A Halifax Beer Delivery

Teena was working in Halifax this week and came home with a very heavy suitcase full of craft beer for me.  Twelve tall cans, four regular cans and two 650ml bottles.What a great wife!

I now have these beer to try:

• Shipyard Brewing from Maine
• Charles Wells Brewery in the UK. 

To show how much the craft brewing industry has caught on in Nova Scotia, Teena brought back these beers from breweries:

• Tatamagouche Brewery
• Nine Locks Brewing
• Spin Drift Brewing
• Sea Level Brewing
• North Brewing Company

These Nova Scotia breweries likely sprang up in the past year or so. Teena is from there and was in Halifax just this past spring. She never noticed beer from all these breweries available then.

Good news for Nova Scotia and for me, as I am looking forward to trying them all.

Beer of the Week - St. Peter's G-Free Ale

I read a stat somewhere that said that 1 out of every 133 people have some form of celiac disorder, which makes them allergic to gluten in grain products. Fortunately I am one of the 132 people that don't have this, but having high blood glucose levels and read Wheat Belly, I have cut out most wheat products. As a result, my sugar has dropped dramatically and I never feel bloated.

You are likely wondering what this has to do with beer.

I love beer, which, of course, is made with malt, which is made from barley, which is a grain. As I love trying all sorts of beer, there will always be a little grain in my diet but I wondered what a gluten-free beer would taste like. I have heard that most are not very good but came across an article in the Toronto Star by their beer writer Josh Rubin about St. Peter's G-Free, who said that this particular beer is pretty tasty, so I had to give it a try.

The difference between this and other gluten-free beers is that this uses sorghum in place of barley malt. Sorghum is an ancient cereal grain that has been grown for thousands of years and has a very high drought tolerance.


Being gluten-free isn’t sorghum’s only bragging right. It’s also a whole grain that provides many other nutritional benefits. Sorghum, which doesn't have an inedible hull like some other grains, is commonly eaten with all its outer layers, thereby retaining the majority of its nutrients. Sorghum also is grown from traditional hybrid seeds and does not contain traits gained through biotechnology. (The author of Wheat Belly claims that changes made through biotechnology to increase farm yields has made wheat an unhealthy food).

Some specialty sorghums are high in antioxidants, which are believed to help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and some neurological diseases. In addition, the wax surrounding the sorghum grain contains compounds called policosanols, that may have an impact on human cardiac health. Some researchers, in fact, believe that policosanols have cholesterol-lowering potency comparable to that of statins.

So, this could be an extra healthy beer but how does it taste?

I have written about St. Peter's Brewery before. The brewery was built in 1996 but St. Peter's Hall that houses the brewery restaurant was built in the early 1500s, held its first feast in 1539, and comes complete with a moat constructed in the 11th or 12th century.

The G-Free pours golden in colour with an almost non-existent white head that disappears quickly. There are no lacings. This is acceptable though as this ale contains no barley malt. When I snap the cap to the beer, I am hit right away with the aroma of hops. After taking a better smell, I also notice some grass mixing in with the hops.

The G-free starts on the sweet side but then the hops come through in the finish. There is a bit of a different taste to this, not in a bad way, just different. I tell you that if I had a gluten allergy, this would be the beer I would turn to.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 296
Breweries 266
Countries 45

Beer of the Week - Beavertown Brewery Black Betty Black IPA

At one time, the only black beers available were porters and stouts, which use roasted malts. Now breweries are experimenting and using roasted malt in lagers and ales. I have enjoyed many that I have tried and when I found an England-brewed black IPA by Beavertown Brewery, I just had to give it a try.

Beavertown Brewery originated in the kitchen of Duke's Brew and Que in De Beauvoir area of Hackney, London, and could put out 1,150 pints per batch. In March 2103, they outgrew the kitchen and moved to a larger spot on Fish Island (for some reason I love that name).  In May 2014, they moved again to their present location in Tottenham Hale.

So where did the name for the brewery come from? Beavertown was an old Cockney name given to the historic De Beauvoir area, famed across Victorian London for it's rich characters and infinite revelry.

Three kinds of hops are used in this, Columbus, Chinook and Citra, along with five malts which combine to make a 7.4% high octane IPA.

And the taste?

The beer pours almost pure black with a good brownish head. Lots of lacings are left behind as I sip.

A coffee, dark chocolate bitterness is my first sensation when I take that first sip. There is almost a rest in the middle, before the bitterness returns in a combination of chocolate and hops. There is a slight bit of citrus in the finish.

Black Betty IPA is a delicious beer that I look forward to having again.

(Thanks to our cat, Crumpet, for giving up her spot in the back window for the photo.)

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 265 
Breweries 235 
Countries 47

Beer of the Week - Fullers 2011, 2013 and 2014 Vintage Ale

Fullers started brewing their Vintage Ale in 1997. Their idea was to use basically the same recipe, slightly tweaked from year to year, the same yeast, but use the only the very best malt and hops of that year. I started with the 2008 and have done every year since except for 2012. I have no idea what happened there!

Fuller's Vintage Ale is brewed in small batches each bottle being numbered. They used to say how many were produced but I can't find the number for the past couple of years. There were 150,000 bottles of the 2011 produced but I am unable to find how many of the 2013 and 2014 were bottled.

I enjoy storing the beer, Fullers recommends laying the beer down when doing so, and then trying and comparing to the previous two years. The beers below I tasted on three separate days to ensure I didn't confuse the flavours.

The 2014 (Bottle 60,862)

This is the 18th edition in the range and has been brewed with three of this year's finest hop varieties from both sides of the Atlantic. Goldings, from England, has been used for subtle bitterness and American varieties Liberty and Cascade were used in dry hopping to give a zesty, grapefruit aroma. 

“As a truly distinguished bottle-conditioned ale, each vintage improves in the bottle with time. Bottle conditioning means that a little yeast is left in the bottle, which will mature slowly over the years like a fine wine or whisky- well beyond the 'best before' date that we are obliged to state. 

Interestingly, the best before date on this one is the end of 2024, ten years from when it came out.

The 2014 pours amber in colour with an off white, slightly brownish head. It's a lively beer and was very hard to keep the head down to a decent level. Even though this beer uses American hops, the aroma is dominated by the scent of the Goldings, an English hop which seems to always claim that yes, this is an English ale. A hint of caramel also is present.

I find that this starts with a little sweetness, with a slight caramel taste before those wonderful English hops come through. The is a little grapefruit in the bitterness but the English Goldings dominate.

What a wonderful ale. I can hardly wait to see how the other two bottle I have ages.

The 2013

The 2013 Vintage Ale, our 17th edition, is brewed with four of this year's finest hop varieties. Goldings, Sovereign, Challenger and the trophy-winning Admiral. With a dry spring and wet summer, we have chosen a winter barley which, when combined with our unique yeast, gives a rich and complex result.

As with the 2014, this beer pours with the same amber colour and same head. The head's not as lively as the 2014.  It's aroma is slightly yeasty.

The 2013 starts off a little funky in taste before the English hops come through. It does not have as much bitterness as the 2014 and that hop bite falls away quickly and the beer ends with a long earthy finish.

A decent ale which I really enjoyed.

The 2011

The 2011 Vintage Ale, our 15th, is brewed with some of the finest of this year’s malt and hops. The malt grist includes a portion produced by Warminster maltings, from organic barley grown by Sir James Fuller on the Nestone Park Estate. This will be married with the choicest Goldings, Organic First Gold and award winning Sovereign hops, to produce a beer with a firm malt base, marmalade notes and a satisfying bitter finish.

The 2011 was quite active as I poured but not as much as the others. Again the same colour profiles apply. I found the aroma to have a very earthy tone to it. No caramel, or hops, but earthy is the only way I can describe it.

When I sip it, I do find some caramel in the start which gives way to a nice little bit of English bitterness in the finish. It is a very smooth, well layered and complex tasting ale, which would be the result of three years of aging. It's my last 2011 and was very very enjoyable.

I have two 2013s and two 2014s aging to go along with the 2015 which should come out in December. Comparing the different years is just so much fun to do!

Beer of the Week - Tasting History with Worthington`s White Shield IPA

This week I am very excited about this weeks Beer of the Week, Worthington`s White Shield IPA for this is my chance to taste a little history, to see what an English IPA used to be.

The history of exporting beer from England to India all began, so they say, at Burton on Trent, which when I look it up on a map, lies dead centre in England. This town had more breweries than any other English city and was the centre of the universe for beer.

It seems that the troops and officers stationed in India back in the 1700 and 1800`s wanted their good old English beer to quench their thirst from the continuous sweltering weather. A beer had to be made to stand the rigors of a voyage of many months from England to India. This beer style was simply name an India Pale Ale, or IPA. It was made with more malts than an regular beer, and much more hops than usual. The reason for the extra hops is that after awhile a beer can lose it`s taste and bitterness, so extra was added. Hops also act as a preservative, which was very handy back in the days before pasteurization. I actually would rather have a beer preserved with hops instead of being pasteurized.

William Worthington opened his brewery back in 1744 and began brewing his White Shield IPA in 1829. In 1927, Worthington`s Brewery merged with Bass Brewery. In 1981, Bass moved it`s brewery out of Burton on Trent, to Sheffield in 1981. In 1998 Worthington`s White Shield was actually contracted out to a brewery in Sussex.

In 2000, bass was bought out by Interbrew which was bought out by Molson Coors in 2002. The interesting thing though is that Molson Coor`s moved it`s head office back to Burton on Trent and started brewing Worthington`s White Shield IPA again from there. This is important as from what I have read about IPA`s over the years is that one thing that made the English IPA special back in the Old Days was the famous Burton on Trent well water.The head brewer says that while the recipe has been slightly tweaked over the years, it still is basically the same recipe that was brewed in 1829. It is known as the oldest surviving examples of an original IPA.

The beer has won 9 CAMRA awards (Campaign for Real Ale) as it undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle as a little extra yeast is added during bottling.

And the taste?

This ale pours  an amber colour with a slight orange tinge to it. It has a short off white head that falls away fairly quickly. It might be my glass that which I thought I had rinsed well. I can sense the malt in the aroma, with a little caramel. There also is an earthiness which must be the hops.

There is a little spiciness to start, but the hops start to come in to provide a nice slightly bitter bite in the finish. I like the earthiness to this which i find in many English pale ales and IPA's. This is not a hop bomb like many IPAs which are brewed today, but a well balanced, very, very nice ale. If this is how IPAs started, I can see how they became so popular.

It was said that the rolling of the ship as it traveled to India contributed to the flavours in the beer when it arrived. This IPA came over the Atlantic on a ship, so maybe what I taste here is a little different than what they taste in England. Hey, I just know it's really good and I will be buying more. 

I think Molson Coors did something quite positive by moving the brewing of this beer back to Burton on Trent.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 254 
Breweries 227 
Countries 46

Beer of the Week - Gales Seafarers Ale

Friday nights after work, I enjoy stopping somewhere on the way home to have a pint or two while reading and unwinding from my week.

Tonight I stopped in at The Bristol, a new English style pub that opened up earlier in the year in our neighbourhood. We have eaten there a couple of time but I have never stopped in for just a pint.

As they are an English pub, they have a full line of Fuller's English ales on tap. I was delighted when I walked up to the bar that there was a beer on tap that I had never had before, Gales Seafarers Ale.

George Gale & Company was found back in 1847 in Hampshire on the southern coast of England by, of course, George Gale. His first brewery burned down in 1869 and a new one was built beside it. Apparently much of that new brewery still exists. In 1896, George Gale sold his interest in the company to Herbert Bowyer. The company stayed in the Bowyer's family hands until 2005 when it was bought by Fuller's in 2005.

According to the Oxford Companion to Beer, many loyal patrons of the Gales line of beers were afraid that many of the recipes they enjoyed would be changed but Fuller's wisely kept them going.

In 2009, Fuller's launched Gales Seafarers Ale, a 3.6% APV British Bitter as a tribute to the founder. Seafarers UK.

Having been developed as a tribute to George Gales long and close association with sailors,  Fuller's makes a donation for every pint or barrel sold to a leading marine charity,

The job of a seafarer is vital, but hazardous. Many face urgent problems of very different kinds. Seafarers UK provides vital funding to organizations and projects that support seafarers and their families in need.

5 British Pounds ($9 CAD) is donated to the charity for every barrel sold and as of 2011, sales of Seafarers Ale have accounted for 35 million Pounds being donated ($63 CAD). Not bad at all!

And the taste?

The Seafarers poured a darker amber colour with a small white head. This must be dry hopped (hops added at the end of the brew for aroma) as I could sense floral hops in the ales fragrance. lacings were left behind as I sipped.

My first sip started off quite watery and I was almost disappointed that the hops I detected in the aroma were a lie.  But then a nice hop bitterness started to make itself known right through the finish, correcting the way the ale had started.

This is a nice beer to have anytime, most especially on a Sunday when a person might want to stop in for a few pints knowing they have to work the next day.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 250 
Breweries 223 
Countries 46

Beer of the Week - Fullers Vintage Ale 2010 and 2011

(Note: I'm glad I did this Monday night as I have been sick all weekend. Being sick is not fun but being sick on the weekend really sucks!)

A few years ago, I was faithfully buying and cellaring each year’s edition of Fullers Vintage Ale. I thought that I had done a few posts on them but was surprised to find that I only did two, the 2009 edition and a comparison of the 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Time to change that!

Monday night Teena and I were up at our friends and neighbors', Steve and Simone's, for a BBQ. Steve is a former chef and the food was fabulous!

I brought along with me the 2010 and 2011 vintages of Fullers Vintage Ale. If I had the 2012 and 2013, I would have brought them too but was somehow negligent in buying some when they were available. I told Steve he had to assist me in comparing these two vintages for this week's Beer of the Week and he loved the idea!

Every year since 1997, Fullers, located in London, England, has created a new Vintage Ale.

Vintage Ale is a truly distinguished bottle-conditioned ale, crafted by Fuller’s Head Brewer, John Keeling. Each vintage is a blend of that year’s finest malt and hops, and of course our unique yeast, creating a unique limited edition brew. Bottle conditioning means that a little yeast is left in the bottle after bottling, which will mature slowly over time like a fine wine or whisky - well beyond the 'best before' date that we are obliged to state (we think it should read "best after!").

And how do they taste?

2011

The malt grist includes a portion produced by Warminster maltings, from organic barley grown by Sir James Fuller on the Nestone Park Estate. This will be married with the choicest Goldings, Organic First Gold and award winning Sovereign hops, to produce a beer with a firm malt base, marmalade notes and a satisfying bitter finish. Individually packaged and numbered, this bottle is one of only one hundred and fifty thousand produced.

This one poured browny-orange in colour with an off-white head. Nice lacings are left behind when we sip. I love the aroma of English hops. They're not citrusy as an American hop or piney like other hops, just very unique and enjoyable.This is a little more carbonated than I expected. It starts off malty but quickly the hops come through to balance the sweetness. There is an earthiness to the flavour which I quite enjoyed.

Steve, whose nose is far more efficient than mine, found marmalade and mulched leaf funk in the aroma. I love doing this with other people. I get to learn a whole new vocabulary. Where I found it nicely carbonated, Steve did not. There never is any right or wrong to tasting, just what you feel. He found the beer "really nice ... floral with wet leaves. It's delicious, sweet without being sickly sweet."

For me, I'm glad I still have one more cellering for next year.

2010

Crafted with the highest quality Tipple malted barley, this ale's main hop character is derived from traditional Golding and Fuggle hops and further enhanced with dry hopping, using a blend of the choicest Golding and Target hops." Seems this is the first year that dry hopping is used. Coupled with the unique Fuller’s yeast strain we expect this beer to mature into another ’Classic’ Vintage! 125,000 bottles produced.

We both agreed that the 2010 is more brown than orange. Again, I found an earthiness in the aroma with no hop presence. I found this one less carbonated than the 2011. This is a beautifully balanced ale full of malt sweetness and pleasant hops coming through in the end, plus something else that I will address in a moment.

Steve found some bitterness along with "some funk in this, plus there seems to be something hanging around after the funk." He also found there was a dark note to this.

One thing we both were surprised at was that there seemed to be what we can only describe as an "interlude" in the middle of each sip. A point that I have never come across before where all the flavour just stops, something clean and cleansing comes in, before the flavour starts again in the second half. Steve described it as metallic but not in a bad way. I can see where he is coming from with that but I have a different impression, one I have no words to describe. We agreed, though, that it was a surprising enjoyable quality in this wonderful ale.

A group of friends tried this back in February of 2011. Here is what we said, "We decided that we would withhold official judgment on 2010 as we felt it needed another year to age and work. Interesting thought ... I hope next year we all find this one to be a superb beer."

 It was one very superb beer!

Thanks to Steve and Simone who had us over for some great food and participated in the tasting. Simone not only took the pictures but had some sips and wasn't crazy about either. Teena would just have a smell, crinkle up her nose and then pass it back. I think she described it as "Yuck!" Maybelline joined us but did not participate.

It was a fun evening!

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 244 
Breweries 218 
Countries 46

Beer of the Week - Iron Maiden Trooper Beer

This week I found an interesting beer on the shelf of my local LCBO, Iron Maiden Beer. After reading the bottle I found out that the recipe was created by Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden for Robinsons Brewery of Cheshire England.

"I'm a lifelong fan of traditional English ale; I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when we were asked to create our own beer. I have to say that I was very nervous: Robinsons are the only people I have had to audition for in 30 years!"

The beer is named after an Iron Maiden song Trooper which was inspired by the Charge of the Light Brigade, during the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War when 600 British cavalry courageously charged the massed Russian artillery. This gallant but foolhardy assault resulted in a massive loss of life and came about due to a misunderstanding of an order given by the Commanding Officer, Lord Raglan.

Although the company has been around since 1838 when William Robinson, The Unicorn Inn's landlord purchased the inn, it wasn't until 1849 that Robinson brewed the his first Ale. The Unicorn Inn is gone now with the Robinson Unicorn brewery being built on it's original foundations. For six generations the company has remained as a privately held brewer with 340 pubs under it's umbrella.

And the beer?

It pours coppery in colour with a white head. Unfortunately a neighbor came by and started a conversation before I could duck in the house to get a sense of the aroma. Damn! There are lacings left behind as I sip.

This is a British Bitter style ale. I found it a little watery in the mouth feel. There is a slight bitterness to start, which disappears but comes back in the finish. It's a nice ale, one that many would like but I found it a little too light tasting for my liking. I'll have the second but I wouldn't buy it again.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 216 
Breweries 198 
Countries 42

Beer of the Week - Meantime London Porter

To me, a porter is a beer for winter. It's a little heavier and full of taste.

The truth is that porter once was the year round beer of the working man of London back in the 1700s. This week's Beer of the Week, Meantime Brewery's London Porter, is supposedly based on a recipe from that era, circa 1750. I say "supposedly" only because I believe this will be a more refined beer than ones made over 260 years ago.

I bought this beer before the snowstorm hit Toronto so for me the timing to crack this one open and give it a try was perfect.

Meantime Brewery was first thought of by Alastair Hook and a bunch of friends back in 1999.  A year later they were brewing beer just down the road from where he lived in Greenwich about 20 minutes away from central London. The owners were pretty aggressive and a year later opened their own pub, The Greenwich Union, a pub that sold no national brands, just their own and craft beer only.

In 2004, Meantime was the only British brewery to win medals at the World Beer Cup, taking a bronze in the Vienna-Style Lager Group and another in the German-Style Märzen/Oktoberfest group. Not bad for a four year old brewery!

By 2010, they needed to expand so they moved into an Old Naval College and opened a larger brewery capable of brewing 25,000 barrels of beer per year and could be expanded to 100,000 barrels per year.  The brewery, called the Old Brewery as it is built on the site of old brewery that dates back to 1450, is also a restaurant and from looking at the pictures is gorgeous! It's a place I'll definitely try to get to if I'm ever in London again!

And the beer?

I love the fact that the bottle comes corked with a wire mesh. There's something fun about that!

The beer pours black with a brownish head, not as creamy as a stout, but creamy none the less. Chocolate really comes through in the aroma. When I first sip it, I do taste chocolate but that taste disappears quickly and a bite of coffee comes in to take its place in the finish. I may or may not be correct in this but I believe it is the harsher finish that distinguishes a porter from a stout.

Over the past couple of years, I have become a fan of porters, although I still find them a winter brew and Meantime makes one great porter! One day I hope to visit the Old Brewery and The Greenwich Union, and when I do, I would love to order this on draft or cask!

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 195 
Breweries 178 
Countries 37

Beer of the Week - Jaipur India Pale Ale

English brewers. I love researching them. Centuries old with lots of history behind them. Usually I have to figure out what to leave out of a post.

Not with Thornbridge Brewery! The brewery was opened in 2005 in a very small 10 barrel plant at Thornbridge Hall at Ashford-in-the-Water, a village in Derbyshire which is about exactly in the middle of England. Their beer became so popular that in 2009, just 4 years later, they opened separate 30,000 barrel a year brewery to handle the volume.

The brewery brews 10 different regular beers with Jaipur IPA being it's most successful. Jaipur has won 87 awards in just 7 years.

The beers they brew are pure with no pasteurisation or filtration. The beer continues to condition in the bottle. On the label is Flora who is The Goddess of Flowers. Her statue resides in the Italian Garden at Thornbridge Hall. They put her on the brewery labels as "like our beers she represents, beautiful elegance and is a compliment to the craft of her maker."

And the beer?

Jaipur pours yellow and cloudy due to being unfiltered and bottle conditioned. It has a nice white fluffy head which leaves behind beautiful lacings along the inside of the glass.


There is citrus in the aroma. I figure citra hops must be in the brew and added at the end to add to the aroma. I love, I mean really love citra hops. I just discovered them last summer. They bring a wonderful fresh taste to an ale.

After having a couple of sips, I am actually quite surprised as it is quite light tasting for an IPA. The citra hops really come through and create a terrific tasting, refreshing summer beer. The citrus then disappears in the long bitter finish.

I am really loving this beer!

One thing I notice though is that the bitter finish starts to diminish as I sip on my glass. I refill the glass from the rest of the bottle (Japipur IPA comes in a 500ml bottle @ $4.55 which is too much for my "Showcase Glass)and still the taste seems to have disappeared. I open a fresh bottle and find the same.

Very strange? I have had beers with citra hops before and know they are enduring. I am not sure what the issue is here. On the bottle it does say best before July 24th of this year. Maybe I just have an old bottle. Checking the LCBO website, I find this beer is now discontinued.

I would love to have fresh bottle of this beer to see all it can be. From my initial taste, this could be one beautiful beer.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 162
Countries 33
Breweries 140
Provinces 8
Territories 1

Light Beer - Marston's Pedigree

If there is a day made for light beer, it is a Sunday. It is nice to sit outside enjoying the nice weather, or sitting in and watching sports on TV and having a couple of beer. Having to work the next day, I prefer a light beer on a Sunday.

The English have a way of doing this well. They can make a nice hoppy 4.5 APV or less, nice tasting beer. Today I am going to try Marston's Pedigree. I have written about the brewery before when I had their 6.2% Marston's Pedigree V.S.O.P., which I really enjoyed. So after a busy weekend, I am sitting back, watching the Jays take on Cleveland and figure it's time to try V.S.O.P's lighter brother.

It pours coppery in colour with very little head. The head disappears quickly leaving behind very few lacings. The there is a bit of caramel flavour coming in from the malt and just a touch of bitterness in the end.

This beer does prove that you can brew a beer with taste but with lower alcohol. I believe that many would enjoy this beer, but for me this is just not hoppy enough.

Beer of the Week - Fullers Past Masters

Fullers is not only one of my favorite English breweries, but also one of my favorite breweries in the world. I have done them as a Beer of the Week back in 2009 and every year do a comparison of 3 years of their Vintage Ale

They are now doing something unique. Re-creating beers using some of their old beer recipes which they call Past Masters. "The Brew Book has been the bible of brewing at Fuller's since 1845. Every recipe of every beer ever brewed at the Griffin Brewery has been recorded in meticulous details, documenting the profound skills of generations of Master Brewers.

Today's Master Brewer, John Keeling, will be recreating a number of epic ales, named 'Past Masters', with those precise recipes from the Brew Book.

Sourcing ingredients as close as possible to those originally used, each Past Master will be brewed with traditional techniques to recreate a truly authentic taste.

Only one Past Masters beer will be brewed in a single batch for each release. Each will be unique in its character, and will be a very special opportunity for beer lovers to taste the beer of our forefathers."

Should be interesting!

I have two to try. First up is XX Strong Ale.

"The first beer in the Past Masters series we have chosen to recreate is XX, a strong ale which is perfect for bottle conditioning. Brewed at 7.5% ABV, with the original recipe first used on September 2, 1891, it is dark, rich and full flavoured, with a distinctly warming character."

Time to taste some history!

The Strong Ale pours a coppery colour. The head has a brownish tinge to it and it smells a little malty. Lots of lacings are left on the inside of the glass, which was expected.

The beer starts with a slight bitterness which expands and stays throughout the finish. I can tell that there is lots of malt to balance the bitterness. It is not a smooth beer, but one with a bit of an edge, a bit of a bite. No doubt how they like beer back in 1891.

I also noticed that the warmer it got, the nicer it got!

I'm glad I tried it. It was an enjoyable experience and a good beer.

Now the Double Stout. "Past Masters Double Stout is the second in the series, brewed to a recipe from 4th August 1893 – a time when 'stout' meant 'strong'. Its signature ingredient is Plumage Archer barley, carefully malted and kilned using 19th Century methods. Dark, brown and creamy this beer is brewed to 7.4% ABV and balances a rich fruity aroma with smoky, bittersweet chocolate notes."

This stout pours very black. There is no seeing through this one. A hint of chocolate does come to the nose. I had expected a coffee aroma, as this is what I usually find with roasted malt, but not this time.

This has a very silky texture to it. I guess it is what they refer to as creamy, which works for me too. I had also had expected overwhelming roasted malt flavour and some alcohol taste, but no, for a 7.4% APV stout, it is a very nice subtle taste to it. No hint of alcohol taste in this. there are lot's of chocolate tones in this one. very nicely balance. A very nice stout!

I am unsure as to what Fullers will be coming out with next in this series, but if they come to Canada, count me in.

Tasting a beer brewed the same way as it was over a hundred years ago is fun. Who says history is boring!

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 143
Countries 28
Breweries 124
Provinces 8

The Samuel Smith Gift Pack

I'm not a big fan of Christmas, but one thing about it that I do like is that many breweries world wide put out gift packs. I am a big fan of English ales and this week picked myself up a Samuel Smith gift pack. It comes with 3 beers, a Nut Brown ale, the Celebrated Oatmeal Stout and their India Ale. It also has a Samuel Smith ale glass. Not bad for $17.50

I have written about this brewery before when I tasted their Imperial Stout. In the article I described how this is one of the few breweries to use the Yorkshire Square system in it's process.

Today is about tasting though.

The first one I am trying is the Nut Brown Ale. Their website describes it as "Brewed with well water (the original well at the Old Brewery, sunk in 1758, is still in use, with the hard well water being drawn from 85 feet underground); best barley malt, yeast and aromatic hops; fermented in ‘stone Yorkshire squares’ to create a relatively dry ale with rich nutty colour and palate of beech nuts, almonds and walnuts."

Lets give it a try.

This does pour brown in colour with a brownish head and has a malty aroma. No adjuncts in this as lots of nice lacings line the glass. this beer has lots of taste! It has a creamy mouth feel and yes, there is a slight nuttiness to the flavour. It starts a sweetness, then comes that slight nutty taste, and ends with a bitter finish. Well done but just not my style of ale.

Next up is the Oatmeal Stout which the brewer describes as "an almost opaque, wonderfully silky and smooth textured ale with a complex medium dry palate and bittersweet finish" I checked and yes, there is oatmeal in this.

On the bottle the brewery claims "Celebrated Oatmeal Stout is a style benchmark revived by Samuel Smith and the inspiration for hundreds of commercial oatmeal stouts" Quit the claim.I I love oatmeal stouts and am anxious to give this a try.

The beer pours very black with a creamy brown head. I find very little aroma to this. This is a very creamy stout which rivals any other stout on the market. It is quite smooth with a slight coffee taste to it. It finishes with a slight bitterness, not a hop bitterness but one which would come from the roasted malt.

I like this. I like it a lot!

Lastly it's off to what I think should be the star of the show, the India Ale!
I am a big hop fan and it's the big hop bitterness that defines this style. Described on the website as using the "best malted barley and a generous amount of choicest aroma hops to create an exceptionally full-flavoured complex ale with an abundance of maltiness and fruity hop character."

The beer has a coppery colour with a off white head. There is some floral hops in the aroma. The beer starts slow with a slight hop bitterness but finishes with a more pronounced one. With my first sip, I thought this IPA was quite toned down. That opinion changed on the second sip as I felt the full flavour. A nice hoppy beer not overpowering in bitterness but nicely balanced. My favorite of the lot, which is what I expected.

Christmas gift packs are a great way to try some beers not usually available in Canada. This one is certainly worthwhile!

Beer of the Week- Marston's Pedigree V.S.O.P.

I have a great fondness for English ales and whenever I find a new one on the shelf of the LCBO, I pick it up. This week I found Marston's Pedigree V.S.O.P. (Very Special Old Pale) and, of course, brought a couple home.

The history of Marston's goes back to its founding by John Marston establishing J. Marston & Son back in 1834. In 1898, Marston & Son Ltd. amalgamated with John Thompson & Son Ltd. and moved to Albion Brewery in Burton on the Trent, where the brewery still operates. In 1999, Marston was taken over by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB).

In 2007, the company changed its named to Marston PLC ...

to reflect the fact that in recent years the company had become a national business, as demonstrated by the growth of the Marston's brands and the acquisition and development of the pub estate across the country. The change of name also represented an opportunity to emphasise the company's tradition, heritage and values, and to better promote our pubs across the country.

Pedigree and Pedigree V.S.O.P are brewed at Marston's Burton-Upon-Trent Brewery using an extremely old system called the Burton Union System. Burton on the Trent is home to seven breweries due mainly to the quality of the water which is drawn from boreholes drilled into the ground water.

Marston is the only brewery in the world which still uses the Burton Union System. I have done a fair bit a research into what these systems are but the best explanation comes from the Marston website.

Double rows of large wooden casks, made from European oak, are mounted on a frame, with a long trough running above. There are usually 24 union casks in a Burton Union set. Each cask can hold around 150 gallons.

The Burton Unions are used to ferment Pedigree™ and to generate Pedigree's™ very special yeast for subsequent brews. The special yeast does not separate easily from the beer, meaning it's difficult to crop for the next brew using a conventional brewing method. In a Union, the yeast is trapped on troughs and easy to recover.

The process is expensive and complicated, but it is reliable. It's the only way of guaranteeing that Marston's™ achieves a crop of our special yeast for following brews.

A very short 30 second video of the Burton Union System in action is below.

V.S.O.P. is aged for 5 weeks and dry hopped (hops added at the end of the brew to bring out a hoppy aroma in the beer) with Worcestershire Goldings, a finishing hop used for its refined gentle, fragrant and pleasant flowery tones. A unique feature of this beer is that brandy soaked oak chips are added while the beer conditions.

And the taste?

The beer pours amber in colour with a white head which disappears rather quickly. Lacings do remain on the glass when sipped. I can detect hops in the aroma.

Surprisingly, the beer starts off with a slight sweetness with the bitterness of the hops coming in the finish. It is not a heavy bitter finish but a very pleasant hop finish. Even though it comes in with a 6.2% APV, I cannot detect any alcohol in the taste, nor that alcohol burn.

All in all, this is a very nice beer. I notice that the regular Marston Pedigree is available at the LCBO. Have to give it a try. Likely will come home with some more V.S.O.P too.



Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 135
Countries 25
Breweries 117
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week- Badger Golden Champion Ale

I have mentioned before how I enjoy tasting and writing about beers from old breweries. This week is no exception.

Badger Golden Champion Ale comes from Hall and Woodhouse, an independent, family owned brewery located in Dorset England, which has been brewing beers since 1777.

Since Charles Hall started brewing beer 234 years ago, the company has brewed beer through the Napoleonic war, the Boer war, and two world wars. In fact, it was in 1779, during the war with Napoleon, that the company caught their stride as they received a contract to supply the troops in Weymouth. They have brewed beer under seven kings and two queens and I love how their website breaks up their history under each monarch.

Charles had a son Robert who never had any children but was very fond of his sister's daughter, Hannah. When Robert's father, Charles, passed away in 1827, Robert became sole owner of the brewery.

In 1838, Edward Woodhouse left school and started working for the brewery where he met Hannah. Robert was also very fond of Edward and, when Edward married Hannah in 1847, Robert gave the couple a partnership in the brewery as a wedding present and the brewery became Hall and Woodhouse brewery.

The Badger trademark was registered in 1875 making it one of the oldest trademarks on record. To the right are the eight logos used since then of the Badger logo.

The company now owns a series of inns and pubs and still today are an independent privately owned fifth generation family operation. To last that long, the beer should be quite good. I am looking forward to cracking the cap.

Badger Golden Champion Ale uses an extra ingredient in its brew, elderflower (below to the right) which, when you read about it, has many healing properties. It makes this a very healthy beer then!

"The light, refreshing character of our award-winning golden ale is distinguished by its subtle elderflower aroma, reminiscent of a summer's evening."

Hmmm, let's see if it does. Time to give it a try.

The beer pours a deep amber colour with a white head. There is a element in the aroma which I cannot put my finger on and must be the elderflower. Different but not a summer's evening.

The beer is slightly hopped and the slight flavour of what must be the elderflower is present. At first, this is what I taste before the bitterness of the hops come through. There is a long finish which the slight bitterness of the hops and taste of the elder flower is evident. I enjoyed the beer to start but as the glass became emptier, I found I was not really enjoying it. Originally I thought this would be an enjoyable beer to have just one or two of but I really began to find the taste of the elderflower annoying.

Golden Champion would not make a good session ale but is nice to try for something different. It is not a beer for me but is definitely worth a try if you are looking for something just a little different.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 121
Countries 23
Breweries 105
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Dark Star Sunburst Classic Golden Ale

I enjoy English Ales, so this week was pleased to find a new ale from Britain on the shelf of my local LCBO, Dark Star Brewing Sunburst Classic Golden Ale.

Not only is this an English Ale but also it is from an English craft brewery in Sussex, which is in the south end of England.

Dark Star started in the basement of the Evening Star Pub in Brighton in 1994. Popularity grew as they shipped beer to other pubs and attended many beer festivals so, as they explain in a fun way on their website "In 2001, the team emptied their piggy banks, cashed in any ISA's, sold TV's and dug around behind the sofa for loose change, to relocate the brewery to a new purpose-built, 15 brewers barrel brewery in Ansty, near Haywards Heath -some would argue this was the point the hobby started to become a proper business...some would anyway. A few years on, and once again the brewery was on the move, this time to a bigger site in Partridge Green, just south west of Horsham, West Sussex."

"The name Dark Star was given to a dark strong bitter brewed by the young Rob Jones for Pitfield Brewery in London in 1987. In Rob's long-haired hippy days he named the brew after the music of The Grateful Dead although years later he still unashamedly takes the credit for the perfect assonance and eerie oxymoron within the name. The beer went on to be Champion Beer of Britain and then later the 25 year Champion of Champions."

Note: I learned a new word in researching this brewery. Assonance!

Sounds like a success story.

And the beer?

As the name implies it does pour golden in colour with a nice white head. There are lots of lacings which line the side of the glass while I sip away.

Now what is called a golden ale in England is known as a Blonde ale here in North America. Like a blonde ale this ale is not too hoppy and lighter in taste. I am not a big fan of Blondes but this one is OK. There is a slightly hoppy finish which is lacking from the North American versions I have tried.

It is refreshing and I will have no problem in drinking the other. Although not a great fan of this beer, I would love to try others from this brewery.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 119
Countries 23
Breweries 103
Provinces 8