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.

Muskoka Winterweiss

I swapped a can of Muskoka Winterweiss from my ol' pal M.T. after an evening of Thai food, brews, and euchre. From Bracebridge, Ontario's Muskoka Brewery, it proved to be a cloudy brown dunkelweiss, that poured with a dramatic but short-lived cream head. Sold in 473mL cans, Winterweiss contained a standard 5% alcohol. It displayed a nutty, fruity aroma, with bunches of bananas and a hint of fruitcake. The flavour, slightly spicy, projected banana tones, as well as a malty base.

Enjoyable from start to finish, Winterweiss proved to be a charming Ontarian take on the dunkel, a dark German wheat beer. Seasonally appropriate on a chilly day at the dregs of November, it put a bit of fire in my belly, but did so in a mellow and agreeable way. While I'd have liked to see a touch more booze and body, particularly in terms of roasted malts, it showed itself to be an enjoyable grog.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.