Tchèque Mon Bike

 A Czech-style pilsner from La Belle Province, Tchèque Mon Bike is a 5.3% lager from Siboire out of Sherbrooke. The beer came my way via the always generous WFM. Sold in 473mL cans, the beer pours with lots of carbonation and a white head atop a sunny golden lager.

TMB has a bright grainy aroma with just a touch of lemongrass. The flavour is built around crisp graininess with initial citrus notes that swings to a dry and floral finish, thanks to Quebec-grown Saaz hops.

Perhaps not as bitter or crisp as the best pilsners, but TMB delivers a delicate, floral flavour. I’d have liked the finish to pack a bit more punch, but the 5.3% alcohol offered a nice little boost.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Kingdome

 Watching the penultimate Blue Jays regular season game while hoping for a Seattle loss might seem like an odd afternoon to crack a 650mL bottle of a brew that honours the Mariners’ former home, but I was feeling reckless. Kingdome, from Toronto’s Left Field Brewery, is a 5.7% kveik pale ale. The foeder fermented ale is pale gold, has a hazy aspect and has a fluffy white head. 

To my nose, the beer has lemon notes and a tangy, earthy yeast presence. As for flavour, I picked up lemon drop along with saison-inspired peppery notes. The finish is floral and citrus notes, but very little bitterness. Kingdome also has a nicely-flowing texture.

I’m a big fan of Left Field’s short cans, so I seldom purchase their bottled offerings, but I bought four bombers of Kingdome on a whim, and I’m glad I did. The kveik yeast was used effectively, the flavour and texture were both smooth, and I’m better off for having consumed this beer.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Sky Country Hazy IPA

 What does victory taste like? It tastes like Sky Country Hazy IPA from Toronto’s Catapult Brewing Company. Why? Because I got to take home a few 473mL cans after a successful pub trivia night in which our team took top spot. Also, note Marcus Semian taking a home run trot in the photo. Victory!

The beer is a little low octane, at just 5.1% and 22 IBUs. It’s a hazy, dull gold grog and pours with a durable layer of white foam. Sky Country is brewed with flaked oats and Ontario-grown hops. It has a mild but agreeable aroma with a nice tangerine profile. The flavour, too, takes a tangerine-driven approach, over a smooth texture.

Sky Country tastes like victory. It also tastes pretty good. A little too sweet, but with a quality tangerine vibe. I’d definitely have liked a bit more booze and a bit more oomph, though.

Rating 7.0 out of 10.

British Bulldog Extra Special Bitter

 A gift from the rascally WFM, British Bulldog Extra Special Bitter is a 5.3%, 32 IBU ESB from Old Dog Brewing Co. out of Bobcaygeon, Ontario. The beer comes in fairly plain 473mL cans, from which emerges a mostly clear copper ale with a thin, off-white head.

British Bulldog has a malty, sweet, and bready aroma. The flavour is pretty agreeable, with a sweet to bitter progression. The beer kicks off with some caramel and bread notes, and closes out with a touch of floral bitterness and a faint metallic clank. The mouthfeel is a little thin, though. I’d probably like this beer on cask, but as a canned offering, it could have had a bit more carbonation and volume.

ESBs aren’t particularly well represented in Ontario, so I was excited to receive a can of BB. It was decent stuff, but it didn’t exactly blow my mind.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Boy Wonder

 Hop! Malt! Pow!

Sold in 473mL cans reminiscent of the classic costume of Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder West Coast Pale Ale is a 5% pale ale out of Toronto, where it’s brewed by Rainhard Brewing. The beer is a just-faintly-hazy gold, with a fluffy cloud of white suds.

Boy Wonder has a mild but agreeable citrus aroma. The flavour starts out with citrus, malt, and a wee bit of sweetness, but quickly merges into a balanced, evergreen finish.

Full disclosure: I mail ordered a bunch of Boy Wonder; set one aside to review; drank it; and then ordered more. I found this to be an excellent “Little Pale Ale That Could”, with an extremely enjoyable flavour profile, lively texture, and great packaging. Not the pinnacle of the heap of pale ales in Ontario, perhaps, but Boy Wonder is damn fine beer.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

House Band

 House Band is a hazy IPA from the folks at Toronto’s Rainhard Brewing. Pretty low-octane for an IPA, it checks in at just 5.8%. The beer, brewed with Citra, El Dorado, and Sabro hops, comes in 473mL cans. It’s a handsome dull orange-gold ale and it pours with a perfect cover of off-white head and a tiny bit of sediment.

The beer has sweet mango aromatics with a slight vanilla subtext. The flavour, too, has a lot of juicy mango. The texture is smooth and lush. However, to my palate, there is a slightly discordant note in the finish—something that doesn’t jive with the tropical sweetness.

This beer was pretty good, but I’d have liked the back end to be smoothed out and the alcohol content to be a bit higher.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Normopathy

 

A crisp little pilsner from the gang at Rorschach Brewing Co. in Toronto, Normopathy is a 4.9% pale lager. Sold in 473mL cans, the beer is crystal clear and straw gold under a sudsy white head.

Normopathy has a grainy aroma with a floral accent. The flavour is quite assertive for a sub-five percent pilsner, with a big grain and cracker opening note and a floral, slightly spicy finish. Almost no sweetness.

This little pilsner got me amped up (or maybe it was the fact that I was watching my Raiders open up their 2021 season on Monday Night Football). But whatever the cause of my good mood, the beer was undeniably tasty. Crisp, refreshing, and flavourful.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.