Beer #41 - Chapeau Apricot Lambic

De Troch Chapeau Apricot Lambic
www.detroch.be

De Troch Brewery in Belgium brews many fruit based lambics under the Chapeau banner.  The De Troch family has been brewing in the region since the 18th century but only opened this incarnation of the brewery in 1974.  Lambics are brewed only in Belgium in the region southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself, using wild yeasts rather than the carefully cultivated yeasts that most beer styles require.  Most lambics are blended with fruit to create krieks (cherry), or in this case an apricot brew.  Or mature and young lambics can be blended to create a greuze. 

It has a cloudy burned yellow colour with carbonation bubbles visibly rising to the top to join with a thin white head which clings to the side of the glass.

It smells yeasty with fairly heavy apricot note and with malty undertones.

It tastes of apricot right from the start and the taste never leaves but is changed by the other flavours as they come into play.  It starts off with a sweet aspect of the apricot, then as the yeast comes into play it becomes more bitter and as the malt joins in it levels off to a sweetness which is less sweet than the start.

It drinks a little on the thick side, it feels much like drinking juice or cider.

This is a brilliantly complex brew, best suited for dessert or to enjoy on a warm spring day.  It would pair well with game and strong cheeses as well.

Beer #40 - Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Young's Double Chocolate Stout
www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk

Young & Co's Brewery started off in 1831 in Wandsworth, England on a site that had a history of brewing since at least 1576.  In 2006 Young's merged with the Charles Wells Brwery, forming Wells and Young's Brewing Company.  They are the largest family owned brewery in England and have continued to expand, including getting exclusive UK brewing rights to Jamaican beer Red Stripe, acquiring the Courage line of beers and distribution rights for the Spanish brewery Damm and more.  This double chocolate stout is so called because it uses both chocolate malt and real dark chocolate.

It is very deep dark brown in colour with a light brown foamy head, which clings to the side of the glass.

It smells very strongly of chocolate and malt, with nice sweet and floral undertones of the chocolate and the sugars mingling with the hops, with a nice bitter-spicy note also lingering on the nose.

It starts off with a big roasted malty flavour, with the bitterness of the hops coming in quickly before being overtaken by the chocolate flavour which mingles with the roasted malt creating a chocolate-nutty flavour, without being overly sweet, with the spicy cocoa notes lingering on the tongue.

This is a nice dessert beer, but not so sweet it wouldn't pair with foods well.  It goes great with red meat and rich foods.  It is a unique taste and well worth a try (or several tries....)

Beer #39 - Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale

Granville Island Brewery English Bay Pale Ale
www.gib.ca

Granville Island Brewery, located on Granville Island in Vancouver, BC opened in 1984 and was the first microbrewery in Canada.  They began naming their brews for Vancouver area landmarks, this one being named after English Bay, which contains Stanley Park on one side and Kitsilano on the other.  This brew, like its namesake, is full of character and complexity.

It has a nice clear copper colour with a white foamy head that creates nice lace down the side of the glass.

It smells of caramel, hops and malt in equal parts with slight undertones of citrus, nuttiness and spiciness.

The citrus and hops come out at the beginning with the caramel and maltiness coming in mid taste to overtake the citrus and fades away leaving just a light hoppiness which is joined by a little nutty spice on the finish.

This is a very fine pale ale, while typical of the style, still with enough character and distinction for it to stand out among the others of the style.  It pairs well with grilled fish and meat and is ideal for a nice summer day barbequeing overlooking the water.  It is made to go with nice days along it's namesake beaches.

Beer #38 - Krombacher Dark

Krombacher Dark
www.krombacher.com

The Krombacher brewery was founded in 1803, in Kreuztal-Krombach, Germany.  They have one of the most modern breweries in Germany now.  They brew their beers according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, stating only barley, hops, yeast and water may be used to brew beer.  This is their darkest offering and is touted to be a very complex beer.

It has a deep black colour with a cream coloured foamy head, with good retention that clings to the side of the glass.

It has a nice aroma, floral notes of the hops taking over with roasty and malty undertones.

The roasted malt flavours start off big and gradually fade away leaving the bitterness of the hops to linger, with a little of the roasted flavour coming back at the very end to lightly linger on the tongue.

This is a very nice dark beer, more complex in flavour than a lot of the other German imports.  It is full flavoured and complex, but drinks light enough that it can be enjoyed anytime.  It will pair well with Bavarian fare and pub fare.

Beer #37 - Tree Brewing Vertical Winter Ale

Tree Brewing Vertical Winter Ale
www.treebeer.com

Tree Brewery is located in Kelowna, BC.  They've been brewing since 1996 and I had the pleasure of touring the brewery shortly after that, sadly some of my favourite brews are no longer being made, but they've come out with good new ones as well. This is their seasonal winter ale, available starting October. 

It's clear with a light amber colour and an ivory foamy head with pretty good retention, which clings to the side of the glass with the promise of some nice brewers lace.

The hops and malts come through in the smell with a strong caramel undertone with a light vanilla nose just hinted at.

A complex mix of the sweetness of the caramel with a nutty undertone comes right to the forefront, with the malts and hops joining in mid-taste, but still staying in the back seat.  The malt and hops fade away leaving just the sweet-nutty medley lingering until it fades away and is overtaken by the light vanilla that was hinted at in the smell.

It's a nice, though fairly typical, winter ale.  Great for warming up on a winter night, or with food, or my preference would be after a meal.

Beer #36 - Buffalo Bill's Brewery Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

Buffalo Bill's Brewery Blueberry Oatmeal Stout
www.buffalobillsbrewery.com

First off, I'd like to apologize for this being posted a day late - I had some unfortunate technical difficuties, meaning I botched up the scheduled publishing time/date of this one.  When I saw this brew I just had to try it, I love blueberrries and I love oatmeal stouts, so I had to find out how they would pair up.  Buffalo Bill's opened up in 1983 in Hayward, CA and has a full restaurant/brew pub attached - sounds like the perfect place to go sample some of their brews.  This particular brew is their winter seasonal beer which is a hearty 7.5% ABV.

It has a reddish brown colour with a cream coloured foamy head which clings to the side of the glass.

It smells strongly of both malt and blueberry, with an undertone of chocolate and hops.

It starts malty with the blueberry coming in right away, which changes flavours as the hops and chocolate come into play to finish with a bitter-sweet hops and berry medley of flavours.  The alcohol content is very apparent in the finish as it warms all the way down.

It drinks a lot lighter and smoother than you would expect with an oatmeal stout.

This is a really nice addition to the winter seasonal category, it is a change from a lot of the standard winter ales.  I think this may be my favourite of the fruity winter seasonals I tried this season.  I would recommend it as a perfect dessert beer after a nice hearty winter meal.

Beer #35 - Big Ridge Brewing Old Sullivan Porter

Big Ridge Brewing Old Sullivan Porter
www.markjamesgroup.com/bigridge.html

This is the first brewpub brew I'm reviewing, I've tried all of their brews but decided this one would be a good one to start with.  Big Ridge Brewing, a brewpub in Surrey, BC, has been open since 1999.  They have excellent food, without much variety however.  This brew, is a dark ale "rich and roasty with a smooth malt finish."

It is completely black in colour, no seeing through this glass. It has a thick tan head which clings to the side of the glass.

It smells strongly of chocolate and malt with undertones of hops and licorice.

The taste starts off with malt and licorice with the hops peeking through in the middle.  The finish lightly tastes of licorice with a strong malt component.

This brew is a really nice porter, with a nice complex flavour profile, with a strong finish.  It goes great with pub fare, or, obviously, on it's own.