Dominion Delivery--Giants of the North

An imperial stout brewed with almonds, vanilla, milk sugar, cacao nibs from Hummingbird Chocolate, and maple syrup from Cheslock’s Sugar Bush, Giants of the North comes from Dominion City Brewing Co. in Ottawa. Sold in 355mL cans, GotN contains a ribald 10% alcohol. It’s a hella dark ale that pours with a thin tan head.

GotN has a rich, sweet aroma with malty, chocolatey notes. While there isn’t a lot of maple in the nose, the flavour makes up for it with verve—maple sweetness is evident from the second the beer touches your tongue. Alongside are chocolate and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel of this robust stout is syrupy and sweet. Other than a bit of dark chocolate, there is very little bitterness.

The sweetness and booziness combine to make Giants of the North Imperial Stout a hefty ale—a choice after supper sipper and, I would theorize, one that would be excellent with vanilla ice cream (I have a second can of this stuff and I may test this theory out). It’s too sweet and strong to even imagine a second can, and I might have liked a bit more bitterness to add some balance, but I really enjoyed this strong ass sweet stuff from Dominion City.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.