Old Düsseldorf

 Great Lakes Brewery’s Old Düsseldorf is a little altbier that clocks in at an even 5%. The hybrid brew (aged cool like a lager, but top fermented like an ale) comes in 355mL cans that has an agreeable dappled texture. The Toronto beer is made with oats and wheat. It’s a clear amber grog that decants with a quickly thinning off-white head.

Old Düssey has a rich and nutty aroma—sweet, with roasted malt elements. The flavour is sweet, bready, and has a little bit of molasses to it. The back end is a wee bit hoppy, in an earthy, floral sense, though it maintains some sweetness, too.

I really liked this little German-style potion—it’s nicely configured, tasty, and fun. Personally, I tend to favour GLB’s family of IPAs, but this quirky little beer made me glad.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Blanche des Honnelles 1979

Blanche des Honnelles 1979 is billed as a “Dubble Wit”. It’s a 6% wheat beer from the Belgian Brasserie de l’Abbaye des Rocs. Sold in 330mL bottles, the beer is a dull bronze colour. It pours with an almost non-existent white head.

1979 has a hefty sweet wheat and yeast aroma. The flavour is also quite sweet—it has a yeasty vibe with notes of citrus, banana, and spice. The finish remains fairly sweet and has spicy, with not a lot of bitterness.

 

Honestly, I didn’t love this beer. I found its limited carbonation to be a major drawback. Similarly, the flavour was not nearly as assertive as I was hoping for. The double wit style—if there is such a thing—isn’t one that I have any experience with, but if 1979 is an exemplar, I’m not keen to dig much deeper. To my mind, witbiers ought to be crisp and light. Adding weight doesn’t totally float my boat. That said, if you’re a witbier zealot, this stuff might be really interesting to you.

Rating: 6.0 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.

Trifecta

From scenic Vancouver, B.C. comes Trifecta, a hopfenweisse brewed by Parallel 49 Brewing Company. The beer is a 5% number that comes in 473mL cans that feature a lady wearing a hops hat. According to the copy, the beer gets its name because it’s brewed with a trio of hop varieties; however, the identity of the three in question isn’t revealed on the can (a little research on the Parallel 49 website shows that it was Huell Melon, Meridian, and Saphir). Hazy and dull orange-gold, Trifecta pours with a thick layer of lovely white head.

To my nose, the hoppy wheat beer had notes of tropical fruit, yeast, and some banana esters at the back end. The flavour has had more weissebier qualities than I was expecting, with lots of yeast and banana staking out a strong position in the front end. More to my expectations, the back end featured dank, hoppy notes, as well as some stone fruit.

In my limited experience, some hopfenweisses (hopfenweissi?) are closer to one side of the hybrid or the other; however this little ditty seems to straddle the line between a wheat beer and a pale ale with dexterity. It’s a refreshing summer beer, though a bit more booze would have been nice. 

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Love Fuzz

According to the copy on the 473mL can of Love Fuzz, a red pale ale from Toronto’s Black Oak Brewing Co., the brew is a triple-hopped number, that uses Legacy, Simcoe, and Galaxy hops. The beer clocks in at a healthy 6.2%. It pours with a gnarly walnut-red hue and a hefty dose of durable sudsy cream head.

Love Fuzz has a nose that blends metallic, malty, and fruit-focused notes. Its flavour has classic red ale notes of copper and malt, but features hoppy pine and spruce clanging alongside some fruity notes, and the faintest hint of light roast coffee and a whisper of rye spice. The can told me to expect blueberry, which I might not have noticed without some guidance, but the citrus notes described were an easy flavour to pick up.

The can claims that Love Fuzz was a gold medal winner at the Canadian Brewing Awards, and one can tell why. This weird hybrid style is executed with a precision that makes you wonder why it isn’t more prevalent. Robustly flavourful, with the best of many worlds, I found Love Fuzz to be a breath of fresh air and a bang-up brewski. My biggest concern is that it won’t be regularly available at the shops maintained by my government-run beer barons. Black Oak—please keep this one coming!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

White Belt IPA

During a recent visit to Toronto's Bandit Brewery, I took the recommendation of my server and ordered a 16oz pour of their White Belt IPA, billed as a blend of IPA and a Belgian wheat ale, dry hopped with an array of good green cones.

My glass arrived a cloudy pale gold ale, crowned with a lush white head. At 5.3%, it's a little on the weak side, but at 70 IBUs, it doesn't want for bitterness. The nose was hop-heavy with some understated fruit notes. Robustly bitter, the beer was quite dry, and underlaid with faint tropical notes.

Other than the lower than standard booze bill, White Belt provided me with very little to complain about. It was nicely executed, flavourful, and commendably hoppy.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

The Four Surfers of the Apocalypso

I was immediately drawn to to tiki-meets-SpongeBob look on the label of The Four Surfers of the Apocalypso, a "tropical strong beer" brewed in Shawinigan, Quebec by Le Trou du Diable. Sold in 600mL bottles that describe it as a combination of the "elegance of Belgian whites" and the "complex, hoppy character of American IPAs", Apocalypso contains 6.5% alcohol. It's a very cloudy orange brew with a fluffy white head--it does look a lot like a witbier.

The nose of this brew is quite mild, but suggestive of pineapple and juicy hops. The flavour, too, is on the mild side, but features a portfolio of tropical fruit notes. The bass line of this beer is its bitter, hoppy foundation, and this is particularly evident in the finish.

Four Surfers of the Apocalypso is a pretty lush little brew. It has lots of fresh, fruity flavours and a decent amount of kick. It isn't as flavourful as I wanted it to be though. It felt a bit restrained to me. That said, I definitely enjoyed the stuff and I would certainly buy it again.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Terrestrial India Brown Ale

It's been a while since I've tried something new from Guelph, Ontario's stalwart Wellington Brewery, but on my way home recently I spotted a 750mL capped swing top bottle of Terrestrial India Brown Ale, and I had to make it my own.

 

Terrestrial is a 5.9%, oaky amber ale that hazily pours with a lusty cream head.  According to the label, it has a depth of 57 IBUs, which isn't unsubstantial. There is an earthy, nutty aroma that competes with an enjoyable hops vibe. The beer isn't as flavourful as I wanted it to be, but the notes present were quite pleasing. Toasted malt, nutty confectionery, and dank hops all vie for attention, though the hops wait in the wings until close to final curtain.

 

I find hybrid beers like this incredibly interesting, but also hard to assess. I guess the trick is to play it like the late, great Roger Ebert and rate them contextually, based on what I think they set out to achieve. Terrestrial is, to me, a brown ale with heavy-handed hopping, and I feel like that's what was intended. It's tasty and refined--though this means it's not as pushy or boozy as it could have been. I enjoyed it, and would gladly revisit it in short order. The name, though, gives me pause. Terrestrial? With a UFO on the label? Maybe I'm being too literal, but it doesn't work for me.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

La Formidable American-Belgo IPA

According to the literature that accompanies La Formidable American-Belgo IPA, its birth parent is the Gigantic Brewing Company, "an independent, artisanal brewery located in the Southeast quadrant of the People's Republic of Portland", and its adopted parent is the B-Side Brewing Label, a Vankleek Hill, Ontario outfit (why yes, that is where Beau's comes from) that brands itself as "a portfolio of international brands of excellence being produced fresh and locally for the Ontario market".

La Formidable comes in 600mL bottles that feature a rampaging robot on the label. It contains 6.9% alcohol, which seems about right. From said bottle pours a hazy, dull golden ale topped with a vibrant off-white head. True to my expectations, La Formidable has a seriously funky aroma and flavour that stir together punchy India pale ale characteristics with barnyard grit and Belgian-style super-yeast. On the nose, we're talking evergreen forest after a rainstorm. On the palate, bitter and sweet cohabit relatively peacefully in the front parlour, while dank and yeasty bang pots and pans in the kitchen down the hall. While the beer tastes strong, it's more descriptive to say that it has a strong flavour--it certainly offers the taste buds a lot to process while it dulls the senses with potency. Citrus, must, spice, and floral hops all share the stage, but yeast steals the spotlight in a baffling climax before the curtain of a dry finish sends ticket holders home to their families.

Rolling papers?

Funky, funky stuff. Yeasty and bitter, vigorous and arid, tasty and turbulent, La Formidable is a strange brew. I liked it, was enticed by it, but didn't love it. I'd be keen to revisit it--but not tomorrow. Kudos, though, to the Gigantic/B-Side partnership for offering a beer that is genuinely unusual. It's a nice reminder of what a big world of beer there is out there. 700+ reviews in and I've barely scratched the surface.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Winding Road for 7 Km Rye Saison

From Ontario's cottage country comes Winding Road for 7 Km Rye Saison. It's brewed in Gravenhurst by the Sawdust City Brewing Co. and came in a silver 473mL can with a sticker for a label. This little 7% beaut was left in my fridge by a most excellent and generous guest after a New Year's Eve beer and cheese soirée--clearly the social event of 2014. On New Year's Day, still a bit groggy and cheese-bloated, I decided to conduct a co-review with the truly remarkable Sequin Brown, with whom I had somehow never written a review previously.

According to Sequin Brown [and occasionally paraphrased by yours truly], Winding Road had fast flowing bubbles, which were inviting. She described its colour as brassy and "Rock and Roll golden". Aroma-wise, there was a bold, homey, almost concord grape overnote--in fact, upon tasting, she elevated that to "an incomprehensible grapiness". She also noted that some "not quite caramel" was hidden within. The beer had a crisp mouthfeel and was "extremely flavourful, bright, and a little bit mischievous", and was described as "a sultry lighthouse" and showy and loud, like a trumpet.  It had a clean finish with no aftertaste and isn't particularly sessionable.

Sequin Brown determined that Winding Road for 7 Km was worthy of 7 Km out of 10.

In my own estimation, I found Winding Road to be a chipper, slightly hazy golden ale that was seriously fizzy. It poured with a mammoth amount of durable white head. Its aroma was floral, with a gently perfumed yeastiness. It had a bright and sunny mouthfeel with some champagne-like dryness. The flavour had lots of yeast, in a Belgian fashion, and there was ample taste, but it didn't "pop" as much as I'd hoped. There wasn't much of the classic rye spiciness that I was pulling for. To its credit, the 7% alcohol was subtly buried. All in, it was certainly a nice enough little beer.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Shacklands Farmhouse India Pale Ale

Shacklands Brewing Co. which is apparently operated out of the Junction Brewery in Toronto, Ontario, is the birth parent of Shacklands Farmhouse India Pale Ale. I enjoyed a smallish goblet on tap at barVolo, a revered Toronto brew house. It contains a burly 6.5% alcohol and, according to the Shacklands website, it clocks in at 60 IBUs. This Belgian-style IPA/Saison was an attractively murky orange-brown. It arrived with almost no head--just an off-white ring.

The Farmhouse India Pale Ale had a lively bitter aroma with some yeast and a glimmer of something fruity hailing from a warm climate--perhaps satsuma. Nowhere near as dry or effervescent as a typical saison/farmhouse, but not as robust and hop heavy as a conventional Belgian IPA. Also, less yeast-driven then the majority of the strong Belgian-style beers on the market. There was a bitter, modestly dry mouthfeel, with some hop heft at the close.

This beer has some boozy warmth, some crisp saison qualities, and a dry IPA finish.  However, the real star is the tropical sweets and tarts that live in the body of this brew. A nice beer with some style. I'd have liked a bit more Belgian yeast character and a bit more hop blast, but what I got was an innovative and finely made beer.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Main Street Brewing Company--Rye Saison with Saaz

While in Vancouver, I joined some pals for a couple of pints at the Main Street Brewing Company. Given that it was my second brewery of the day, I opted to review only one beer, lest my already questionable impartiality and objectivity slip too far toward loving everything.  I settled on Main Street's Rye Saison with Saaz and had a 12 oz pour. According to the board at the brewery, this stuff contains 6% alcohol and a solid 30 IBUs. It was also a cask ale--my first foray into cask saisons.

When it arrived, I was pleased to see a very cloudy golden ale. It was topped with a thinnish white head. This beer had a very unusual aroma--there was a cacophony featuring sweet hay, a grainy rye spiciness, and a touch of apple. There was a very mellow mouthfeel that somehow managed to be syrupy and thin at the same time. I was expecting a bit more carbonation and life. This beer was sweeter than I'd hoped for, but its flavour was oddly beguiling. There were apple and grape notes, as well as some gentle spice.

This was definitely not a beer ale at all, but I'm not sold on the idea that saisons are well suited to delivery via cask. I later had a pale ale that I didn't review, but which I enjoyed a lot more. I would eagerly return to Main Street, and encourage my readers to check it out.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

All or Nothing

All or Nothing was my first experience with Underdog's Brewhouse, an up and coming new brewery from Oshawa, Ontario. I had a 16oz goblet on tap at Downtown Toronto's Bar Hop.

All or Nothing is listed as a hopfenweisse--a hops-driven wheat beer--and it contains 5.1% alcohol. It's a pleasingly hazy golden auburn brew. It arrived with a thin covering of off-white head. There was a unique aroma that blends citrus hops with peach, banana, spice, and a heavy yeast bill. My face was greeted with a pretty mellow mouthfeel. The flavour was high in yeast and compellingly fruity. On the back end, there was a hoppy, citrus and spruce swing as well as a saucy wheat closing.

I'll be eagerly keeping my eye out for other offerings from Underdog's, 'cause this stuff was really enjoyable.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Stereovision American Kristall Wheat

Stereovision American Kristall Wheat comes from Barrie, Ontario's Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery. It contains 5% alcohol and is sold in 355mL bottles that feature one of Flying Monkeys' loud and cool labels.  According to the label, this brew "re-wires the beauty of a North American late-hopped beer with the traditional European wheat beer ...".

Stereovision is a faintly cloudy golden brew. It's very lightly carbonated and topped with a froth of off-white head. It has a fresh, hoppy, citrus aroma. This is an unusual tasting brew. It's fairly light and thin bodied. The front end has the crisp feel of conventional wheat beer, but this gives way to a bitter, citrus finish more characteristic of a pale ale. There are also some faint and somewhat toasty malt notes.

This is a cool hybrid brew, and a pretty cool idea.  Truthfully, though, it's not my favourite of the Flying Monkeys offerings. It's a bit thin and flimsy on the front end, though it finishes nicely.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Stiegl Radler Grapefruit

Stiegl Radler Grapefruit immediately caught my eye when I walked into the liquor store on a hot June day. I think it was a combination of its snazzy 500mL Gingham-patterned can and its grapefruit focus that drew me in.  I had to have it immediately.

The product of Stieglbrauerei Zu Salzburg, Stiegl Radler Grapefruit hails from Salzburg, Austria. It's a mix of 50% beer (presumably Stiegl's popular pale lager) and 50% fruit juice. It's very, VERY mild, clocking in at a liver-gladdening 2.5% alcohol. It pours a cloudy pale yellow colour, topped with a white head that fades quickly.

There is a tart grapefruit aroma with only a faint whisper of beer to it. It tastes very much like a grapefruit soda--it's fizzy and has that same blend of tartness and sugariness. The pale lager base is way in the background. It's really only a juice platform and an alcohol delivery device. I wouldn't complain if there was a bit more lager heft to this stuff.

The Grapefruit Radler is compellingly refreshing. It's alcoholicly anemic (which is a bit of a complaint), but it has a great fruit flavour. It would probably be really nice over ice. After a hot day in the sun, this stuff will really hit the spot, plus it should appeal to people who don't normally drink beer. This stuff was certainly a big hit with the wife.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Headstrong Black & Tan

Headstrong Black & Tan is, according to the can, an "expert blend of pale ale and stout". However, the 473mL can also features a bizarre paragraph about the bison, so there you go. It's an amber-brown ale with a thick tan head that comes from the Big Hole Brewing Company in Utica, New York. It's got a healthy 5.5% alcohol content.

The Black & Tan has a smooth, chocolatey aroma.  The flavour is decidedly stout-like, with chocolate notes.  There's a dollop of pale ale bitterness, but nowhere near as much as I was hoping for. Like a stout, though, this brew has a silky smooth mouthfeel.

H.B. & T. is a decently interesting little brew, but it's not balanced quite as I would have liked.  Still, it's probably worth a try, since it's a change from the ordinary.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Shawinigan Handshake Weizen IPA

I had a bottle of Shawinigan Handshake Weizen IPA at a Toronto beer bar. It was definitely tasty, but for some reason, it was bordering on unconscionably expensive. This innovative and flavourful brew comes from La Trou du Diable brewery in Shawinigan, Quebec. It contains 7% alcohol and it's sold in 500mL bottles featuring a caricature-ized Jean Chretien giving Satan a friendly choke.  I wonder what our former PM thinks of this treatment ...

Shawinigan Handshake pours a brassy golden colour.  It's slightly cloudy and topped with a thin layer of off-white head. The aroma is both sweet and quite hoppy with what I thought was a slight ginger note. The flavour is a compelling blend of wheat beer sweetness and bitter IPA bombast.  It moves from sweet to bitter with notes of fruit in the initial sip.  This quickly gives way to a highly bitter, boozy body.  There is a curious flavour combo of banana sweetness and serious hops dryness. Additionally, there is a slight smokiness and a very dry finish. I'd love to know what the IBU count of this stuff is.  It actually tastes stronger than its 7% alcohol content.

I would definitely recommend giving this stuff a try.  It's a very interesting hybrid brew, and one that is well crafted.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Indie Alehouse-Breakfast Porter

The Indie Alehouse is a newly-opened Toronto brewery located in the Junction, an up-and-coming west-end neighbourhood.  I recently had occasion to sample their Breakfast Porter on tap at a local restaurant.  The BP contains a robust 6.7% alcohol.  Unlike conventional porters, it is not opaque.  Rather, the BP is a very dark brown that allows some light.  The beer is topped by a moderate cloud of tan head.  There is some lace, but not tons.

The Breakfast Porter sports only a very mild scent.  There is a slight nutmeg smell that, while seemingly out of place, is quite enjoyable.  The flavour has a nuttiness that augments the typical the typical porter molasses taste.  There is a relatively thin mouthfeel.  The aftertaste is also nutty and surprisingly brief.

While this beer is styled a porter, it tasted to me more like a hybrid: a mix between porter and bitter.  It wasn't my favourite beer ever, but I've got to hand it to the Indie Alehouse for producing an innovative and unconventional brew.  The Breakfast Porter is unlike any dark beer I have ever sampled, and that is worth something.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.