Beer Review
Barrel-aged Saison — Black Oak Brewery
One of my favourite perennial beers is Black Oak's Summer Saison. A wicked good saison, with lots of bright citrus notes and classic Belgian spices from the yeast, it's a heck of a beer. So I was obviously pretty excited …
The Wayward Son — Radical Road Brewing Co.
There was a time when I would have said that this beer had one of the most attractive and interesting packages. I mean, a real champagne bottle, very minimally labelled, in a beautiful stained-glass motif box? Just …
Oaktoberfest —Black Oak Brewing Co.
While Bavarians are in full Oktoberfest swing, and the massive tents of Munich are full to overflowing with joyful celebrants, we are just starting to get our dose of German and German-style Oktoberfest beers here in …
Budweiser Crown — Anheuser-Busch/InBev
People drink with their eyes. They drink with the memories too. Even a fairly old and stale Guinness can still taste decent to me, because it sparks memories of incredible Guinness. Similarly, it can be hard for me to …
Shawinigan Handshake — Le Trou du Diable
Probably the best label in the beer world, Shawinigan Handshake pays homage to the choke-slamming PM from PQ. The last in my mini-series on hopfenweisse beers, following Miami Weisse by Great Lakes and Hopfenweisse by …
Hopfenweisse — Les Trois Mousquetaires
Following on the tail of Great Lakes Miami Weiss, is another one of these quirky over-hopped wheat beers. This one from the excellent Quebecois brewer, Les Trois Mousquetaires. Known for making some epic classic style …
Miami Weiss — Great Lakes Brewery, 2013
The nature of the growth of the brewing scene, means that new styles are created, and variations on styles become their own. This is why we now have pales ales, and American pale ales. Brewers play with things, blend …
Lawnmower Arm Saison — Great Lakes Brewery
I think I had Lawnmower Arm Saison before. I'm not really sure, but it sounded familiar. But when I was at the Great Lakes Brewery in Etobicoke this week, and I saw it, as a barrel-aged, on sour cherries, incarnation, I …
Saison de la Canneberg — Great Lakes Brewery x Cassel Brewing
I love this. Here is what I know about this beer: Nothing. I haven't even texted Lackey for any insight. I'm pretty sure Saison de la Canneberg translates to "Cranberry Saison", but that's all I've got. I know Great …
Sunny and Share Citrus Saison — Mad and Noisy Brewing
Well, you might remember when I wrote about Mad and Noisy Hops and Bolts IPL a while back. If so, you will probably be as excited as I was to hear that Creemore is back at it, now with their Sunny and Share Citrus …
Orange Peel Ale — Great Lakes Brewery
One of my earliest craft-beer memories from my journey into better beer, was seeing a tap handle that was an orange. I don't know why I was so enamoured by it, but I was. It was, of course, the tap handle for Great Lakes …
Crazy Canuck Pale Ale — Great Lakes Brewery
Well here's (I think) a TorontoBeerBlog.com first: I'm re-reviewing a beer. Actually it's really not that big a deal, particularly when the beer in question is Crazy Canuck Pale Ale, and the people who make it is Great …
Wizard Wolf Session Ale — Bellwoods Brewery
If you've ever asked me about beers and quality, one thing that I will often bang on about, is that fresh is best (at least in most cases). So when I dropped by Bellwoods Brewery this morning to chat about some summer …
Fruit Stand Watermelon Wheat Ale — Kensington Brewing Co
There are a lot of beers out there with fruit in them. To start with, the myriad lite lime type things that seem to have endless marketing budgets. There are also more than a few pleasing beers made in Canada with things …
Maverick and Gose — Amsterdam Brewing Co and Great Lakes Brewery
You might recall a few weeks back I wrote about how Maverick and Gose was about to become the first all-Ontario collaboration to hit the LCBO. Well, after the usual LCBO bureaucratic hiccup, it is rolling out! If you …
Rickard's Shandy — Molson-Coors Canada
Years ago, I was sitting at Castro's, with a dear friend of mine named Christian. Christian is German. This is important to the story, trust me. At the time his English was fairly good, but occasionally, he would stumble …
Fracture Double IPA — Amsterdam Brewing Co.
I love hops, and I hope you do too. In fact, I have three hop plants on order from Toronto Brewing as we speak. I also have a hop vine at my mother's house. So, you would assume that I was a pretty big hop head. Give me …
Lady Stavoren Wheat Wine — Amsterdam Brewing Co.
It's always nice when I'm handed a beer, that is a style I'm not familiar with. I admit, it happens less these days then, say, three years ago. But when it does, it reminds me how awesome the beer world is. I felt this a …
6-4-3 Double IPA — Left Field Brewery
Wow. Just Wow. How about Left Field Brewery? I don't know if you remember when, a few weeks ago (March 4th, to be specific) I mentioned Left Field Brewery launching. I remember, because it was the single biggest day of …
Canny Man Wee Heavy — Radical Road Brewing Co.
Last year, I walked into Black Oak Brewery in Etobicoke, and was greeted by a mountain of whiskey barrels. Seriously, like, 80, I think. I knew that many breweries were jumping onto the barrel-aging wagon, but this …