Trafalgar Cognac-Aged Porter

Trafalgar Cognac-Aged Porter's cool, old-timey ceramic, 500mL swing-top bottle caught my eye. It took me about two seconds to decide to buy it. It comes from Oakville, Ontario's Trafalgar Ales & Meads. According to the label, it's "V.S.O.P.*--a *Very Special Ontario Porter", which I think is cute, as it's aged in cognac barrels.

The Cognac-Aged Porter is a deep brown, nearly black colour topped with an unexpectedly thin cream-coloured head. It has a beautiful aroma--sweet with brown sugar, chocolate, and molasses notes, alongside a tiny whiff of pipe tobacco. It's quite a sweet porter, with a very distinctive flavour. Chocolately notes mingle with molasses and a kiss of cognac potency.

The mouthfeel is a tad thinner than I expected and I'd like a slightly higher alcohol content, but this is a very intriguing brew. It's flavourful, interesting, and comes in a cool bottle. This is a really nice after dinner beer. Kudos to Trafalgar for trying something like this and pulling it off admirably.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Warsteiner Premium Dunkel

All the way from Warstein, Germany comes Warsteiner Premium Dunkel. WPD is brewed by the Warsteiner Brauerei. It's sold in 500mL cans and contains 4.8% alcohol. According to the can, it's "A Queen Among Beers". Regal...


WPD has a darkish, chestnut brown colour and pours with a thick and creamy off-white head. Its malt-forward aroma is slightly roasted and has some brown sugar sweetness. A well roasted malt flavour is backed by respectable hop bitterness and an understated touch of sweetness.

This beer goes down easily and it's quite flavourful.  I'm no lush (debatable), but I'd definitely like to see a bit more alcohol content to bolster this stuff. Still, Warsteiner Premium Dunkel is pretty well balanced and definitely worth your time.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

A QUEEN AMONG BEERS!!!

GLB Imperial Black IPA

GLB Imperial Black IPA is one of four brews crafted to mark the 25th anniversary of Toronto, Ontario's Great Lakes Brewery. It's sold in 750mL bottles and clocks in at a muscular 9.5% alcohol. Moreover, it has a staggering 100 IBUs!

The Imperial Black IPA looks like a porter or a stout--it's almost black and nearly opaque. It pours with an extremely durable tan head and leaves behind thick curtains of lace. GIBIPA has a huge foresty hop aroma. It boasts an incredibly complex flavour that combines molasses and espresso notes with a tremendously bitter hop bombast. While this beer is bold and hugely flavourful, the one thing that doesn't overwhelm is the booze content, which is somehow well buried.

This is easily the best black I.P.A. that I've ever tasted. It wasn't cheap, but it was well worth the expense. I wouldn't open one of these bad boys routinely, but it's a top shelf special occasion brew.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Beery Haikus-Relax, My Fine Friend ...

Chaman

Montreal, Quebec's Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! can take credit for Chaman Imperial Pale Ale, a fiesty, potent, and delicious brew. Chaman is a clear, copper coloured strong pale ale. I found it to be relatively highly carbonated for the style. It features a deep, bitter aroma with a fair degree of malt, alongside citrus notes. Additionally, there is an unexpected sweetness in the scent.

The flavour moves sweet to bitter and features notes of satsuma, caramel, and honey, before giving way to a musty (in a pleasant way) bitterness. Chaman has a full, thick mouthfeel. There is ample alcoholic warmth, but it's not overwhelmingly boozy.

This beer proved way sweeter than I anticipated, with a lot more focus on the malt side of the equation than many other big pale ales. Citrus is a big part of this beer, but sweetly so. Hops are a driver, but they aren't the be all and end all of this brew. While I enjoyed Chaman, I found it too sweet for me to consume regularly. It's more of an interesting treat.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Picaroons Harvest

Picaroons Harvest is another high quality ale brewed in my hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Since today is my father's birthday (Happy birthday, Dad!), it only seems fitting to review something from home. Harvest produced by the Northampton Brewing Co., sold in 500mL bottles, and contains 5.5% alcohol. If I had to guess, I'd class this one as a pale ale. It's brewed using hops from local farms, which is pretty rad. It has a pretty snazzy label featuring two dudes on stilts.

Harvest is a hazy golden brew topped with a very thick cream coloured head. Its pleasing scent is hoppy, with notes of evergreen and a twinge of stone fruit. The flavour is somewhat hempy and dank. It's hoppy and slightly spicy. There are some faint fruit notes and a bit of malt balanced across the big hop flavour.

A hoppier offering that many of the other Picaroons beers that I've enjoyed, Harvest manages to toe the line between bitterness and swampy malt. This is tasty stuff.  It gets a rating boost for relying on local hops.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Mackeson XXX Triple Stout

Mackeson XXX Triple Stout is a milk stout out of Champs Fleurs, Trinidad, West Indies. Brewed by the Carib Brewery, Mackeson is sold in 330mL bottles and contains 4.9% alcohol. I really dig the Mackeson label, which features three dudes standing in some kind of unusual pyramid.

The Triple Stout is an oil black brew topped with a tan head. Its sweet aroma has notes of milk chocolate and molasses. It boasts a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, which compliments a flavour that encompasses notes of chocolate, brown sugar, and vanilla.

The Mackeson Triple Stout is a very sweet and creamy stout. It's a bit on the sugary side for my tastes--I can't picture myself drinking more than one in a night. If you like your stouts sweet and smooth, this is the stuff for you. Personally, I prefer a bit more bitterness in my dark ales.


Rating: 7.0

Paradise I.P.A.

Paradise I.P.A. is a cheeky little offering from Toronto, Ontario's Mill St. Brewery, though the label points out that this particular brew was originally brewed at Mill St.'s Ottawa location. It clocks in at a dynamic 7.2% alcohol and is sold in 355mL bottles. The label features palm trees and other indicia of a tropical locale.

Paradise is a clear, bronze coloured ale topped with a resilient off-white head. It has a powerful, hop-heavy scent that combines pine notes with some citrus fruit tartness. I'd definitely class this one as an American-style IPA--it has huge, hop flavour, right off the bat. Paradise is bitter, with some pleasant orange and grapefruit notes. It closes out with a very dry, lip puckeringly bitter finish.

Paradise I.P.A. is a very flavourful India Pale. It tastes big, but not particularly potent--the alcohol is well cloaked. In short, this one looks good, smells good, and tastes good. It's another quality  from Mill St.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Terrible

Another Monster from Chambly, Quebec's Unibroue, Terrible is a force to be reckoned with. It weighs in an an unforgiving 10.5% and comes in an imposing, corked 750mL bottle that features simple, stark packaging.  Well done, marketing folks. Well done.

Terrible is an abbey-style ale and a dark ale on lees. According to the label, it has 15 IBUs. It's a deep, dark brown ale topped with a never-say-quit off-white head. The nose is boozy and malt heavy, with notes of raisin and fruitcake. It tastes strong, but nowhere near its 10.5%. Terrible is a yeasty brew, malt driven, with dark fruit notes. The aftertaste is very sweet and almost syrupy.

In my opinion, this is among the finest Belgian-style beers that you'll find outside of Brussels. It's dark and flavourful, strong as can be, yet nuanced and almost delicate. This is the kind of beer to savour beside a crackling fire on a cool evening. My advice is not to open a bottle of this stuff unless you're planning on savouring it.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel

This "Bavarian style" dark wheat beer is brewed by Bayern Staatsbrauerei Weihenshephan in Freising, Germany, at what is reputed to be "The World's Oldest Brewery". It comes in a 500mL bottle and contains 5.3% alcohol.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel is a cloudy, ruddy brown wheat beer topped with a hurricane of cream head. It's nose is both yeasty and fruity, with a nice citrus quality. Wheat flavours come through plainly, as do notes of banana and a gentle spiciness.

This is a class act dunkel. It's quite refreshing for a darker beer--it's not too sweet and it has only a faint, slightly bitter finish. If you're a fan of flavourful wheat beers, you should be on your way to pick some up immediately.

8.5 out of 10.

Bishop's Best Bitter

Sherbrooke, Quebec is the home of Bishop's Best Bitter, a tasting English-style ale brewed by The Golden Lion Brewing Company. Weighing in at 4.8%, BBB is sold in 500mL bottles featuring a vaguely creepy beer-toting clergyman on the label.

This is a very clear, brassy brew, topped with an ivory head. It has a slightly metallic hoppy aroma. For a brew with lowish alcohol content, this stuff is surprisingly bitter. It's got hops to spare and a very dry mouthfeel. In addition, there is a slight note of raisin hiding below the surface, as well as a respectable malt profile.

This is a pretty good brew.  It's a touch too dry to make it sessionable and a bit light on the alcohol side of things, but BBB is flavourful and well built.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Beery Haikus-My Demands

Big Mouth Tap Room Pale Ale

Big Mouth Tap Room Pale Ale is a hazy, golden coloured brew. It pours with some off-white head. Its aroma is nestled in between mellow grapefruit bitterness and sweet toffee warmth. Likewise, the flavour walks the line between toffee-ed malt and slight citrus hops. It has a smooth, slightly buttery mouthfeel.

Big Mouth is a very nice, agreeable pale ale. It's not nearly as aggressive as some of the other pale ales on the market. It's very easy drinking.  I'd like a little more hops dryness in the finish. Overall, this beer is quite sessionable and amply flavourful. I'd be happy to knock back a few at a party.

Big Mouth Tap Room Pale Ale is brewed by Brampton, Ontario's Hop City Brewing Co., who also brew the tasty Barking Squirrel Lager. It comes in a pretty sharp looking 473mL can, contains 5% alcohol, and clocks in at a virile 48 IBUs.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Bière du Boucanier-Golden Ale

Among the Bières du Boucanier, the Golden Ale is the heavy hitter.  It clocks in at a vicious 11% alcohol--this stuff tastes unabashedly strong and it will warm you up in a hurry! It has a yeasty, boozy aroma with some crisp apple notes. It pours a very cloudy dull gold colour, topped with a crazy cloud of thick white head.  Seriously, this stuff is so foamy that it was an ordeal to pour.

There is a nice combination of maltiness and sweetness in the flavour, with notes of apple. It seems weird to say for a beer with 11% alcohol, but I'd actually have liked a bit more flavour.  It tastes nice, but it could definitely have been more robust and full bodied. Also, the warm, boozy aftertaste could probably use a tad more hops.

Still, the Bière du Boucanier Golden Ale is an enjoyable, warm, and interesting beer. It's definitely worth a try.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Bière du Boucanier-Dark Ale

This Dark Ale is the middle child in the Bières du Boucanier family. It comes in strange looking opaque white bottles and clocks in at a forceful 9%. This cloudy, reddish brown ale is fairly dark in colour. It's topped with a foam of off-white head. The Dark Ale features a surprisingly faint aroma, which is malty and has a dusting of dark fruit.

The Dark Ale is a smooth, malt forward Belgian brew. For a beer this strong, the flavour is mild. There are notes of raisin and plum, as well as some considerable yeastiness. The booze is very well hidden. This is very approachable stuff for a strong Belgian ale. However, I'd like to see a bit more flavour.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.