Whitney’s Vantage Wet Hopped Ale

Brewed with some regional ingredients, including hops from Bighead Hops from Meaford, Ontario, and honey from Beaver Valley Gold Honey, Whitney’s Vantage Wet Hopped Ale is a 6.9% alcohol 35 IBU concoction from The Collingwood Brewery in Collingwood, ON.

Sold in yellow 473mL cans, Whitney’s is a handsome, slightly hazy sunburst orange ale with a fluffy white head. It has a robust aroma that blends the sweetness of honey with juicy tangerine notes. It tastes a bit quirky, with a mélange of sweet, tart, and bitter flavours; these are represented by honey, citrus, and sticky hops respectively. 

The only real stumbling block for this innovative and enjoyable ale comes at the finish, which isn’t nearly as assertive or hoppy as I’d have liked—something a bit more bombastic would have really shut the door more effectively. Otherwise, it was tasty -land bursting with flavour.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Steakcake Stout

Steakcake Stout gets its curious name from a dispute between the brewers at Double Barley Brewing, one of whom thinks that the 10% alcohol imperial stout pairs best with sweet desserts, while the other prefers hers with a cut of beef. Brewed in Smithfield, North Carolina, Steakcake comes in 355mL bottles.

This strong stout is black highlighted with amber. It pours with a sudsy tan head. It has a slightly sweet, malty nose. It tastes rich and malt-heavy, with a bit of molasses, brown sugar, and a sweet but bitter finish.

Steakcake came my way via the amazing and generous KC. I found it to be an alright take on the strong stout. The strength is grand and the aroma works nice. As for the flavour, it is potent, but at the same time it lacks depth.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Yeti Imperial Stout

Yeti Imperial Stout comes from the Mile High City, Denver, Colorado, where it’s brewed by Great Divide Brewing Co. A mighty ale at 9.5% alcohol, Yeti comes in 355mL cans.

A black ale with a full tawny head, Yeti has a rich aroma—it has notes of molasses, leather, raisin, pipe tobacco, and chocolate. The flavour encompasses many of those same notes, as well as a fair measure of bitter black coffee.

Sent my way by my good pal MM, I really enjoyed my can of Yeti. I found it to be powerful and cunning stout with pretty much no downside.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Sweet Disposition Plum IPA

On what might well have been the first glorious spring day of 2018, I poured myself a 500mL bottle of Sweet Disposition Plum IPA from Toronto’s Rorschach Brewing Co. My glass of beer a dark gold with a cute pinky hue, although it was a considerably sediment-heavy ale. According to the bottle, the stuff was bottled on December 20, 2017 (the day after my 33rd), so it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, but all of the floaties gave me pause all the same. At just 5.5%, the stuff was a touch under-strength for an India, but not jarringly so.

Sweet to the nose, with an indisputable fruity proclivity, S.D. had a slightly candied aroma. The plum came through nicely in the flavour, though it was accompanied with a clout of bitter brashness—more hoppy, in fact, than I initially expected, given the sugary scent. Acerbic, but sweet, the flavour combo was unusual. I might not have gleaned that it was a plum tint had I not been tipped off, but there it was.

A neophyte to plum IPAs, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Sweet Disposition. I felt the name was fitting, although it belied the depth of bitterness packed into the finish. The fruity front end was a dream, although, as longtime readers of the Bitter World will surmise, I chafed a bit at the 5.5% listing, and could have done with a bit more sabre-rattling gravitas. I’m no stranger to sediment-y beer, but this one was very nearly too far down the garden path, four months of aging or not. On flavour alone the rating’d have been higher, but sediment and low octane’ll getcha. I might has filtered this one ever so slightly...

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

B.A. Johnston’s Finest Malt Liquor

If there were any justice in the world, B.A. Johnston would be a major star. But there isn’t. As a result, B.A. is a modest draw—a man tirelessly touring across Canada in his minivan, sharing his unique blend of homespun tunes with a populace thirsty for truth. And when you’re thirsty for truth, the folks at Sawdust City Brewing Company know that you’re also frequently thirsty for strong beer: enter B.A. Johnston’s Finest Malt Liquor. Brewed by Sawdust City in Gravenhurst, Ontario, this 8% alcohol grog comes in 473mL cans emblazoned with an illustration of the man himself, in all of his glory.

Cloudy and sunny gold, the Finest Malt Liquor pours with a thin cap of white head. It has a boozy nose, with some syrupy grain notes. The flavour is assertively potent; sweet and strong, with notes of corn. The finish is strong, but manages to close out smoothly.

Like B.A. himself, his Finest Malt Liquor won’t be for everyone. Truthfully, it wasn’t really for me. As an alcohol delivery system, it is efficient and effective. As a flavourful craft beer, it is a bit rough, too sweet, and short on bitterness. This beer is representative of the pride of Hamilton: it’s strong, abrasive, and a bit gross, but it has some soul and some sass.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Three Jars Belgian Table Beer

I love a beer in service of a good cause, and that’s just what I got from Three Jars Belgian Table Beer. Brewed in Newmarket, Ontario by Market Brewing Co., this brewed supported by a number of Newmarket pubs restos and is sold in support of the Newmarket Food Pantry. According to the copy on the 473mL can, all profits from sale of the beer go to support the charity, which is excellent!

A 4% alcohol ale, Three Jars is a sunny yellow ale. Slightly hazy, it pours with a short but sustained layer of bright white head. It has a fresh, yeasty aroma with a suggestion of tartness. The ale is crisp, but yeasty. It has emphatic drinkability, though the mouthfeel is a bit on the brittle side—not all that surprising for a 4% alcohol ale.

Light and refreshing, but with a surfeit of flavour, Three Jars was a pretty good beer brewed in service of a great cause.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Mash Up the Jam

Those clever beer wizards at Hamilton's Collective Arts Brewing have got to be among Ontario’s most industrious and creative brewers. They pump out, can, and sell more new beers than just about anyone in the province, and they manage to get a lot of them onto the shelves of the provincially-run liquor stores, which I understand is no mean feat. The latest offering comes in the form of Mash Up the Jam, a dry-hopped sour ale. At 5.2%, there is a bit of bop to this pop. It’s sold in artsy 473mL cans from which emerges a sunny dull-gold nectar. Mash Up pours with a thin layer of off-white head and it has a funkily tropical nose. Tart, but well restrained, the beer isn’t briny or overly sharp. Rather, it’s quite approachable, which isn’t always the norm in sour ales. It has notes of almost ripened fruit—particularly citrus and stone fruits. The beer is built around an abrupt and dry mouthfeel, which holds whatever sweetness the fruit elements might try to impart very much in check. There is some bitterness, located almost entirely at the back end, though not as prevalent as I’d hoped it would be.

Mash Up the Jam is a fine and funky ale from an innovative and prolific brewery. Not there best work, perhaps, but an agreeably tart concoction with a bit of verve. Possibly a good starting point for someone new to sour ales and interested in exploring one.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Trash Panda Porter

The only thing one needs on a miserably cold day in April characterized by snow and freezing rain (other than a nice, peaty scotch) is a nice coffee porter. Enter Trash Panda Porter, a brew “seasoned with cold steeped Ethiopian beans”. Born in Toronto to The Six Brewing Co., Trash Panda is a 6% alcohol porter. I picked up a massive 750mL oil drum of a can from the bottle shop attached to the brew pub. The beer inside poured with a deep mahogany colour, topped with a thin flourish of off-white head.

Trash Panda has an agreeably rich aroma that straddles coffee and chocolate notes. The flavour is refined and enjoyable, though it is less emphatic than I’d have asked. The beer has coffee elements in good measure, as well as some malty tones and a touch of cocoa, but it could have been more bitter and ballsy. The mouthfeel was a bit on the thin side for a porter, but not distressingly so.

I thought that Trash Panda was a pretty good beer—not game-changing or innovative, but certainly pleasant. As I said, it would have been a stronger effort with a greater emphasis on hops and unbridled java bitterness. The 30 IBUs listed on the can just aren’t enough. Still, TP tasted nice, if a bit mild. It certainly brought me a little cheer on a brutal “spring” day.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Hopped & Confused Session Ale

Sold in 473mL cans that feature salmon, a Canada goose, a bear, and a beaver in a canoe, Hopped & Confused Session Ale has to be in the running for the most stereotypically Canadian packaging of all time. It’s a 4.7% ale from Toronto’s Mill Street Brewery. Cloudy and pale, this brew is orange-gold and pours with a sudsy white head. The copy on the can is almost inscrutable, declaring “This beer is really hoppy but not bitter. It is an ale and a lager. ... It is a sessionable version of a non-sessionable style. ...” and some more stuff. We’ll see.

The beer has a succulent, yet saccharine nose, with juicy fruit notes. The flavour is similarly constructed, with pleasant tangerine notes supplemented with a subtly flowery note. H&C is hoppy, but, as billed, it isn’t particularly bitter—at least not as bitter as I expected it to be. I don’t know where they get that nonsense about it being “an ale and a lager”, because it clearly tastes like an ale”, but it does taste pretty good.

The only element that would prohibit me from buying this beer on the semi-regular is its sweetness—it the beer were a little less juicy/syrupy. I’ll maybe buy it again, but despite its “session” nature, I feel unlikely to reach for a second can.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Midnight Oil Coffee Stout

Friend of the Bitter World MW showed up unexpectedly with a couple of bottles from Abe Erb Brewing Company out of Kitchener, Ontario. Note: if you have non-readily available beer from a cool brewery, just drop by. I usually hate a pop in, but far flung ales? Bring ‘em by Stout Man Manor. Do it!

One of MW’s deliveries was a 341mL stubby, medicinal bottle of Midnight Oil Coffee Stout. It’s a 5.2% alcohol ale brewed using a Sumatra-based coffee from Settlement Co. The beer is a late night number with a tan head that lasted only a short time and faded to a thin disc.

More than most coffee-flavoured ales, Midnight Oil has a wild java nose. Seriously potent Joe. It has some sweetness and a healthy malt, too, but coffee is the nose candy in this ale. The flavour is a bit less overtly caffeinated, but there is still some bitter coffee heft. Along for the ride are malty notes, sweetness, and some chocolate notes.

Abe Erb’s take on the coffee stout is a lovely little number. It’s not quite as bitter as I’d have liked, but it is rich and sweet, with decent strength and, not to repeat myself, a brilliant aroma. This is a coffee ale that I’d gladly revisit. It’s a bit too saccharine, though it isn’t a deal-breaker.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Hop Drop

 

Hop Drop is a 29% alcohol hop liqueur from the “Fermentorium Distilling” arm of Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. in Victoria, BC. This “humulus lupulus” elixir is hazy white, with a funky floral scent. The flavour is sweet initially, with a bitter back.

 

For a liqueur made of hops, this stuff wasn’t all that bitter, with sweetness and floral notes driving the action. Not exactly agreeable, but certainly interesting, Hop Drop 

was some weird stuff I’m glad to have tried. It was well-priced and interesting, if not exactly tasty.

Daidai

Fizzy and vivacious, Godspeed Brewery’s Daidai is a “saison with Japanese bitter orange”. According to the copy on the 355mL can, this stuff is “made with struggle & love in Toronto, Canada”. Low in booze, Daidai clocks in at just 4.7%. It’s a hazy yellow-gold liquid with a short-lived off-white head.

For a low alcohol potion, Daidai has a powerful aroma. It’s nose is yeasty, spicy, floral, and dry. As for flavour, this brew tightropes its way between the citric tartness lended by the bitter orange and a crackling dryness characteristic of the style.

Daidai was an enjoyable saison. It could certainly have been a bit larger, and I’d love it if the flavour was as compelling as the nose, but I liked the finish product quite well. I’d be interested in buying it again, particularly as a tipple to enjoy as the weather gets warmer.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Night Watch Coffee Lager

From Victoria’s Lighthouse Brewing Co., Night Watch Coffee Lager is a 5.1% alcohol number. I enjoyed a pint of the slightly hazy bright gold stuff at Garrick’s Head pub. It arrived with a thin white head and a surprisingly robust java scent. A crisp and refreshing pale lager with a pleasing jolt of coffee flavour, Night Watch has a little bit of everything—except weight, because the beer is light and drinkable.

Still a bit of a neophyte to light-hued coffee flavoured brews, I found Night Watch to be a novelty, but also a well made sipper. My only note would be that some more bitterness would have been desirable.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Naughty Hildegard ESB

Naughty Hildegard ESB is named in named in honour of Hildegard von Bingen, a really interesting polymath and Benedictine abbess who was, among other things, credited with recording the utility of hops as a preservative--so we owe her. Brewed in Victoria, BC by Driftwood Brewery, NH is a 6.5% alcohol ale that comes in snazzy 650mL bottles. It’s a crystal clear copper-hued ale that pours with a layer of off-white head.

I found NH to be a quirky and enjoyable hybrid of an ale, with metallic and malt notes characteristic of an extra special bitter, but also a pretty generous dose of dank and juicy hops. It had a nose of caramel, malt, and, unexpectedly, a touch of nectarine. The flavour was similarly constructed—sweet and malty, with a bit of a fruity streak—though with a fairly robust level of bitterness to seal the deal. 

 

At a hoppy 6.5%, Naughty Hildegard doesn’t fit neatly into the ESB mould, nor that of an American pale ale. Despite its somewhat off-style traits, the beer was really quite delicious. I’d definitely buy it again.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Alpha Acid

During an afternoon of beer tourism in Victoria, BC with my father-in-law, we ducked into Hoyne Brewing Co. for a flight. Of the four brews I sampled, my favourite was Alpha Acid IPA, so I left with a 650mL bomber of the 6.3% ale. A pale golden affair with a slight haze and a fluffy white head, Alpha Acid has a slightly floral, vaguely metallic scent. The flavour is perfumed, dryly floral, and agreeably piney.

It’s not as assertive as a traditional West Coast IPA, but Alpha Acid had a collection of subtle flavours that worked nicely. I could have used a bit more in the way of IBUs and booze, but I liked the crisp, refreshing nature of this brew. The magic in this ale isn’t in unique or unconventional flavours, but in quality crafting and subtlety.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.