Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

Today's beer: Oatmeal Stout by Samuel Smith

I picked this beer up the other day along with the previously rated beer, Siren. I've had it before, but the liquor store I used to go to before I moved hadn't had it in months and I hadn't seen it here. Needless to say I was quite happy to find it.

Oatmeal Stout pours into the glass a very dark brown, but not quite black like most stouts are. It produces a moderate dark tan head. My first sniff revealed the rich smell of toasted malt and the slight scent of coffee. My first sip brought the familiar flavour of malt, and toasted malt. There is also a slight flavour of coffee. Unlike with many stouts there is no chocolate flavour. There is also the very faint flavour of caramel. There isn't a lot of hops in Oatmeal Stout, but there is just enough to balance the malts for a stout. The hops are not upfront at all. Oatmeal Stout is very smooth to drink. If you can find it, I highly recommend buying it.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Lighthouse Siren

Today's beer: Siren by Lighthouse

Wow, I haven't updated in quite a while. December is always a busy month, plus an infected tooth meant I couldn't drink for over a week. I actually drank this yesterday, but was too tired to write the review. I picked this up at a private liquor store along with several others yesterday. The art on the bottle really caught my eye, and when I saw that it was an imperial red ale, there was no way I could say no. It's a little hard to find international beers here, but the store I went to seems to have a decent selection. I'll have to go there more in the future.

Siren pours into the glass a deep red with a moderate off white head that dissipates quickly. With my first sniff, I caught the unmistakable  strong, crisp smell of hops. There was also the slight odour of fruit. My first sip hit me with a massive hit of hops. Siren is packed with hops. It almost tastes like a strongly hopped IPA, something I was not expecting. There is a very slight taste of sweetness of malt on the back of the tongue, just as you swallow.  I might buy this beer again, but only during the heat of the summer, where the large amount of hops could be enjoyed more.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Salt Spring Island Ales Heather Ale

Today's beer: Heather Ale by Salt Spring Island Ales

First an apology to my international readers as this beer may not be available to everyone. In fact, I had never even seen this particular brand of beer until I moved to BC. I saw this beer at a private liquor store and was intrigued by it. Upon reading the blurb on the back I discovered that this beer is following in the footsteps of ancient Scotland, where beer used to be brewed with heather flowers and drunk for courage in battle. I also realize that it has been quite a while since my last post and I apologize for that too. It has been quite busy a month.

Heather ale pours into the glass a cloudy golden yellow with a small off white head. The only thing I could distinguish in the scent was a slight smell of honey. My first sip revealed a very unique taste with a slight taste of pepper. There is also a taste of honey; a slightly sweet flavour. In an effort to replicate the original, Salt Spring Island Ales uses very little hops in this brew, but that is not a detriment to the beer, it is a good thing. This is a very good beer and I would not hesitate to buy it again.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Fuller's ESB

Today's beer: ESB by Fuller's

Today has been another damp, dark, rainy day. A day that would be perfect for a good hardy stout. However, having fish and chips for supper, I was left with a craving for something a bit lighter. I did briefly consider a few of the lagers I have in my fridge, but kept coming back to the ESB. Perhaps it was the fact that I had had English style fish and chips that was influencing my decision. I've had ESB before, but that was before I started this blog. Oh the torture of having to drink a beer again to review it.

ESB pours into the glass an amber/copper colour with a moderate off white head. My first sniff revealed the classic odour of hops. Considering ESB stands for Extra Special Bitter, this comes as no surprise. As an ESB, it does have more than the standard alcohol that most English beers seem to have; it comes in at a solid 5.9%. The hops hit me with my first sip, but they are not overwhelming. There is also a flavour of apples and something I tentatively identify as sour cherry, though I'm not sure. There isn't a great deal of malt in ESB, but there is enough to keep the hops from being overwhelming, but not really enough to taste. ESB is a very crisp beer and easy to drink. It would have gone great with my fish and chips.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Hoyne Dark Matter

Today's beer: Dark Matter by Hoyne

Wow, it's been a fair while since I've reviewed a beer. Over two weeks. It's been a rather hectic month and I simply haven't had time to do any reviews. I picked this beer up earlier today on a walk around town. I wasn't looking to buy anything, but this beer had caught my eye previously and now seemed like a good time to buy it.

Dark Matter pours into the glass a very dark brown. However it is not a stout kind of dark brown/black. Dark Matter has a moderate light-tan head that dissipates fairly fast. My first sniff revealed the faint smell of toffee, roasted malt and the very faint smell of coffee and chocolate. While most of these point towards Dark Matter as a stout or porter it is not, it is in fact more of a very dark ale. My first sip revealed more stout like flavours. The most prominent was the taste of roasted malt. Dark Matter has a slightly watery flavour, making it taste a little thin. There is a very faint aftertaste of coffee that becomes stronger as more is drunk. There is also a faint chocolate taste to the coffee aftertaste.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Baltika Baltika 7

Today's beer: Baltika 7 by Baltika

I picked this up at the local beer store a few days ago after I went in to see if the new Innis & Gunn holiday sampler pack had come in. It hadn't. I picked this up more out of curiosity than anything else; I've never had a Russian beer, but I was willing to give it a try, even though it is a lager.

Baltika 7 pours into the glass a clear yellow with a large white head that dissipates at a moderate speed. After the pour there is a great deal of carbonation in the glass, but it evaporates, leaving the beer rather flat. Baltika 7 has a slight yeasty smell to it along with what can only be described as a slightly swampy aroma, rather like Moosehead. Don't get me wrong, the swampy smell is not bad, nor is it a bad thing, many great beers (like Innis & Gunn) have a slightly swampy smell. My first sip revealed lots of malt flavour and a slightly swampy flavour, again like Moosehead. This beer is missing hops. There are no hops present in the taste in anyway, shape or form. Some hops would really pick up this beer, give it a bit of a zing and maybe impart some citrus flavour. Baltik 7 is quite a bland beer that I wouldn't buy again.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Duchy Originals Old Ruby Ale 1905

Today's beer: Old Ruby Ale 1905 by Duchy Originals

I picked this up at one of the private liquor stores here. There are two types of liquor stores here: private and government. The government liquor stores are cheaper, but they often have less in the way of craft beers; the private ones can have a wider selection but can cost more. I decided to see what the private store had because I was a little disappointed with the government store, but I didn't intend on buying anything. However, this just jumped out at me.

Old Ruby Ale 1095 pours into the glass a ruby colour with a small head that dissipates very, very fast. I couldn't smell anything initially besides the almost undetectable odour of hops. In fact I had a hard time smelling anything through out the entire time I was drinking this beer. What 1905 lacks in smell, it makes up in taste. There is a nice taste of malt, but the hops is really where this beer shines. It's not an overwhelming amount of hops, it balances out the malt just right, but the flavours the hops produces are amazing. It has a very unique flavour that I struggled with trying to identify and couldn't. I could detect a very faint citrus taste, but it's almost non-existent. 1905 is very crisp, light and easy to drink.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!