Snow Day Winter Ale

The New Belgium Brewing Co. of Fort Collins Colorado is awesome.  Apparently, the brewery is both wind powered and employee owned.  Pretty rad!  Their Winter Ale is a very dark brown--almost black--with reddish highlights and a modest amount of wispy off-white head.  It comes in 355mL bottles that are sealed with adorable winter-themed caps and contains a virile 6.2% alcohol.

Winter Ale has a strong, malt-heavy aroma that smells very rich.  There is a nice warm flavour that moves from bitter to sweet.  There are lots of roasted flavours--nuts and grains.  Then the bitter comes back for an encore in the aftertaste.  The alcohol taste is effectively masked, but there's no denying that this brew has some warmth to it.

The New Belgium Winter Ale is well worth your time.  It's warm, robust, and quite delightful.  Get yourself a pint and beat the winter blues.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery-Witch Shark Double IPA

The last offering from the Bellwoods Brewery is easily their finest. Called Witch Shark, this double IPA is flavourful and replete with boozy bombast. Weighing in at 9% alcohol, this beer is not foolin' around.

 Witch Shark arrived a slightly hazy golden colour topped with a white head. It has a colossal hop aroma that is very citrus-y. The flavour starts sweet and then veers sharply toward bitter. It opens with a lovely sweet fruit note--nectarine or maybe apricot. Witch Shark is extremely bitter--a hop monster to be sure, but one with some style. The beer has a very warm feel, owing to its substantial percentage and quite a dry finish.

At this early iteration of the Bellwoods Brewery, the Witch Shark Double IPA is clearly the class offering. This is definitely the one that I wanted to take home.  Get down there and get some.  You can thank me later.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery-Toil and Trouble

Toil and Trouble is the Bellwoods Brewery's rendition of a Belgian dubbel. It's a very robust beer with a wallop of booze at 8.7%. It's a dark, reddish brown colour topped with a whisper of creamy head. The aroma is malt-heavy and has considerable yeastiness and a dose of dark fruit. The flavour is malt-forward with some fruit sweetness. Possibly plum? Also, there's just a hint of chocolate at the back end.

Toil and Trouble is definitely a slow sipping beer. It's very satisfying and extremely rich. A pretty fair Toronto version of dubbel. One well worth trying.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery-Farmhouse Ale

Next up from Bellwoods Brewery is their Farmhouse Ale, a cheeky little saison that weighs in at 6% alcohol. It arrived a cheery looking cloudy straw yellow colour, topped with a fluffy white head. Farmhouse Ale had a sour, yeasty aroma with a dose of citrus. The mouthfeel was noticeably dry and quite crisp. There is a slightly sour flavour with some considerable yeasty notes.

The Farmhouse Ale is excellent. It's tasty, refreshing, eminently drinkable and has an interesting flavour. Definitely a beer built for summer quaffing. Plus I love the idea of a quality saison coming out of Ontario. If you're at the Bellwoods Brewery and you're thirsty, you can't go wrong with the Farmhouse Ale.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery-Common Pale Ale

The first brew that I tried at the Bellwoods Brewery was their Common Pale Ale. Apparently it clocks in at 5% alcohol. The Common arrived an almost clear amber-orange colour. It had a good amount of carbonation, but very little head.

Common had a slightly sweet fruit aroma blended with a generous measure of hops. Flavour-wise, this beer didn't have a ton of body. There were some foresty notes and a touch of citrus. However, the dominant flavour is clearly hop bitterness. The finish was quite bitter, but short.

Of the four Bellwoods beers that I sampled, this was easily the weakest.  That said, it was still pretty enjoyable. If I were in charge, Common would have a tad more sweetness on the front end to round it out, perhaps with notes of caramel or toffee more like a classic British pale.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Bellwoods Brewery

A new brewpub is opening up!  Right around the corner from my house!  This is a seriously exciting development. It's called the Bellwoods Brewery and it is supposed to open at the end of this week or early next week. I managed to secure an invite to a pre-opening tasting event.

 It sounds like Bellwoods Brewery is going to be working on a really ambitious roster of beers. There was talk of Berliner Weiss, a Baltic Porter and lots more. At the tasting, they provided us with four: a pale ale, a saison, a dubbel, and a double IPA. Stay tuned to the blog over the next few days for reviews of each of them. In addition, they supplied the tasters with some tasty meaty snacks and some great grainy breads in between samples.

 The brewpub, when it opens, is going to seat 40 people inside and there will eventually be another 40 outdoor patio seats. They do their brewing on site, and have an open kitchen that will have a rotating menu. The atmosphere is pretty industrial and the brewery is visible in the back. The plan is also to open a retail store next door where they'll sell bottles and growlers.  This might be the part that has me most excited. A bottle shop in the neighbourhood sounds like a great idea.

The tasting event was lots of fun. I would estimate that there were approximately 30 or 40 people in total. I sat with two charming table mates.  They were interesting folks, and both really knew their brews, which contributed to my enjoyment. The brewers circulated from table to table during the tasting, answering questions and spreading good will.  It was really apparent that these dudes love beer. They got very excited talking about the hops that they've been using and the plans for future brews.

This place is going to be great.  As you'll see from my next few posts, they have some interesting and challenging beers underway and it sounds like there'll be more to come.  When Bellwoods Brewery opens, make sure to check it out.  You'll probably see me there, hoisting a pint.

Bellwoods Brewery is located at 124 Ossington Avenue in Toronto.

Tusker Lager

Tusker is a product of the East Africa Breweries Group.  It hails from Nairobi, Kenya and is sold in classic 500mL bottles--great shape and cool style.  It contains a rather anemic 4.2% alcohol.  Tusker is a clear, straw coloured pint with little head or carbonation.

With an aroma heavy in grains and a very mild flavour, Tusker is an extremely drinkable brew.  It has a blend of breadiness and a faint citrus zest.  There is a slight sweetness at the back end.

Tusker is a fine pale lager--not a great one.  It is highly drinkable, but not overly compelling.  It's definitely better than most macro-brewed pale lagers, and probably worth a try.  Still, I'd prefer more alcohol and more carbonation.  I like my lagers to fizz a it more.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.