Category Archives: Drink

02.06.11
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Beer 5 of 28: North Shore P.O.’d Pumpkin

A Pumpkin Ale from Port Stanley, ONThe Beer: A Pumpkin Ale of unknown strength from Port Stanley, ON
The Location: Jay’s place

The second of Kurt’s homebrews for the evening, and about the closest to an annual seasonal we’ve come to expect from our talented friend. One of Kurt’s most famed and requested brews is a heavily hopped pumpkin ale featuring hops grown from his own garden. This would be my first chance to try the popular beer and I was ready to go!

Poured darker than expected but still an amber-orange with a massive foamy white head on top. The aroma offered tons of floral and peppery hops and a bounty of fresh pumpkin. Kurt noted to me that unlike many pumpkin beers that make use of canned pumpkin puree (one of the best canned products you can use, by the way), Kurt actually used real, roasted pumpkin. You can tell, especially in the taste. Just bursts of caramelized, roasted pumpkin and cinnamon, tons of great flavour. Sweet, demerara sugar and tons of hops close it off inside a thick, almost oily mouthfeel. Just a really well done beer, and I don’t even typically like pumpkin beers!

02.06.11
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Beer 4 of 28: Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot

7.8% American Strong AleThe Beer: A 7.83% American Strong Ale from Petaluma, CA
The Location: Jay’s place

This oddly named WTF Ale had captured my attention – and dollars – at Consumer’s Beverage in Buffalo following my trip the previous summer to Arizona. Paul and I had made sure to stop and load up a bit on bombers of good beer before heading home. This one is billed “a malty, robust jobless recovery ale”, thusly named as it’s not quite in the red or black, and thus must be in the brown.

The aroma was strongly both sour and sweet, clearly heavy with the malts as promised. The taste is malty, of course, brown sugar and toffee alongside a surprising amount of hops. Another job well done by the friendly folks at Lagunitas.

02.06.11
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Beer 3 of 28: North Shore Jalapeño Peppercorn Bock

4% Bock from OntarioThe Beer: A 4% Bock from Port Stanley, ON
The Location: Jay’s place

Friday was the night before my birthday and I was invited to Jay’s house to join he and my old college friend, Kurt, for a night of beer, corned beef, and a whole bunch of guitar. Kurt is an incredibly gifted home brewer, a natural, and had heretofore been unable to make a real, honest mistake. That was, we were told, until the Jalapeño Peppercorn Bock. So bad, Kurt had claimed, that he’d dumped half of it from the carboy down the sink, saving a few bottles for fun.

So Kurt cracked it open and poured a sample around, pouring a fairly dark amber with a small amount of white head. The aroma was definitely jalapeño, some black pepper. All of it a little muted. We grinned and took our first sip, and we were shocked to find a delicate, light beer with subtle, fresh peppers and some spicy hops. It was actually good. We kept sipping only to find our initial thoughts were right, that some time in the bottle had treated this North Shore offering well.

I guess we’ll still be waiting on that first big Kurt failure, because this one wasn’t it!

02.02.11
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Beer 2 of 28: Lion Stout

The Beer: An 8.0% Foreign Stout from Nuwara Eliya & Biyagama, Sri Lanka
The Location: My Cellar

I recall drinking one of these a number of years ago, during a weekend where the boys were over to play video games, and just prior to a golf game. 8% on an empty stomach can be a bit. That was a good game of golf.

She pours pitch black, tan head that dissipates quickly. Sweet aroma of molasses, coffee beans, raisins and chocolate. This one, like the one before it, is rich and thick to drink, a bit oily and very smooth. The booze is actually quite noticeable, but surrounded predominantly in the raisin and molasses with hints of roasted malts, chocolate and boozy black cherries.

Stout night is over, and I’m likely to abstain on Thursday as I’ll be hitting the gym. But Friday is a night of guitar and beer with Jay and Kurt, so I anticipate some fun. Stay tuned!

02.02.11
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Beer 1 of 28: Ölvisholt Brugghús Lava

The Beer: A 9.4% Imperial Stout from Selfoss, Iceland
The Location: My Cellar

My favourite style of beer is an excellent Imperial Stout, and at the same time I want something with an incredible amount of flavour. I know when I get into home brewing soon it’s going to be to make truly extreme beers, so the promise of a smoked Imperial Stout was.. promising.

This one poured almost jet black, great ruby red edging, and a thick tan head. The aroma is certainly strong in smoke, cocoa, roasted coffee, and a distinct sweet cherry. Great! This one is an Imperial done right – smooth, almost oily, so easy to drink. Lots of great smoke but done perfectly, allowing the cocoa and cherry to make their way through. A great first choice to kick things off!