Buzz Lightbeer Coffee Infused Ale

Brewed using coffee from Deadly Grounds Coffee, Buzz Lightbeer Coffee Infused Ale comes from Bowmanville, Ontario, where it’s made by Manantler Craft Brewing Co. Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer pours with a dull gold hue and a sudsy eggshell head. Fairly low-octane, Buzz Lightbeer contains just 4.6% alcohol.

Buzzy Lights has a robust aroma of coffee grounds—bitter with a whisper of sweetness. The flavour moves from sweet to bitter, with a smooth mouthfeel and a boatload of coffee notes.

I thought Buzz Lightbeer was a decent offering—the coffee infusion definitely worked well—but I didn’t think that the underlying ale was all that compelling. It was a mere platform, without much merit of its own.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Clown Punch Belgian IPA

Clown Punch Belgian IPA is a 6.7% alcohol brew from Manantler Craft Brewing Co. in Bowmanville, Ontario. The beer comes in 650mL bottles with awesome, creepy labels. The beer has a handsome dull-orange/brown colour and pours with a fluffy eggshell head.

I reviewed a bottle with my great pal, WM, over Skype during the great quarantine of 2020.

WM: Bitter hops is only present initially and it fades into a corny, malted sweetness. There’s a hint of citrus and a slight floral element.

It tastes like an IPA at the front, but a bit more like an APA toward the finish. Tastes a lot hoppier than it smells. The bitterness lingers pleasantly at the finish. Light on the palate—would have guessed there was less alcohol.

Pleasant with a lot of nice components, but its missing something to tie it all together. The beer doesn’t taste particularly Belgian, beyond a bit of yeastiness. Enjoyed, but would not seek out actively.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Stout Man: Considerable pine aromatics, with a faint floral bent and a bit of yeasty funk. Great aroma, but the flavour isn’t quite as punchy. There is a sweet malt and yeast kickoff, a quirky bubblegum streak, and a modestly bitter finish.

The beer is a decent take on the Belgian IPA style, but it isn’t as boisterously bitter as I’d have liked, nor as yeasty as it might have been.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Ketchin Zeez

An oatmeal stout from Bowmanville, Ontario’s Manantler Craft Brewing Co., Ketchin Zeez is a 5% ale sold in festive 650mL bottles. It’s a dark ale that pours with a disappointingly thin tan head.

KZ has a sweet molasses aroma with roasted malt notes and a touch of vanilla. The flavour kicks off sweetly, with a slightly woody vibe and vanilla bean notes. There is a bit of cocoa bitterness in the back end, but it’s quite understated. The real star of this ale is its creamy mouthfeel, which is smooth and fantastic.

Ketchin Zeez has a lot of positive attributes, but it doesn’t come together quite as well as I’d have liked it to. The beer doesn’t have a bottled on date, but based on the Christmasy label, I suspect it’s a bit older than ideal. The beer is a bit flat, but more than that, I also found it to be overly sweet and I don’t think that can be blamed on age.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Liquid Swords IPA

Liquid Swords IPA is a 6% IPA from Bowmanville, Ontario’s Manantler Craft Brewing Co. Sold in 650mL bombers with gorgeous labels, the beer pours a handsome ruddy gold, with a substantial crown of off-white head.

Liquid Swords has an engaging aroma that matches between brown sugar maltiness and sticky, citrusy hops. The flavour belies the 6% booze bill, with a robust profile that encompasses sweet citrus and a whisper of pine sap. 

The beer, brewed, according to the Manantler website, with Cascade, Chinook, Citra, and Mosaic hops, has a decidedly West Coast vibe in an era when NEIPAs are de rigeur, and that suits me fine. I’d have liked the alcohol content to keep time with the well-muscled flavour, but if one of those two elements had to suffer, I’m glad it was percentage over flavour. Honestly, this is a very good West Coast IPA. If it got to 7% or above, it’d be a revelation.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Manantler by Mail

My pal WM was new to the world of mail order beer, so he asked me to shepherd an order his way. In return, he gifted me an identical order. As a result, I ended up with a beautiful variety pack from Bowmanville’s Manantler Craft Brewing Co. for little more than a few clicks and some light logistics work.

Stay tuned to the Bitter World over the next couple of weeks for an octet of reviews, covering the gamut styles from blonde ales to oatmeal stouts.

Safe Word

A Kveik pale ale brewed in Toronto, Safe Word is made with Galaxy and Mosaic hops by Indie Ale House. The hazy pale ale contains 5.2% alcohol and comes sold in sassy pink 355mL cans.

Through its fluffy white head, Safe Word has a bouncy, fruity aroma with a bit of quirky yeast. The flavour has notes of pineapple and mango, laid over a mellow and unconventional yeast elements.

The flavour of Safe Word is agreeable enough, but it’s the texture that I found attention-grabbing. It’s smooth initially, with a slightly yogurty tang at the finish. Very unusual, not for everyone, and pretty well executed, Safe Word makes nice use of Kveik—beer’s hottest weirdo yeast.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Adaptation Sabro Dry-Hopped Kölsch

Brewed in scenic Gravenhurst, Ontario at Sawdust City Brewing Co., Adaptation Sabro Dry-Hopped Kölsch is a 5.5%, 20 IBU beer that also contains Magnum and Spalt hops. The beer, sold in 473mL cans, pours a hazy golden colour with a sudsy shock of white foam.

Adaptation a sweet and engaging aroma, backed with a tickle of floral hops. The beer has a smooth texture and an interesting flavour. It’s sweet, initially, progressing to an earthy, botanical finish. The dry-hopping adds a richness, but, it should be said, might impact the potential crispness of the underlying Kölsch-style brew.

I thought Sawdust City’s Adaptation was an enjoyable little beer with a quirky flavour and texture mix. I enjoyed my cans and I’d gladly buy it again.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Nerve Tonic Juniper Saison

An innovative little number from Toronto’s Eastbound Brewing Co., Nerve Tonic Juniper Saison is a 6.1% ale sold in 355mL cans. It’s a faintly hazy golden ale that pours with a modest white head and, not shockingly, it has a yeasty, botanical aroma.

Nerve Tonic (great name, BTW) has a pretty bold, earthy, yeast-driven flavour. There is a faintly ginny note, but it is subtle and nicely integrated. The back end is a bit floral, with a slightly spicy uptick.

I thought that Nerve Tonic was a delight—it has decent strength and an agreeable, slightly unusual flavour. Solid offering.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Working Hard New England I.P.A.

Brewed by one of (in my opinion) the leading lights of Toronto’s craft brewing scene, Muddy York Brewing Co., Working Hard New England I.P.A. is a 6.5%, 20 IBU ale. Sold in snazzy 473mL cans, WH is a hazy golden ale brewed with El Dorado and Mosaic hops.

The beer pours with a durable blanket of white foam, through which emerges a bright tropical fruit aroma. The flavour is crisp and pleasant, if a bit mild, with citrus and mango elements on display and a back end with just a hint of bitterness.

WH is a good NEIPA—not as rich and flavourful as I’d have liked—but there is a delicate flavour that hits a lot of agreeable, fruity notes. It’s very sessionable for a strongish ale, which is delightful (if dangerous), and the look is on point. I’d have liked a bit more depth of flavour, but I can assure you that if I had another can in the fridge, I would annihilate it right now.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Bright Classic Pils

Bright Classic Pils is Toronto’s Avling Brewery’s take on the pilsner. It’s a 4.9% lager sold in 355mL cans. The brew is a pale golden colour. It’s well carbonated and pours with a cap of white suds.

This Pils has a mild, grainy aroma, with a slightly metallic note. The flavour is quite delicate, with a sweet to bitter progression. The beer starts with grainy malt and moves to a dry bitterness. The pilsner has a surprisingly soft mouthfeel, though the finish adds a bit of crispness.

Bright Classic Pils is a fair rendition of the classic style. It’s not quite as crisp as I’d have liked, but the balance is solid.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Hive Double IPA w/Honey

Built in Toronto by Bandit Brewery, Hive Double IPA w/Honey is a burly 8.5% ale sold in 500mL bottles. The apiary-infused brew is a cloudy golden ale and it pours with a fluffy eggshell head.

The beer has an extremely sweet nose—honeyed, and also pretty boozy. The flavour is similarly sweet, packing lots of honey notes along side an alcohol-heavy warmth. The Double IPA part of this beer is more of a booze platform than it is a true-to-style element, as there really isn’t a whole lot of bitterness, other than a bit at the back end.

All in all, Hive is a decent after dinner ale. It’s strong and sweet, but it’s missing the bitterness that I was hoping would hold my interest. Not the best offering from Bandit, but it’s not bad.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Life’s a Hazy Beach IPA

It says something about Toronto’s Saulter Street Brewery that it took me a while before I tried one of their beers that didn’t interest me. Bound to happen, I guess, but I was surprised when I cracked a 473mL can of Life’s a Hazy Beach IPA and found that it wasn’t to my taste.

LaHB has solid strength at 7% and it looks nice, with a copper hue and a white head, though it should be noted that the beer isn’t actually all that hazy. For aromatics, coconut and pineapple notes are prominent, and do provide a beachy ambiance. However, where things go south for me is the flavour, which I found to be an unpalatable combo of pineapple and metallic notes. There is some bitterness, primarily at the back end, which salvages things to an extent, but the truth is I just don’t really like this beer.

I should say, I don’t think that the beer is flawed or that it wasn’t brewed with Saulter Street’s usual acumen—rather, I just don’t love the stuff. Another person might well love it to the moon and that’s swell with me—it just doesn’t work for me.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Double Lunatic Fridge

A gift from the wily WFM, Double Lunatic Fridge comes to my via the gang at Toboggan Brewing Company in London, Ontario. Ostensibly a double IPA, this stuff actually only contains 7% alcohol, which makes me question its categorization. However, I know that there is a less potent ale called Lunatic Fridge in the Toboggan catalogue, so I can see why they named it as they did.

Sold in 473mL cans, DLF is a beautiful looking beer—slightly hazy, golden, and blanketed in a durable layer of white suds. Citrus and metallic notes characterize the aroma. Classic West Coast stylings drive the flavour, with bright citrus and just a whisper of pine leading a pleasant bitter charge.

As I’ve already mentioned, my biggest beef with DLF is misclassification, because this ain’t no double IPA. But it’s not a bad IPA, by any stretch. Perhaps a bit forgettable, but Double Lunatic Fridge doesn’t suffer from any notable defects and it benefits from a crisp, agreeable flavour.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Shadow Chaser IPA

Shadow Chaser IPA hails from Toronto, where it is coaxed into existence by the team at Indie Alehouse Brewing Co. It’s a low octane (5.5%) hazy IPA sold in 500mL bottles.

I already dropped the adjective “hazy”, but my thesaurus doesn’t really have another felicitous vocable to describe the look of this ale: this shit’s hazy. It’s yellow-gold in colour and pours with a fluffy cap of bright white head. The label indicates that Shadow Chaser is made “with a new hop varietal”, but it doesn’t name the hop (though the Indie Alehouse bottleshop website lists Idaho 7 and Citra as the hops used in this bright little hazer). The beer has a juicy nose with tropical, floral, and citrus aromatics. The flavour is initially fruity and flowery, with considerable pineapple and orange juice sweetness. This gives way to a somewhat thin, modestly bitter finish.

Shadow Chaser is a decent hazy IPA. It’s not quite as enjoyable as some of Indie’s other IPA offerings that I’ve tried like Love Triangle or their classic Instigator IPA, but it’s not bad at all. I’d definitely like the beer to have been stronger and I’d have liked the finish to be more assertive. As an NEIPA, I found Shadow Chaser to be better than many, but not quite elite. I’d buy it again, but I’m not in a huge rush.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.