The Beer Blog

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Chimay!

This one is rather interesting historically, it’s what is known as a Trappist Beer. Which means that it’s made by monks in a monastery that is part of what is known as the Trappist Order, Jedi tingles all around.

What’s even crazier is that there are only ten of these monasteries left active in the world, if that isn’t cool, I don’t know what is. I originally got this because it’s from Belgium and that’s where a good friend of mine currently is so it reminded me of her.

Getting down to the beer itself. It’s a hoppy one, but I actually quite like it, for sure not one of those beers that somebody’s gonna be chugging down, even if they’re a hop junky. It’s not so much that it’s overwhelming, but enough to signify the intentional strength in that specific taste. The bitterness is offset with something which I want to say taste almost like oranges but isn’t quite there. It’s a cross between floral and fruity but few subtle. The more you look for it, the more you taste it, but one might not taste it at first, it’s far more significant in the aftertaste when all the bitterness fades away, and it will fade away.

The beer feels is between being a light beer and a medium weight. It’s not heavy but it’s nothing to sneer at either. It has an odd “fluffiness” about it as well, and I know that sounds unusual so I’ll go into more detail with it. When you have Chimay in your mouth, it feel far more carbonated than it actually looks to be. If you’ve ever taken a pop like Coke through a straw, you’ll get almost nothing but bubbles and minimum taste. 

Chimay is similar to this but the difference is, there’s no straw and you lose no taste, it just has that somewhat inflated feeling. This is a large surprise because as you can see with the pictures, this is a cloudier beer, a lot of which I find to be smoother and heavier, so this is a bit of an anomaly in my books. 

Chimay is something that will go incredibly well with roast vegetables, I not only believe this but I tried it on that whim as well and was completely right. I’m not sure if this is one of my favorite beers yet, but it’s enjoyable simply for the fact that it tells a story on its own through appearance and taste, not to mention it has some pretty heavy history behind it as well. 

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Leffe a Belgian brew with higher percentage and a teensy bottle, a delightful drink indeed!

Leffe is more of a full bodied beer without a doubt. It’s got a taste which is rich, but not overpowering. The taste comprises of a slight bitterness on the tip of your tongue, but as it makes its way down, pleasantly transforms into a sweet taste that lies on the back of your tongue, I’m not quite sure if it’s vanilla or cinnamon oddly enough, but I think it’s one of those two. All the way through the taste, Leffe has a distinct malty flavour, which isn’t to say that it’s super malty, but is very distinct from other beers with a malty taste.

 Despite it’s label which says strong beer or being 6.6%, Leffe doesn’t quite hit as hard as some other beers might. The nice thing is that it has almost a light beer taste about it, and yet it feels like a heavier beer like Guinness or 8th Sin, the carbonation is on the lower end of the spectrum and as a result it’s an incredibly smooth drink, I tried swishing it to see how many bubbles I could generate and that resulted in little to none, it’s a very well controlled beer.

 I think it would go quite nicely with finely cooked meats such as a medium rare steak or some kind of roast. I really quite like Leffe and think I’ll keep it by my side for late nights of work.

I think Leffe has a flavour that many can enjoy and would without a doubt recommend it!

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BACK FROM THE DEAD

School’s about done, so I’m gonna try to rekindle this blog since yes I’m still a beer lover. Today I dove into Amsterdam Breweries 416 Local Lager.

I’ve found alot of companies try to do something different, always giving a very specific taste to their lager, and by that I mean they change the taste so much that you really don’t know what it is anymore, but if at first taste you don’t think lager, then it’s not really a success in my opinion.

If you want something like that, have yourself a Molson Canadian and begone.

416 is what a lager should be. It’s crisp, yet smooth at the same time, has flavour which swirls with a bit of sweet citrus in it, but not enough to go and say it’s a lemon flavoured beer. The taste isn’t so delicate that you need to drink it on its own to enjoy it, but it’s not overpowering either. The odd thing about it is that I tried it with spicy food, and I love my spicy food. Usually something carbonated will enhance the spiciness of a food but with 416 it just gets washed away, odd to say the least. 

The aftertaste is brief but pleasant, sparkles of citrus dance on the outskirts of your tongue and as soon as they were there, they’re gone.

This beer pairs excellently with anything spicy, and likely would go well with BBQ meals. It’s without a doubt a summer beer, something to enjoy on your patio with a dog at your feet.

I would recommend 416 to anyone, but if you asked me to get specific, I would say it’s for those people who want a beer that actually has a decent flavour, but isn’t one of those super hoppy craft beers

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Framboise Raspberry Beer.

Canada sure may never win the world cup but we sure as hell do win in beer.

Amsterdam Breweries really blew this one out of the water, it's a grenade filled with flavour waiting to explode. Framboise is a Raspberry infused beer, and no none of that pansy ass infusion that people do for their water for a light fruity taste.

This beer tastes like goddamn raspberries.

It's malty at first, you think "oh this s just your run of the mill beer trying to be something it's not" but then the raspberries hit you and it's like drinking a bottle of raspberry Crush ( if that even exists, if it doesn't it does now) and what's more, there's plenty after the raspberries, the taste finishes off with a bit of hoppiness mixed evenly with some tartness. I never thought that a tart beer would taste good, likely because I never thought of a tart beer in general but that's what new tastes are for right?

The beer goes down wonderfully, crispy like Corona, but not a hard carbonation and is a pleasure to throw down the pipe. I think my favourite aspect of Framboise is the color, you can tell they used a shitton of raspberries because the liquid is basically blood red, when put into the light it gives off this beautiful color, like fruit punch but somehow just better.

My only beef with this beer is that it costed a whopping $10. Given that it's made with a large quantity of premium ingredients and probably brewed a specific way so that it can only be sold once a year, I guess that's to be expected, it's a beautiful summer drink and goes brilliantly with BBQ foods as well as anything spicy.

I would recommend this beer to anyone, well, unless their wallets start to cry.

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Innis and Gunn Rum finish.

So I’ve been really hyped about spicy fruity beers, but this one’s more of a malty brew, which also is excellent.

I’ve never been a big fan of malty beers, but never hated them, probably because I never had a terrible one or a great one.

This Rum Finish though, it’s a blend of everything, you can tell it’s a malt beer due to the dominance of the malt taste, but there’s some spice in there as well as a minor fruity aspect. 

For those of you who are also fans of hard liquor, this is where if gets fun. The Rum Finish part of the name is no joke, you really get a kick in the taste, at first you get the malty sweetness but as the liquid makes its way to the back of the tongue, BOOM, that taste of rum hits you on the sides. 

Going down, you’ll get a very minimal bit of the heat one might feel when downing hard liquor or spirits. For me this was pretty unusual but I gotta say it’s one hell of a nice taste. 

This beer is for the barbecue. This beer is for the fine cheeses.

Please, don’t buy this for a party, it’s tasty yes, but pay your respects.

This beer is definitely made to be consumed with high quality foods.

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Blue Point Blueberry Ale.

Another New York Draft I probably won't have the pleasure of tasting again until I'm back in NYC. 

This ale was a wonderful drink. You can simple smell it and you get a wonderful whiff of the blueberries it's brewed with. I'm surprised that the beer wasn't actually a different color but hey I ain't complaining! 

The taste is like Alexander Keiths but with blueberry splashed all over it. It's actually a very refreshing taste, though I find that the ale itself feels very heavy going down. It's a very sweet beer though, I remember saying that Warka was sweet for a beer but this is is much sweeter, I find that the blueberry helps it alot, like a cooler, but not....y'know? 

There's an excellent light aftertaste of the berries, but it's not like that kind of jollyrancher taste but more like a very subtle tickling of the taste buds. 

The one thing about that after taste is that its on the tip of your tongue. I've never had an aftertaste on the tip of my tongue, let alone an actual tasting sensation there. It's interesting and very enjoyable.

A new and interesting variety of beer, New York really knows how to put out something to interest everyone!

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Ithaca Nut Brown Ale.

Sorry about the crappy image, I was out at a pretty high end place for dinner and taking a DSLR just wouldn't have worked out, way too low lit.

Ithaca is a fun beer with a great personality. This is a beer which has a good amount of hoppiness to it as well as malt at the same time. When swallowing it, something magical happens, once the beer makes contact with the back of your tongue there's a wonderful nuttiness and spice that makes it's way around your mouth as an aftertaste, it's nothing too strong but it's a really enjoyable sensation simply because it's such a large contrast to the initial taste.

Texturally this beer really surprises me, most of the time when you get a darker beer that barely has any head when poured, chances are it's going to be a bit of a thicker liquid and be a bit smoother. Ithaca was kind of like this, but instead of feeling like your typical dark beer, it felt more like a cream ale like Kilkenny or Boddington. To me that's like drinking water and getting the consistency of milk, a bit of a shocker but not a bad one at that. 

I really hope I get to try Ithaca again sometime, it's a very unique beer that deserves some attention. I would have it during any kind of long meal or a long night of work, it's just one of those tastes that once you pour it, you don't want to keep drinking it, but savour the flavour throughout your night (or day).

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Kostritzer.

Currently I'm in New York so I'm gifted with the opportunity to try new brands that I might not see around in Ontario. That being said, this beer is yet another black lager, a kind of beer which I must say is really growing on me.

Kostritzer is a bit unusual, when being poured it seems like it has the carbonation of a flat pepsi yet when you actually try it, the carbonation is all there. Goes down very well with cured meats. 

The taste is very similar to 8th Sin, which I hold as my top black lager. It's not as intense with the choco-coffee taste though. If there is any, I couldn't taste the chocolate in it but the coffee is there for sure, and unusually enough, I could taste some malt in the mix as well. As far as black lagers go, this is your average beer, it's what I would see as a basic mix, though not to be taken lightly. The taste is all there, and the beer itself is hearty, it really sits with you. But once again I find myself drinking a brew which doesn't quite set itself apart from the rest of the pack.

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CREST SUPER

It was a normal day. I didn't forget to eat, I was fully hydrated, and I was having a beer to review with a meal, like I usually do.

What I didn't know what how hard hitting this beer is.

Crest Super is a beer which would compete directly with FAXE Strong. It's got a bit of an acute taste with a slight bit of bitterness, it's the generic beer taste, but it's not a bad beer taste. It goes down crisp, you can definitely feel the carbonation when it's going down, like an ice cold coca cola.

The scary part is that it's not a strong beer taste. It just tastes like beer, nothing added. Funnily enough, that's the way it was with FAXE but at this point I can have a couple of tall boys of FAXE and be buzzed at best. I had one can of Crest and was already part gone, even with eating dinner.

Crest Super and FAXE Strong both are listed as %10 beers though Crest Super is without a doubt significantly stronger than FAXE, for whatever reason, it actually costs less as well. 

Party beer? Hell yeah.

Bad night at the office? Hell yeah. This beer is a conquerer of drinkers and destroyer of livers.

The night I did this review I had two cans and I was completely gone.

If you're looking to get drunk on a budget, Crest Super should be your first choice.

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Warka Warka Warka!

I've been meaning to review this beer for about 3 weeks, I always go in, buy a bunch of the stuff and then drink it all before I remember to do a review. 

Reason being, this has easily become one of my top beers, right up there with 8th Sin.

Warka is a beer that kind of just sits around on the shelves being a regular beer. The design of it is so generic that you wouldn't really give it a second glance, the only thing it has going to make it seem appealing is its 500ml size. 

That's partially why this was a treat the first time around. One would think that Warka is gonna be the generic beer taste that you get from the bigger companies but it's a wolf in sheeps clothing. 

Warka immediately has a sweet taste to it, almost fruity to be honest,  with a slight bit of nuttiness. The taste is a bit stronger than Mill St Organic, so it's not some kind of overwhelming flavour but it runs just right. The brew goes down easily as well, it's not as carbonated as something like a Corona, but definitely has more than a Sapporo. The aftertaste is great, the kind of long term taste one gets after eating jolly ranchers. 

This beer is so good it's dangerous.

The taste is addicting, and the bottle is 500ml, and the brew is 6.5%.

Long story short you get drunk real fast, this beer is cheap by the way so that makes it an ideal party drink, but I recently brought a bunch of it to a bbq and it works SO well with bbq food, my god.

I'm gonna close the review here since I feel like nobody wants to hear me ramble about how good Warka is, I'd seriously recommend this one to everyone to try once.

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Okanagan Spring Brewery Pale Ale

I wasn't able to pronounce the name properly for about 10 minutes, is that sad? My girlfriend thinks it's sad. WELL WHATEVER BEER IS BEER.

Anyway, Okanagan Spring, (which I'm just going to call OS Pale Ale) is actually a pretty refreshing brew. They had a good amount of emphasis on the hops and barley they used in it, which had me a bit worried since I basically expected it to be a really hoppy beer, with bitterness to boot.

What a pleasant surprise I had! 

When I cracked it open I took a sniff and it had the same scent that all the super hoppy beers had. Yet on my first sip I surprised. This is like taking a sip of milk and getting the taste of apple juice instead.

OS Pale Ale has almost no bitterness to it, but instead is replaced with an earthy spice flavouring. It's a very tasty beer which just screams summer. The liquid feels thicker than an ale should be, maybe it's the amount of carbonation but it goes down almost as smooth as a cream ale would, but it still pokes your tongue since it's more bubbly than a cream ale.

The aftertaste is very light, no bitterness, but taste like head, the kind of head you want to sip, not the crappy kind.

The color of the ale isn't much of a surprise, a light amber, copper even, with the kind of head you'd get on something with a good amount of hops slammed into it, though the head disappears rather quickly which surprises me, though it could have something to do with that unusual carbonation it has.

The design seems weak to me, nothing stands out, and there aren't really any good elements to it.

I would recommend Okanagan Spring Pale Ale to anyone needing a drink to accompany them on a hot summer day, tastes better than Corona or Brava and goes down better as well. 

Good beer is good!

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Boddingtons Pub Ale.

If you're Canadian, you'd have to be lying to yourself if you said you haven't seen this stuff somewhere. It's in every LCBO and it's pretty hard to miss since it's bright goddamn yellow and it has a friggin Bee on it. 

ANYWHOOOOO I was lookin around for something with a decent design and I thought, hell why not, let's give Boddington a try, it's been around for long enough right?

So for those who are curious, here you go.

Boddingtons is an exceptionally smooth ride. Of course that's a given since it's a creamy ale, well creamy at that, it make Guiness seem rough. So that being said, you'd know it goes down very well. I'm very pleased with the taste since it's one of the beers that brings something new to the table for me. It's a cream ale that doesn't try to be anything more than just that. The taste itself is simple, straight forward and easy, low carbonation which makes it easy to go down, yet the beer has a bit of mild malt to it and a bit of nuttiness to it, with absolutely no bitter aftertaste at all, which as you all probably know already is what I love.

Boddington actually surprises me since I would expect something this smooth to be either super dark or super light in color, yet the color it bears is actually right inbetween that, it's a bit of an amber color but you can still see right through it. Darker than you'd expect but not at the level of 8th Sin or Waterloo Dark. I can't really complain about boddingtons since there isn't much to complain about, it does its job and I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it but if somebody asked me about it, I'd probably say it's a safe purchase to make!

As for the design. This bothers me a bit, though I think it's due to a cultural differentiation.

Boddingtons is an import beer, right out of the UK, over there they have something called Poddington Peas, so this is actually a play on words being Boddington Bees. Most people outside of the UK probably own't get it and like me, will probably think that the beer is made with honey and will have a sweeter taste.

NOPE.

Soooooo the design is a bit misleading especially for those who might just see it on the market one day and try it thinking it's made with honey, but getting to the actual design aspect of it, it's clean and it sticks to it's own general company colors which is good since people have something to associate Boddington with, however it's not a large brand over in the Western world so it might not be as relevant. But I don't know the entire story here so if you want to know more, then do your research kids!

OVERALL, BODDINGTONS IS A TASTY BEER, NOTHING OVER ACHIEVING OR ANYTHING BUT IT'S STILL NICE.

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Waterloo Brewery's Original Dark, here's a dinner beer if I've ever tasted one. It's not too different from 8th sin but not incredibly similar. Original Dark has a bit of a nutty sweetness to it, like one of those cadbury dairy milk bars with the nuts inside of them. It's one hell of a smooth flavour with a clean aftertaste to boot. Once it's gone, you're left with the same aftertaste that chocolate leaves in your mouth, given that this is made with cocoa, I find this to be super pleasing as it's not just some gimmick to attract customers, hell they don't even advertise the beer for what it's made with.

From what I can tell, each time you get the nutty sweetness, directly after it, there's a bit of hoppiness, but not a bitter hoppiness. It's a very subtle spicy sensation which mixed with cocoa in a drink seems like a bit of a dicey move but it works out here really nicely.

Original Dark doesn't have the kind of earthiness that 8th Sin did, in fact despite its appearances, this is one of the lightest lagers I've tried, I think it would go exceptionally well with smoked meats and bbq, though anything fried I would leave to something more crisp like a IPA.

The design of Original Dark is stereotypical craft beer, shows a ribbon, got a few tools in there, makes it look more masculine. The design appeals more to males who would be more into labor such as wood, or metal work. That kind of lumberjack feel.

And don't get me wrong, It's not a bad design at all, it's simple and clean, but it's just not that unique, nothing about it really sets it off from the rest of the crowd in a visual aspect.

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Another Mill St wonder! Todays contestant is Tankhouse Ale.

So here's how I'm gonna lay this down.

I find that sometimes with a specific niche of food, people try to outdo each other by amplifying what the most general part of that food is, like with hot sauces, it's always about who's sauce is hotter, what can scorch the tongue more.

But what about the flavor? I'd rather for a hotsauce that not only brings the heat, but makes my food taste amazing at the same time.

This has been an issue with craft beers in my opinion, there seems to be this big deal about who can make a beer that's hoppier, who uses more hops and from what I've seen, there's a smaller number of people who prefer a beer that's extremely hoppy (lookin at you Boneshaker).

While in my absense I've tried a number of hoppy beers such as Rhyme and Reason, or Flying Monkey. If you're a hop junkie and want a really bitter beer, go for em. If you're looking for a new flavour, then give Tankhouse a try.

It's hoppy, yes, but it's nowhere near being an overload. Tankhouse had delightful balance of hoppiness mixed with spiciness which reminds me of Old Jamaica ginger beer, which let me tell you is the bees knees. The combination of the two flavours leaves me tongue incredibly satisfied, but the taste instantly dissipates leaving me wanting more. One that note let me also put a note in that more of the Craft Beers I tried would leave a long lsting aftertaste, mostly being bitter, which progressively enhances (right wording?) the bitter hoppiness of the flavour with each sip. Tankhouse seems to be everything I could ask for in a hoppy beer.

The design is alot like the taste actually, it's modest, not trying to be anything crazy or super attractive, it's the Organic of hoppy beers, simple effective, and fun.

Good job on this one Mill St, it's a winner for sure!

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Holy Smoke Scotch Ale by The Church Key Brewery.

Holy Smoke is a smokey ale, similar to the likes of Innis and Gunn or Ricards Red. It has a flavour which is reminiscent of bbq, but also slightly malty and sweet at the same time. The hoppiness is down to a minimum on this beer, the carbination is there, but also minimal, making this a smooth ride.  As one of my housemates was saying, the head that you get out of this brew looks alot like that of fresh root beer. Im suspecting this might have to do with the sweetness, but her I'm not professional in beers, I just taste em and enjoy em.

This would without doubt go excellently with anything grilled, charred or bbq'd, the flavour compliments them deeply and when consumed with them, leaves an after taste which is absolutely delectable. Holy Smokes is yet another wonderful example of how diverse beers can be, one of my housemates doesn't really like beer much, but he loves Holy Smokes, we've now discovered that he's more of a Smoked Beer kind of guy who isn't into brews that are made with more emphasis on the hops.

I find that the term "I don't like beer" is such a weak statement, it's like saying I don't like food, you'd never know until you try em all.

Anyway, enough of being philosophical, let's get on with the design.

I personally don't like the design of the bottle much, it's simply not to my taste. But the idea of the design and the execution is very well done, I'll give it that anyday. With a name like Holy Smoke, one of the first things to insinuate would be religion. The design looks totally old school, taken right out of the bible, even reminds me of what you'd see in some kind of medieval book, that kinda style y'know? And in that, they've really made their mark in how they want people to see their branding. Black and white was a good choice in my opinion since it helps people to actually concentrate on the design itself, I feel like color would really take away from the straight forward strength of the image. Overall, it's good, leagues away from how I would do it, but good! 

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11:30am

Start the day with a Boneshaker

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*squeals*

Tomorrow I'm trying my first smoked beer!