Absolute Truth

Absolute Truth from Rorschach Brewing Co. is a burlier relative of their Truth Serum IPA. The chonky cousin is an 8% double-dry hopped double IPA. The Torontonian ale comes in 355mL cans, from which it emerges a hazy orange colour with a thick blanket of off-white head. A little bit of sediment in the bottom of the glass, but nothing all that distracting.

Absolute Truth has mild citrus aromatics, as well as a puff of tropical sweetness. Compared to its scent, Absolute Truth’s flavour is considerably more robust, but has a similar profile, with elements of sweet OJ, tropical fruit, and a touch of vanilla.

I thought Absolute Truth was a pretty tasty little offering, though I’d have liked a bit more bitter oomph. The beer is brewed with wheat and oats, which contribute to a lovely smooth texture, and helps to effectively conceal the alcohol content.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Good Monster

 Brewed with oat flakes and wheat, Good Monster is a New England Double IPA is an 8% brew assembled in Hamilton, Ontario by Collective Arts Brewing. The beer is sold in 473mL cans that feature some kind of ghoulishly beautiful giraffe unicorn critter.

The beer is a dull gold colour with a thin eggshell head. It’s got a juicy, slightly tart fruit aroma with passionfruit, white grape, and citrus notes. The flavour walks a similar path, with tart and fruity elements constituted of grapefruit, white wine, and some tropical vibes.

The real trick to this little ale is that the 8% booze is brilliantly concealed. But the flavour is also definitely agreeable. The downsides are that I’d prefer a bit more head and carbonation and the beer be a bit more bitter.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Sunny Afternoon Lagered Ale

Granite Brewery’s FVX Series comes Sunny Afternoon Lagered Ale. The 4.7%, 27 IBU kölsch-style beer comes in 473mL cans and also from Toronto, Ontario. It’s a clear golden brew with a sudsy white crown.

Sunny Afternoon features honey and malt aromatics. It has a sweet flavour, characterized by honey and clover notes, and a short, dry finish.

This is a fairly charming little lagered ale. A bit too sweet, perhaps, but a refreshing brew. A great warm weather tipple.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Moonlight Porter

 Moonlight Porter is billed as an American porter and, at 6.3% and 50 IBUs, it certainly has the requisite audacity for the style. The beer, from Ottawa’s Waller St. Brewing, comes in 500mL bottles. It’s a dark brown ale with amber highlights, under a fluffy tan cloud.

MP has a slightly sweet, malty aroma with a subtle nod toward coffee bitterness. The flavour flips those roles, with sweet roasted malt qualities an accent to a robust, bitter brew. The beer has coffee elements and a charge of pine.

A well-executed American porter is a thing of beauty and Midnight Porter rings that bell. It’s a rich, balanced brew that delivers a satisfyingly bitter finish.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Bootleg Blonde

Bootleg Blonde is a 5%, 21 IBU blonde from the team at Waller St. Brewing out of Ottawa. According to the copy, this beer makes use of Belgian yeast. It’s a murky orange gold ale with a hefty layer of white foam.

It has a sweet, peppery aromatic profile that put me in mind of a saison. The flavour starts sweet and malty, but swerves a bit into a modestly spicy finish.

Typically, when I think of a blonde ale, I think boring (I know there are some great ones and it’s a big tent style, but that’s just how I feel). However, Bootleg Blonde made a positive impression on me. I’d say that the Belgian influence and the spice made the beer considerably more interesting than a run-of-the-mill blonde ale.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Tiger Milk

 A white stout from Ottawa’s Waller St. Brewing, Tiger Milk is a 4.5%, 23 IBU ale. Sold in 473mL bottles, TM is a nitro beer brewed with lactose, toasted coconut, and cocoa nibs. The beer is bronze in colour, largely opaque, and trimmed with a thin layer of white foam.

TM has a sweet, chocolaty aroma with a malty body and a touch of coconut. The beer has a creamy, velvety texture that is a bit thinner than a conventional stout, but very pleasant. The flavour is sweet from end to end, with bready notes and just faint traces of chocolate and coconut.

This is likely the first white stout that I’ve ever genuinely enjoyed. It’s smooth and satisfying, with a subtle, peekaboo flavours.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Giggle Water

 Sold in sassy little 750 howlers, Giggle Water is Waller St. Brewing’s take on the Vienna lager. The Ottawan beer contains 5.4% and a modest 25 IBUs. The beer is a clear amber-whisky colour with a thinnish head (probably because it was poured a few days before consuming).

Giggle Water has a sweet aroma with notes of honey oat bread and considerable maltiness. The flavour is similarly sweet, honeyed, and bready, with a hint of baked apple. The beer has very little bitterness and, frankly, less toastiness than I hoped to find.

Waller St.’s take on the classic Vienna-style lager tasted just alright to me. It was considerably too sweet and that left me a bit disappointed. The texture was solid—neither too thick not too thin—but I’d have liked some heartier toast elements. Also, the howler format might have hurt this one a bit as I didn’t have a chance to swig it until a few days after pouring.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Blind Pig IPA

 Of all of the offerings from Waller St. Brewing that appeared before me at a cottage on Georgian Bay, the one I was most interested in was their Blind Pig IPA. The 6.7% American-style IPA comes in 500mL bottles and checks in with a respectable 70 IBUs. The beer has a vaguely cloudy bronze-gold appearance and pours with a shock of off-white suds that just won’t quit.

To my beak, Blind Pig had a sweet and fruity scent, with citrus and stone fruit leading the attack. The flavour leans a bit more toward plum and peach than grapefruit, but all three are well accounted for. The bitterness is definitely present, but it’s smoothed over by a persistent juiciness.

This is a grand little IPA. I’d have liked a touch more booze, but the bitterness was executed beautifully and the flavour profile was on point.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Waller St. Black IIPA

Next up from Ottawa’s Waller St. Brewing was their Black IIPA. This brute clocked in at 8.5% and a thunderous 90 IBUs. Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer inside proved dark brown with a velvety blanket of tan head.

The beer has an assertive pine nose, with rich, toasty malts. The flavour of this beer is the real star. It blends a twist of licorice bitterness with pine boughs, dark molasses, and well-toasted malt to create a dense and engaging profile.

Though this beer found its way into my glass (actually a cottage mason jar) on a hot July afternoon, I suspect it’d really be best suited for a chilly campfire evening or an autumn afternoon. Still, it left me contemplative, satisfied, and a little tipsy.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Speak Softly

Speak Softly is an American pale ale from Ottawa’s Waller St. Brewing. The beer is a 5.5% job with a hefty 65 IBUs. Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer that emerges is rich gold under a creamy head.

This APA has a citrus aroma and a flavour comprised of grapefruit and nectarine, building to a robustly hoppy and citrus finish.

This is a well-constituted and balanced little beer. The high IBUs give Speak Softly a gritty character that I found agreeable. Good stuff. I’d like more, please.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Speakeasy Red

Speakeasy Red was my first foray into the catalogue from Waller St. Brewing in Ottawa. A rye session IPA, the beer in the 500mL bottles of Speakeasy contains just 4.3% alcohol and 30 IBUs. It’s a rusty red beer with a durable fog of creamy head.

Speakeasy has aromatics that are both spicy and coppery. The flavour is extremely mild, with malt character and a dose of rye spiciness, with a metallic, grapefruity finish.

An enjoyable and flavourful session beer, Speakeasy left me thirsty to try more brews from Waller St.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Fare the Well Waller; I Hardly Knew Thee

 I had my first brush with a handful of offerings from Ottawa's Waller St. Brewing in August 2021, thanks to a delivery from my ol' pal MTT. Sadly, it'll also be my last, as Waller St. closed down on October 15, 2021.

Still, I really enjoyed many of the beers that I tried, so I'll post my reviews anyway. Stay tuned over the next couple of days for my thoughts on the excellent and dearly-departed brewery.

Electric Circus New England Tropical Pale Ale

Cool fact about Electric Circus New England Tropical Pale Ale: according to the Great Lakes Brewery website, the cowboy depicted on the 473mL can is Kenrick Pompey, the father of former Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Pompey. Apparently, Kenrick was a stalwart of MuchMusic’s Electric Circus!

Electric Circus the beer is a 5.5% hazy pale ale brewed with mango, oats, pineapple, and wheat. A part of GLB’s 7 Barrel Series, the beer is a milky golden ale with a sudsy white head. EC has a mammoth mango smell, with a bit of pineapple juiciness, too. 

This is basically a modestly high-alcohol mimosa. It’s so juicy, with an agreeably smooth carbonation and only a touch of beery flavours. But that’s not to say it isn’t agreeable: it’s a delightful little fruit juice delivery system. I’d have liked a bit more “beer” and a bit more bitterness, but on the whole, this stuff is fun.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Ten Mile Point Pilsner

I was the first of five to arrive for a cottage weekend on Georgian Bay, so after unpacking the rental car and getting the groceries put away, I took the opportunity to sneak in a beer review. Ten Mile Point Pilsner is a 4.5% lager from Little Current, on Manitoulin Island, where it’s fashioned by the Manitoulin Brewing Co. The beer was straw gold and clear, with a healthy helping of bright white foam.

TMP’s aroma leaned hard into noble hops, with some pepperiness on hand, and a decent measure of fresh grain. The flavour moves from grain sweet to floral bitter, and it’s a little less assertive than the nose. The texture isn’t quite crisp, which is a shame, but the beer is smooth and quite refreshing.

Ten Mile Point is a fine enough Czech-style pilsner, but it would benefit from a bit more crackle and a crisper texture. Still, for a first beer at a cottage on a sweltering July day, it left me feeling sated and swell.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Fun Juice New England Pale Ale

According to the 473mL can, Fun Juice New England Pale Ale has “intense tropical flavour” and “an explosion of citrus”. Sounds about right for a sweltering and muggy July evening. The beer comes from Toronto’s Great Lakes Brewery. It’s a 5% hazy pale ale with a swampy golden colour and pours with a bit of off-white foam. The beer is brewed with “southern hemisphere hops”, oats, and wheat.

To my sniffer, Fun Juice had aromatics that blended sweet with tangy, and featured passionfruit and citrus notes. The flavour was juicier still, particularly initially, though in more of a fruit medley sense—I had a hard time picking out individual fruit flavours, and so I’ll rely on the old standby descriptors of tropical and citrus. The beer has a smooth texture and a finish with a healthy hop presence, but likely few IBUs.

Fun Juice is tasty, dangerously crushable, and bright. It’s what I think of as an “uptempo beer”—one for getting things started or for lighthearted merriment. I’ll definitely buy it again, though I’d be grateful if a bit more definition among flavours and a bit heartier finish.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.