Beer #60 - Mill St. Coffee Porter

Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
www.millstreetbrewery.com

I have reviewed a couple of other Mill Street brews and discussed a little about the Toronto, Ontario brewery before.  Here, Beer #32 Franconian Bock and here, Beer #44 Tankhouse Ale  This Coffee Porter is brewed with fresh brewed Balzac's dark roasted coffee and blended with a traditional dark porter.

It has a deep black colour with a latte coloured head.

In the aroma both the coffee and the malts are very apparent with a touch of the floral and bitter characteristics of the hops as well.

The porter and coffee tastes blend perfectly, it starts with a coffee taste which never lets go, it simply gets changed by the other flavour components as they come into play.  First the maltiness comes in and makes the coffee almost taste like a latte, with a creamy taste, then as the floral notes come in it tastes as if something akin to nutmeg was added to the latte, then, once the bitterness of the hops come into play it finally tastes like drinking a black coffee with a slight bit of the floral notes still clinging to the taste.

Mill Street Coffee Porter is a very well balanced beer, if you like coffee and beer I can't see how you would not like this one.  It is not overpowering in any way, it drinks nice and smooth and gives the best of both worlds.

Beer #59 - Pyramid Audacious Apricot

Pyramid Brewing Audacious Apricot Ale
www.pyramidbrew.com

Pyramid Brewing out of Seattle, WA has been brewing since 1984 as Hart Brewing, in 1996 it was reborn as Pyramid Brewing.  They have expanded and now breweries and alehouses in California, Oregon and Washington.  Audacious Apricot is an unfiltered wheat ale blended with fresh apricot, creating a delectible fruit brew.

A cloudy, well, apricot colour with a thick white head that doesn't retain very well but with nice lacing.

It smells of apricot with a nice counterpoint of the bitterness of the hops and a yeasty wine character.

It starts with a mixture of the apricot and the hop bitterness with the yeasty wine flavour taking over the bitterness and mingling with the apricot to finish nice and clean.

It drinks very smooth and can sneak up on you, the alcohol is hardly apparent in the taste.  Certainly one of the nicest fruit beers I've tried recently and so very refreshing.  If you have any slight like of apricot and of beer you need to try this.

Beer #58 - Carlsberg

Carlsberg Pale Lager
www.carlsberg.com

Carlsberg Brewery was founded in 1847 in Copenhagen, Denmark and begand brewing the flagship Carlsberg Lager.  Carlsberg has acquired many other breweries over the years, I've touched on some of them in the past, making them the 4th largest brewery group in the world.

It has a nice clear golden straw colour with a bright white foamy head with great retention.

It smells of both the floral and bitter notes of the hops and malt.

The malt comes strong at the forefront of the taste, with the bitter notes of the hops, as the taste goes on, the maltiness gets overtaken by the floral notes of the hops which fade away just leaving a crisp and pleasant lingering of the bitterness on the tongue.

A ncie crisp pale lager, with a slightly different flavour profile than most.  Certainly worth a try if you haven't had it and great on a warm day with some friends.

Beer #57 - Hopworks Abominable Winter Ale

Hopworks Urban Brewery Abominable Winter Ale
www.hopworksbeer.com

A little about the unique Hopworks Urban Brewery from their website:

"Hopworks Urban Brewery and Hopworks BikeBar are Portland’s first Eco-Brewpubs. We offer handcrafted organic beers and fresh, local ingredients, all served in sustainably-built and operated buildings with a relaxed, casual atmosphere.
Hopworks incorporates many aspects of sustainability.  From composting to rain barrels, and from pervious pavers to hand dryers, we have made every effort to protect “our” future with a thoughtful alternative.  Hopworks is 100% renewably powered and “cradle to gate” carbon neutral.
Our 20-barrel brewery produces 8,500 barrels a year and provides our restaurant with ten different HUB organic beers on tap and two cask ales at all times."


A nice clear dark copper colour with a nice white head with great lacing.

It has a nice spicy caramel nose with the maltiness and bitterness apparent but in the background and some citrus peaking out at the end .

The spiciness comes out right at the start with the caramel and maltiness joining in and mingling with the spice as the bitterness gradually overtakes the lead and is joined by a hint of citrus on the finish.

A nice seasonal brew, big and flavourful, yet still easy enough to drink. Quite a unique winter ale from quite a unique brewery.  Well worth a try if you can find it in your neck of the woods.

Beer #56 - Two Beers Sodo Brown

Two Bears Brewing Company SoDo Brown Ale
www.twobeersbrewery.com

Two Beers Breing began from very small roots in a Seattle garage in 2006, they have grown to producing 12 beers, 5 of which are available year round and 7 being seasonal, they also produce small batch blends and infusions.  Their new location, while still in Seattle has gorwn from the tiny garage to 4800 square feet.   SoDo is only brewed with 1 hop variety but 7 different grains creating some complex malt flavours.

A dark brown colour that seems clear but so dark you still cannot see through it. It has a bright white head with a little retention that provides nice lacing.

It smells strongly of roasted nuts and coffee with a little floral notes of the hops also apparent

It starts with some bitterness of the hops quickly followed by maltiness and then the coffee notes take over to be rejoined by the bitterness with a little raisin note coming in at the finish.

A nicely balanced brown ale with a nice malt profile, with enough bitterness to create a counterpoint to the sweetness of the malts.

Beer #55 - Kilkenny Irish Crem Ale

Guinness Brewery Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale
www.diageo.com

I recently reviewed Guinness' Harp Lager and covered a bit about the history of the brewery here, Beer #50

Kilkenny is similar to Smithwick's Ale (Which I will be reviewing soon as well) but, has less hop finish and Kilkenny is nitrogenated to produce the distinctive cream head, as Guinness is. The name 'Kilkenny' was originally used during the 1980s and 1990s to market a stronger version of Smithwick's in Europe and Canada due to a difficulty pronuncing 'Smithwick's.' Kilkenny is the result of brewing traditions started in the 14th century in the Abbey at Kilkenny where the monks were brewing ales which grew to become Smithwicks and Kilkenny.

Kilkenny has a nearly clear copper colour with a creamy ivory head.  As with Guinness it takes some time to pour and settle in to drink, creating that anticipation as you watch.

It smells quite distinctive as well, all the aspects of the hops used can be smelled.  At first whiff you notice the bitter aspect and the floral note, but the citrus aspect comes in a little too, all the while smelling the maltiness and a nutty, earthy aroma.

It starts off with a dry roasted nutty taste, with the bitterness of the hops slowly creeping in and continuing to grow right to the finish, the maltiness comes in along the way and the citrus notes join in at the finish.

Kilkenny is a classic, if you haven't tried it you must.  It is somewhat filling, but goes great with pub fare.  

Beer #54 - Williams Bros Fraoch

Heather Ale Ltd / Williams Bros Brewery Fraoch
www.heatherale.co.uk

From their website "The Williams Bros. Brewing Co. started life in the humble ‘Glenbrew’ homebrew shop in Glasgow. This was the family owned business that was both our occupation and passion. In 1988 a lady of Gaelic decent came into the shop with a translation of the recipe for ‘Leanne Fraoch’ that had been handed down through the generations. It was her simple goal to recreate a batch of this historic brew to share with her family."

The brewery began its life as Heather Ale Ltd and in 2004 they changed their name to Williams Brothers Brewery.  They are now located in Alloa, Scotland.  This style of heather ale has been brewed in Scotland since 2000 BC, and since 1988 they are the only brewery still to be producing this type of beer.

Froach has a very clear yellow colour with a bright white head with good lacing.  Tiny bubbles of carbonation rise to the top.

Froach has a very intriguing aroma, a blend of floral, spicy, citrus and malty notes.

It strars off clean with mostly the citrus notes coming through, with the maltiness coming in soon after with the floral notes, the maltiness stays as the spiciness comes in for the finish.  A little bitterness comes out to round out the taste profile and linger on the tongue at the finish.

Froach is a very interesting beer which I think is worth a try if for nothing else but the uniqueness.  I think it's a very well balanced ale with a great yet complex flavour profile while still drinking smoothly.