Phillips Ginger Beer

Today's beer: Ginger Beer by Phillips

Today is a hot day here, and I had been planing on doing a head-to-head comparison of Phillips Ginger Beer and Crabbies Ginger Beer. However, my local beer store hasn't had any Crabbies in stock for several months. As a result, I'm going to have to do the two reviews separately. Since they have Phillips in stock, and I had some Phillips in my fridge chilling nicely for just such an occasion, on with the review!

Phillips Ginger Beer pours into the glass a golden amber colour with a medium-large white head. My first whiff picks up smells of hops and a hint of ginger. My first sip reveals the hops up front with a taste of ginger with earthy overtones. While there is the taste of ginger, it isn't that strong, and the earthy overtones make the ginger less noticeable. It's kind of like pulling a carrot out of the garden and biting into it with out first rinsing it. Sure you get the carrot taste, but you also get the taste of the earth it was grown in. Perhaps if a different variety of ginger were to be used, it might make this Ginger Beer better. The beer does have a bit of a bite to it though, it just takes a while for it to kick in. As it stands, while a decent ginger beer, I'm sure that there are other ginger beers out there that are just as good, if not better than this one.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Dos Equis Amber

Today's beer: Dos Equis Amber by Dos Equis

Almost a month ago, my parents moved out of their old house to their new house for their retirement. They had what they were calling a 'house cooling' party, the opposite of a house warming party. It was a byob. Soft drinks were provided, but if you wanted some beer or something else, you had to bring it. This beer was brought by one of the family friends and what wasn't drunk, I got.

Amber pours into the glass a deep amber colour with a thin tan head. There is only the standard beer smell with a faint hint of corn. The taste is more or less that of a standard lager. It is fairly balanced malt and hops with just a bit more hops. There is nothing special about this beer, it is a standard lager. I wouldn't buy this beer, and quite frankly, I'm glad that I didn't have to spend money on this bottle.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Mississippi Brewing Company Mississippi Mud

Today's beer: Mississippi Mud by Mississippi Brewing Company

When I first picked up a bottle of this a year or so ago, I had been looking at it for several years. From my perspective at the time, it was too expensive to try and way too big (roughly 950ml). When I did eventually buy it, I discovered that it had a screw top cap, which meant that the bottle was resealable and therefore, it didn't need to all be drunk at the same time.

Mississippi Mud is a mix of porter and pilsner. It pours into the glass a dark brown. It smells rather like a pilsner a mix of malt and hops. There is the rich malt taste of the porter up front with slightly hoppy taste of the pilsner bringing up the rear. This beer has a lot of malt with virtually no hops. There is very little carbonation in the beer, which is a bit of a bad thing. It could use a bit more carbonation. The crispness of the pilsner hits the roof of your mouth just as you swallow.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Driftwood Driftwood Ale

Today's beer: Driftwood Ale by Driftwood

This is the last of the beers that I had on my vacation and was unable to post a review about. Again, I shared this beer with my dad on my birthday. Original review date: July 22, 2012.

In the glass Driftwood is a golden colour. There is a distinctive smell of hops. With my first sip I got a huge hit of hops. This beer is quite a bit more bitter than the Belgian White. It tastes more like an IPA than a standard ale. On the label it does say that it is a "Northwest Pale Ale", but I don't know what they mean by that. There really isn't anything that sets this beer apart from any other beer. It is remarkable only in the fact that it is unremarkable.

Both my dad and I are migraine sufferers. My dad being less susceptible to them than myself. However, after drinking this beer I had to lie down in a dark room to deal with the migraine that this beer gave me. Only after several hours in my darkened room did I find out that this beer also gave my dad a fairly bad headache too. I will never buy this beer again. It's unfortunate because the other beer of theirs that I have tried (and I will review it at a later date) called Farmhand, is a fantastic beer.

Rating:





May your glass always be full of good beer!

Lighthouse Belgian White

Today's beer: Belgian White by Lighthouse

As I said before, these next few reviews are being done several days after having the beer, do to having no internet access at the time of drinking. I shared this beer with my dad on my birthday. Original review date: July 22, 2012.

Because of the glass used, I don't really know what colour the beer is, but it's pretty safe to say that as a wheat beer it is a cloudy straw colour. Again, that's just a guess. When poured into the glass, Belgian White produces a fairly large and creamy head. The first thing I noticed with my first sip was the hops, right out in front. The beer is very hoppy. The hops that they used seems to be a very different strain of hops that what most other brewers use. As a result, they lend the beer a very distinctive and unique taste. I would like to see more brewers use this strain of hops as it gives the beer a different taste that is very good. Belgian White is a crisp beer with the faintest hint of citrus. I would definitely buy this beer again. Lighthouse also apparently released a Belgian Black, which if I could find it I would be most eager to try.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Cannery Brewing Blackberry Porter

Today's beer: Blackberry Porter by Cannery Brewing

So I've been on vacation for the past few days, but that didn't prevent me from drinking some good beers. Since I had no internet access during that time, I couldn't post any new reviews, so these next few reviews are a few days late. As such, I can only rely on my notes for the review, rather than on my notes and the remembrances of the beer as I write my review. I originally had this beer on July 20, 2012.

In the glass Blackberry Porter is almost black, but with a deep purple tint. There isn't much in the way of smell, aside from the standard beer smell, with a hint of blackberries. My first sip revealed a nice hit of hops along with a very strong taste of blackberries. There is also the slight taste of roasted barley. This is a very nice mellow beer, that goes down quite smoothly. I don't know that I would drink this beer on a hot afternoon, or even with a meal, but it would make a fantastic desert beer. Or a beer to sip on at night.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Tree Brewing Co. Black Tree

Today's beer: Black Tree by Tree Brewing Company

Today was another hot day here, and I decided to wait to have a beer until the evening. I wanted to have my beer outside but just as I got outside with my beer, it started to spit. It never really started raining and the spitting only lasted a few minutes, so I was able to enjoy my beer outside.

Black Tree pours into the glass a very dark brown, almost black, but not quite. There isn't much smell beyond the normal beer smell. My first sip revealed a small hit of hops, with a huge hit of malt. It's quite refreshing to have a nice malty beer after having quite a few hoppy beers. Even though hoppy beers are considered to be the proverbial summer beer, they can get a bit much. One of the first things that struck me about the Black Tree is that though it does produce a tiny head, the beer its self has virtually no carbonation. It's a bit weird, and I think if they could get some more carbonation into the beer it might make it a bit better. Though Black Tree is light on the hops, the hops do tend to linger on the tongue. There is the taste of chocolate and the hint of coffee. This beer would be good on a cool night, long after the heat of the afternoon has passed.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Yukon Imperial IPA

Today's beer: A.D.D. Imperial IPA by Yukon

I discovered this beer while looking for the Canada Day beer by Innis & Gunn. While I didn't find it, I did find two of the Yukon brewery's A.D.D. series. This is number 3 in the series.

Imperial IPA pours a cloudy yellow/copper colour in the glass with a small head that quickly dissipates. A sniff revealed the smell primarily of hops, but there was also the smell of citrus and grass present. As with most IPAs, there is a huge taste of hops. There is also a light taste of grass, which is fairly unique to this variaty. Due to the large amount of hops, the IPA starts quite bitter, but mellows as you swallow. There is also a faint taste of orange. This is a crisp and refreshing beer. There is a low amount of carbonation, but as I have oft said, carbonation levels don't make a beer good or bad. With the large amount of hops, I couldn't drink more than one of these a day.

I have to quote what's on the canister: "You don't need to buy this. In fact, you should just put it back on the shelf. They'll eventually return it to Whitehorse where we can crack it open, and our brew gang will drink it for you. We take our normal IPA - Ice Fog and load it up with extra hops and a ton of malt to make a hoppy brew that makes us smile, then laugh and eventually do silly things we are not going to talk about. So give us a had - PUT IT DOWN!"

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Stiegl Radler Grapefruit

Today's beer: Radler Grapefruit by Stiegl

As with the Highland Cask review, it has been several days between the review of this beer and the posing of the review. Again, circumstances seem to have conspired to keep the review from going up in a timely manner. This I reviewed this beer on July 7. As a result I can only rely on my notes of this beer.

Radler Grapefruit is a cider like beer. The label says that it is half Stiegl-Goldbrau and half fruit soda. It pours into the glass a cloudy yellow/orange. There is the smell and taste of grapefruit, though the grapefruit taste isn't as strong as it could be. There is a slight spicy taste. I can't quite place what the spice is though.

Radler Grapefruit has an ultra low alcohol content at 2.5%. I shared this beer with both my mom, dad and sister, and none of us liked it. In fact, I believe it may have given me a migraine. I am prone to migraines, but beers usually don't give me migraines.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Innis & Gunn Highland Cask

Today's beer: Highland Cask by Innis & Gunn

First, I'm quite late posting my review of this beer. I did my review on July 6, but due to many factors combining, I have been unable to post the review until now. Due to the length of time between review and post I have only my original notes to rely on, so I'm sorry if the review seems a bit sparse.

Highland Cask pours into the glass a deep copper colour with almost no smell. Like all Innis & Gunns, Highland cask has been aged in oak barrels, in this case, barrels that had previously contained Scotch Whisky for 18 years. The oak flavour really comes through in this beer. There is a nutty flavour along the side of your tongue. Highland Cask is a very smooth beer with virtually no hops. There is also a hint of sweetness as you swallow. Though Highland cask is a decent beer, it isn't my favourite Innis & Gunn; there are several other beers by them that I prefer over it.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Dead Frog French Oaked Stiff Stout

Today's beer: French Oaked Stiff Stout by Dead Frog

When I split a beer with my dad (and mom in the case of the Rekorderlig), I often get a small portion, so I have no qualms about sampling a second brew, especially if I sample it with my dad, as was the case with the Dead Frog. My dad was reluctant at first to try this because he has had a Dead Frog brew in the past and really didn't like it. After I told him (several times) that this was a stout, he acquiesced, and was actually eager to try it.

As said this is a stout and as such poured black into the glass with virtually no head. There was very little smell, and all I did smell was the standard stout smell. The taste was primarily chocolate with some burnt taste in there, but not bunt in a bad way. There is a small taste of alcohol and an even slighter taste of oak. The carbonation in this beer is practically nonexistent, but as I've said before, the amount of carbonation is not a good thing or a bad thing. Some beers are better due to their lack of carbonation and some are better for their abundance of carbonation. I'd buy this beer again. It's nothing spectacular, but it is still pretty good.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Rekorderlig Wild Berries

Today's beer: Wild Berries by Rekorderlig

Happy Canada Day! I had been hoping to crack open an Innis & Gunn 2012 Canada Day special, but I have so far been unable to find one. I guess I'll just have to have one not on Canada Day.

My dad stumbled upon this a few years ago. It is one of the few alcoholic beverages the whole family enjoys (my mom doesn't like beer). It is also, unfortunately, a bit hard to find. When we find some we usually snap up several cans. The odd name is due to the fact that it is imported from Sweden.

To start, Rekorderlig is a pear based cider. It is flavoured with wild berries. In the glass it is a light pink colour and very fizzy, almost as fizzy as a soft drink. As a result, it develops a very large head that rapidly disappears. The first sip starts off with a big hit of raspberry, followed by strawberries and blueberries.

Rekorderlig is very easy to drink. Almost too easy. At 7%, it would be quite easy to get drunk with out realizing it with these ciders. In the words of my mom "it's like kool-aid for adults." I always by this when I see it available.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!