Twenty Pounder

Label: Twenty Pounder
Type: Double IPA
ABV[%]: 9 point holy knotknickers batman zero
Packaging: 650 ml bottle
Brewery: Driftwood Brewery, Victoria BC

Smell: Cascade hops with light citrus
Head: Light with mild lacing
Color: Burgundy Brown
Carbonation: mild
Kick: Holy PantsOnTheGround Batman
Rating: 6.5/10

Notes:
For those about to hop... We salute you.

This is a very sharp tasting brew as might be obvious from the high ABV, coupled with the fact that it's a double hopped IPA. This isn't just about the hops... It's also about the buzz.

It pretty much attacks you with some sweetness at first at the edges of the toungue, followed by a kick of hoppiness to the middle, and concluding with a tarty and dry palette, typical of a really strong brew. After 5 or so swigs, my toungue feels like it's been carpet-bombed by Cascade hops. And as for the hoppiness... it's kinda like a premature ejaculation: immediately satisfying self-absorption, but feeling awkward now... was that it? (subject matter I know very, ahem, little about of course).

The label art is reminescent of the AC/DC classic album cover, which pretty much exemplifies what this beer is all about... maybe some "Balls to the Wall" as well.

I will give kudos to Driftwood for making this beer (and I have one in my beer 'cellar'), but it really isn't my cup-o-tea. So my rating is what it is... Live with it crappy-nut lovers. Speaking of edibles, this would likely go well with some strong cheese.

Keep hope alive.

Edit 2015:

So after keeping. A bottle aged in high efficiency conditions I cracked open a bottle aged after about 2 years. Boy what a difference!

The hoppiness is pretty much gone and the Caramel tones are on full display. The lacing and carbonation are weak but it's a totally different experience. I'm going with a 7.5 now.

Jack D'Or

Label: Jack D'Or
Type: IPA (saison americain)
ABV[%]: 6 point friggin 5
Packaging: 650 ml bottle
Brewery: Pretty Things, Massachussets

Smell: Hops...
Head: white and rich with thick lacing
Color: yellow and a bit cloudy
Carbonation: mild
Kick: jacked
Rating: 8/10

Notes:
Oh dear. How I have missed this blog.

Pretty Things is a delightfully weird brewery that has a few nice brews Ive heard of but never tried. So seeing their flagship brew on stock in my local store in the west coast made my mouth water. But it wasn't until about 6 months after buying the bottle that I had the opportunity to pop the cap (more on the reason in a later blog).

This is a deceptively strong beer given the color and taste. It has a great balance of hoppiness and tartiness that gives you the kind of beer breath your partner will object to. Small penance. The finish is very balanced, and again very deceptive: you'd think it was citrus flavours but it isn't. They manage to pull off the tart by balancing hops with a variety of grains (rye, oats...).

Upon pouring, it had a beautiful goldish yellow transparent color, but at the end of the bottle was some sediment, so my second glass was fuzzier... And a bit more rich tasting.

I totally get why locals in MA would dig this beer out of the tap as it would likely have better consistency and it tastes great. But it is strong so it isn't a session beer unless your objective it to get blitzed. And the label art is ugly/weird enough to attract the curious.

Until next time beatches.

BeerFest 2011

Organic Lager

Label:  Original Organic Lager
Type:  Lager
ABV[%]:  4.2
Packaging:  355 ml bottle
Brewery:  Mill St. Brewery, Toronto, ON

Smell:  Sweet and slightly fruity
Head: white, thin little lacing
Color: gold
Carbonation:  medium
Kick: meh...
Rating: 8/10

Notes:
So I pulled on my Granite Pub T-shirt on and heaved a small sigh that i was no longer able to go to my local brewpub, having moved  from Toronto. As great as the beer scene is in the TDot, there are but two (at least while I was there) brew pubs in a city of 4 million... Pretty pathetic (Victoria now has three). The good news is that there is still a lot of great beer-making in the Tdot.

Thanks to a fellow nerd named Dave, I was introduced to Mill St. by way of a their astounding Coffee Porter. This stuff kicked my ass: ninja style. But you can't have more than 2 or 3 of them, unless your one of those Red Bull junkies. So I was pleased to pick up a potential session beer by Mill St.

This beer has a great nose and it and really, really finishes well. Really. There is very little aftertaste and finishes great. Did I say it finishes well? Crap. I could pound these babies down like a Flava Flave beats down women. It has a nice but very mild fruitiness to it. The barley is mild and perhaps not as flavorful as I'd hoped, but I ain't complaining. It leaves to tongue clean with very little aftertaste. It's great... Even luke warm.

My bro is a Lager guy... And I'm getting him a case of this fizicchisle when he comes to town.

Later, poop-heads.

Ginger Beer

Label: Ginger Beer
Type: seasonale ale
ABV[%]: 5.0
Packaging: 650 ml bottle
Brewery: Phillips Brewing Co., Victoria, BC

Smell: Ginger, with a dash of Mary Anne
Head: thin with little lacing
Color: gold
Carbonation: medium
Kick:
Rating: 8/10

Notes:
-sweet smelling
-not very many flavors except ginger, hops and some barley.
- a little dark for a Ginger Beer, from the malts, but the malts give it some bodied taste which makes it more thirst quenching
- the ginger hits you a second or two after the swig, making you think "hey, this isnt... What? Oh yeah, nice ginger"
- is isn't bitter at all and the sweetness likely comes mostly from the ginger root itself. Or not.
- really hits the spot on a nice warm evening after a hot sunny day.

The perfect tool

For the beer loving technophile.

Citra IPA

Label: Citra IPA - BeerMaster Series
Type: IPA
ABV[%]: 6.5
Packaging: 650 ml bottle
Brewery: Dead Frog Breweries, Aldergrove, BC

Smell: Orange Peel, Hops
Head: Thick with a medium lacing
Color: light orange, clear
Carbonation: Mild to medium
Kick: Scream... Ahhh!!! .... not loud enough!
Rating: 7.5/10

Notes:
On the way to the airport while dropping off my in-laws, I had the pleasure of driving behind a black truck that had silver testicles dangling off the rear hitch. Now I've seen these before, but these were very shiny. I could not keep my eyes of them, thinking "why do people do this?", followed by "does he shine these things every night", spiralling downwards to "does he use his bare hands and mouth to shine them?". So, after nearly missing my turn-off and no longer hypnotized by these metallic swinging asymmetric squiggy sacks, my thoughts migrated to "i wonder where this dude is from... maybe Aldergrove".

Enter Dead Frog Breweries. These guys have a great lager and a nut brown ale which I frequently pick up. But they also make a few small batch brews and bottle them for local distribution. So they've already demonstrated that they can make some great session beers and seeing this bottle on the rack got me interested.

This has a smooth taste upfront, but then hits you with a hop and citrus orange peel blast after a second or two, followed by a tingy tongue and some funky-ass beer breath. It starts like a campfire on the beach but ends like a 1976 Megadeath concert (their first concert was on this day in 1976). The carbonation is mild so you get to soak in the hops. The alcohol bite is only slightly sharp, which is good if you like deception. I do. Bitches.

Post-note: this is about my 43 beer review.