Wednesday, 19 April 2017

Powell Street Dive Bomb Porter

Nice balanced porter: notes of coffee, subtle sweetness 8.5/10

Powell Street Bourbon Stout

Nice malty and salty stout, as Brandon said! Congrats to Brandon on successfully passing his PhD Dissertation defense today!

Syrup, malt on the front, nice salty bitterness on the finish 8.5/10

Powell Street Cumulus Lupulus

With a name like this, I HAD TO try ;)
Tart citrus like qualities - guava or passionfruit. Almost like a tea saison 8/10

Powell Steeet Ode to Citra

Nice citrus note on the front with a bit of a bitter finish. Lemon, and floral qualities 7.5/10

Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Cereal Killah Oatmeal Stout

Back from my end of semester crunch, and enjoying a glass of the Cereal Killah Oatmeal Stout from Abe Erb to celebrate the end of term (and a break from the marathon 12 hour days of writing!)

This beer is a full-bodied stout with notes of espresso. Nice roasted flavour, with sweetness up front and a mild bitterness on the finish. Quite pleasant! 8/10.

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Black Creek Brewery Apricot Ale

Decided to go with something a bit different today: an apricot ale from Black Creek Brewery!

You definitely notice the fruity apricot flavour in this one, and it has a bitter finish, reminiscent of a session ale almost.

Consensus: decent apricot beer - no complexities to the flavour, but pleasing overall. 7.5/10.

Sunday, 26 February 2017

Mill Street Cobblestone Stout

I've had Mill Street Brewery's Cobblestone Stout a few times now (at two different venues), and every time I've had it, the beer has been super flat with little flavour. Initially I thought that it was an issue with the taps, but given that the beer has been flat at every place I have tried this beer, I've begun to realise that it likely is the beer itself. Mill Street Brewery notes that their Cobblestone Stout is a: 
traditional styled Irish Stout that is served using beer gas to produce that familiar creamy pore. This is the same system that draft Guinness uses. Our black stout has a roasted malt flavour and a hint of toasted walnuts and chocolate in the finish. Select imported hops are used to dry out the finish of this ale.
I agree with one thing, the beer is definitely on the dry side. Otherwise I would say that the beer features very few of the qualities I normally look for in a stout - the "creaminess", roasted flavour, and malt finish. If they are there, I certainly do not notice them (and have failed to notice them time and time again).
Consensus: a very disappointing beer in my opinion, lacking in flavour.  3/10.

PS: I realize that such a critical review might lead to some backlash, but I would definitely be interested to hear from you if you've tried it before to hear your comments on it!