Simple Malts Trio Houblon--Golding Pale Ale Britannique

Golding Pale Ale Britannique is an attractive and clear brass coloured ale topped with a durable cream head. It has a fairly nice aroma that dances between malty caramel and moderate hop bitterness. It has quite a creamy mouthfeel for a pale ale. It moves from sweet to bitter, with flavour notes of butterscotch and pretty decent hop body. There is enough malt focus on the front end to make this a convincing British-style pale ale, though it is a touch too sweet for my tastes.

The Golding Pale Ale Britannique contains 5.2% alcohol and 42 IBUs.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Simple Malts Trio Houblon

This sixer, produced by Saint-Eustache, Quebec's Brasseurs illimités, showcases three different hoppy ales. There are two bottles each of Golding Pale Ale Britannique, Cascade India Pale Ale Americaine, and IPA Classique. Each beer is housed in a 341mL bottle.

When I saw this pack, I immediately coveted it. I mean, a hop focused six pack called Simple Malts--sounds well balanced to me!

Stay tuned to The Bitter World for the next few days for my reviews of these three brews. 

Craftsman Oatmeal Chocolate Stout

All the way from Blenheim, New Zealand comes Craftsman Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, a tasty offering from Renaissance Brewing Ltd. Craftsman comes in 500mL bottles and contains 4.9% alcohol. It pours a very dark brown--almost black--with a gleam of ruby, and comes topped with a thin but durable tan head.

Unfortunately, the label came off on the way home from the liquor store, so I didn't bother photographing the bottle.

Craftsman has a strong aroma of roasted chocolate, backed with an espresso charge. The flavour is very chocolatey. It definitely leans toward dark, high cacao chocolate. It also features some really delightful cafe mocha notes. There is even a decent hop profile stalking around the finish.

Just like quality chocolate, this stuff manages deft balance between sweet and bitter. I'm not always into chocolatey beers, but this brew works. It's rich and flavourful, but not too sweet.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Boneshaker Unfiltered India Pale Ale

Boneshaker Unfiltered India Pale Ale is definitely one of the best beers to come out of Ontario in the last few years. It comes from the Amsterdam Brewery in Toronto and it measures in at a hearty 7.1% alcohol. Boneshaker is sold in flashy 355mL bottles that feature a cycling skeleton. They look pretty cool. On the back of the bottle is a hop emblem with the slogan "Over the Top Hops--Not for the Faint of Tongue".

This tasty I.P.A. pours a cloudy orange brown colour featuring an off-white head and a considerable amount of sediment. Boneshaker boasts a jumbo hop aroma that packs a whiff of evergreen. The flavour is also very hoppy and it has a tangy grapefruit quality. All of that bitterness comes backed by an understated but reliable malt base. At 7.1%, you'll be rosy-cheeked after a couple of these bad boys. The finish is extremely dry, maybe even a touch too Saharan, though this is a minor complaint.

If you love bitter and gnarly India Pale Ales, Boneshaker Unfiltered India Pale Ale is a can't miss brew. If you don't care for hops, stay away, 'cause you'll be peeling your tongue off of the bar.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Lions Winter Ale

Earlier this week, I reviewed an autumn lager, so it only seems fitting that I follow that with a winter Ale. Lions Winter Ale is brewed by Vancouver, British Columbia's Granville Island Brewing Co.  It contains 5.5% alcohol and is sold in 473mL cans.

Lions is a clear, reddish brown ale, capped with an off-white head. It has a sweet, malty nose with some white chocolate notes. A roasted malt flavour is accompanied by some cacao notes. The can talks about a "vanilla-like finish", but I got white chocolate. There is atterness.lso just a hint of hoppy bitterness.

This is an impressively smooth bodied ale. It's nice stuff, though for me it is a touch too sweet to enjoy more than one in a single go. I think that this seasonal brew would be a great accompanyment to a chocolatey dessert.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Rickard's Cardigan

Rickard's Cardigan is listed as an "autumn spiced lager". It's brewed by Molson Coors Canada and is part of the Rickard's Seasonal Collection. It is sold in 341mL bottles that are sweater-sporting and come with a cap dressed up as a button. They're pretty cute. Cardigan clocks in at a slightly above-standard 5.5% alcohol. It is a handsome golden ale that is fairly cloudy and topped with an off-white head.

A sweet, heavily spiced aroma features nutmeg and clove notes, and maybe a bit of pumpkin. The flavour is less pungent than the aroma, but it displays the same warm, autumnal notes. It moves from sweet to bitter, and underneath the spice, there is a mild but pleasant lager base.

This is a pretty tasty effort from a macrobrewery. It's a solid fall brew.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Cobblestone Stout

Ontario, the province that I have chosen to make my home, has a number of excellent breweries and is home to dozens of quality beers.  One style that doesn't seem to exist in rich abundance, however, is stout. There just don't seem to be that many quality stouts coming out of Ontario. Sure, I've tried a few good ones (such as Black Creek Stout, Trafalgar's Smoked Oatmeal Stout, Hockley Stout, and Amsterdam's Two Fisted Stout), and I'm sure there are others that I haven't found, but compared to lagers, I.P.A.s, and even pumpkin beers, stouts are in short supply. Out of this veritable stout desert comes Mill St. Brewery's Cobblestone Stout. Cobblestone is a smooth and amply palatable dry stout.

Cobblestone hails from Toronto, Ontario. It's sold in 440mL cans, which to my mind is an unusual size. It contains a light 4.2% alcohol. It is a black ale with copper highlights and topped with a firm, dense tan head. The aroma has a chocolate milk vibe. The flavour is smokey, almost peaty, with some cocoa notes. The can describes a "deep roasted smokey palate", which I found apt.

This beer is delightfully smooth and easy-drinking, but with sufficient body and flavour. I genereally prefer my stouts to be a bit more full and robust, but Cobblestone really gets the job done in a mellow, low gravity sort of way.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Beery Haikus-Generous Brewmaster

Samichlaus Classic

My last review was a light beer, so it only seems fitting that I swing the pendulum hard the other way and review a super strong ale. Samichlaus Classic is an extra strong beer brewed in Vorchdorf, Austria by Castle Brewery Eggenberg. It tips the scales at a mighty 14% alcohol. Mercifully, it is sold in 330mL bottles.

Apparently, according to the label, this amber elixir is only brewed once a year, on December 6, and then aged for 10 months. The label also boldly asserts that it is "The World's Most Extraordinary Beverage".  Quite a claim.

Samichlaus Classic pours with almost no head. It's very clear chestnut brew. The aroma is malt driven and has considerable sweetness, though there is also a tart fruitiness that made me think of cranberries. The flavour is extremely sweet, reminiscent of a ruby port. There are some honey notes, as well as a dose of stone fruit. Also, there is mammoth booze presence. The mouthfeel is quite syrupy and smooth. All told, this stuff is very malty and very sweet, with barely a hint of bitterness.

I enjoyed my bottle outside on a crisp February eve, but I'd be willing to bet that lots of flavour notes could be unlocked as the stuff warms and breathes. Samichlaus Classic is one of the strongest beers I've ever tried, yet it manages to be subtle and almost delicate. If you like sweet and strong, this is clearly the beer for you. It's got a boatload of flavour and potency to spare. I found it far too sugary and fortified to drink more than occasionally, but highly interesting all the same.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Windhoek

This stuff tricked me. It wasn't until I was out of the store that I noticed that I had bought a light lager. Damn that fine print! Still, I bought myself six of 'em, so I figured that I should type up a review.

Windhoek hails from Windhoek, Namibia, where it is brewed by Namibia Breweries Ltd. It is sold in 330mL bottles and contains a wispy 4% alcohol. Windhoek pours a strikingly clear pale straw colour, moderately carbonated, and topped with a white head. The aroma is respectably grainy.

For a light beer with 4% alcohol, Windhoek is quite flavourful. Relatively ample bitterness in the finish is preceded by a mellow, somewhat thin sweetness. It's a bit weak on the front end, but still pretty satisfying. My wife really liked it, which is worth something.

For a light beer, this stuff is great! It puts the flavourless macro-brewed dross to shame. However, compared to other lagers, it was only adequate--"not bad-aquate". This made it hard to score.

Rating: 7.0 (when combined to other pale lagers), 9.0 (when compared to light lagers).

Seiglerie

Seiglerie is a rye bitter ale. It's brewed by Brasseurs du Monde and hails from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It pours a cloudy orange-gold colour topped with a thick puff of eggshell head. According to the label, this stuff is brewed using goldings and fuggles hops, as well as a measure of rye. Its nose has some metallic notes as well as some decent fruity hops qualities.

This is a very quaffable brew. The flavour begins in Malt-town and then sets a course for Bittersville. En route, there are some interesting grain notes provided, I presume, by the use of rye in the brewing process.

In the classic British best bitter style, this beer has very low alcohol content: just 4%, If I were the one pulling the strings, I would definitely up the dosage a bit. Still, it works pretty well as it is. It is sold in 500mL bottles.


I am currently pretty fascinated by the use of rye in beer, so I was pretty pumped when I stumbled across this stuff. It proved to be a very enjoyable, extremely sessionable beer with considerable charm. It's a cool Quebecois take on an English favourite.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Night Märzen Oktoberfest Lager

This is hands down the coolest bottle cap I've ever seen.

Night Märzen Oktoberfest Lager is a fall seasonal beer from Beau's All Natural Brewing Company in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. It's sold in Beau's ultra-cool 600mL bottles and contains a healthy 5.5% alcohol.

Night Märzen is a very clear copper-coloured lager. It's only lightly carbonated and pours beneath a frothy off-white head. The aroma is grainy and slightly toasted. There is a very mellow, grainy, and decently malty introductory flavour. This gives way to a surprisingly hoppy punch.

This stuff amounts to a pretty interesting and hoppy take on the classic Oktoberfest lager. It's flavourful and bitter.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Honey Bee 'Lixer

Honey Bee 'Lixer is brewed in St. Thomas, Ontario, using the local honey. I was given a bottle by my brother as a thank you gift. It's made by the Railway City Brewing Co. It's sold in really cool old timey medicine show style bottles. They're big 750mL swing-top bottles that proclaim "Woodworth and Edwards Traveling Revival Tour Presents Honey Bee 'Lixer". It contains 5% and a respectable 29 IBUs.

It's a swampy orange-brown brew topped with a dynamic tawny head. The aroma is malty and quite sweet. This sweetness continues into the flavour. The honey is on full display, both on the front end and mingling with bitterness in the finish. It's nice and smooth with a little bit of bite toward the back.

The beer is a touch sweet for this guy, but it has a really interesting flavour. I dig the unexpected bitterness, but I'd like to see a touch more booze to match.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Twice as Mad Tom IPA

Twice as Mad Tom IPA is brewed by the Muskoka Brewery in Bracebridge, Ontario. This colossal, bitter brew is the stocky older sibling of the excellent Mad Tom IPA. A double I.P.A., Twice as Mad Tom IPA has a robust 8.4% alcohol content. It's comes in 355mL bottles and is sold in convenient four packs, which I dig.

This strong ale is a clear, brassy brown colour topped with a very durable off white head. It has a fair degree of carbonation. There's a jumbo aromatic hop aroma, which is pretty hempy. It's an extremely bitter, hop-driven brew. Some pleasant caramel sweetness lives  deep in the heart of this one, but evergreen hoppiness is by far the dominant note. It's very flavourful and the high alcohol content is dangerously cloaked.

The original Mad Tom is one of the best Canadian India Pale Ales that I've ever tried. Twice as Mad Tom is well worthy of the name. If you see it, you should buy it, but only if you're into big hops flavour.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Skull Splitter

Skull Splitter comes from The Orkney Brewery in Quoyloo, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland. It's a rich ale, described on the label as "The Authentic Orcadian Ale" and "5000 years in the making". It's sold in 330mL bottles which display a grumpy viking on the label. Skull Splitter weighs in at a powerful 8.5% alcohol. It's apparently named after Thorfinn Hauskaluif, the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney.

This muscular ale pours a clear, copper colour. It has a thin covering of off-white head. The aroma is busy. It contains notes of malt, metal, and some faint fruitiness. Skull Splitter is a flavourful brew, but one which doesn't brag of its elevated alcohol content. Malt driven and slightly spicy, there is a lot going on, taste-wise. It's not particularly bitter, but there is a gentle hop kiss way at the back end. I'd actually like it if there was a touch more.

Skull Splitter manages to be sweet but not oversweet. It's very easy-drinking for such a boozy brew. It's a pretty interesting and well conceived strong ale.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Belle Hélène Pears Beer

Belle Hélène Pears Beer is a surprisingly strong pear flavoured beer made by Multibrasses in Tingwick, Quebec. It clocks in at a muscular 8% alcohol. Belle Hélène is sold in 341mL bottles. It looks just like a faintly cloudy lager. It's yellow gold and topped with a white head.

Pear, in my opinion, is one of the most under-appreciated fruits. It's versatile and delicious--I was pretty fired up to see it turn up in a beer. Belle Hélène has a sweet aroma that's fruity and has a faint metallic clink to it. The flavour is cider-like--slightly sweet and slightly tart. Also, like many ciders, the mouthfeel is very dry. There's a considerable malt presence and substantial hop finish. It's undeniably beer. It has the boozy warmth of a Belgian ale, but balanced against an uncommon pear flavour.

This is a quality fruit beer. The pear flavour is present, but delightfully understated. It's an accent rather than the main attraction. It's a top shelf flavoured brew.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.