It's that time again...

And what time is that??? Well, I'll give you a hint...

It's a BARLEY CRUSHER!!! And what do you use a Barley Crusher for??? ... come on now, anyone??? Anyone at all??? ... That's right, it's crushes BARLEY!!! Malted barley, to be exact... And why do you need to crush malted barely??? To get to the sugary starchy GOODNESS inside of it that will turn WATER into BEER!!!

So why is this exciting, you ask? Well, I've been wanting to get my own malt crusher for a LONG time, so that I could mill my own grain and brew FAR more frequently and easily (and most importantly, have the beer end up tasting as fresh as possible!). But what good is a malt crusher when you've got no malt? Not much... soooooo...

ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL!?!? MALTS, HOPS, YEAST, A CRUSHER, AND A FERMENTER READY TO GO!!! If this does not make you giddy like a school girl, you have no soul...

In this pile of ingredients lurks a Cascadian Dark Ale, a Brown Ale, an American Pale Ale, an English Pale Ale, a Red Ale, and an Oatmeal stout, all of which are just WAITING to be brewed!!!

Stay tuned to my blog in the coming week(s), and we will be sure to take a quick jaunt down the road of home brewing, and see what wondrous things we can find down that road! until then...

Enjoy a craft brew!!!

- Sid Ryzebol -

Tasting #4: Wheat 'N' Wild!

So I've got good news and I've got bad news... The GOOD news is the roster has gained another new taster, Chris, who replaces Duncan (I SWEAR it had nothing to do with his "bad" judgements from last week) at the table. The bad news is we had a few "hiccups" with tonight's beer line-up. I asked my fellow tasters to go out and buy 1 or 2 wheat beers that they'd like to have for the tasting, which they did. ...Or atleast as far as I knew they did. What I initially thought was going to be 6 wheat beers for us to taste ended up only being 4, as two of the beers that got bought were - in fact - NOT wheat beers at all. I may be partially to blame - as I was in the LCBO with them when they were purchasing them, and I MAY have given the okay on both of them, but that's all just irrelevant details... So to save you readers from ever making this mistake yourselves, maybe we should take a look at what "wheat beers" actually are...

Wheat Beers

Wheat beers (known as "Weissebier / Weizen" to the Germans, and "Witbier / White ale" to the Belgians) are beers that are brewed with 50% - 60% of the grain bill being made up of malted wheat, and the rest malted barely. The wheat brings a nice, creamy smoothness to the beer, along with a bright, lemony citrus taste. They're typically lightly hopped, and thus hops are not a major player in the aromas or flavours here. What IS a large player is the yeast, which is a special kind of ale yeast that gives the beer its characteristic clove, banana, and bubble gum-like aromas and flavours. Unlike other styles of beer, leaving the beer completely unfiltered and making sure to get the yeast out of the bottom of the bottle and into your glass when it's poured is common practice, and will intensify those yeasty characteristics. Overall, wheat beers are perfect summer patio beers. With their effervescent carbonation, creamy mouthfeel, and bright, fresh, and quenching flavours, this is the perfect alternative to that "same old lager" you always turn to on a hot day.

Beer #1: Molson Canadian Wheat

Molson Canadian Wheat

One of the beers we were SUPPOSED to have had for the tasting would have been an original Bavarian Hefeweizen (the type of wheat beer that Molson is trying to imitate with this beer). However, what was unfortunately bought instead was an imported German lager that was in among all the other wheat beers (I really should brush up on my German), so unfortunately we won't have anything to compare the Molson Canadian Wheat to. 

Molson Canadian Wheat is Molson's attempt to cash in on the resurgence in popularity of craft and imported Bavarian Hefeweizens as an alternative to lagers. Just as a side-note, I had my first regular Molson Canadian lager in over a year a couple weeks ago, and while it wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Budweiser lager from the first tasting (in fact, I actually somewhat didn't mind it), it had a very strange sweet, corny (Molson uses corn in the beer, just like Anheuser-Busch uses rice), and somewhat perfumey taste to it that was not at all what I expect from a good lager. 

Getting back to the Canadian Wheat though, upon pouring it, I can't say I am much more impressed with this beer than I was the lager, based off the smell anyways. The aroma has very slight weisse-like characteristics of faint cloves and banana, but is mostly dominated by that sweet, corny, and oddly perfumey smell of a regular Canadian lager. In fact, it's weisse characteristics are SO faint that my co-tasters (who aren't familiar with wheat beers) are having a hard time even picking up on any difference between this and a regular Canadian lager. I'm not really shocked, but I'm going to hold out judgement until I have a taste. Drinking the beer, it at least mostly has the "feel" of a weissebier, very effervescent and creamy feeling in your mouth, and goes down pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, that's as far as the comparisons go, as - like the aroma - this tastes exactly like a corny Molson Canadian lager. My co-tasters agree with me, though they all did like the creamy smoothness of it.

Beer #2: Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel

Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel

This next beer is brewed by Erdinger Weissbräu out of Erding, Bavaria. Erdinger started in 1886, and has grown to become the world's largest and most popular traditional wheat beer brewery, as well as one of Germany's largest private breweries in general. They brew a number of different beers, all of which are different kinds of wheat beer. The one we're tasting tonight is their Weissbier Dunkel (dark), which is basically a darker, brown wheat beer with slightly darker malt character than your typical weisse (pronounced "vise", just in case you were wondering).  The aromas of the beer definitely reflect the colour, with notes of molassesy banana bread, dates, stone fruits, and a light toasty caramel too. The flavour of the beer follows suit, with sweet, caramelly, date-like maltiness, and maybe a hint of banana in the background from the yeast. It's also silky smooth on the mouth and extremely easy to drink, with a nice effervescent carbonation, and finishes relatively clean. As it warms, it starts to take on a slightly toasty, nutty flavour as well. Overall, my co-tasters and I agree that this is an excellent beer with great flavour, and yet remains silky smooth, clean tasting, and easy to drink right to the last drop.

Beer #3: Hoegaarden Witbier

Hoegaarden Witbier

Hoegaarden Witbeir is a Belgian style wheat beer brewed by Hoegaarden Brewery in Hoegaarden, Belgium. What sets Belgian wheat beers apart from German wheat beers is the fact that the Belgians typically "spice" their beer with both coriander and citrus peel to give a distinctive "Belgian" taste to their witbier. Hoegaarden Witbier is no exception, and if you are ever looking for a classic Belgian witbier, look no further than this beer. Upon pouring, it is all spicy coriander and and tart lemon on the nose. Tasting it, the nose definitely translates to flavour. There is a strong presence of coriander, but also a very strong lemon flavour that is quite tart, so tart that it almost makes your tongue salivate. Just like the other wheat beers we've had so far, this beer is very smooth and creamy. Overall I think this is a very solid beer, and a perfect example of the style. It might be a slight shock initially to beer drinkers who have only ever drank mass produced lagers, but once you've learned to accept that there is no one definable "beer flavour", it's an easy beer to love.




 Beer #4: Flying Monkey's Imperial Maple Wheat

This final beer is brewed by Flying Monkeys Brewery, a brewery formed in 2005 in Barrie, Ontario under the name of Robert Simpson (the first mayor of Barrie) Brewery. In 2009, the brewery re-branded itself the Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, and changed all of their beers and marketing to match their fresh, new, innovative approach to brewing. All of their beers are a little "different" and tend to push boundaries, a philosophy that is reflected by their personal motto: "Normal is Weird". The beer we are tasting tonight is a one-off, limited time only beer that was a collaboration between the Flying Monkeys Brewery and Dallas Green of City and Colour. This beer is labelled an "Imperial Maple Wheat", with "Imperial" meaning that it has basically "double" of everything (Malt, hops, alcohol content, and - of course - flavour!). This particular beer comes in at 11.5% abv., making it more of a "wheat wine" than a wheat beer. I have personally bought several bottles of this beer since it was first released about a month and a half ago, but have yet to drink any. Instead, I have decided to cellar the other bottles for over a year, to see how the beer develops (yes, you can cellar beer, which is a topic I will go over in a future post). Needless to say, I am really looking forward to finally trying this beer.

Flying Monkey's Imperial Maple Wheat

Pouring it into the glass, the entire vicinity around me was just completely FILLED with the aroma of pure maple syrup. Getting the beer actually poured into all of our glasses and actually taking a sniff from the glass, there is just SO much going on in this beer that it's almost overwhelming. The first thing that hits you right in the nose outright is the sweet maple, with a nice creamy vanilla note behind that. With every degree of temperature that this beer warms, it evolves and releases new aromas to smell and enjoy. Over the next few minutes of smelling, my co-tasters and I picked up on aromas of black liquorice, apple-cinnamon, molasses, and even a light nuttiness.

Now that we've finally decided it was time to stop smelling the beer and actually taste it, I am completely blown away by every aspect of this beer. The beer itself is very "syrupy" in mouthfeel initially, coating, with a low carbonation. It starts off with a very big, very rich maple syrup-like flavour, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon spice when it first hits your tongue. As the beer travels over your tongue and to your throat, you start to get dark cherry-like flavours, and a hint of black liquorice. After swallowing the beer, you are left with a nice light bready maltiness on your tongue, with a good background flavour of vanilla, and the slightest, short-lived tinge of hop bitterness on the sides of the tongue. The beer - as one of my co-tasters put it - is almost like an "experience" more than it is a beer. There are so many aromas and flavours going on, all of which are changing and evolving with every passing moment as the beer warms. If I had to explain the taste of this beer in once sentence, I would say it's like drinking apple-cinnnamon pancakes just drenched in pure maple syrup. What amazes me most about this beer though is that it starts off so incredibly strong and rich in flavour, and yet it ends so incredibly smooth and clean. Though I wouldn't recommend drinking this entire 750ml bottle to yourself (just because of how rich it is), it would definitely be the perfect beer to bring to a family Thanksgiving dinner (or any other such event) to share with multiple people, and to pair with food. My co-tasters and I agreed, this beer has so much going in it that drinking it could very easily be called an "experience", and an experience that should definitely be shared and savoured with family or friends. Amazing beer, top-notch brewery.

Conclusions and Rankings:

Sid's Rankings:                                              Jeff's Rankings:
1. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat      1. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
2. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel                    2. Hoegaarden Witbier
3. Hoegaarden Witbier                                 3. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat
4. Molson Canadian Wheat                         4. Molson Canadian Wheat

Steve's Rankings:                                          Chris' Rankings:
1. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel                     1. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat
2. Molson Canadian Wheat                          2. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
3. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat      3. Hoegaarden Witbier
4. Hoegaarden Witbier                                 4. Molson Canadian Wheat

Though we had a few troubles leading to less beers in this tasting than I would have liked, I think we still tasted a very good variety of wheat beers. Once again I think I was able to surprise my co-tasters with tastes they've never tasted in a beer before, and turned them onto things they probably never even knew they liked before. The highlight of the evening for me was the Flying Monkeys Imperial Maple Wheat, and I'm so glad I waited this long to try it, so I could share it with other people and go on that "journey" that it takes you on together with them. Where will we go next on this "craft beer journey"? I don't know exactly, but you can be very sure it will be somewhere filled to the brim with exciting, tasty, new craft beers to discover! Until next time...

Enjoy a craft brew!!!

- Sid Ryzebol -             

Tasting #3: The bitter-sweet symphony of... Pale Ales!

For this tasting, I enlisted the help of some of my fellow Turf students: Steve, Duncan, and Jeff. Their experience with craft beer ranges from none to very little, although one of them does like to do wine tastings (I'm sure there are transferrable skills, right?). It'll be interesting to see what they think of these beers, and what kind of aromas and flavours they're able to pick out. Most importantly, I hope I sway them over to the world of craft beers! Without further ado, let's move onto ...

Pale Ales

Most ales that were brewed before the mid-1600s ranged from either red to black in colour. The reason for this was that the process they used to kiln the malt before this point resulted in a more roasted, darker malt, and thus the colour and taste of the beer reflected that. Once they started using coke as a heat source to kiln the malt, they were able to produce a much lighter kilned malt, and thus: a "pale ale" (at least in comparison to the ales they had been brewing before). In actuality, most pale ples are light to dark copper in colour, as a result of the slightly toasty, nutty, and caramelly malts used to give them their signature malty flavours. But when it comes to pale ales, toasty sweet malts are only half of the story. Hops are featured fairly prominently in this style. They generally either completely balance or slightly outweigh the sweet malt with their bitterness, and also add a whole range of aromas and flavours including spicy, herbal, floral, citrus rinds (grapefruit / oranges), and even notes of pine resin. Traditional British pale ales (or "Bitters") are generally crisp and nutty, with a good dose of spicy and / or herbal hops. American pale ales - on the other hand - come from a country who loves to put the spotlight on hops in their beers. As a result, our pale ales are normally heavier and bolder in terms of hop flavours and aromas, with big citrusy and pine-like hops, as well as some floral hops as well. The malt profile is also slightly different from their British brethren, usually with more caramel and toffee in the flavour, and hints of raisin as well.

Tasting

Beer #1: Wellington S.P.A. (Special Pale Ale)

Wellington S.P.A.

Being brewed by Wellington Brewery, this Special Pale Ale is likely to be more of a traditional British style pale ale, as most of their main beers are in the style of traditional British beers. Upon pouring the beer, your nose is right away greeted with spicy, floral aromas, with a light note of citrus drifting somewhere in the background. Taking a sip, the flavour is of a nice toasty caramel maltiness, with a hint of spicy hop and a light bitterness on the palate briefly, but ends fairly clean and sweet. Among the four of us tasting the beer, we all agreed that it is a very smooth, enjoyable, tasty beer that's easy to drink (yes, even the guys who drink nothing but macro-brewed lagers quite enjoyed it!). Good, classic representation of the style, and a great beer overall.

Beer #2: Alexander Keith's Cascade Hop Ale

In an attempt to do something a little more "craft-like" than usual, Alexander Keith's (owned by Anheuser-Busch) out of Halifax, Nova Scotia decided in 2013 to brew a "Hop Series" of ales, which are pale ales brewed with a single kind of hop. The idea behind these "single hop" ales is to help consumers to understand the different aromas and flavours that different kinds of hops bring to a beer. For a macro-brewery, this is a commendable move, as most big brand breweries are content just pumping out the same old watered down lagers for all eternity. This Cascade Hop Ale is brewed with - you guessed it - Cascade hops, which generally have floral, spicy, and citrusy characteristics.

Alexander Keith's Cascade Hop Ale

Smelling the just-poured beer, the first thing you smell is grapefruit, with a slight note of pine resin in the background. As it sits in the glass a little bit, it starts to reveal a hint of dankness, as well as a tiny bit of an alcoholic smell. Despite the fairly big aromas, this beer is very lacking in the flavour department. It starts off almost slightly tart (like a tart apple juice), and then transitions to a light bready taste with a TINY bit of citrus and pine flavour in the background, almost non-existent. It ends very slightly bitter, and then quickly fades to a flavourless aftertaste. Overall, we all agreed that this beer smelled good, but didn't deliver in the flavour. It tasted generic and lacked any real hop flavour, or any real malt flavour to be honest.

Beer #3: Nickel Brook Ontario 'Wet Hop' Pale Ale

Freshly picked Guelph Bertwell Hops - Fall 2013

This next beer is brewed by Nickel Brook Brewery, who started up in Burlington, Ontario in 2005, and have since grown to become a very well-respected craft brewery with a lot of great craft beers, including a Gluten Free Pale Ale. But the beer we'll be tasting is not gluten free. It is, however, brewed with 100% Ontario ingredients, including barley malt from Canada Malting and Bertwell hops, which are Ontario's only native growing hops and are grown at Ignatius Farm in Guelph (This is an interesting posting from a fellow blogger that talks about Bertwell hops). What makes this a "Wet Hop" pale ale is that the hops are taken fresh off of the vine and put immediately into the beer during brewing, whereas a lot of brewers use dried, pelletized hops. Although more hops have to be used to achieve the same amount of bitterness, flavour, and aroma, it is generally thought that you get a much fresher, brighter hop character to the beer by using this method. However "wet hopped" beers like this one are limited time only, and are only out at the harvest time for hops (end of the summer / early fall), so if you're intrigued by what you read about this beer ahead, run out to your local LCBO as quickly as possible and buy a bottle while it's still on the shelf.

Nickel Brook Ontario 'Wet Hop' Pale Ale

The aroma of this beer is totally unique (in my experience anyways). Given that this is the first time I've had a "wet hopped" beer, as well as the first time I've tried a beer using Bertwell hops, it's unsurprising that I'm smelling aromas I've never smelled from a beer before. It smells VERY herbal, almost orange pekoe tea-like, with background notes of both flowers and spruce, and a light hint of citrus. The aromas are very fresh, leading me to believe that there is some credence to the belief that "fresh hops = fresh aromas". Drinking the beer, it is very smooth, with mellow herbal and floral tastes. The first swallow brings with it a good kick of spruce-like bitterness to the back of the tongue and throat, but this quality seems to mellow out with subsequent mouthfuls. Other than the smooth, mellow hop flavours, there is a nice light sweetness from the malts, though not really identifiable as being any certain flavour. Overall I thought the beer was great tasting and unique, and despite my worries that my fellow tasters would find it too "different" from what they're used to, they also agreed that is was a great beer (albeit, "not a beer you could drink all night").

Beer #4: Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale

Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale

This next one, Big Mouth Pale Ale, is brewed by Hop City Brewing Co. in Brampton, Ontario. Hop City is an independently run off-shoot of Moosehead Breweries, and started up with only two guys in mid-to-late 2009. I've personally never had a Hop City beer before, so this will be a first for me. Smelling the beer, I get a little bit of a raisin-like caramel malt sweetness, and then a fruitiness that is almost like pomegranate (probably an estery by-pruduct of the yeast). Other than that, there's not much going on in terms of aroma, with no identifiable hop aromas really. Unfortunately, the flavour mostly follows suit. There is a light, toasty toffee flavour, a somewhat strange, slightly tart / tangy flavour, and then it ends with a hint of slightly spicy, earthy hops. Overall it's just a fairly boring beer, which is unfortunate, as this was my first beer from Hop City, and now I'm less inclined to come back. Two of my co-tasters agreed with me, while the third thought it was moderately enjoyable (majority rules though, this beer is largely a dud)... Onto the final beer!

Beer #5: Alexander Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale

Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale

This beer is the second (and final) beer in Keith's "Hop Series" of ales, the Hallertauer Hop Ale. Hallertauer hops are German noble hops, which have high aromatic qualities, and contribute spicy and herbal qualities to a beer. After pouring the beer for my co-tasters and I, I dive in to my trusty snifter for a smell of this final beer of the evening. The aroma is of a light bit of spice (almost clove-like) and herbs, and then a light nutty, toasty maltiness. Overall the aroma is very light and delicate, and nothing really "jumps out" at you. The taste starts off with a little bit of toasty grain flavour, then to a slightly spicy hop bitterness, and then drops off into a watery aftertaste. Having had both this and the Cascade Ale before, I remembered liking this one a lot more than the other. Tonight, though, I feel like the Cascade at least delivered what it promised, if not a true-to-style pale ale, whereas this just felt lacking in all fronts. Overall, myself and two of my co-tasters were underwhelmed with this beer, while the third co-taster (that same "black sheep" from the last beer) actually really enjoyed it (again, majority rules... sorry Duncan).

Conclusions and Rankings:

Sid's Rankings:                                              Jeff's Rankings:
1. Nickel Brook Ontario Pale Ale              1. Wellington S.P.A.
2. Wellington S.P.A.                                     2. Nickel Brook Ontario Pale Ale
3. Keith's Cascade Hop Ale                        3. Keith's Cascade Hop Ale
4. Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale                4. Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale
5. Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale                5. Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale

Steve's Rankings:                                          Duncan's Rankings:
1. Wellington S.P.A                                        1. Nickel Brook Ontario Pale Ale
2. Nickel Brook Ontario Pale Ale              2. Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale
3. Keith's Cascade Hop Ale                         3. Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale
4. Keith's Hallertauer Hop Ale                  4. Wellington S.P.A.
5. Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale                 5. Keith's Cascade Hop Ale

So there you have it, a number of different pale ales with a number of different flavours and aromas. Some were nice surprises, while others I could have easily done without. All that aside though, it was definitely a lot of fun and really interesting doing a tasting with several people, and I think I'll try to do this more in the future. It really helps when tasting beer to have other people to bounce aroma and flavour descriptions off of, and a lot of the time they will help you to taste / smell things in a beer that you couldn't on your own. In my case, I'm glad most of these beers were so well received by all of these "non-craft beer drinkers", and all of them have volunteered to come out to my next tasting. Maybe I'm already well on my way to converting them to craft beer!!! Until next time...

Enjoy a craft brew!!!

- Sid Ryzebol -