Tag Archives: Craft Beer

Beer News

Craft Beer Events – June 2016

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It has been a little while since I’ve posted anything, it’s been a crazy time of year. Luckily things are returning to a bit of normalcy, just in time for some really fun craft beer opportunities here in the city.

First off is the Coast to Coaster event put on at the Liquor Marts across the city.  This year they are doing 4 separate flights about 2 weeks apart.  Beers from across Canada will be brought into the liquor marts for people to try.  These are beers that we do not normally have and are brought in special for this event.  Some of these are ones we can expect to see on the shelves (hopefully) while others we may not see again.  This event will be running from June 1st – July 31st.

I’m a little disappointed in this years Coast to Coaster. The majority of the beers coming in on the “flights” are lagers, blondes, or pale ales.  I understand that these are great summer beers, but they don’t give an opportunity for Manitobans to try a variety of styles and experiment with what they might or might not like.  There are some interesting beers coming in, and I’m certainly going to try a number of them, but it’d be nice to see a bit more of an adventurous nature in the lists rather than the “safe” choice.  In any case, See the image below for all the beers coming out and which week they will be available.

Coast to Coaster Beers

Second up, The Manitoba Brewers Association is hosting a “meet your local craft brewer” event at Fort Garry Brewing Company on June 22nd. The event is from 5:30pm-8:00pm. This is a great opportunity to sample a few of the beers from these local breweries before getting to try them all at Flatlanders’.  More so, it’s a great opportunity to chat with the breweries who are on their way to opening or still in the planning process.

Tickets are for sale right now and are quite limited.  They are $25 a piece and you can get them here.  I’d really recommend going if you are interested in having a chance to speak with some of the new breweries and find out a bit more of what you can expect.  I’ll be there for sure and you can expect a write-up of all that I learn.

Finally, the big one, Flatlanders’ Beer Festival is coming up on June 24th and 25th (afternoon/evening). Three opportunities to get in and try out some of the new beers coming to Manitoba, especially those from local breweries not yet open.

With over 160 beers from around the globe for people to try, it’s a great opportunity to taste something you’ve never had and to venture out beyond your comfort zone and try something new.  It’s especially great that this year we will see a large number of the new local breweries (Torque, One Great City, Nonsuch, Barn Hammer, and more) offering a chance to try their beer for the first time.

Tickets are still available and I recommend going to this event. In addition to the opportunity to try some local brews no one else has had, there will be beer geeks (I get to be one!) on hand who will be there to answer questions you may have about beers and styles.  As well, there will be education sessions put on by members of the Manitoba Brewers Association, and there will be a lot of beer to try.  You can get tickets here and you can check out the full list of featured beers here.

Hopefully you get the chance to check these events out. I’m certainly going to be enjoying all the opportunities I get to enjoy some craft beer (especially the local stuff).  Also, watch here, as I am going to posting an update on Barn Hammer soon.

Beer Review

Fuggles and Warlock Two-fer

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So, I’m gonna do a two for one today. There are two beers that have recently hit the Liquor Marts here in Manitoba from the brewery Fuggles and Warlock.  I’m going to give you my thoughts on both of them today.  Let’s go!

Brewery

Fuggles and Warlock Craftworks is a brewery located in Richmond B.C.  Their motto is “Keeping Beer Weird”.  This means that they try to push the traditional styles of beer as far as they can by adding “a West Coast flair”.  They are also really big geeks and reference a lot of video games and pop culture in their beers.

This dynamic duo, Dan Colyer and Tony Laci, began brewing beer through collaborations and contract brews and only opened up their own brewery in 2015.  The first production brewery in Richmond, it stands at a whopping 13,000 sq/ft.  They have a variety of beers already coming out, Destiny IPA, Raiden Black IPA, Personas West Coast Common, to name a few.

I think we can expect to see more from Fuggles and Warlock as they continue to grow and get their distribution set.  As a young brewery they’ve got a lot of ambition and some neat toys, I’m looking forward to seeing what other beers get sent our way.

The Beer

So, we have two beers from Fuggles and Warlock on the shelves at our local Liquor Marts.  The first is “Destiny IPA” and the second is “Personas West Coast Common”.

IPA

IPAs or India Pale Ale, have a storied history. The first known use of the term comes from the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser in 1829.

At this time, they were also referred to as a “pale ale as prepared for India”, “East India pale ale”, and “Export India Pale Ale”.  These types of IPAs were widely popular amongst the East India company and, while considered very hoppy, they were not much stronger than other beers brewed at this time. If you’re curious about IPAs check out Wikipedia or IPA Beer.

While these beers are part of the pale ale family, they are strongly hopped and often showcase the variety of flavours and complexities that can come from the simple ingredients used to brew beer.  Many will say the IPAs are an acquired taste, and they are rather unique, the bitterness brought by the use of a large quantity of hops is not for everyone.

 West Coast Common

This beer, while called a west coast common, is a variation on the California Common style.

This style originated in the 18th century when brewers, who unless rich didn’t have access to refrigeration, brewed lagers at a warmer temperature.   They needed to be creative in the way they cooled down the beer, often using shallow fermenters.

This resulted in the lager yeast being trained to ferment faster at warmer temperatures.  The style is also often referred to as a “Steam Beer” and some commercial versions include Anchor Steam.

You can expect the beer to be light and fruity with some graininess from the malt, a toasted characteristic and a showcasing of rustic hops.

 

As always, I suggest people who are interested take a read through the BJCP guidelines or the American Brewers Association guidelines. Both are interesting and fun to read.

Review

IPA

Appearance:  Clear golden brown with about 1” of thin head that dissipates leaving some lacing around the edge of the glass.

Smell: Big citrus notes of oranges and grapefruit with some hint of passionfruit and a slight spice/resinous note at the back of the nose.

Mouth feel:  Good carbonation that tingles the tongue, silky mouth feel that is light with a dry bitter finish.

Taste: Citrus notes of grapefruit come through the strongest with some spice and resinous notes. Passionfruit is noticeable as well. The grapefruit and resinous notes bring a nice citrusy bitterness to the taste that lingers well into the finish.

Overall: A well balanced IPA that brings a variety of hops to the table. The bitterness is certainly there the whole way through. The finish a little on the harsh side and I think a crisper finish would be nice.

Do I like it:  While I said the finish was a bit on the harsh side, I actually like that. I think that this IPA is quite nice and I’m pretty happy with it. It certainly doesn’t stand out from other IPAs I’ve had but it a tasty IPA that I’d be happy to drink again.

 

 

 West Coast Common

 Appearance:  Murky copper brown with about 1” of head that dissipates leaving lacing on the edge of the glass.

Smell: Caramel and toffee come through on the nose as well as a bit of a bready note. There is a slight citrus profile there as well on the nose but really faint.

Mouth feel:  Soft carbonation that’s just about right with a grainy mouth feel and a sweet finish with just a hint of bitterness.

Taste: Comes through as a more malt forward version of an APA. The citrus notes and bitterness from the hops (almost identical hops to their Destiny IPA) comes through quite prominently. The malt notes are more present but the hop notes take the front.

Overall: I’m not sure what to say on style. It’s a bit  like an APA/California common cross, from my perspective. It has a very hop forward taste with some good malt characteristics. The finish isn’t really crisp like I’d expect from a lagerish style, but it certainly has the malt, and certainly showcases the hops.

Do I like it:  I like this beer, quite a bit. The malty characteristics add a bit of depth of flavour to this one that compliments the use of hops quite well. I enjoy the hop forward flavour in combination with the malt.

 

Beer News, Interview, One Great City

One Great City

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OGC Logo

I can’t believe one year ago I was sitting down and writing about all of what was to come. Last year was one in which the possibility of new breweries seemed a distant hope – a glimmer on the horizon.

One year later we are finally starting to see much of what we hoped take shape.  With PEG halfway open, Barn Hammer and Torque well on their way to opening their doors and Flatlander’s Beer Festival giving us our first chance to taste some of these new beers, it’s a good time to be a beer lover in Manitoba.

One brewery that I’ve known about for some time – but only recently got to sit down with – is One Great City Brewing Company (or “OGC” as they call themselves). Co-Founders Tim Hudek and Jon Burge were kind enough to meet with me and give some details on their brew-pub, progress and, of course, their team.

Tim and Jon are both Winnipeg boys.  Born here, they love this city. Sadly, their career paths took them to other destinations. Tim went to Toronto for law school before opening a practice in the city while Jon went to the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts to hone his skills as a chef.

After completing his culinary arts program, Jon worked around Vancouver at a variety of different venues. He worked at high-end restaurants, bistros, and was even responsible for opening one of the first gourmet food trucks in the city.  Eventually he expanded his horizons, travelling up north and further refining his culinary skills. All through this time he hoped to one day return to Winnipeg.

Enter Tim Hudek, a graduate of the Osgoode Hall law school and a fellow Winnipegger. Tim wanted to return to Manitoba as well and saw there was a brilliant opportunity to start a business in the city. He contacted Jon and asked if he wanted to team up to open a brewpub to help fill the gap in Manitoba’s lacking craft beer market. In 2014 the two began planning to open One Great City Brewing (OGC) here in Winnipeg.

While neither of them have a great deal of experience in brewing, they both have a passion for beer and an eye for business. Jon will be the creative mind behind the food at the brew pub and Tim, who hopes to be called to the bar in Manitoba soon, will act as general counsel and business administrator, while also helping in the brewery and with anything else that needs to be done.

Heading up the brewing itself will be Josh Berscheid, a graduate of Olds College who is currently working with Half Pints until the brewery at OGC is ready to go. When it comes to beer preferences, Jon is a Stout and ESB fan who is slowly opening up to IPAs while Tim likes stouts as well as IPAs – the hoppier the better.

“Our goal is to have adventurous yet accessible beer and food”

So why open a brew pub? While living in large metropolises like Toronto and Vancouver, they saw a void existed in Manitoba. They saw this as a great market opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a very underdeveloped market. Tim describes it as “the opportunity of our generation.”

Their brewpub will have three separate areas: a restaurant that seats 123 people inside with room for 50 more out on the patio; a retail space where they will sell merchandise and do growler fills; and a with 10HL brewing system, 20HL fermenters and brite tanks, they have an annual capacity of 3000 HL for the restaurant, growler bar and distribution. All this will be located in a 7,000 sq/ft space at Madison Square Polo Park (1596 Ness Avenue.)

Choosing a location is not an easy feat and a lot went into this decision. You want a space that has high traffic both at lunch and dinner, has the infrastructure in place to support the weight of the brew system at capacity as well as room for parking. They found all this at Madison Square and are in the process of getting the space ready to go. Jon told me we can expect the décor to be “Industrial Chic” with an open concept and the ability to see the brewery exposed behind glass walls.

“We want to be very interactive and develop our beers to fit what Manitobans want to drink.”

While the philosophy of the brewery is to be “adventurous yet accessible” they want to make sure they are listening to their customers. They want to be very present on Twitter and social media, getting feedback on the beers they brew. Tim said they don’t want to “make beer only we want to drink” but they want to “involve their customers and make food, and brew beer that Winnipeg likes”.  The plan is to allow for growler fills at the retail shop right now. They are still deciding whether they will go with 16 ounce cans or if they will do Bombers (650ml) and standard (355ml) bottling.

So, when can we get our first taste of their beer? Very soon. They have two beers they will have at the Flatlander’s Beer Festival this year: Tipsy Cow Milk Stout and Monkey Trail Pale Ale. If you needed any reason to go to Flatlander’s, besides all the other beer, take this one – the first opportunity to try some beer from a new brewery and give the team your feedback.

Besides these two beers, they don’t yet have any others to announce. They said they will certainly have a stout, and IPA and a more approachable beer, but nothing is nailed down as of right now.

“Two beers we will be sampling at Flatlander’s are Tipsy Cow Milk Stout and Monkey Trail Pale Ale”

I always am curious about the long-term plan for a brewery and where they see themselves in five years. Both Tim and Jon said they are very fluid with their growth and will move where the market takes them.  If the restaurant is a huge success it might mean opening a second location. If the brewery is taxed to its limit due to demand, it might mean opening a stand-alone brewery. At the end of the day, they want to stay flexible and listen to the market and grow with it.

Overall, the process has been very positive for Jon and Tim.  While they expressed similar concerns around communication between the city and province, they also said how grateful they were for the support from Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.  They have a ways to go before they open their doors, but they feel they have had more good days then bad.

What do they hope to accomplish? They want to bring great food and great beer to great people.  Jon and Tim want to build something Manitobans will be proud of. They want Winnipeggers to have civic pride and build an institution that helps show off how great this city is. They are called One Great City because of their love for this town. They want to elevate the community, use local products, build up other local businesses and support local charities. One Great City wants to embody the concept of a community brewery and do what they can to build this city up.

“’I’ve lived in Toronto and the Philippines, traveled throughout Asia and South America, and there is no place I’d rather be then here in Winnipeg.”

The biggest measure of success for Jon and Tim will be opening the doors to their brewpub, which they hope to do by the end of October. I wish them the best of luck and look forward to trying their beer at Flatlander’s and frequenting their brewpub when it opens next year.

-Beer Winnipeg

 

 

Beer News, Winnipeg

Flatlander’s Beer Festival

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Well, it’s that time of year again folks. The Flatlander’s Beer Festival is coming to town.  This year it will be held on June 24th and 25th with two evening entries (7 pm-10 pm) and one matinee (1 pm-4 pm) on June 25th.

So, what is Flatlander’s Beer Festival? Flatlander’s Beer Festival, is just that, an opportunity to try a variety of beers and ciders (over 160 in fact) at over 70 booths.  This is all done in support of the Winnipeg Jets Foundation and is a major fundraiser for this charitable organization.  The event is put on in conjunction with the Manitoba Liquor Marts and provides patrons a chance to try beers that are on their way, or already, onto Liquor Mart shelves.

Having attended this event last year, it was a great opportunity to connect with the reps from the various breweries and distributors, try a variety of interesting beers, and talk with fellow beer lovers.  This year will have an added bonus of giving us the opportunity to try some of the yet to open breweries.  One Great City (watch for my write-up this weekend) has two beers they will be sampling at Flatlander’s.  I expect that this year’s event will give us our first chance to try some of the beers from the new breweries coming to Manitoba.  Watch the website of Flatlander’s as they will be posting the list of beers soon.

There will be a few changes this year, compared to last.  Specifically, the event is bigger.  It is expanding beyond the ice level and up onto the concourse.  The plan this year is to offer educational opportunities for patrons so that they can learn more about beer.  The Manitoba Brewers Association is involved in this year’s festival and we can expect that they will have a role to play in some of these sessions. There will also be 5 food trucks giving you the opportunity to snack on some delicious food while you sample your beers.

While details are still coming on Flatlander’s for this year, hopefully this post will wet your appetite.  I’m certainly going to be there, as last years’ event was great.  I’m excited to give some of the new beers a try, talk to the brewers and reps who are there, and sample some of the beer from the new breweries coming to our great province.

I’ll be posting more details as I get them.

Tickets are on sale now! You can buy Tickets at Ticketmaster or at Liquor Marts.  The cost for the evening events are $44.99 while the matinee on Saturday is $39.95. This includes all samples, a program and a sampling cup.

I hope to see you there!

Beer Winnipeg

General Post, homebrew

Brewing with Beer Smith

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Well, it really has been quite a while since I’ve written about my experiences with home brewing.

To start, I want to thank all of the people at the Winnipeg Brew Bombers, especially my friend Jeremy, for all of their guidance, knowledge, and help. If it wasn’t for these folks I would not be improving at all in brewing beer.

I’ve brewed three new beers since the last time I posted and I wanted to give out the recipes and also talk a bit about some of what I’ve learned since the last time I brewed.

First, the beers. I’ve brewed a Pumpkin Spice Latte Stout (Milk Stout with coffee, spices and pumpkin), a Margarita Gose (A salty-sour beer with lime juice) and a Russian Imperial Stout (Based of the Brew Dogs DIY recipes). If you want, the Brew Dogs have handed out all of their recipes and you can get them all right here.

The first thing I’ve learned is how awesome Beer Smith is. Beer Smith is a home brewing program that provides you with a full range of grains, hops, yeasts, adjuncts, and other miscellaneous ingredients. Using this program, you can select a specific style of beer and construct the recipe

What’s fantastic about it is that it will give you a whole range of information about the style of beer. When you are brewing a style of beer using the BJCP rules there is a certain range for things like ABV (Alcohol Content), IBUs (International Bitterness Unit), SRM (A measurement of colour) and it even gives you an expected Original Gravity.

Beersmith 1

This is all really useful if you are thinking you might want to submit a beer you brew to a home brewing competition. Most of these competitions judge beers using the BJCP style guide, so if you “fall into the green” you are meeting those style guidelines at least for those aspects.

You’ll also see in that picture some more information about the mash, carbonation and fermentation measures. You can adjust these based on what type of brewing method you’ll use (Right now it is set for Brew in a Bag, Full Body but you can choose from any number of options). You can even design a recipe using extract if you aren’t quite ready for all-grain brewing.

Beersmith 2

Beer Smith also provides you with a Cloud Recipe search where you can see other recipes created by other brewers and use them for inspiration. It also allows you to choose what type of equipment you are using to brew. You can either choose from a list of equipment options, or create your own.

Beersmith 3

Probably one of the best things that can be done in Beer Smith is scale the recipe. I, for example, brew 2.5 gallon batches while many people tend to do 5-10 gallon batches. Using Beer Smith, you can take one of those larger recipes and scale it to your specific equipment. It will scale all the ingredients including grain, hops, adjuncts, etc.… to be exactly what you need to brew that recipe yourself.

I’ve used Beer Smith for my last three beer recipes and I’ve had a great deal of success with it. On brew day you can print out the “brew steps” page that will provide you with all the information you need to brew your beer. I’m posting the brew steps for all my recipes so you can take a look at them and brew them if you want.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Stout
Margarita Gose
Russian Imperial Stout
Brew Dogs DIY

Beer Smith isn’t free. It does offer a 21-day free trial, and after that I’d say it is well worth the money. If you are interested in it, you can find it here.

There are a number of other Home Brew apps but I don’t have any experience with them. If you use a different one that you like better, keep using it. If it works for you, and you’re getting good beer, keep doing it and let me know about it in the comments!

 

 

Beer Review

Garrison – Ol’ Fog Burner

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Garrison - Ol Fog Burner

I’m pretty happy that some of the beers I grew up enjoying are making their way here to Manitoba. One such brewery is Garrison.  They’ve been around since before I could drink, and I know that they were a go to beer at many local pubs.  They have certainly grown, as have my tastes, and now they produce a wide range of beers.  Today I’m going to review their Ol’ Fog Burner Barleywine.

The Brewery

Garrison Brewing is located in the largest maritime city, Halifax.  The name comes from the fact that this one was of the major garrison sites for the protection of Canada being the largest eastern port.  As well, Halifax has a long history of brewing with William Steel opening shop as the first brewer in 1754 in order to serve the early settlers and troops who were stationed at Citadel Hill.  By prohibition, Halifax was home to some 20 brewing operations!

Garrison itself tries to follow this concept of independent micro-brewing and set this at their heart when they opened in 1997 with their first brew “Irish Red Ale”.  They have continued to produce and grow serving hand-crafted ales that use the best ingredients available.

After 15 years in business, in 2013 they expanded to develop over 13,000 square feet of industrial space to become their new home. Their setup is made up of tanks and equipment that were designed and fabricated in Charlottetown, PEI (keeping it local, very nice) and consists of a single-step infusion mash tun and a propane-fired kettle and whirlpool.  It takes them an average of 10 days start to finish to ferment and condition.  You can read all about their brewing process here.

The Style

This beer is brewed in the style of an English Barleywine.  A very strong, heavily malted beer.  This style is really a showcase of malty richness with a warming alcohol and often pleasant hoppy or fruity notes. This beer can be aged and when done so it can often take on port like flavours.

bass-barley-wine-ad-1907

While there have been strong ales of various different formulations for a long time in England, the modern Barleywine can be traced back to Bass no. 1 in 1872.  This was the first to be called a “Barleywine”.  Traditional a darker style of beer, in 1951 a brewer called Tennant (now Whitbread) produced “Gold Label” a gold coloured Barleywine.

Gold-Label-No1-Barley-Wine-Labels-Tennant-Brothers-Exchange-Brewery-Ltd_39261-1

These beers are quite often the strongest ale offered by a brewery and now typically are stamped with a vintage date as they have become popular cellaring beers.  This style will age well and often changes in flavour profile.  The English Barleywine is the original style of this beer that has spawned off into other styles from Belgium, the US and elsewhere.

As always, read more about the style in the BJCP style guide found here.

The Review

ABV – 11.3%     IBU – 60     Can be cellared

Appearance:  Beautiful tawny/caramel in colour with a good 2” head that just won’t quit.

Smell: A beautiful array of smells come from this complex beer. Caramel, molasses, cognac, raisins, alcohol warming, biscuit/yeasty notes, toffee and some resinous notes as well. The aroma is pleasant and rich.

Taste: This beer has a soft start that moves towards a huge hit of malt, rum and cognac. The warming from the alcohol in this is really pleasant.  The toffee and caramel sweetness is certainly there along with some subtle spices like cinnamon or black pepper. There are some slight fruity notes as well as a nice bitterness that on the finish.

Mouth feel: Medium bodied, rich mouth feel with a nice carbonation. Hugely rich and deep front with a nice clean bitter finish.

Overall: Really impressed with this beer. I expect a lot of complex flavours in a barleywine given the huge amount of malt and complexity available to the style. This beer does not disappoint and brings a huge array of different aromas and flavours to the table. Overall this beer is very well balanced and with the high alcohol content that can be a bit dangerous.

Do I like it: Once again, I am impressed with Garrison.  This beer brings so much in the way of flavour and aroma.  I am certainly going to be aging one of this to see how it tastes next year. Beautifully rich and balanced, well worth it.

I’m pretty excited as I will be heading to the Maritimes this summer to visit family. That’ll mean a visit to a number of new breweries as well as old. I’m going to certainly make the trip to Halifax to visit Garrison, and I can’t wait.

-Beer Winnipeg

Beer Review

Parallel 49 – Bodhisattva

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Parallel 49 - Bodhisattva

That’s right another sour beer! We’ve been seeing more of these start coming our way. I’m a fan of sour beers and so I’m always excited to give them a try. We’ve also slowly been seeing more and more beers come in from Parallel 49 brewing company out of BC. We’ve recently received their Brews Brothers Vol. 2 (still a few left), 12 different beers done in collaboration with 12 different breweries from BC. (I hope to be posting about some of these in the next weeks).  We’ve also recently received their Bodhisattva Dry-Hopped Sour Ale which is the beer I’ll be talking about today. (It’s got a sweet label too.)

The Brewery

Parallel 49 is a brewery that spawned out of three friends love for good beer.  Mike, Nick and Anthony all grew up about 10 minutes away from where the brewery now stands. Having been avid home brewers and lovers of good craft beer, these three friends quit their day jobs in 2008 and opened a restaurant which quickly became known as a mecca for good craft beer in Vancouver. Wanting to put their money where their mouth was and stop talking and start brewing, they partnered with Graham with, a respected Home Brewer, and Michael Tod, a friend who had the business savvy and experience in the Vancouver craft beer industry, the Parallel 49 brewing team was born.

They have a variety of different beers and not afraid of trying some unique things either. I’ve enjoyed all of the beers I’ve tried from them, some more than others, but they are worth checking out.

The Style

What makes a sour beer? Well, that depends. There are two different ways a sour beer can be produced. The most common is controlled.

In the controlled method, the brewer does something to the beer to lower its pH. This can be done by adding other strains of yeast or bacteria (Typically Lactobacillus or Brettanomyces or Pediococcus), by using an Acidulated Malt (this meets German purity laws) or by adding Lactic Acid (an acid produced by Pedioccous or Lactobacillus) or Acetobacter, a less common bacteria.

Check out this blog from the American Home Brewers Association. It goes into detail about all these different strains.

This beer used Lactobacillus, bacteria that acts similarly to a yeast by eating up the sugars in the wort (unfermented beer). Rather than converting the sugars to alcohol like our beer yeast, it turns them into lactic acid. The lactic acid lowers the pH of the beer rather quickly and gives the beer a sour but clean taste. It is most commonly used in sour German styles of beer Berliner Weisse or Gose.

This beer has also been dry-hopped.  While the Phillips Sax in the Dark was aged on Grape Musts to provide it with a different depth of flavour, dry-hopping allows a beer to take on much of the aroma of the hops added without any of the bitterness. You are not really getting the full flavour of the hop but there is certainly a variety of aromas that come along with dry-hopping that can impact the way the beer is perceived and tastes.

Review

ABV – 7%

Appearance – Clear pale straw colour with a nice carbonation on pour that dissipates as quickly as it came. Almost looks a bit like sparkling apple juice.

Smell – The floral hop notes come through nicely on the smell along with some pear notes, citrus fruit and some yeasty funk.

Taste – Crisp and tart, incredibly refreshing. Citrus notes, pear comes through as well.

Mouth Feel – Tart, sour, crisp. Nice carbonation that leaves the tongue a tingling.  Dry finish, light bodied.

Overall Thoughts – Solid, balanced, crisp and delicious. Alcohol content is unnoticeable making this refreshing beer easily drinkable. Overall it is a solidly balanced sour that would be delicious on a nice warm summer day.

Do I like it? – I did really like this beer. I’m a big fan of sours, but even if I wasn’t, this beer brings a lot to the table. It’s crisp, its refreshing, and the sourness is not overpowering. The aroma from the dry-hopping makes it pleasant all around.  I rather enjoyed it.

 

Beer Review, Half Pints Brewing, Winnipeg

Half Pints – Black Galaxy

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Half Pints - Black Galaxy

Today’s review comes to us from a local brewery of which I am very proud to be able to support.  I’ve talked about Half-Pints in the past so for more information about the brewery itself please read those here and here or check out their website here.

The Style

The beer I am tasting from Half-Pints today is there highly rated Black IPA, Black Galaxy.  A Black IPA is a specialty style of an IPA.  Like an IPA, they are meant to be hop forward and drinkable. One of the biggest differences is that they bring a darker colour and often roasted or burnt flavours from the use of different malts.

When drinking this style one can expect to get a lot of different hop notes from the variety of hops used in the brewing of the brewer that are melded with a variety of different malts that would not normally be used in the brewing of an IPA.

This beer is a variation of the IPA style and was first commercially produced by Greg Noonan as Blackwatch IPA around 1990. It began to grow in popularity through the 2000s and there are many varieties of this style which can be found.  This beer is also known as a Cascadian Dark Ale.  Overall the style is similar in many respects to a traditional IPA but bringing with it some more complexity in the malt profile to compete with the diversity of hops.

The Review

Appearance:  Black with a slight red hue when held up to the light. A persistent 2 finger off-white head that leaves lacing as it dissipates.

Smell: Piney notes, citrus, passion fruit, roasted malt. Soft notes of pineapple and coffee also.

Mouth feel: Medium body, medium carbonation that leaves a bit of tingle on the tongue.

Taste: Passion fruit and pineapple come through on the taste with a nice bitter finish that balances well with the sweet fruit, light caramel, and roasted dark malt backbone.

Overall: I haven’t had many Black IPAs to compare this too but overall this is a great beer. It is well balanced and brings a depth of different flavours (passion fruit, pineapple, caramel, coffee, roasted malt) that all seem to balance well together and with the 60 IBUs.

Do I like it:  Yes. This is a beer that I really enjoy. Half Pints does a great job with this beer bringing both balance of malt and hop. The flavours in this are really good together and I’d be happy to drink this any day of the week.

Beer Review

Picaroons – Timberhog Irish Stout

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Picaroons-Timber-Hog

Intro

I’ve actually rather enjoyed taking the opportunity to write some more reviews of beers. It gives me a good opportunity to read through style-guidelines and gets me excited about new beers to try in the future.  With that, there is another beer that has recently arrived on shelves here in Manitoba and it comes from my hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick. That beer is Timberhog Stout from and the brewery is Picaroons.

Growing up in the Maritimes was pretty great. I visited the ocean pretty much every summer, enjoyed mild wet winters with close to 6 feet of accumulated snow, easy access to Montreal or Boston. What I enjoyed the most about growing up in New Brunswick was the people. We also had great beer. Some of my first beers came from Garrison and Moosehead. As I grew up, so did the beer tastes of the community in Fredericton.

The brewery

While I’m hard pressed to choose a favorite brewery, these guys have a really firm place in my heart. It’s likely because I’ve grown up with them and the fact they come from my hometown.  They originally brewed their first beer in 1995.  They pushed too hard too fast and eventually went out of business in 1999.  This was a pretty big blow to the craft beer scene in NB.

Picaroons didn’t stay down. In 2001 they got back up on their feet and started brewing again. This time taking it slowly, using bigger bottles (500ml bottles) and keeping distribution close to home. Eventually they started making their way into pubs around the city, expanding distribution and growing their selection of beers.

My brother over at Beer Toronto interviewed the owner and brewmaster Sean Dunbar back in 2013. Rather than reiterate all of the good information he got, take a look at his write-up.

In 2014 Picaroons proudly became a certified Benefit Corporation. B-Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. In a nutshell, B Corp is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee.

We’ve had a few beers from Picaroons show up on our shelves here in Manitoba. We’ve got their Irish Red and their Yipee IPA and now we’ve got their Timberhog Stout. I really hope we might see more come our way, including my favorite Feels Good Imperial Pilsner.

The Style

Stouts are a dark beer made using roasted malts or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast.  Traditionally the term stout was used to describe the strongest (most alcoholic) porters, typically around 7-8%, produced by a brewery.  The reason for the name ‘stout’ was because these strong porters were often sold in stouter bottles than the standard porters.  This gave them the nickname ‘stout’ which eventually became the term used to describe the style of beer.

There are numerous styles of stouts ranging from Dry Stouts, to Porters, and Oyster stouts and my favorite Imperial Stouts.  While they had lost popularity in the early 20th century after the First World War, they have started to have a bit of an upswing due to the growing popularity in craft beer and breweries.  Stouts are very versatile allowing for a lot of creativity in adjuncts and flavouring and you can see a number of craft breweries doing stouts quite regularly.  Higher alcohol stouts also often age well making them a wonderful cellaring beer.

The Review

ABV – 5.0%         IBU – 29

Appearance – Black as ink with a good 1 finger of persistent tan head.

Smell – Roasted malt, caramel and toffee and sweet bread

Taste – Nice flavours of molasses, toffee, coffee and cocoa that come through especially as the beer warms up. The combination of these flavours really blends well with the dry finish and the slight bitterness. If anything, it’s a little bit sweet.

Mouth Feel – Oily mouthfeel with good carbonation and a medium body. Finish is dry with a bit of bitterness. The finish is nice to contrast the sweet notes in the taste.

Overall Thoughts – Good combination of flavours and finish. Molasses, toffee, coffee and cocoa bring a really nice flavor profile along with the dry bitter finish. The balance is certainly there as are the dark malts and other expected flavours. As I said, if anything, it is a little sweet.

Do I like it? – I do enjoy this beer. While I think it’s better when I can get it from the source, I’m excited to see Picaroons making its way out here. It’s a taste of the Maritimes and of my hometown and each time I drink one of these I get a twinge of nostalgia.

Barn Hammer, Beer News, General Post

Barn Hammer’s Beers

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Barn Hammer

It’s been a while since I’ve followed up with the folks over at Barn Hammer to see how they are doing. They are still in the midst of construction and so I wasn’t able to pop down there to talk to them. I hope to be able to once things have calmed down.  It should mean the space is looking closer to completion, that they are closer to being ready to brew, and that they are less stressed.

One of the things that has happened since I last spoke to Barn Hammer is that they’ve officially announced their core beers.  It’s been a fun time watching them tweet about them over the past weeks and seeing the fantastically designed logos.  So, while this isn’t a full and complete update on Barn Hammer, I wanted to make sure that you are up to date.

While I don’t know much about the particular versions of these beers being produced by Barn Hammer, I’ll give you an idea of the style. Overall I am pretty excited to give them all a try.

BH - Lousy Beatnik

First up we have the Lousy Beatnik Kellerbier. Also known as a Zwickelbier it is a German style that is typically not clarified or pasteurized.  The term Kellerbier literally translates to “Cellar Beer” referring to the cool lagering temperatures.  The origins of this style date back to the Middle Ages.  Compared to more traditional lagers, Kellerbiers tend to contain more of their original yeast. Essentially this is a German Lager.

 

BH - Granpas Sweater

A variation of the Stout style that developed in the late 1800s. Some brewers in England would throw a handful of oatmeal in to their grist and call it a “healthy” oatmeal stout for marketing

Generally, between an Irish Stout and a Sweet Stout on for sweetness, there are numerous varieties which can go from very dry to quite sweet. Level of bitterness also varies in this style.

The use of oatmeal can create a silky mouthfeel and richness of body, while a large amount of oatmeal can result in a fairly intense, almost oily mouthfeel.

BH - Sneak Belgique

A 400-year-old Belgian style of beer that died out in the 1950s and was later reviewed by Hoegaarden. This style has grown in popularity due to its ability to carry some nice spice and fruit notes and its refreshing nature. Typically, a bit of peppery notes, perfumy coriander and citrusy notes.

This style is overall a refreshing, elegant, tasty, moderate strength wheat based ale.

BH - Saturday Night Lumberjack

This fourth beer, which reads Pale Ale, has recently been updated, though not with such a beautiful picture, to be a Double IPA.  Brian, the brewmaster, decided to try making this as a double IPA and it was a hit. So, they decided to make that as their fourth beer instead of this Pale Ale.

The style, a Double IPA, is a beer that is an American craft beer invention that began in the 1990s. The adjective “Double” really doesn’t mean anything other than this beer is stronger than a regular IPA. You will see “Imperial” used quite regularly as well. It’s the same style.

The style should be intensely hoppy and fairly strong with an IBU (international bitterness unit) range of 60-120, an ABV of between 7.5% and 10% with a lighter colour. Drinkability of the style is important and it should be well balanced with strong malt backbone and residual sweetness.

7th stab red aleThe fifth and final beer has been announced and it is a red ale.  The beer is called “Seventh Stab” red ale because it literally was their seventh stab at making a red ale.  I know in speaking with the brewmaster Brian Westcott, that it was tough to get it tasting how they wanted while still being “red enough.  At the end of the day, they got the right balance and so, 7th try is the charm.

While not indicated, the style is most likely that of an Irish Red Ale.  While Ireland has a strong brewing tradition, the Irish Red Ale is really a variation on the English Bitter with less hopping and a bit more roasted malt added for colour and sweetness.

This style of beer is easy-drinking with subtle flavours of caramel, toffee and a bit of a grainy texture on the palate. There are certain versions of this style that will emphasize the caramel and sweetness of the malt  moreso than others.  It’s important to mention that there are many variations that exist within this style.  While a more traditional style will have less of a hop profile, there is an emerging version in the craft beer scene that is more hop forward with a higher ABV.

To end this post, Barn Hammer also has some Merchandise available should you wish to pick some up and support them as they build their brewery. You can represent a new craft brewery around town in a nice T-shirt or toque.

BH - Merch

Each of the items is $25 including tax and they are accepting cash or cheque right now.  If you’d like something, you can contact them here.