nose is sweet and malty with dry grapefruit; sweet, nearly sugary malt backdrop, bitter grapefruit flavours; very old school;

It's a great day for a beer!