Side Launch Pale Ale

Photo credit: lets-eat-collingwood.ca

When I first read that this beer uses Canadian Malt and North American hops, I immediately got excited for two reasons. One, it is great to enjoy a beer with ingredients all from this great land we call North America; and two, I just finished brewing a beer with Canadian 2-row barley, Ontario Cascade hops and US Magnum hops, and I was excited to taste a product that potentially is using the same ingredients I did!

So for this tasting, I purchased a 473 mL can of this beer, and just drank it straight from the can.. I know, always pour a beer into a glass to enjoy its full potential, but in all honesty, I didn’t need to! With a half decent nose you can get past any metallic smell from the can and get a good idea of what this beer is all about. I immediately smell the pleasant aromas of the hops which interestingly remind me of a cascade or a US Magnum, and give off a good general citrus scent, exciting!!

The taste is really quite sweet, but very delightful as it is nicely balanced by the hops. It certainly isn’t like any regular pale ale as it really does have great substance and character, not light like many mainstream pale ales, it’s more… creative and enjoyable just like many Canadians! Easy drinking, really enjoyable and a beer you could enjoy at any pub listening to live music, or during dinner with really any dish, it is quite the versatile beer. Anytime you can make a beer that is full of flavour but isn’t too overpowering or filling, its definitely a win.

Come to think of it, I definitely have tried this beer before, at a comedy event somewhere in Toronto, and I recognize it from the after taste which is still quite tasty!

I’d definitely rate this beer a solid 7.5/10 all across the board as it is really well rounded, easy drinking for the hard-core craft beer enthusiast, and just overall really nice. Definitely a great bridging beer for the less adventurous craft beer drinker, but a solid staple for the regular craft beer drinker. I’m definitely looking forward to knocking back many a pint o’ this beautiful brew this summer!

Flying Monkey: The MATADOR

“Imperial Strength Dark Rye Ale aged on a bed of Spanish Cedar.”

How can you not try this out, even if the presentation of a colourful Flying Monkey “Limitless Edition” box doesn’t suck you in first?

Flying Monkey’s description on the box reads: “Peppery brown with dark, oxblood lights, the spicy, citrus-y body of El Toro Bravo can be enjoyed fresh or cellared. At 10.1%, this stout-hearted dark rye ale is perfect for aging. The dauntless grace of the noble Haullertauer hop and the complexity of wood flavours only grow more dignified with age.

I didn’t even read this description and the first thing I noticed was cedar, and I love cedar! (I built a wine rack out of cedar wood). That is really the overpowering scent you get with this beer, and of course a little bit of the citrus from the hops.

The taste. That is where all the fun resides with this beer. With the strong smells of cedar, you think that would be the overbearing taste the whole way through, but no! It starts off…creamy! Then a fast transition happens when the hoppy bitterness really kicks in for a very short lived time. After that? Another quick transition where you really get a “spicy” taste when the Spanish Cedar and “peppery-ness” kicks in. At first, the finish seems like the spice is all Cayenne and Nutmeg, but then the taste of cedar comes out and it is glorious! It leaves your tongue almost dry and wanting another drink, with NO hint of the alcohol content of this beer. It simply is amazing!

This has to be the most complex beer I’ve ever had the chance to try, yet in its complexity it was so easy to grasp the different flavours and aromas. A true joy is what this beer is, and before you know it, the whole 750 mL will be gone! I’m going back to the store to grab a few others to cellar and enjoy sometime down the road!

Forked River: Wendigo

Wendigo

The Forked River Wendigo: Like any Imperial Stout, it is a full experience for your senses. You know it’s going to be a thick, exciting, full tasting beer when you first pour it into a glass and the resultant foam that accumulates on the surface is a dark brown. Now thats what I like to see in a beer! To the non-experienced “dark beer” drinker, the visual aspect can certainly be off-putting as most people will shy away from such a dark beer, but there is so much more to it if you can get past the thought of that dark, thick looking liquid.

On the first approach, you experience the pleasant aroma that accompanies a Stout like this, and this one is glorious. You should most definitely pick up on vanilla. However, with the aroma, you can really get a sense for the alcohol content of this beer, which measures in at 10.2%. A beer that can really knock you on your ass if you’re not careful; remember, this is a beer meant for enjoying slowly, listening to some good Jazz music, or whatever you prefer to do on Tuesday night!

The taste. Oh man, is it great. I mentioned earlier about the vanilla scent that you can pick up on, well, it is certainly a note that becomes multiplied in the taste. A mouthful of this beer will really send your taste buds buzzing, it is a beer most certainly exciting to drink. Every time I try an imperial stout, it is the same way. Its such a great style of beer that stands very well on its own, and this beer is a true testament to the style. Many people will try to suggest beer and food parings, and a lot of such pairings will be great. The simple truth is, many different beers will pair really well with a great variety of foods; very unlike the wine pairing experience. However, this beer in particular is like a dessert on its own. I can imagine pairing it with some sort of apres dinner dessert would be great, but you might find yourself not being able to finish both a dessert and the beer, it’s a pretty heavy beer!

How to drink it:

A lot of hardcore beer drinkers will tell you to put it ON TOP of your refrigerator to actually get a little warmer, as it brings out the “true taste” in a beer like this. Well, I’ve drank many imperial stouts in that fashion and it certainly is a great way to enjoy it, but if this is your first, or fifth time trying an Imperial Stout, I’d refrigerate it from room temp for about 30 minutes

The final tally.

I will give it a 9/10 visually, I have been discovering that a beer that pours like this will never disappoint.

Olfactory score: Yea, it certainly smells great. However the sheer alcohol content takes away from it. I say 6/10

Taste: She’s a beaut. There is only one other Imperial Stout that I’ve tried that outweighs this beer, and that was The Rasputan. I give this an 8/10 on taste.

Overall: This beer is great for enjoying slowly, and if you can appreciate a good, heavy tasting beer that offers a lot of excitement. It really is the whole package. In my books, this sits at a solid 8/10.

Cheers folks! If you’re in and around Ontario, give this beer a go, eh?

Too much delicious Ontario wine

This is a situation I found myself in last summer which was a result of poor (or great!) life decisions in the midst of lots of great free wine down in Niagara valley.

After a few sample glasses during a few different free tours, I really wanted to buy some of this awesome wine! At the time it seemed like a wonderful idea to buy a WHOLE box of wine instead of one or five bottles like a normal person would, so I did. Upon arriving home I realized I had no place for all this wine! So, down to the local lumber store, and Canadian Tire for some tools and off we go!

Welcome!

Welcome! I’m essentially just creating this blog to share some experiences with travelling, cooking, beers, running … etc. Basically all of the things that I am really interested in and I hope you are too!

Thanks,

Greg