Propeller Revolution

Propeller Revolution comes from Canada's East Coast, produced in Halifax, Nova Scotia by the John Allen Brewing Company. The Russian imperial stout is sold in cool looking 500mL bottles featuring a red star, and clocks in at a healthy 8% alcohol.


Revolution has a smooth chocolatey aroma. It is way sweeter than I expected--when I drink an imperial stout, I typically expect jumbo hops and formidable bitterness. This stuff is much milkier and sweeter than its contemporaries. The alcohol content is brilliantly hidden. Considerable mocha notes and a malty body dominate a slightly bitter aftertaste. It's a black brew topped with a creamy layer of tan head.


Revolution is very smooth and drinkable for a strong beer, but without the aggressive crunch I was pulling for. It's a fine strong stout, but one that would definitely benefit from extra hopping. It's also a bit too sweet for this dude.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Island Lager

Island Lager is a clear, pale straw coloured brew from Vancouver, British Columbia's Granville Island Brewery. It comes in 341mL bottles and contains the standard 5% alcohol. Island Lager pours beneath a thin cap of ivory head. It has a grainy, slightly sweet aroma that is mild, but pleasant. There is a decent amount of malt driven, grain-friendly flavour, with just a hint of toastiness. It is definitely an easy brew to quaff.

This stuff is a pretty fair impersonation of a Western European premium lager. However, in my opinion, it doesn't have much presence to fill out the back end.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Two Captains Double IPA

Two Captains is another excellent brew from Nøgne Ø, out of Grimstand, Norway (makers of the excellent NøgneØ Imperial Stout and a number of other great brews). This double IPA comes in 500mL bottles and checks in at a liver-withering 8.5% alcohol. According to the label, this brew is apparently a collaboration between Nøgne Ø and a Norwegian homebrewing champion.


The cloudy orange ale is topped with a thick tan head. There is a colossal citrus hops aroma. The flavour begins malty and sweet--much sweeter than I expected for a double IPA. Some fruit notes fold into a hoppy finish--there are orange and grapefruit fingerprints all over this one. It is very dry near the finish and has great alcoholic punch.

 Two Captains Double IPA is a formidable brew. It's well balanced and worth a try if you dig strong ales.

8.0 out of 10.

 

Beau's Bog Water

Bog Water, by Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, is billed as an "Eastern Ontario Gruit Ale". According to the label, this innovative brew out of Vankleek Hill, Ontario is brewed using wild harvested bog myrtle in place of hops. Bog myrtle, which I had previously never heard of, was, according to the 600mL bottle, commonly used in brewing until the 1500s.

Bog Water clocks in at a healthy 6.6% alcohol. It's a cloudy, dark reddish brown ale topped with a big tan head. It has a boozy, malt heavy aroma which features an interesting floral quality. The packaging suggests that there are similarities between this beer and a Belgian dubbel. I found this to be very apt, as it's malty and considerably yeasty with some dark fruit notes. There is very little bitterness, but the beer manages to remain not too sweet.

Beau's Bog Water is pretty interesting stuff. I'm not really inclined to open up a second 600mL bottle of the stuff in one night, but I'd definitely buy it again. Great job by Beau's in playing around with unusual styles!

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Gerst Amber Ale

Another entry from Nashville, Tennessee's excellent Yazoo Brewing Company, Gerst Amber Ale is a decent little amber brew. It's sold in very old school-looking 355mL bottles. The Yazoo website tells me that Gerst's alcohol percentage is 5.1 and that it tallies 11 on the IBU scale.

Gerst is an ever-so-slightly hazy copper coloured brew. It has a toasty malt aroma that matches the toasty bready notes that form the backbone of the flavour. One thing that this stuff doesn't have in spades is a lot of hop presence. At 11 IBUs, it comes off slightly anemic for a craft brew, particularly in light of some of the hop monsters that I've known Yazoo to brew (see, for example, Yazoo's Hop Project #61).

This beer is smooth and refreshing with some craft brew character. It's tasty and nice, but not quite as noteworthy as some of the other Yazoo brews I've enjoyed.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Beery Haikus-Alcohol Art

Canny Man

Radical Road Brewery is a newish craft brew producer out of Toronto, Ontario. Their Canny Man is the first of their beers that I've had the privilege to sample. It's "a wee heavy matured in scotch whisky barrels", according to the label. Additionally, it is apparently matured for 71 days. Canny Man comes in a great looking opaque black 750mL bottle that, for some inexplicable reason, comes wrapped in a silly looking tissue paper wrapper and adorned with coasters. This beer is wildly overpackaged. It contains a wallop of booze, at 9.1%.

Canny Man is a hazy brown ale that pours beneath a veritable mountain of tan head. The aroma screams of scotch--it tastes peaty and wood-smoked, over top of a malty bod. A formidable wee heavy, this stuff has many layers. It is, at times, malty, sweet, smokey, warm, peaty, and boozy. Sweet and malty hang around the foreground, while boozy and smokey lurk in the shadows near the finish.

This is a dynamic and enticing fortified brew out of an interesting new local (to me at least) brewery. I have only two complaints. One, a bit more bitterness would take this beer to the next level. And two, lose the tissue paper. It's wasteful and looks foolish.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Threadless India Pale Ale

Finch's Beer Co. out of Chicago, Illinois produces the Threadless India Pale Ale. Threadless comes in pint cans and clocks in at 6% alcohol. It's a cloudy orange-brown brew that looks like a tasty apple cider.

Threadless has a heavy evergreen hop aroma and a dry, hoppy flavour. Truthfully, I'd like a bit more roundness in the flavour in the form of a better developed malt body. Also, I wouldn't have complained if there was a hair more booze. There are, however, some pretty delightful grapefruit notes that really add a little something.

Threadless India Pale Ale is a pretty solid I.P.A., particularly if you dig the hop heavy variety.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Samuel Adams Oktoberfest

Boston, Massachusetts' Boston Beer Company is the source of the Samuel Adams Oktoberfest, an Oktoberfest lager. SAO is sold in 355mL bottles and contains 5.5% alcohol. It's a handsome caramel-coloured brew topped with a lovely but short-lived off white head. It has a solid toasty malt aroma--this is explained by the label's assertion that this beer "blends 5 roasted malts".

Samuel Adams Oktoberfest is malty and sweet to start, replete with toffee notes. The finish is both grainy and relatively bitter. Well toasted notes throughout give this one a pleasant campfire feel.

This is a pretty flavourful and interesting brew, yet one that is light enough to be able to knock back a few (don't drink and drive!). A bit less toffee sweetness might have worked better for me--it is a lager and not an English-style pale ale after all.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Red Brick Brown Ale

Red Brick Brown Ale weighs in at a robust 6.5% alcohol. It's sold in 355mL bottles and produced in Atlanta, Georgia, by the Atlanta Brewing Company. This is a faintly cloudy brown ale. It's topped with a faintly cloudy cream-coloured head.

RBBA has a malty brown sugar aroma. It's a smooth, malty brew--sweet, with a slightly roasty flavour. There is some gentle nuttiness, some brown sugar, and some molasses. It also boasts great alcoholic warmth for a brown ale. RBBA has some faint hoppiness near the finish.

Red Brick Brown Ale is a very nice brown. I could definitely picture myself splitting a six pack and really enjoying myself.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Yazoo Sue

Yazoo Sue is an imperial smoked porter that hails from Nashville, Tennessee. It's brewed by the Yazoo Brewing Co.  Sue is sold in a great looking jumbo bottle, contains a weighty 9% alcohol, and has a formidable 93 IBUs. Apparently, it's smoked with cherry wood. I paired this stuff with a nice Toscano cheese.  It was a top shelf combo.

Sue is a tar black brew topped with a tan head. Its smoky aroma has a faint chocolate bent. It's a smoky, malt-forward ale. It moves from sweet to bitter, and there are a decent amount of cacao notes. Sue finishes with a healthy bitterness.

Every time I have a brew from Yazoo, I find myself impressed. This big beer is no exception.  Flavour to spare, strong as hell, and huge format bottles. This is a high quality craft beer.

My magnificent friend K.C. turned me on to this stuff. K.C. is a major booster of the Bitter World, and a great addition to good times everywhere.  Thanks!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Nickel Brook Cuvée 2012

Nickel Brook Cuvée 2012 is billed as "Bourbon Barrel Aged Spiced Strong Ale" and as a reserve ale. This mouthful is brewed by Burlington, Ontario's Better Bitters Brewing Co.  It comes in pretty flashy 750mL bottles--wax sealed and featuring very attractive labels. Cuvée 2012 contains a cheeky  (read: strong ass) 8.5% alcohol and clocks in at 19 IBUs.


Cuvée 2012 has an impressive ingredients list which includes Demerara sugar, dried figs, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla beans, and much more. All of that (plus more) is aged in bourbon casks. Looking at the label, I was worried that the brewers had just thrown everything and the kitchen sink into the kettle for this one.  However, I was wrong to doubt them. However with just a couple of sips, it became clear that this stuff was carefully crafted.

The grog pours a cloudy, even swampy brown, topped with a luxurious tawny head. It's very fragrant. The aroma combines strong fruit notes, sour malts, and a vigorous spice presence. You can practically taste something different in every sip of this beauty--citrus tang, boozy warmth, spicy intrigue, and a whisper of bourbon. It also features some red wine notes.

The label suggests laying this stuff down to age, but I just can't rest easy knowing that there is an interesting ale in the house ...

I really enjoyed this beer. Sweet, sour, and bitter are all amply represented. If you see it, you should buy it. And if you're more patient than me, please lay a bottle down and let me know what it's like in a couple years.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Karlovačko

Karlovačko is a very clear, highly carbonated brew that pours the colour of pale honey beneath a lively white head. It comes from Karlovac, Croatia, where it's brewed by Karlovačko Pivovara. It comes in 500mL cans and contains 5% alcohol.

A pale lager, Karlovačko has a crisp, grainy aroma. It has an unsurprising but pleasant pale lager flavour--sweet cereals which give way to a slight bitter crunch. There's a gentle alcohol taste near the back end which wasn't quite expected.  However, it's certainly not unwelcome. It's nice to be reminded that pale lagers actually have some booze in them.

Karlovačko is a solid lager with a reliable body and an interesting finish. Worth a try.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Simple Malts Trio Houblon--IPA Classique

Of the three beers in the Trio Houblon, the IPA Classique is definitely the pick of the litter. This beer is a very attractive ruby colour, somewhat surprising for an India Pale Ale. It's quite clear and topped with a cream-coloured head. IPA Classique contains 6.4% alcohol and 62 IBUs.

Classique has a toasty malt aroma with some brown sugar action and a bit of hops. The "classique" movement from malty to bitter is on display. Ample brown sugar notes give way to a very full hop profile. The finish is quite dry and bitter, but it still maintains some of the toasty malt character.

This is a really well balanced ale. I definitely recommend that you give it a try, dear reader. You won't be disappointed.  It wasn't quite what I expected from an I.P.A., but it's got some undeniable style.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Simple Malts Trio Houblon--Cascade India Pale Ale Americaine

Cascade India Pale Ale Americaine one bitter little brew. It clocks in with 66 IBUs and contains a potent 6.4% alcohol. It's a mostly clear, brass coloured beer. It pours with a cream head that lowers quickly.

The aroma is built around hops. There are some grapefruit notes, as well as come caramel. The flavour is similarly situated around bitterness braced with caramel. The finish is nice and dry.

If I had my way, there would be more emphasis on citrus hop bite and a bit less malt-driven sweetness. It's an admirably bitter brew, but I feel like it could be more refined.

7.0 out of 10.