Archive for category Beer Tasting
Beer Review – Victoria Bitter
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Photography on July 25, 2010
Name: Victoria Bitter
Origin: Australia
Style: Lager (4.56%)
Appearance: A dark gold lager that pours with a very short-lived small to medium head.
Taste: The aroma is mostly metallic and copper-like. VB is a very light tasting beer, with most of its flavours coming from its bitter, herbal hops. There are some very subtle grain-like notes. It finishes bitter and metallic, with a very short aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: A medium carbonated beer with a light body and short-lived aftertaste.
Final Thoughts (2.5 out of 5): This is a very plain-Jane lager. It’s not bad and its actually a very easy drinking and refreshing beer, but it lacks character. Still, its leaps and bounds better than Fosters. I gave it a +0.5 because it really hit the spot after spending the day in the sun on top of Old Goat Glacier.
A veiw of the valley carved by an Old Goat
Beer Review – St. Peters Ruby Red Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 23, 2010
Name: St. Peters Ruby Red Ale
Origin: England
Style: Ale (4.5%)
Appearance: True to its name this beer is a copper like, red-brown, with a short lived medium head.
Taste: It smells like copper and caramel. There are some notes of citrus initial, becomes more pine-like as it lingers on the tongue. There is definite notes of copper in the beer. Finishes bitter and ashy.
Mouth Feel: A sharp, medium body ale. Not filling in the least.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): Something can taste of copper, citrus and pine and still be enjoyable.
Beer Review – Badgers Golden Champion
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 18, 2010
Name: Badgers Golden Champion
Origin: England
Style: Ale (5.0%)
Appearance: A dark gold coloured ale, with a minimal head and very carbonated appearance in its glass.
Taste: It smelled of sweet citrus fruits. Like its aroma the taste is initially sweet and citrusy, mostly oranges. There are some small cracker-like notes. It finishes with a sweet orange aftertaste that is short lived.
Mouth Feel: Its very carbonated but neither sharp on the tongue, nor filling. A medium bodied, easy drinking ale.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): A deliciously fruity ale.
The quaint, yet popular town of Howth. Only 30 minutes by train for the Dublin.
Beer Review – Badger Golden Glory
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 16, 2010
Name: Wells Bombardier Waggle Dance
Origin: England
Style: Ale (4.5%)
Appearance: A dark amber coloured ale, this beer pours with a minimal head and like so many other English ales, has a low life span (not that it matters at all).
Taste: Their is a very strong aroma of peaches and sweet apples. The initial flavours are sweet and peachy, with notes of melon. It becomes more malty and bread-like towards the end, finishing with a bitter, ashy aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: A sharp, strongly carbonated ale. It leaves a long-lived ‘coated’ feeling on the tongue which draws out the final bitter after flavours. Medium bodied.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): What it lacks in mouth feel, it more than makes up for in taste. A wonderful combination of fruity notes and more malty beer-like flavours, this is an excellent ale. My only real question is does it contain any actual fruits because this beer tastes strongly of them.
Beer Review – Wells Bombardier Waggle Dance
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 13, 2010
Name: Wells Bombardier Waggle Dance
Origin: England
Style: Ale (Honey Ale 5%)
Appearance: A nice gold colour, with a very small fizzy head that suffers from low retention.
Taste: There is some citrus aromas noted. The beer starts sweet with definite honey notes. It has other crisp, grassy flavours imparted most likely by its hops. Waggle Dance finishes with a sweet honey aftertaste that is very short lived.
Mouth Feel: A very soft, very refreshing beer. It has a light body and no sharpness what-so-ever.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): This is another superb beer from Wells Bombardier. If only we got more selection from this brewer in Canada. Sadly the bulk of what they make will never see our cold shores.
Beer Review – Innis and Gunn Canadian Cask Oak Aged Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Travel on July 12, 2010
Name: Innis and Gunn Canadian Cask Oak Aged Ale
Origin: Scotland (Barrels originate from Canada)
Style: Scottish Strong Ale (7.1%)
Appearance: The colour is a crystal clear ruby red, that pours with a nice, medium sized foamy head with excellent retention.
Taste: There are definite notes of raisins and apples in the aroma. The flavours are fruity, with raisins, apples and some subtler notes of molasses and whiskey.
Mouth Feel: A surprisingly light bodied beer for such a high ABV, this Scottish Ale has a refreshing palette overall. Its high ABV and Whiskey cask aging gives this beer a touch of fire.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): Absolutely fantastic! This beer was made especially for Canada Day by Innis and Gunn and though I am a week late on trying it, I am glad I did. I love Canadian whiskey and I love Innis and Gunns oak aged ales. This is a great combination of both.
Quickie Beer Review – Glutaner
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Rants on July 11, 2010
I need to get this one down quickly while its still fresh in my head. I have never had a Gluten-free beer before and after drinking this German-made disaster I will probably never drink one again.
Where to start… Well when I poured it the first thing I thought of was burning plastic in a fire pit. The flavours are far worse, tasting synthetic and bitter. If you have ever eaten the brocolli-like flower from a raw rapini plant, you may understand what this flavour is like. The mouth-feel seals the deal, being grainy, thick and very unpleasant.
Apparently I need to read the labels before buying a beer, because this ‘beer’ actually contains nothing beer about it. Its base is made from some kind of flower called Sorghum, which is apparently used in the production of alcoholic beverages.
How this beer passed the German Beer Purity Laws beats me. Odds are this is exclusively sold as an export because this would never be allowed on the shelf there.