Saturday 23 July 2011

July 23, 2011

255)  Home:  Silver Wheat Ale by Wellington County Brewery of Ontario:  *1/2;  muted notes of citrus aroma and taste;  a touch bland and watery;  brewed with wheat and German noble hops;  from the tin:  "Wellington held the foreign title of Prince of Waterloo, conferrred in him in 1815 by King William I of the Netherlands after his final defeat of Napoleon.;

I presume the Silver in the name is in reference to Wellington's 25th anniversary in 2010.  They were one of the pioneers of craft beer in Ontario.

July 22, 2011

254)  Jack Astor's, Brampton:  Sapporo Premium Beer by Sapporo Breweries of Japan:  *1/2;  slightly dry, grainy, a touch malty;  quite ordinary;  this was on draught as per most of my beer outside the house but I recall how nice the can felt in one's hand, though I don't feel the need to go out and buy one;

Thursday 21 July 2011

July 21, 2011

253)  Home:  Cuvee Rene Gueuze Lambic by Brouwerij Lindemans of Belgium:  **;  this is an odd one - the nose is burnt matches, old cheese and unwashed feet but once you get it past your beak it tastes acidic, tartly fruity, almost like a particularly bubbly cider;  believe it or don't, it works and I really would order another;  spontaneously fermented, it undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle;

July 20, 2011

252)  Home:  Dark 266 by Cameron's Brewing of Ontario:  **;  my favourite of the sampler four-pack;  described as "an American dark lager";  just a touch of roasty sweet chocolate;  originally brewed as a one-off for specialty beer bars, the first test batch turned out so well they decided not to make any alterations;  the log number of said test batch was 266, hence the name;

Tuesday 19 July 2011

July 19, 2011

It is the 200th day of the year and I remain materially ahead of my pace.  After 100 days I was 44 ahead and after 200 I am 51 ahead.  Quite a number of things can go wrong and I will still have a good chance at achieving my goal.  Onward!

July 18, 2011

251)  Home:  Cream Ale by Cameron's Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2;  smooth and malty;

July 17, 2011

250)  Home:  Auburn Ale by Cameron's Brewing of Ontario:  **;  grainy, fruity nose;  mildly hopped;

Sunday 17 July 2011

July 16, 2011

248)  Home:  Camerons Lager by Cameron Brewing of Ontario:  *1/2:  a capable lager;

249)  Someone else's home:  Heineken by Heineken N. V.:  *1/2:  it had to be more or less forced on me;  this used to be pretty much as good as it got but it's very ordinary, or at least the North American version is;

Saturday 16 July 2011

July 15, 2011

247)  Jack Astor's in Brampton:  Summer Ale by Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, U.S.A.:  *1/2;  more hops to the nose than the palate;  a bit disappointing;  one day I hope to encounter their Boston (Stock) Ale again;

July 14, 2011

246)  Home:  Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale by Guinness Ltd. of Ireland:  *1/2;  the tin comes equipped with a widget that blasts gas through the beer on opening to approximate the draught experience when it's poured into a glass;  beyond the gimmick, it's a bit ordinary;  I once endured the sight of an oaf (who fired me some months later to my relief) drinking a similarly gadgeted beer from the can;

Thursday 14 July 2011

July 13, 2011

245)  Home:  Badger Golden Ale by Hall & Woodhouse:  **;  the neck label aptly reads, "summer in a glass";  brewed with elderflower, "a brewing ingredient from a bygone era";  hints of fruit - another great summer beer;  I'm still not crazy about summer, however;

July 12, 2011

244)  Home:  Kriek Lambic by Brouwerij Lindemans of Belgium:  **;  spontaneously fermented (which involves wild yeast, and a bit of luck, I'll bet);  brewed with barley and unmalted wheat;  black cherries are added which leads to a secondary fermentation;  this is rather tart with a very strong cherry flavour;  it was a huge hit with my wife;

Tuesday 12 July 2011

July 11, 2011

You may have noticed that with the addition of Aguila from Columbia to my list I have now consumed a beer from each inhabited continent.  It must be fifteen years ago or so that the LCBO briefly stocked a black beer from Brazil called Xingu.  That I remember it after all these years tells me I ought to have another should I see it again and I would have liked to have made that one my first South American entry.

I am not going to rule out the possibility that a scientist stationed in Antarctica might be a home brewer but I am unlikely to be able to try their product.  I have heard about a beer that uses Antarctic ice as their source of water and, futher, I hear tell it is a very expensive beer.

July 10, 2011

243)  Home:  Fischer Tradition by Brasserie Fischer of France:  *1/2;  a strong (6%) blonde lager from Alsace (which is roughly where The 3 Brewers traces its roots);  hints of fruit, bread in the nose;  fresh, malty taste;

Sunday 10 July 2011

July 9, 2011

242)  Brampton CaraBram 2011 - Polish pavillion:  Tyskie by Tyskie Browary of Poland:  *1/2;  a standard European lager, nothing especially good or bad;  Carabram is a "multi-cultural festival" based on Caravan which used to take place in Toronto a number of years ago;

Saturday 9 July 2011

July 8, 2011

241)  Home:  Aguila by Bavaria S. A. Barranquilla of Columbia:  *1/2;  positions itself as a light beer (4% alcohol) but it is fully flavoured;  another one for a hot day;  judging by the graphic, Aguila means Eagle;  the label instructs in capital letters, "EL EXCESO DE ALCOHOL ES PERJUDICIAL PARA LA SALUD" so I will be sticking to other brands;

July 7, 2011

240)  Home:  Christiffel Double Hopped by Bierbrouwerij Sint Christoffel B. V. of the Netherlands:  **;  very strong, bold flavours;

July, 6, 2011

239)  Home:  Hockley Dark by Hockley Valley Brewing of Ontario:  **;  hints of caramel and chocolate, but they are very muted;

July 5, 2011

238)  Home:  Dominus Vobiscum Blanche by Microbrasserie Charlevoix of Quebec:  **;  a spiced Belgian style Wit beer;  notes of citrus and chamomile;  Dominus Vobiscum is Latin for The Lord be with you;  Charlevoix uses it for their line of abbey style beers;  I hope to be able to find the others very soon;

Monday 4 July 2011

July 4, 2011

237)  Home:  Noble Pils by Samuel Adams (or the Boston Beer Company) of Massachusetts, U.S.A.:  **;  from the neck label:  "made with all five Nobel hops from the world's oldest growing regions";  basically it's a strongly hopped pilsener;  it works for me in a way that other hybrids, for example the aggressively hopped porter from Durham, do not; 

July 3, 2011

236)  Home:  Brutal IPA by Rogue Brewery of Oregon, U.S.A.:  **;  similar to their Northwestern IPA but more so:  richer aromas, deeper hop flavours;  I recall a beer from Rogue called Brutal Bitter but I have no idea if this is the same one with an altered name or not;  speaking of altered names, I read in the Canadian Beer News where Trafalgar Ales and Meads re-branded Elora Grand Lager as Maple Leaf Lager in honour of Canada Day so my speculation re. Patrick's Pick might be on the mark after all;

Saturday 2 July 2011

July 2, 2011

235)  Home:  Northwestern Ale by Rogue Brewery of Oregon, U.S.A.:  **;  a west coast style IPA, nicely hopped;

July 1, 2011

234)  Home:  Canada Day 2011 by Innis & Gunn of Scotland:  **;  I had been saving this one for today;  given the contributions that the Scots have made to Canada, going all the way back to our first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, it is appropriate that a tribute beer would come from Scotland;  this one has been aged in oak bourbon barrels for fifty four days;  this gives the beer notes of vanilla and caramel among a blend of wonderfully complex flavours;  not one to cool down with - try and make it last as long as you can;

Friday 1 July 2011

June 30, 2011

232)  Home:  Duggan's #9 IPA by the Cool Beer Brewing Company of Ontario:  **;  agressively hopped, formerly the signature beer of Duggan's Brewery in Toronto; 

233)  Home:  Schofferhofer Hefeweizen by Binding-Brauerei of Germany:  *1/2;  a summery wheat beer with refreshing citrus notes;

June 29, 2011

231)  Home:  Sparkling Ale by Cooper's Brewery of Australia:  *1/2;  top fermented and bottle conditioned;  sediment collects at the bottom, the choice to leave it behind in the bottle or gently mix it in before pouring is left to the drinker;  I mixed it in;

June 28, 2011

230)  Home:  Green Tea Ale by Great Lakes Brewery of Ontario:  *1/2;  brewed with organic green tea and ginsing;  in the manner of their Orange Peel Ale, it is very subtle and summery;