Elysian Night Owl

Today's beer: Night Owl by Elysian

I picked this up at the same time I picked up the 4 pack of Wychwood. I thought it would be nice to try another pumpkin ale after having had the Alley Kat Pumpkin Pie Ale. Again, this being Halloween night, it was the perfect time to have it, and since I'd already split the Wychwood (and the Alley Kat, though a few weeks ago) with my dad, I figured another beer couldn't hurt.

Night Owl pours into the glass an orangey copper colour with a small light orange head. Night Owl give off a very spicy smell with the smell of cloves being prominent among the spices. There is also the smell of pumpkin. My first sip gave me a large taste of both pumpkin and spice. There is just a faint touch of hops as well as a light touch of alcohol. Rather than detracting from the beer, the slight taste of alcohol really makes this beer stand out. There is a lot of spice in this beer, and unlike the Alley Kat, in which the spice was a warm spice blend, the Night Owl spice blend is not warm. They could have reduced the amount of the spices a bit, in my opinion. My dad really liked the Night Owl, in fact he preferred it to the Alley Kat Pumpkin Pie Ale.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Wychwood Scarecrow

Today's beer: Scarecrow by Wychwood

This is the second of three reviews for the sampler 4 pack of Wychwood I picked up not too long ago. Today being Halloween and all, I figured this would be a good beer to have. Also, this is the first beer that I've split with my dad since he moved. Since we are now in the same general area, it will be nice to return to sharing the occasional beer with him.

Scarecrow pours into the glass a cloudy yellow. There is the smell of hops and the faint aroma of fruit. My first sip hits me with a large amount of hops, but it's not an overwhelming amount as there is also a touch of malt to keep the hops in check. Scarecrow has a lot of carbonation and it really works well in this beer. Scarecrow is a very crisp beer that is quite drinkable and very enjoyable. I did notice one thing that I thought a bit odd, as I was finishing I did notice a faint hint of pepper on the roof of my mouth. It's not a bad thing, just interesting. It also could have just been some pepper from my dinner.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Wychwood Goliath

Today's beer: Goliath by Wychwood

I walked into a government liquor store today (there are two types of liquor stores here government and private. Private liquor stores can carry more, but are more expensive) just to see what they had and to see when the new Innis & Gunn holiday box was available. I hadn't planned on buying anything, but then I saw a sampler 4-pack of Wychwood and I knew I had to get it. So this is the first of three reviews of Wychwood that will be coming in the next little while (the fourth beer in the pack is Hobgoblin, a decent beer and already reviewed).

Goliath pours into the glass a beautiful red-copper colour with a yellowish/off white head that disappears quite rapidly. My first sniff brought the aromas of hops and fruit. I also detected a faint whiff of caramel. My first sip yielded a very interesting combination of fruit and hops. A delicious combination. Goliath has a warm flavour that is a little hard to describe. In addition to the fruit and hops there is a decent amount of malt. Goliath is very easy to drink, although the carbonation seems to disappear quite quickly, which is a bit disappointing. Despite this I would definitely drink this again.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Mt. Begbie Begbie Cream Ale

Today's beer: Begbie Cream Ale by Mt. Begbie

When I picked this up, I was sure that I had reviewed this beer already. Fortunately, the guys at the beer store had access to my blog and a quick search revealed that I had not in fact, reviewed it yet. I must have just drunk it already, possibly before I had started my blog, therefore, I must drink it again for the blog. Life's tough.

Begbie Cream Ale pours into the glass a clear golden straw colour with a thin white head that dissipates very quickly. As with the last beer, the only thing I could smell was the standard beer smell, this one leaning perhaps a bit more towards a wheat beer smell. My first sip revealed that this was no wheat beer, this was most definitely a cream ale; the creaminess is apparent from the first sip. The malts and hops are fairly well balanced with the hops standing out just enough. There was also a faint flavour that I struggled to identify. My first thought was that it was possibly oak, but it could have been honey, as the label says that there is a "subtle honey flavour". Begbie Cream Ale has a very nice, crisp flavour that makes it a pleasure to drink.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Adnams Broadside

Today's beer: Broadside by Adnams

This was among the last beers I bought at my local beer store. The reason is that I have now moved. I guess I'll just have to find a new beer store and  befriend a new beer guy. But I do still have quite a stock from the old store to work through first. My dad, who helped me move was quite frankly astounded at the amount of beer in my fridge. The move is one of the reasons why there hasn't been too many reviews in October; I simply haven't had any time to drink any beers. On with the review!

Broadside pours into the glass a semi-cloudy red-brown with a small tan head that dissipates fairly quickly. My first sniff revealed not much more than the standard beer smell, if a bit stronger. My first sip yielded a large amount of malt. The other dominant flavour was alcohol, which is quite surprising, considering that Broadside is only a 6.3% beer. While strong, that shouldn't be enough alcohol to create that strong of an alcohol taste. I did get the very faint taste of figs as well. There are almost no hops in the beer to speak of. An interesting characteristic of the beer that I did notice is it has almost a creamy texture in the mouth. It's not a bad thing, just interesting. The overwhelming taste of alcohol ruins what could be a great beer.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Today's beer: Double Chocolate Stout by Young's

Today, Calgary (where I live) reminded everybody that just because the weather has been nice the last few weeks, it's not going to be so for long. Today was a cold day. There was rain in the late morning, changing to snow in the early afternoon with heavier snow late in the evening. A cold, miserable day? I can't think of a better day for a nice rich, thick stout. I picked this one up today after passing it over many, many times at my beer store. When I asked the beer guy about it, he didn't know anything about it; he'd done the same thing.

Double Chocolate Stout pours into the glass a rich dark brown, becoming opaque black in the glass, just as a proper stout should be. A large, medium brown  head forms but disintegrates fairly fast to a thin tan head that covers the surface of the beer. My first sniff revealed the rich smell of toasted malt and some chocolate overtones. I also detected the faint smell of caramel. My first sip hit me with a massive dose of chocolate. It isn't milk chocolate, but more like a bitter/very dark (70%+ cocoa) chocolate. Very nice. There is also the taste of toasted malt in the background, but it is a distant second fiddle to the chocolate. There are virtually no hops tastes to speak of with this beer; malt and chocolate dominate. After finishing about half my glass, I began to notice an almost fruit like flavour along the side of my tongue. Possibly figs. Double Chocolate Stout is very smooth and it has a decent amount of carbonation. I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Fyne Ales Vital Spark

Today's beer: Vital Spark by Fyne Ales

This is another of the new beers brought in by the beer guy at my local beer store. I'm glad he brought this in. My very first beer review was a Fyne Ales beer, and while looking into it, I went to the Fyne Ales website and found they have several other varieties and this one was on that I really wanted to try.

Vital Spark pours into the glass a dark brown with rich red tones. A small light tan head also forms. The first smell that I got was hops. In fact, the only smell I got was hops. With my first sip, I got a massive hit of hops. There is a slight taste of malt, but it does nothing to balance the huge amount of hops in this beer. Eventually I did get some very faint porter type flavours including an almost non-existent chocolate taste. With the exception of Maverick, Fyne Ales seems to like to add a lot of hops to their beers, which if you really like hops is nice, but if you don't most of Fynes Ales brews won't be for you.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Fuller's London Porter

Today's beer: London Porter by Fuller's

Today was a very cool day. Fall has definitely arrived, but the temperature was cool even for fall, topping out at 5. The normal high temperature is around 15. A perfect day to have a nice dark porter or stout. Didn't want the Guinness in my fridge at the moment, and I have another stout/porter, but the Fuller's caught my eye. A perfect choice for a not so perfect day.

London Porter pours into the glass black with a moderate tan head that decreases in size quickly, but doesn't really dissipate. My first sniff revealed the rich smell of malt, toasted malt and chocolate. There was also a faint smell of berries. With my first sip I got the nice porter taste of toasted malt. There was a nice hint of bittersweet/semi sweet chocolate at the back of my tongue just as I swallowed. London Porter has just enough hops to let you know they are present, but not too many to make it a main flavour. As with most porters, London Porter also has a nice chocolate taste and a very faint coffee taste. An excellent porter.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!