5 Reviews

Here's five more beer reviews. A bit all over the place.

Lake of Bays Rock Cut
473 mL can. Pours golden with a foamy white head. Aromas of straw, cut grass, fresh barley and pear. Easy drinking, lightly carbonated and mild. A tasty and simple lager.

Denisons Weissbier
473 mL can. Pours a pale cloudy peach with a thin white head. Aromas of peach, banana, clove, yeasty phenolics. Easy drinking with a medium body and high carbonation. A nice Canadian wheat.

Great Lakes Brewing My Bitter Wife IPA
750 mL bottle. Pours amber with a thick white head, lots of soapy lacing. Big American hop nose, grapefruit, pine, wax, honeycomb and caramel malt notes. Full bodied and thick on the palate, sticky and syrupy. Malty sweet with a huge bitter backbone that goes on and on. A bit much on the bittering hops for me, but love the aroma.

Bush Pilot Stormy Monday
750 mL bottle. Pours muddy brown with lots of haze and a white head. Complex nose of fruit cake, gingerbread, dark rum, spice and demerara. Sweet but offset by a monumental amount of spices, a touch of hops and a whack of booze. Phenolic and hot on the finish, slightly medicinal. Complex and rich, full bodied with a heap of alcohol and full carbonation. Not for the faint of heart.

Bellwoods Monogamy (Simcoe)
500 mL bottle. Pours a hazy beeswax tinged with brown and green, a soapy white head. Aromas of floral, herbal hop, fresh cut grass, grapefruit and tangelo. Clean with just a touch of honey sweetness, caramel malt backbone and a nice lingering hop finish. Medium bodied with good carbonation and smooth on the palate.

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Beer Ratings, Part 2

As promised here's another set of reviews, a mix of good and bad here.  I wasn't impressed by the Hacker-Pschorr Munich Gold, especially considering the quality of their wheat beers, or the Amsterdam Natural Blonde, a brewery that's seasonal releases are often excellent. I did thoroughly enjoy the other four though.  The Harviestoun Ola Dubh series is the first beer to be aged in barrels that can be traced back to the original spirit they stored.  Barrels were supplied by Highland Park and provide a salty, smoky peat flavor, and barrel numbers are listed on the beer bottle. Two Belgian farmhouse style ales from Goose Island in Chicago were a pleasant surprise, and St. Landelin from La Divine, an interesting take on a French biere de garde.

Hacker-Pschorr Munich Gold
500 mL bottle. Pours golden with a white head, no lacing. Aromas of apple, bread, cereal grain and Munich malt. Light and refreshing, little to no aftertaste. A touch of sweetness, and mild floral hop. Highly carbonated and easy drinking. A quencher, but not interesting.

Amsterdam Natural Blonde
473 mL can. Pours golden with a lacy white head. A little straw and apple on the nose. Light bodied and refreshing with high carbonation. Dry with a lightly hopped finish. Boring but good for killing thirst.

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 Year Old
330 mL bottle. Pours black with a thin tan head. Aromas of salty peat, oak, wood smoke, black cherry, fig and Dr. Pepper. Moderately sweet and richly bodied; lightly carbonated with a slick, saline mouth feel. Very complex, but well rounded. A must try for fans of whisky, wee heavies or old ales.

Goose Island Sofie
750 mL bottle. Pours a hazy straw color with a foamy white head. Aromas of curacao, bell pepper, biscuit and tropical fruit. A touch of sweetness backed by lacto sourness, vegetal hop and a lightly oaky finish. High carbonation with a champagne like mouth feel. Delightfully refreshing and pleasantly complex.

Goose Island Matilda
750 mL bottle. Pours copper with a foamy white head. Aromas of citrus, melon, herbal hop, yeast and brett funk. Mild malt sweetness well balanced by alcohol bite and earthy hop. Tasty now but would like to see this age up and develop more brett character.

La Divine St. Landelin
750 mL bottle. Pours amber caramel with a thick white head and lots of lacing. Nose of banana, coconut, bread yeast, caramel malt, allspice and a touch of smoke. Fairly sweet, medium bodied with a full mouth feel. Interesting and unique but a little sweet for my liking.

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Beer Ratings, Part 1

Backlogged with ratings, here's 5, expect 5 more in the near future. A few greats at the LCBO over the course of the spring.  For those of you who like a complex beer, take a stab at the Chimay blue label, it's sure not to disappoint, would make a great digestif with some Roquefort and almonds.  Hop heads be sure to grab a can (you heard me, "a can"; but it tastes exceptional) of Red Racer IPA for a thoroughly bitter and well balanced IPA.  Anyone looking for the authentic Belgian experience, be sure to buy one of the many excellent beers from Brasserie Dupont, including the top notch 'Vielle Provision' Saison.

Dupont Moinette Brune

330 mL bottle. Pours a hazy reddish brown with a thin white head. On the nose, rich nutty caramel malts, yeast and spice bread. Herbal and almost woody with a slightly sour yeasty bite. Malty and well rounded with a touch of sweetness and a bitter finish. High carbonation and a full oily mouth feel. Painfully yeasty, could have been the pour.

Chimay Grande Reserve (Bleu)

330 mL bottle. Pours a dark mahogany with a thick soapy beige head. Aromas of fruity malt, fig, prune, apple and bread, earthy, herbal hop. Highly carbonated with a full body, mildlly sweet and well balanced with both bitter hop and a sour bite. superb balance and flavor.

Dupont Biere de Miele (Biologique)

250 mL bottle. Pours a light gold with a clumpy white head and lots of nice lacing. Aromas of honey, fresh cut grass, cereal grain, yeast and spice, banana and clove esters. Dry with only a slight residual honey sweetness, medium bodied with a sticky mouth feel. A nicely balanced hoppy finish here with lots of floral notes, coriander and pepper. Heavily carbonated. More please.

Dupont Vielle Provision Saison

750 mL bottle. Pours a hazy straw color with a thick foamy white head and lots of lacing. Nose of earthy noble hop, farmy yeast, fresh cut grass, very floral. A touch of lemongrass and ginger like spice, a bit of banana and pear. Highly carbonated and super refreshing with a coating mouth feel and a fine lingering aftertaste. An exemplary beer. Seek this out.

Red Racer IPA

355 mL can. Pours orange copper with a thin white head that dissipates quickly. Nose is big American hop, tangerine, grapefruit, pine, beeswax and a touch of caramel malt sweetness. Moderately sweet with a medium mouth feel and moderate carbonation, the finish is long and bitter, but well balanced, more hop aroma than astringency. Sticky on the palate. A lovely well balanced IPA.

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