Glory & Gold

The 2019 entry from Nickel Brook Brewing Co.’s Reserve Series, Glory & Gold is a bourbon barrel-aged cuvée; a 9.5%, 37 IBU ale brewed in Burlington, Ontario. G&G comes in 500mL bottles, wax-dipped and boxed. [As an aside to any brewers who might be reading—I get it, waxed dipped bottles look great. They’re also a colossal pain in the ass for your customers. Either add an easy-tear tab like a bottle of Maker’s Mark or don’t do it.] Listed among the ingredients are Demerara sugar, orange peel, dried figs, raisins, vanilla beans, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, and lactobacillus. According to the copy, the beer is aged for two years in Kentucky bourbon barrels.

G&G is a murky, rusty ale with a modest cream head. Boozy and sweet to the nose, it has aromatics that are well spiced, heightened by dried fruit, and a wee bit funky. The flavour is equally complicated, with sweet and fruity notes up front, backed up by tangy mulled wine elements, and a surprisingly bitter, spice-rich finish. There are warm, woody notes throughout, though these are understated—or perhaps just lost in the noise of everything else going on.

An enjoyable wintry ale with lots of pop, Glory & Gold is ambitious, but a bit busy. To my mind, there is simply too much going on to make this beer the classic that I think Nickel Brook set out to create. Each sip has layers, and that’s commendable, but I feel too many of these were stepping on their fellows’ toes, with a somewhat muddled result. I was particularly fond of the peppery finish, though, as well as the mulled wine character. I think this beer had a lot of potential and showed a lot of promise. I liked it, but not enough to buy another to cellar (although I am curious about how it’d age).

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Hibernator 2019

During the last Sunday of the NFL regular season, I was looking forward to watching my Raiders battle the hated Broncos. The game was listed on the TV schedule. I sat down to root ... and found my game had been preempted by the Titans and Texans! Steaming mad, I reached for something strong: Hibernator 2019 from Toronto’s Bandit Brewery. H:2019 is a 10% alcohol, bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with coconut. Sold in 750mL bombers, the labels feature a ghoulish raccoon skeleton gripping a chalice. It comes from Toronto's Bandit Brewery. I received this beer as a birthday gift courtesy of the always thoughtful and thoroughly rad S&G. Thanks buddies!

Tar black and capped with tan foam, H:2019 has a sweet, roasted malt nose accented with a splash of baked coconut. Extremely sweet through the flavour, the beer packs strong, woody elements, considerable booze warmth, and a crunch of toasted coconut. Given its strength, the beer is drinkably smooth, and it only has limited bitterness, manifested as dark chocolate and espresso at the back end.

If I’m being honest, this beer didn’t have the imperial stout depth that I hoped for. It was too sweet and the coconut was used as a primary note rather than an accent. It’d be a great digestif, and would probably go well over vanilla ice cream; however, as a stand-alone beefy stout, it’s got a bit too much of the peripherals and not enough of the meat and taters.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

The Wolf of Glen Moray Port Cask Finish

The Wolf of Glen Moray Port Cask Finish is a “dark Scottish ale aged in a Glen Moray whisky cask” brewed in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland by Windswept Brewing Co. This one is aged in a port finish cask. It’s a burly 9% ale with a deep mahogany colour and a very this cream head. It comes in a 330mL bottle, sold in a whisky-style tube. My bottle was hand-numbered (4279/4344).

The Wolf Port Cask has a terrifically rich and sticky sweet aroma—malt heavy, with notes of raisin and treacle. The flavour is sweet, initially, with boozy, dried fruit leanings. The back end is warm, faintly bitter, and has subtle whisky elements.

This beer was highly agreeable; all the more so because it was woody without being overly sweet. Often I find barrel-aged strong ales run too saccharine, and this one displayed admirable restraint. Boozy and flavourful, this stuff was jammin’.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Ginger Belle Barrel-Aged Barley Wine

From Barrie, Ontario’s Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, Ginger Belle Barrel-Aged Barley Wine has a whole lot going on. The beer is actually a blend of two of the Monkeys’ ales—their Gingerbread Stout and their Belle Époque Imperial Belgian IPA. That blend is aged four years in bourbon barrels resulting in a high-octane 11.3% concoction. The beer is sold in boxed 473mL bottles. It’s a hazy, rust-brown ale with a thin layer of cream head. I picked this one up in April with the idea of letting it age a bit—only made it to October, though.

Ginger Belle has an aroma that is sweet, boozy, and heavily spiced. The flavour has a rowdy combo of notes: mulled apple cider, cranberry tartness, spicy ginger, woodsy sweetness, and a crackle of evergreen hops. The lengthy barrel-aging is evident, manifested in sweetness, bourbon notes, and a thick mouthfeel.

This is a bit of a kitchen sink ale—there is a whole lot going on, making the beer a bit muddled, but nonetheless quite enjoyable. It’s spicy and warm, making it a welcome treat for a chilly evening—I don’t know that I’d recommend drinking it, as I did, on a fairly warm October Sunday afternoon.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Vines of Passion

After a fun trip to Lisbon’s Oceanarium, the Bitter Wife and I hopped on a bus and rolled over to Dois Corvos Cervejeira, a cool and comfortably appointed space in a mixed use part of town—a bit off the beaten path, but one with Lou Reed on the stereo.

 

For my first brew, I went with a 125mL pour of Vines of Passion. It was a 7.4% barrel-aged ale made using muscat grape must. At just 14 IBUs, bitterness was low, and Nelson Sauvin hops combined with the grape must gave the beer a distinctly white wine profile. The aroma is fiercely winey, with acidic and sweet notes mingling freely. For flavour, the beer is tangy and fruity, with only a hint of bitterness.

The high alcohol content was nearly imperceptible and the beer was extremely easy-sipping, creating a devilishly dangerous combo. One gets the sense that three or four glasses of this stuff could vanish in a blink, leaving an unwitting drinker a bit wobblier than they might expect. Tasty and cleverly made, this ale—aged two years—is a yummy treat for wine lovers slumming it in the beer world.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.