Category 12 Critical Point

 Today's beer: Critical Point by Category 12

After trying Unsanctioned, I knew I had to try more beers from Category 12. They currently only have a few beers out but this one is slated to be one of their regular beers. I picked this up a fair while ago and it has been in my fridge just waiting to be tried. I usually keep a number of different beers in my fridge because I may want a pale ale, or I may want a stout or anything in between and it's a pain wanting a beer only to have to wait for it to chill.

Critical Point pours into the glass a deep amber with a very light tan head that dissipates quickly. My first sniff gave me the smell of hops, but not the standard hop smell. Critical Point uses Northwest Hops which give a different smell and flavour than standard hops. There was also a smell I couldn't immediately identify but I did finally identify it as citrus. My first sip yielded the wonderful taste of those Northwest hops, strong, but not overpowering. Like any pale ale, Critical Point does have some malt, but it's not very prevalent. While drinking I did notice that while there was considerable carbonation while pouring, it seemed to vanish in the glass quite quickly. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Critical Point is very smooth and goes down easily, though I think it would probably be better on a hot day outside than late in the evening indoors.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

Today's beer: Imperial Stout by Samuel Smith

I picked this beer up not too long ago, but was torn between reviewing this beer and a different stout. I figured since the other stout may be harder to get for some people, since it's a Vancouver Island brewing company, I'd review this one first. Hopefully I'll be able to do at least a beer a month this year. Imperial stout was first brewed in England for export to the Russia court under Catherine the Great. Imperial stouts also generally have a higher than average alcohol content. Imperial Stout has 7% so it's definitely a strong beer.

Imperial Stout pours into the glass black and develops a thick brown head. In the glass it is black. It is hard to express how black it really is. I shone a flashlight on one side of my glass and there was no light coming through on the other. My first sniff gave me smells of alcohol and, ironically, hops. My second sniff (after the head died down) revealed the smells of toasted malt and the faint smell of caramel. The first mouthful gave the taste of toasted malt and a very faint taste of caramel. Through out the drinking I kept tasting something else and it took almost the entire bottle to figure out what it was. Alcohol. There is also the taste of alcohol, but it's not over powering and it's not a bad thing. Unlike most other stouts, there is no chocolate or coffee taste or smell. Imperial Stout is a very smooth drink

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard Ale

Today's beer: Arrogant Bastard Ale by Stone Brewing

Well, I had intended to do two (or more) posts in January, but that soon turned into "I'll do it in February." February went by too quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to do more than just this blog this month. I went to the doctor with my mom and while waiting for the doctors to open from lunch, we went into the liquor store. She needed some special wine she likes to cook mushrooms with and I like to look at the beer. I was just about to go when I saw this. My dad has been raving about this beer for years, but until now we've never seen it in Canada. I immediately snagged a few bottles for me and a bottle for him. The Arrogant Bastard bottle says: "This is an aggressive beer. Yo probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth." I've never had it, but after hearing so much about it, I can't wait to try it!

Arrogant Bastard pours out of the bottle a rich brown and I can smell the hops just off the pour. A tan head quickly develops and though it thins a bit, it persists a fair while. On my first smell I detected hops and a very faint citrus or flower note. Upon further sniffing, I figure it's probably citrus. My first sip hits me with massive hops. There is a very faint aftertaste of malt. Subsequent drinks reveal a slight pepper taste. This beer is all about the hops, but it's not overwhelming like some IPA's can be. There is a lot of carbonation in Arrogant Bastard, but it's not too apparent while drinking it, but it does make it's self known. Arrogant Bastard is fairly strong at 7.2%.


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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Category 12 Unsanctioned

Today's beer: Unsanctioned by Category 12


Wow. It's been almost 2 years since I last updated this blog. Times have been tough and money tight, so when it came to a choice between getting beer and getting food, food won out every time. I still have some beers stashed away waiting to be drunk and reviewed. I hope to continue to update the blog through out the year this year again. Category 12 is a relatively new brewery from Victoria, BC. The tag on the suitcase, YYJ, is the airport code for Victoria International.  I picked this beer up on December 31st, while picking up a small bottle of bubbly. I hadn't planned on buying a beer while at the store, it just sort of happened. I was thinking about reviewing this beer on January 1st, but that didn't happen. It did get done today, so on to the review!

Unsanctioned pours into the glass a deep amber colour, with an off white to tan head that collapses quickly but doesn't dissipate too fast. My first sniff with my long out of practice nose revealed the smell of hops with an undercurrent of malt. With a second longer sniff, I smelled faint traces of pepper. My first sip treated my taste buds to the pleasant taste of hops. There isn't much malt to this beer but there is something else. Being out of practice, I can only guess it was a spice taste, but can't be much more specific. One thing I did note is that Unsanctioned leaves a very nice aftertaste on the back of the tongue. With an alcohol content of 6.9%, Unsanctioned packs a punch with out having an overwhelming alcohol taste. I'm looking forward to trying more from these guys in the future!

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 May your glass always be full of good beer!

Harviestoun Schiehallion

Today's beer: Schiehallion by Harviestoun

It's been a fair time since I last updated. I've meant to update more, but things have been hectic. I picked up this bottle several weeks ago. I've had some other beers by Harviestoun and have generally been impressed by them. Along with the Schiehallion, I picked up some variants of some other beers I've had including a Fuller's stout and a Young's London Ale. I'm excited to try them (and some others that I have picked up) and hopefully will do more that just two posts this month.

Schiehallion pours into the glass a cloudy yellow-amber colour with virtually no head, although that could be a result of how I poured it. My first sniff relieved the very definite smells of hops. I was surprised, however to detect some hints of malt and a very faint smell of citrus. The smell of malts is very uncommon in a lager. My first sip gave me a burst of hops followed by a wallop of malts finished by a very crisp hops. A most unusual flavour combination. I was surprised to find so much malt flavours in a lager, not traditionally known for it's malts. In fact, most lagers have very little malt, or just enough to balance the hops a bit. I quite enjoyed Schiehallion and would buy it again.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Driftwood Crooked Coast

Today's beer: Crooked Coast by Driftwood

Wow, again it's been a long time between posts. No holidays to pin this late update on, just me. I bought this today while at the liquor store looking for orange bitters. I didn't find the bitters, but I did find several beers including this one. The other beers were mostly stouts, and though the weather today may warrant a stout, I just didn't feel like a stout today.

Crooked Coast pours into the glass a cloudy dark amber with a moderate yellow-tan head that dissipates fairly fast. My first sniff revealed an unusual, but pleasant sweet smell that I cannot identify, along side with the fairly standard hops and malt smells. My first sip revealed a generous helping of hops. There is no doubt about it this is a hoppy beer. There is a small amount of malt, but not much. Crooked Coast is a very crisp beer. There is a tiny sweet taste on the very back of the tongue. There is little doubt in my mind this is more of a summer beer than a winter beer. I could see enjoying this beer a fair bit more on a hot summer day.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Cannery Brewing Maple Stout

Today's beer: Maple Stout by Cannery Brewing

First post of 2013! I picked this up along with a few other beers at the new beer store I discovered. I don't know whether to curse them for being so far away, or thank them for having such a good stock. When I discovered this I knew I had to buy it.

Maple Stout pours into the glass black with virtually no head. As might be expected, one of the dominant aromas is maple, but there is also the smell of toasted malt. There aren't many of the other smells usually associated with a stout. My first sip revealed a very slight taste of maple, but not as much as I would have expected. There is a very strong taste of coffee. I also detected a faint smokey taste. Maple Stout has more hops than a standard stout. The extra hops makes Maple Stout taste a bit on the bitter side. If there were more maple flavour and less hops, this would be a wonderful stout. As it stands, especially with the disappointing lack of maple flavour, I'm not sure if I would buy it again.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!