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.

Old Buddy Espresso Brown Ale

Sold in extremely spiffy 473mL cans, Old Buddy Espresso Brown Ale comes from Wellington Brewery in Guelph, Ontario. The beer is made with espresso reduction and using oats and brewed up to 5.4% alcohol.

Old Buddy is a very dark brown and it pours with a short-lived tan head that shrunk rapidly to a disc of suds. The beer has a potent, coffee-fueled nose buttressed by a bit of spice. The flavour is robust, built around sturdy espresso notes and fitted comfortably into a malty, brown ale body. The back end is agreeably bitter, with persistent java vibes and a whisper of spice.

To me, brown ales and coffee are born partners, and Wellington’s Old Buddy worked the combo professionally. This is a tasty beer with loads of flavour, decent strength, and quality execution. I’d enthusiastically buy this beer again; however, I wouldn’t drink more than one in an evening.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Black Lab x The Sidekick Dunkelweiss

The cute comic book-y label signals that Black Lab x The Sidekick Dunkelweiss is a collaboration between the East Toronto brewpub and nearby Sidekick Comics—a dark wheat beer brewed with Sidekick’s Single Origin Kenya AA coffee. The 5.5% ale comes in 500mL bottles, which it exists with a handsome oak colour, covered up in a quickly thinning off-white head.

This coffee-ified collab really delivers on the promise of java, with a snootful of coffee notes that show up the otherwise sweet, malt and yeast of the dunkelweiss. The coffee notes are somewhat tempered through the flavour, though they never really disappear. Rather, they’re joined by sweet roasted malt, and a quick finish that is only meagrely bitter.

Unlike many of the coffee-infused beers I’ve sipped over the years, this one left me with a hankerin’ to actually seek out the featured coffee—I haven’t done so yet, but it seems like something I’d try to incorporate into my next visit to Black Lab Brewing. The result was an unusual wheat beer that would have gone nicely after a large meal (though it was still pretty good killing time on an empty stomach while waiting for a dinner reservation).

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Candle Burner Coffee IPA

Brewed using Ethiopian Sidamo coffee from the folks at Planet Bean Coffee, Candle Burner Coffee IPA is a 6.2%, 55 IBU brew from Guelph, Ontario’s Wellington Brewery. The beer comes in 355mL bottles, from which it emerges slightly hazy and highly carbonated, with an unexpectedly light golden colour and a fluffy white crown.

Candle Burner has a spicy, bitter nose with a hint of roasted java. Unlike the aroma, where coffee was just a suggestion, CB’s flavour has a surfeit of bitter bean juice in parallel with some citrus hoppiness that gains steam as the finish approaches.

Wellington’s coffee IPA has some character and lots of flavour. It’s not the kind of beer you’d drink in volume, but the stuff sure is lovely as a one off. I’d have liked a bit more pop, booze-wise, but the IBU count was on point.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Cold Brew 2.0

Cold Brew 2.0 hails from Newport, Oregon, where it’s brewed by Rogue Ales. Billed as a “blonde ale blended with cold brew coffee”, the beer incorporates cold brew coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. A 5.6% alcohol, 30 IBU ale, the beer comes in flashy 355mL cans.

An ale with a hazy orange hue and little head, CB2.0 exudes a hefty java odour that belies its light colour. To my mind, the flavour awkwardly pairs interesting cold brew with a dull blonde ale, with a result that is bitter, but unimpressive.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Night Watch Coffee Lager

From Victoria’s Lighthouse Brewing Co., Night Watch Coffee Lager is a 5.1% alcohol number. I enjoyed a pint of the slightly hazy bright gold stuff at Garrick’s Head pub. It arrived with a thin white head and a surprisingly robust java scent. A crisp and refreshing pale lager with a pleasing jolt of coffee flavour, Night Watch has a little bit of everything—except weight, because the beer is light and drinkable.

Still a bit of a neophyte to light-hued coffee flavoured brews, I found Night Watch to be a novelty, but also a well made sipper. My only note would be that some more bitterness would have been desirable.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Vanilla Coffee Blonde Ale

I’m still getting used to the idea that blonde roast coffee is a thing, but now my pal MM brings me a 16oz can of Vanilla Coffee Blonde Ale? What a world!

Brewed in Concord, NC by Cabarrus Brewing Co., the 4.7% alcohol, 15 IBU ale is brewed using S&D French Vanilla Roast coffee, roasted locally in Carabbus County. 

The coffee is, according to the copy on the can, blended with Carabbus Cotton Blonde Ale. The result is a hazy, dull gold ale that pours with a white cap. Sure enough the aroma does have sweet notes of French vanilla coffee—the type of java I cut my teeth in in high school before I discovered the glory of dark roasts and espressos—over a grainy foundation. The beer has a light mouthfeel that blends a bit incongruously with its heavily sweet nose. The flavour is also a bit of an oddity, with ample vanilla sweetness initially, easing into a modestly bitter and crisp finish.

Carabbus’ Vanilla Coffee Blonde Ale is a curious specimen. It partners scent and front end taste notes that are traditionally more at home in a porter with a very light, low octane and, easy-sipping ale. In short, a sweet and oddly rich lawnmower beer. While I didn’t find myself wishing for a second can, I must say I did enjoy the one that I had more than I expected to. I’d have liked a bit more boozy ballast, the sweetness could have been throttled down from a 10 to an 8, and the coffee could have been more evidently bitter, but it was still pretty decent. Perhaps there are more coffee-infused blonde ales out there, but this was a first for me. Hopefully it won’t be the last.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Milk Run Coffee Stout

Do you have a brother? Are you pals? Is he a cool guy? I’m sure he is. But my brother, the illustrious R.A.N., is better. That’s because my brother is the best brother. As he often does, on one of his latest journeys he brought me some bottles; this time they were from Collingwood, Ontario’s Northwinds Brewery. One of my gift bottles was a snazzy 500mL dealie of Milk Run Coffee Stout, a 5.6% dark ale brewed with java from Ashanti Coffee Estate, a local to Collingwood coffee roaster., and with lactose.

Milk Run is an obsidian ale with a plume of tan head and a pushy aroma of sweetened black coffee. With a deliriously smooth mouthfeel that gives way to a crunchily hoppy finish, Milk Run has an exceptional texture. Its flavour ain’t too shabby, either, with creamy coffee notes, roasted malt, and a modestly bitter back end.

While I enjoyed Milk Run quite a bit, there are elements that could have been tweaked to better tailor it to my unique tastes. For instance, I take my coffee black and bitter, and this beer exuded go-go beans at a two sugars level of sweetness, which was a bit much for me. I’d have throttled down on the sugar and amped up the bitter; however that is my own beer and coffee preference, so your own tastes may lead you to different conclusions. The creamy, lactose-infused mouthfeel was more than agreeable, adding a level of depth and volume to the brew, but, again, contributing to a too sweet flavour. According to the Northwinds Brewery website, Milk Run was designed as a breakfast beer, but to me, it’d be better suited to a digestif role—a dessert beer to be enjoyed on a full stomach.

 

Happy birthday, bro!

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Bricks and Mortar

Show me a 650mL bottle of a coffee porter brewed in Ontario and I'll show you a damned easy sale. Such was the case with Bricks and Mortar, a coffee porter brewed by Toronto's Left Field Brewery. I saw it, and I bought it. No hesitation at all.

At 6% alcohol, this dark ale was a near black with handsome amber highlights. It poured with a bedeviling layer of sudsy, cream-hued head. According to the bottle, this beer was brewed with freshly roasted coffee beans from a local Toronto roastery: Pilot Coffee Roasters. The result is a rich java bouquet, complimented nicely by roasted malts. The flavour is also coffee-fueled, with both bitter espresso and mellow mocha represented in equal measures. While the coffee notes are the star, the dark beer flavours that make up the foundation are also worthy of praise.

I couldn't come up with much by way of critique of this beer, other than the fact that, unlike Left Field's other offerings, this one lacked a baseball theme. One of the better coffee/beer hybrids I've ever tasted.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Shinnicked Stout

Shinnicked Stout originates in Bracebridge, Ontario, where it is crafted by the team at Muskoka Brewery. According to the 473mL can, this little stout is unfiltered, checks in at 5.2% alcohol, and is brewed using Lumberjack coffee from Muskoka Roastery. As well, the can taught me some Ontario cottage country slang: apparently "shinnicked" is the chilly feeling that comes from jumping into a cold lake. On to the beer proper!

Shinnicked Stout proved to be a heavy brown colour with amber highlights. It poured with a loose cap of tan head. With a fulfilling, mocha heavy nose, the stuff had me salivating for a sip. The flavour was perhaps not as engaging as the aroma, but it was rich in roasted malt and coffee elements. The mouthfeel was very creamy, though also a bit on the thin side. Shinnicked finished decent dose of bitterness.

While Shinnicked lacks the cache of Myskoka's better widely available brews (Mad Tom and Twice As Mad Tom), it was a pretty satisfactory beer in its own right. Ontario seems to be flooded with coffee stouts and porters these days (good winter drinkin') and you could do a lot worse than to pick up a couple of cans of this little brew.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Précaris Quadrocinno

Précaris Quadrocinno is a Belgian quadrupel infused with coffee. At 9.5%, it has serious potency and heat. A dark brown ale under a tan head, Quadrocinno hails from Oedelem, Belgium. It's produced by Vliegende Paard Brouwers and comes in attractive, hefty 330mL bottles.

In spite of my expectation that the beer would have an assertive coffee scent, the nose was actually quite yeasty and boozy, with only a sprinkling of java. Likewise, the flavour has only a whisper of coffee, and is instead dominated by sweet, strong notes of roasted malt and dried fruit. However, coffee is in evidence at the finish, albeit subtly.

Very strong and sweet, Précaris Quadrocinno makes a lovely after dinner beer--with some strong cheese or a chocolate dessert, it would really sing. I was a tad disappointed that the coffee element didn't hold up to the boldness of the underlying quad, but pleased to find that the underlying quad was pretty good.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

St. Benedict's Breakfast Dubbel

St. Benedict's Breakfast Dubbel came highly recommended by a beer seller in Greensboro, North Carolina. Brewed in Saxapahaw, NC by Haw River Farmhouse Ales, this juicy dubbel contains 7.2% alcohol. According to the info on the 500mL bottle, this Belgian-inspired brewski is made with flaked oats, cocoa nibs, dark Belgian chocolate, and two types of coffee beans sourced from Muddy Dog Roasting Company. All that and a cool label left me aching to crack it open.

My beer flowed out smoothly and with a nice dark brown hue. It poured with such a thick and vigourous head that I had to take a break halfway through pouring the stuff, lest I lose a precious drop. It's nose was sweet, rich, and malty, with elements of chocolate, coffee, and a tart whiff of fruit. The flavour proved to be extremely complex and layered, and a lot more like a porter than a dubbel. For one thing, the beer was not as far along the fruit sweetness spectrum than most of the dubbels I've sampled. As well, the addition of coffee and dark chocolate made for a more bitter ale than the Belgian and Belgian-style dubbels in my repertoire. The beer finished with a pretty decent hops profile, too.

Really a unique dubbel, St. Benedict's Breakfast wasn't a great exemplar of the style, but it was a fantastic beer! Rich and flavourful, with lots of nice ingredient flourishes, this beer left me deeply pleased and sated.

Once again, this came my way from KC, the greatest pal of them all.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Full City Coffee Porter

Opaque and black, Full City Coffee Porter pours with a dense tan head. At 5.5%, this London, Ontario ale comes in 500mL bottles. It's brewed by Forked River Brewing Company.

This dark ale has a gorgeous java aroma, built atop a sweet, malty foundation. Similarly lovely is its velvety smooth mouthfeel. The flavour is fine, too, though not quite as rich as the nose. It's got a hearty dose of slightly bitter coffee, as well as loads of malt.

Nice beer, good strength, with serious coffee elements, Full City is a quality coffee porter. I'd have liked to have gotten some details about the provenance of the coffee, though. Seems like a missed opportunity.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout

Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout sprung of the liquor store shelf and into my waiting arms faster than you can say "unhealthy relationship with alcohol." Hailing from Guelph, Ontario, SHS is the progeny of Stone Hammer Brewing and a partnership with Planet Bean Coffee. According to the 473mL can, this beer is brewed up nice using a single origin coffee called Café Feminino. At a regulation 5%, this ale won't overawe with potency, but it does pack a saucy 30 IBUs. It poured coffee black, under a zealous tan head.

SHS has a heady, malt-driven aroma that boils up some nice café mocha notes, as well as a touch of sweets. However, like a fine cuppa, there is considerable bitterness laced throughout the flavour, experienced as both French roast and hops leanings. The finish is particularly punchy, with heavy-handed coffee elements.

This beer tastes considerably stronger than its 5% pedigree. According to the can, it's a five-time award winner, headlined by golds at the Ontario Brewing Awards. This is understandable, considering the lovely java tones that stoke SHS's fire. It could use a more boisterous opening note, but its nose and finish pack enough heft to make up for that minor shortcoming. It's been ages since I was able to try something new from Stone Hammer--their Dark was an early fave when I moved to Ontario five+ years ago, but since then, I've not seen much innovation. Hopefully this beaut of a beer is a herald of more things to come from this unsung Ontario brewer.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

New Scotland Brews--Full Steam Stout

Another new-to-me Nova Scotia brew was Rare Bird Craft Beer Full Steam Stout, a coffee stout brewed in Guysborough, Nova Scotia. It's brewed with Full Steam Coffee, comes in 650mL bottles, and contains 7% alcohol. According to the label, there's also liqorice root in there, too.

Full Steam Stout has a deep, dark brown colour that approaches black. It has a strong black coffee nose, with a molasses kicker. It's flavour is quite potent, bitter, and unexpectedly, a bit red wine sour. There is some coffee in there too, but it's more evident in the aroma than on the palate.

There's a bit of an unusual flavour, but not a disagreeable one. The characteristic smoothness I was expecting wasn't there, either, which was a bit of a miss. Still, nice enough little beer, and potent too.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Brazilian Brew: Colorado Demoiselle

A buddy of mine, the impossibly charming William Newcastle, has spent the last several months in Brazil. While there, he's found the opportunity to knock back the occasional brew, and in a show of generosity, has sent me a couple of reviews. Here's the first:
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As you know, I’m in Sao Paulo for a few months. I thought your readers might like to hear about some of the more interesting beers that paulanistos like to drink.

The people here mostly drink four or five brands of domestic light pilsners, along with Budweiser, and Heineken. These beers are entirely predictable. Luckily, a reasonable variety of dark beers (cerveja escura), including several German brands augments that limited selection.

While the pilsners here are nothing to write home about, I will mention one neat thing about how they are consumed. In the many cafés and barzinhos here, people order 900 mL bottles of beer that come to the table in cozies or ice buckets. The locals then watch the street or the futebol match while sipping their drinks from 200 mL glasses. A most convivial way to drink socially.

The first beer I’ve picked to review is a strong porter called Demoiselle from a small brewer in Sao Paulo state named Colorado. Another Canadian here named Eddie helped me finish a bottle and write this review.

A rough translation of the back-of-bottle description of the beer says:

“This porter, robust and laden with the aroma of coffee, has national and imported ingredients of the highest quality, used with artisanal method and with an exotic touch. The coffee used in making the beer comes from the Alta Mogiana region and was cold processed before being added to the beer, keeping intact all its complexity and wealth of flavor”

The beer pours with a light tan head that quickly dissipates. In the glass, the beer has a flat, off-black colour, somewhat darker and more opaque than cola.

Its nose is heavy on chocolate and coffee, with a subtle burnt sugar presence.

Unsurprisingly for a beer that advertises where it gets the coffee that it uses (an area close to the brewery in Riberão Preto, in the northeastern part of the state) the strongest taste to present itself is coffee. 

This beer is sweet for a porter, but is far from syrupy. It is sweet-ish. It is also refreshing with bright carbonation. Paradoxically, its finish definitely lingers – leaving notes of chocolate, smoke and woodsy-ness behind.

At 6% ABV, this strong beer is warming without being boozy.

It was worth picking up for its label art and local status alone, and it was definitely worth the try. However, given my limited time here I am not sure I’ll get it again in the face of all the other beer available.     

 Rating: 8/10

French Press Vanilla Stout

French Press Vanilla Stout is brewed by the excellent folks at Double Trouble Brewing Co., a Guelph, Ontario outfit that has impressed me with their prowess in the form of Fire in the Rye Roasted Rye Pale Ale and the monstrously under appreciated Prison Break Breakout Pilsner. French Press comes in a curious 473mL can and contains a slightly downtrodden 4.8% alcohol. According to the can, this little number is brewed with both kiln coffee and natural vanilla flavour.

A becoming, black brew, F.P.V.S. pours with a deep tan head. It exudes a sweet, almost woody aroma and tastes, none to surprisingly, of coffee and vanilla. There is not a lot of bitterness to this stuff--it's more of a cafe au lait vibe than dark roast. This is complimented by a very smooth, lush mouthfeel. Oddly for a flavoured beer, there is very little aftertaste.

French Press Vanilla Stout is a decent enough little ale, though its has a mild flavour and lack of depth that leave it well in the shadow of its more impressive Double Trouble siblings. It's silky and makes a fine after dinner tipple.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Bottle Imp

Bottle Imp is a proud member of Beau's All Natural Brewing Company's Pro-Am Series. It comes in really unique 600mL bottles and is brewed in collaboration with David Thompson, who won 2012's Toronto Beer Week Homebrew Contest. It's a beautiful Russian Imperial Stout--midnight black and topped with a healthy tan head. At 9% alcohol and a hefty 81 IBUs, this coffee-infused ale isn't fucking around.

Bottle Imp has a seriously intense java aroma--black coffee with vigour. The flavour kicks off with robust maltiness, cozied up to some scintillating espresso notes. There is some sincerely boozy heft along side the big, stout pop. The finish has some sassy bitterness in a black coffee manner, as well as some undeniably awesome forceful hops.

This is a seriously bitter stout. The coffee infusion isn't as subtle as I'd have liked, but the stalwart hoppy chops are a real treat. A fine and dandy strong ale from one of Ontario's premier breweries.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Red Rocket Coffee Spiced Stout

Brewed in Gravenhurst, Ontario by Sawdust City Brewing Co., this flavoured stout is brewed with a veritable spice rack of additives: coffee, cayenne, vanilla, and cinnamon are all listed in the ingredients list of the 473mL can. The Red Rocket contains 5.3% alcohol and a reasonable 35 IBUs. It's made using the house blend coffee from Red Rocket Coffee.

It's aroma is pregnant with coffee notes, and has a brush with vanilla as well. Flavour-wise, there's a lot going on. Initially malty, there are notes mocha and a soft vanilla sweetness. At the back end, the cayenne makes its presence felt, with a coy but significant spicy belt that hangs around backstage after the show. Of the cinnamon, I found no sign.

Red Rocket Coffee Spiced Stout is an unusual creation, and not entirely what I was expecting. I though sweet would rule the roost, but instead cayenne heat ended up carrying the day in a satisfying enough way. It's too piquant for a session, but it certainly warms the ol' bones on a chilly eve.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Winnikeg, Manitobeer--Stir Stick Stout

Stir Stick Stout hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. It's my first foray into the offerings of the Half Pints Brewing Co., a brewery that I've heard many nice things about. According to the 650mL bottle, this stuff is a strong stout, though at 5.6% alcohol, I feel like this isn't a particularly apt description. This is a coffee-infused stout, though unfortunately, there is no information given about the coffee used. Who brewed it? Is it local? Organic? Fair trade? I don't know. Give me the details! I feel like this is a bit of a missed opportunity.

This deep, dark ale pours with a cumulus of tawny head that just won't quit. It's a very fragrant brew, with a blend of blend of bitterness and malt aromatics, alongside a pleasant java subtext. This stout tastes pretty bitter, with espresso and molasses notes that jive with a moderate malt foundation.

This is a rich and flavourful beer. There are nice coffee and chocolate leanings, and a hearty bitter quality. I found it to be an enjoyable after dinner beer and one that'd go very nicely with a chocolaty dessert or a cheese plate.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.