Virtual Advent Beer Calendar – Week 3

Jeff Green | Dec 14, 2016

We have passed the midway point in our month long daily exploration of Ontario craft beers. I have tried to mix and match some more familiar flavours with some of the more unusual tastes, trying to coax readers along a more adventurous beer drinking path. I am aware that a majority of beer drinking readers of this paper feel strongly that “beer should taste like beer” and have no interest in any kind of assault on their taste buds by bitter and sour and sweet combinations of flavours. I have chosen some more mainstream options for those who are interested but not convinced that alternate beer flavours are worth the effort to find, amid all the selection and the odd looking cans that are crowding the beer and liquor stores and large supermarket shelves.
This week the weather is turning colder, the Christmas season is ramping up, and with it stress levels are up as well. This is not a time for light beer, friends, and as I stick to my maximum one beer a day limit in the interest of following the rules of Advent  I feel the by now each beer should be an event.

Sunday – It was calm and not too cold in the morning, but the snow was coming and by the time the evening hit there was a storm brewing. Had to start the week off with a stout, so we have a choice. Stalwart is a brewery in Carleton Place, specializing in India Pale Ales and Stouts. They make a Bad Moon Rye Stout (6.1%) with a bit of spice added in, that fit the weather well. It is available at the Cardinal Cafe in Sharbot Lake. Other options for this type fo night include Railway City out of St. Thomas,  a classic rich, black coal stout with a bit of a bitter edge, and Beaus makes Tom Green, a smooth milk stout. All good choices.

Monday – The storm had come, gone, and been shovelled away. Something light on the palate bit with teeth was in order. So, I chose a fortified whitbeer was in order. I happened to have been in Kingston the previous Friday,  and there was a new release day at Stone City. The beer is called Tannenbomb, an “Imperial Whitbeer brewed with Cranberries, Orange Peel, and Spruce”. Whitbeer is made  from Wheat, but is also known as White Beer because of its light colour and champagne like texture. It is belgian style, and it has a yeasty flavour that tickles the nose. This version was strong, 8% with added flavour and body, but still had a frothiness and the alcohol was hidden by the spruce flavour.

Tuesday – Busy day, not time for fuss, but my tastebuds were still alive from the Tannenbomb. Luckily, the Sharbot Lake Country Inn has Big Rig Beer on Tap. Everyone loves their Golden Lagered Ale, but they also have Big Boot, a Hefeweisen, a German Whitbeer that is light and a bit hazy, sweet and yeasty sour. A great lunch or Tuesday beer.

Wednesday -  I chose a  pretty big beer for mid-week, but I wanted to mention a little brewery from Sarnia. They say they “started out as a foolish bunch of backyard brewers using propane burners and frozen hoses and now we're a real life nano-brewery.” The Refined Fool Brewing company makes a Double IPA, called Short Pier, Long Walk. It's a good example of the style. High alcohol 8.4% and bitter (it scores over 100 on the IBU – International Bittering Units – scale, there really is such a thing) As i said before, after that first bitter assault on the first sip , Short Pier delivers lots of flavour and balance. For a strong beer it is easy to drink, and has the trademark tart flavour of a good IPA.

Thursday – In the first installment of this series I talked about Bellwood Brewery in Toronto, which earns raves on beer websites but does not ship beer from its home base on Ossington Ave in Toronto. We had some visitors come out from Toronto last week, and we sent them to Bellwoods before they came our way. They brought the most popular of Bellwoods beers, Jutsu (a 5.6% pale) and Jelly King (a 5.6% sour ale) Jutsu is musty and cloudy and fruity, not too bitter and delicious. Jelly King has the taste like very dry apple cider similar to other sour beers, a style that is all the rage now but is taking some getting used to for me. Both of these beers are distinctively musty.  Belwoods brewers have a  funkiness scale for their beers along with alcohol content and degrees of bitterness.. If Jutsu and Jelly King are their most pedestrian beers, their more adventures beers are sure to be spectaculour.

Friday – Might be time to try a Porter. Again, Porters are not my favourite style. They are dark, malty and smooth, but I often think they are just stouts that lack character. Strong Hammer Brewing of Guelph make a good one, however, called Continuity Baltic Porter at 7.8%. It is rich and very smooth, with lots of flavour and an easy finish for a Friday Night.
Saturday – Last day of the second to last week. Time for my favourite of the IPA’s from Amsterdam breweries, one of Toronto’s oldest craft breweries. They make a 5% Cruiser, a 7% Bone Shaker, and a 9% Imperial IPA called Fracture. Amsterdam’s Boneshaker is aptly named. It is a lean, uncompromising beer, refreshing but sometimes even more bitter than I like. Fracture, because it has so much alcohol, also has more fruit flavour and weight to go along with the hoppy bitterness. If you are having one beer at a Saturday night party, this is the one.
Next week, the finale, including special Solstice and Christmas Eve beers.