Beer of the Week - Fathom Double IPA from Nine Locks Brewing

Last June Teena was in Haliax and brought me home an ESB and an IPA from Nine Locks Brewing. Of course, I featured them as my Beer of the Week. They were delicious. This past weekend Teena was back in Halifax and brought me back a four pack of Fathom Double IPA from that very same brewery. I feel like now I've had a matching set!

The name Nine Locks Brewing Co. is named for the nine locks of the historic Shubenacadie Canal, which was completed in 1856, and built to transport agriculture, timber and coal between Halifax and the Annapolis Valley.

And the Double IPA?

The moment I cracked the top, hopes filled the air. They were a little citrusy but not overpowering with citrus. The aroma did fill the air and I was outside. It pours amber in colour with a white head. Lots of lacings are left behind as I sip.

I really enjoy the hop bite this IPA provides. It's not overpowering, not too citrusy but that great hop bite is there for sure and quite wonderful to taste.

If I could get this on Ontario, I surely would but as I can't.  I can only enjoy the four, whoops, make it three that I have left.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 346
Breweries 316
Countries 49

Liquid Gifts from Halifax

Teena just returned from a business trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Whenever she travels, she tries to bring me home some different beers. She did so again today with a bonus bottle of Fortress Rum, which is Caribbean rum aged in oak barrels at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. We've had it before and it's delicious.

Garrison Brewery in Halifax brews a seasonal spruce beer that I really love but is not available in Ontario, so Teena hauled home 4 big 650 ml bottles of it. It was my Beer of the Week back in 2012.

She also brought me a 4 pack of a beer from Nine Locks Brewery in Dartmouth that I haven't tried before, Fathom Double IPA.

Thanks, Honey! I know it was a very heavy load to haul around but I really do appreciate it!

Beer of the Week - Sea Level Extra Special Bitter

Teena was in Nova Scotia recently and brought me back a six pack of Blue Heron Extra Special Bitter from Sea Level Brewing.

The brewery open on November 26, 2007, in Port Williams in the Annapolis Valley and was then, and still is, the only microbrewery in the valley. Owner and Brew Master, Randy Lawrence, had been brewing for fifteen years before opening Sea Level and has created recipes for three different Nova Scotia Breweries.

What is very interesting about Randy is that he has also been growing his own hops since 1985. He started growing them at first in his back yard, then at his cottage and now has a hop farm which supplies Sea Level Brewing alone with a partnership he has with another hop farm in the area.

And the beer?

Blue Heron ESB (named after a Blue Heron they see quite often on the tidal river) pours amber in colour with an off white head. There is a wonderful earthiness in the aroma. When I sip, lots of nice lacings are left behind on the inside of the glass.

This is a excellently done English-style bitter. It is a little earthy, a little funky with some of that wonderful English hop bite in the finish.

The next time Teena is in Nova Scotia, I hope she brings me home some more of this.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 323 
Breweries 291 
Countries 47

Beer of the Week - Two Beers from Nine Locks Brewery

Teena knows that I enjoy English ales and IPAs so when she was out east on business, she brought me back both from Nine Locks Brewery.

The idea for Nine Locks Brewery came to the two cousins, Shaun and Danny O’Hearn, where else but on a hot summer evening in 2014, while sipping on a cold one. The doors to the brewery opened in Dartmouth, in January of this year.

Why the name Nine Locks? The name Nine Locks Brewing Co. is named for the nine locks of the historic Shubenacadie Canal, completed in 1856, which was built to move agriculture, timber and coal between Halifax and the Shubenacadie River, the Bay of Mines and the Annapolis Valley.

So how about the beer?

ESB

The ESB pours a brownish, coppery colour with an off white head. There is a little earthiness in the aroma with a little hop bite.

The beer starts with that bit of English hop bite but the malt comes in to settle it down, just for a moment.  That enjoyable hop bitterness comes back through an thoroughly enjoyable finish. This is a nicely done ESB. Not too bitter, a little complex and very enjoyable to drink.

IPA

The IPA pours an amber colour with a white head and bitter citrus to the nose. I really enjoy finding bitter citrus in an aroma!

Right away in the first sip, the bitter citrus makes its presence known. It's not overpowering but very enjoyable. This lasts through the entire sip and the very long finish. Another very tasty treat from this brewery.

If I lived down east, I would be having more of these.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 320
Breweries 288
Countries 46

More Down East Beer

Teena had another work trip down east last week and when she came back home, she had some more beer for me.

While on a short layover at Halifax airport, she pick me up two bottles of Spruce Beer from Garrison Brewing at Liquid Assets. It's a beer I haven't had since 2012 and am so looking forward to it.

Originally I had thought that the small island province of P.E.I. only had two craft beer breweries, PEI Brewing and Gahan House, but Teena found a third, Upstreet Craft Brewing, located in Charlottetown. Of course, she came back with two brews from them.

Thanks, honey!

A Halifax Beer Delivery

Teena was working in Halifax this week and came home with a very heavy suitcase full of craft beer for me.  Twelve tall cans, four regular cans and two 650ml bottles.What a great wife!

I now have these beer to try:

• Shipyard Brewing from Maine
• Charles Wells Brewery in the UK. 

To show how much the craft brewing industry has caught on in Nova Scotia, Teena brought back these beers from breweries:

• Tatamagouche Brewery
• Nine Locks Brewing
• Spin Drift Brewing
• Sea Level Brewing
• North Brewing Company

These Nova Scotia breweries likely sprang up in the past year or so. Teena is from there and was in Halifax just this past spring. She never noticed beer from all these breweries available then.

Good news for Nova Scotia and for me, as I am looking forward to trying them all.

Beer of the Week - The Beers of Boxing Rock Brewing

Teena was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, last week and despite the danger of having her suitcase being overweight, she brought my back some beers from Boxing Rock Brewing Co.. We both enjoy dark rum so a delicious bottle of Smuggler's Rum also came home with her and joined in the picture.

Boxing Rock is a brewery that was opened in 2012 by two engineers, Henry and Emily, in Shelburne, which is in the southern end of Nova Scotia. The brewery is named after a famous spot in the area. According to local folklore, Boxing Rock is where bickering seamen were left by their captain to sort out their differences. The choice: box until only one could return to the ship or shake hands and share a beer.

So how is the beer?

Crafty Jack English Ale

I was hoping to find the origin of the name of this beer but couldn't. (Boxing Rock responded when Teena tweeted this post that Crafty Jack is a tribute to Emily's late English father-in-law)

Crafty Jack pours dark brown in colour with a light brownish head. The head is quite lively and I had to wait for it to settle before taking a picture. In the aroma, there is some coffee and an English hop note.

For a 4.2% apv beer, it is so full of flavour! It starts with bitter coffee which then gives way to a very nice English hop bitterness in the finish. There is something about English bitters and ales that I love, and it is all in here.

I wish I could get this in Ontario.

The Vicar's Cross

I didn't do a very good job of pouring this for the picture. When I added more to my glass, the head came to life.

The 8.5% apv Vicar's Cross pours light brown in colour with a light brownish head. Malt and hops fill the aroma. This is a very well balanced IPA. It's strongly flavoured like an IPA should. My first sip finds hop bitterness right away but halfway through, the malt comes in to settle that down.  Just when I think there might be some sweetness in the finish, the hops return. This is not an overpowering bitter IPA but a nicely balanced one. With such a high alcohol per volume, this is a beer you just would have one of in a night.

One very enjoyable one!

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 317 
Breweries 285 
Countries 46

Email. Snail Mail. How About Beer Mail!

Teena spent the last two weeks in New Brunswick on business. In her travels, she found some interesting beer to pick up and bring home for me. The problem was it wouldn't fit in her suitcase along with two weeks worth of clothes.

So what did she do?  She wrapped them up, boxed them and mailed them home. The package arrived at our door today, beating Teena home by a couple of hours.

So, what did I get?

There was one can of Blueberry Ale from Gahan House in Charlottetown P.E.I, two Maybee Brewery IPAs, two Black Banks Cascadian Dark Ales plus two Reanimator Dopplebocks from P.E.I. Brewing, and finally two Soeur Catherine IPA from Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault Inc.

Teena arrived home as I was writing up this post and had in her suitcase a 750ml bottle of North Shore Regiment Barley Wine from Distillerie Fils du Roy Inc.

Thanks, Honey! So many great beers to try!

Beer of the Week - Tasting History with Garrison Brewing Spruce Beer

Last fall I read the book Captain James Cook in Atlantic Canada which was about the nine years Cook was stationed with the British Navy in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A very good book which I would recommend.

The book told how James Cook learned from aboriginal peoples how to use spruce in a drink to stay healthy during the long winters. I thought scurvy was a disease which only occurred on the high seas but during long winters without fresh fruit or vegetables, scurvy could also rear its ugly head.

He used this method in making a spruce beer. In fact, later in his sailing career he would make literally boatloads of spruce beer to take on his long voyages to ward off scurvy. Not a total way of preventing scurvy but the spruce provided enough Vitamin C that along with the fresher food and cleaner living conditions helped to make his crews the healthiest of those times.

I wondered what spruce beer would taste like when I read an article in The Grid which talked about how Garrison Brewery in Halifax has made this beer the past couple of years and sells out in just a couple of days. The article then said 800 bottles have been shipped to the LCBO in Ontario.

Three of them now sit in my fridge.

When you think about it, spruce beer is a very original Canadian style of beer. It originated in this country and was constantly brewed for British troops stationed on the east coast of Canada during the 1700s.

In 1759, the Daily Order for the Highland Regiment was "Spruce beer is to be brewed for the health and conveniency [sic] of the troops which will be served at prime cost."

Canadahistory.com even has a 1760 recipe for General Amherst's Spruce Beer, part of which explains "Take 7 Pounds of good spruce & boil it well till the bark peels off, then take the spruce out & put three Gallons of Molasses to the Liquor & and boil it again, scum it well as it boils, then take it out the kettle & put it into a cooler, boil the remained of the water sufficient for a Barrel of thirty Gallons."

Garrison describes their method as "brewed with local Spruce & Fir tips, blackstrap molasses and dates. Dark amber and brown colouring. Aroma is a comforting mix of spruce boughs, caramel malts, molasses and dates. Complex and full-bodied, it balances the crisp bitterness of spruce and fir gum with the warming flavours of molasses and bittersweet chocolate."

Now it's time to step back and taste a little bit of Canadian history.

The beer pours dark brown in colour with a brownish head and no sediment. I was not sure if there would be any sediment or residue left in the bottle. There appears to be none. I sense maybe chocolate in the aroma. Hard to pinpoint. There is a little something else that I can't put my finger on, which might be the spruce.

My mouth is assaulted with flavour with my first sip. It is a little overwhelming and for some reason unexpected. I think it is the pronounced sweetness that I did not expect. With lots of molasses in the brew, though, it is not surprising.

It does start sweet, then some bitterness comes through. There are many flavours involved here. The molasses does come through but so do more other flavours. You may have heard a beer described as "complex tasting" and this is definitely one of them. There are different tastes which comes through in this that I have not experienced before, likely the spruce and dates, which I am liking. The flavours seem to be layered throughout, making this an interesting and enjoyable beer to taste.

I can see why they line up for this at the brewery each year and I think I will need to hit the LCBO and stock up on this myself. It is a terrific winter beer ... and I won't have to worry about scurvy.

The Wigram Brewing Company in New Zealand bases its spruce beer recipe on the same one which was used by Captain James Cook when he first brewed spruce beer in New Zealand in 1773. Having now had the Garrison, I would love to try that one!

Note: I tried a few afterwards and found that the spruce aroma and flavour really comes through. This is a very excellent beer!

Beers Profiled 148
Countries 28
Breweries 126
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week- The Keith's Brewmaster Collection

For Christmas I got the Keith's Brewmaster Collection from my nephew Kyle and his wife Kerri.

A nice gift as it gives me a few new beers to try. The pack comes with 3 IPAs, and a White, Amber and Dark, plus a beer stein. I have not had anything but the IPA so this should be interesting.

Alexander Keith came to Canada from Scotland in 1817 when he was only 22. It did not take him long to get something going as it was in 1820 that opened his brewery in Halifax.

The brewery prospered and he became well known and liked in town becoming the Mayor of Halifax three times. Teena and I did a tour of the brewery a few years ago and, if in Halifax it, is really worth taking.

In 1971, the brewery was sold to Labatt's. In 1995, Labbatt's was sold to the Belgium International brewer Interbrew which merged with AmBev in 2004 to form Inbev which became Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2008.

Go to the east coast, though, and Alexander Keith's is still considered one of their own.

Time for some tasting.

Keith's IPA - This is my "go to" beer in palces that don't have any craft beer on tap. I remember when it first came to Ontario. I was in Ottawa and a big fellow from Cape Breton named Keith saw the Keith's sign and steered me into the pub say, "Now, Gordie boy, I'm going to show you what I grew up on. It was very good." Teena is from down east and it is her beer of choice too.

It pours yellow in colour with a white head, which quickly disappears. The Keith's stein has an etching in the bottom which allows the beer to keep creating bubbles so does not go flat if left too long. Beer is not left "too long" around here.

It has a slight hop aroma and starts a little sweet in taste finishing with a slight hoppy bitterness. The bitterness has stood up in the past when I have had a more bitter beer before it.

It's really not an IPA but a decent big brewery beer.

Keith's Premium White - This is the newest product produced by the brewery. It comes unfiltered and is made with citrus and spice. It pours a straw colour with a white head and is cloudy due to it being unfiltered. The head quickly dissipates leaving no lacings on the glass.

It has a surprisingly light mouth feel and is very flavourful. There is not the usual typically strong wheat beer taste or aftertaste to this. The flavour does fall away quickly in the finish.

This is a nice pleasant wheat beer. People who like a light refreshing summer beer but don't like wheat beer would enjoy this.

Keith's Red Amber Ale - This beer actually pours brownish in colour with a brownish tinge in the head. The head does remain for a bit.

There is a malty sweetness in the front which carries through to the finish. There is no bitterness in this beer but I found it flavourful and would have it again.

I am not sure if Keith's put this out to compete with Rickard's Red but if they did, they win on taste for sure as I am not too crazy about the Rickards line. If that was not their purpose, it still is a happy win for them.

Keith's Dark Ale -I heard rumours that this was first produced as Keith's Stout, which was marketed as a light stout with the slogan "Stout need not be heavy." It was rejected by the public and then relaunched as Keith's Dark Ale. Knowing this, I approach this with caution.

It does not pour black but is extremely dark, maybe a very deep brown.

It has a good brownish head which dissipates much slower than the others, leaving behind some nice lacings. The roasted malt comes through very nicely. There is a slight bitterness which may come from the roasted malt of hops. I am unsure.

The beer is a little watery in mouth feel but overall a very decent beer. I would buy a stout or porter before having this one but sure did enjoy it.

Thanks, Kyle! Thanks, Kerri! I enjoyed it and it was fun. Still have a couple of IPAs left for another day too!

Here is the etching in the bottom of the Keith's mug. I have seen this in other glasses such as Duval it is more to keep the beer lively than for decoration.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 140
Countries 27
Breweries 123
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Oland Export Ale

Tonight Teena and I ate downstairs at the Governor's Pub and Eatery and afterwards headed upstairs to the pub.

Along with some Nova Scotia craft brews, they also had bottles of Oland Export Ale from Oland Brewery. Being one of Nova Scotia's oldest beers, I had to give it a try.

Even though Oland Brewery is now owned by Labatts, which is owned by InBev, one feels that the brewery is pure Nova Scotian.

In 1867, John Oland and his wife, Susannah started a brewery using Susannah's popular beer recipe. Three years later when John was killed in a horse accident, Susannah took over the company with her three sons. Susannah died in 1886 and the brewery was taken over by two of her sons Conrad and George. I do not know what happened to the third son.

Originally the brewery was in Dartmouth but, in 1905, they moved across the harbour to Agricola Street in Halifax and renamed the company Oland and Son Limited.

Disaster struck in 1917 when the brewery was destroyed in the Halifax explosion in 1917, killing Conrad and 11 employees. It was the largest man-made explosion ever before the atomic bomb and leveled much of Halifax. 2000 people died and 10,000 were injured in the blast.

It took a year to rebuild the brewery.

In 1920, they created Oland Export Ale, named as such as they felt the beer was good enough to be exported anywhere in the world. It became a very popular beer in the Maritimes. I like their old slogan, "Good times, great friends, and Oland Export Ale."

In 1971, the brewery sold out to Labatts and the name changed from Oland and Son to Oland Breweries under the Labatt umbrella. In 1995, Labatts was bought by the Belgium multinational brewery InBev.

Oland export is still brewed in the original brewery who is a large employer in the area with over 350 employees and still is a very popular beer in Eastern Canada.

Now I get to try my first one! It is popular as I saw many of them being sold.

It tastes much like a big brewery beer but I will say it is slightly more hoppy than a big brewery lager. Definitely not a great beer, it would be a "go to" beer anywhere that there was not a craft beer on tap.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 132
Countries 25
Breweries 115
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Harvey's Bitter

For Christmas this year I received a very unique beer from Teena's sister Sarah, and her husband, Joey. They live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Joey's boss ,Justin, is a home brewer.

In 2009, Garrison Brewing held their very first ever Garrison Ultimate Brew-Off. The style of beer for the 2009 brew-off was Standard/Ordinary Bitter. Participants had to brew a 20 litre (5 gallon) batch of beer for the contest. When the judging was over, Brian Harvey has won with his Harvey's Bitter.

So what do they win, besides the glory? The winner goes down to the brewery and has their winning brew replicated, labeled and bottled for sale. They did that in the spring of this year.

I'm not sure that Justin had a hand in developing the award winning recipe but he was in on the brewing. After all he is mentioned on the side of the bottle:

"Harvey's Bitter" is a premium small-batch brew in the "Standard/Ordinary Bitter" style and winner of the 1st annual "Garrison Ultimate Brew-Off"! Homebrewers Brian Harvey, Justin Lockhart and Steve Trickett worked with Brewmaster Daniel Girard to produce & package the winning recipe. Mild in maltiness & hop aroma, this highly "sessionable" brew delivers on taste & character. Cheers!"

What a thrill for a home brewer!

So Christmas Eve when I opened up a certain gift, there was a bottle of Harvey's Bitter and I knew what this week's beer of the week would be.

And how does it taste?

The beer pours an amber, maybe dark amber colour, with a nice head. I let in sit for a few minutes and found the head stayed well. The beer has a nice aroma. Maybe a little nutty but the malt is coming through.

At 3.8% alcohol, I was very surprised at how much flavour there is throughout this beer. In true tradition of a bitter, the hops are present from start to finish but not in an overpowering way, but very present.

I love a beer like this and certainly can see why this was a winner. I would have this beer anywhere anytime.

At 3.8% APV, this would be considered a light beer. It begs the question, how come other breweries cannot come up with light beers with flavour like this? Only this beer, Muskoka Cottage Brewing with their Pilsner Light and Grand River Brewing with their Mill Race Mild have ever come up with a great light beer.

I would drink this often if it was available.

Sadly, and I hate to bitch about a present received, but Sarah and Joey only gave me one!

Propeller London Style Porter

Recently Teena was in Halifax visiting friends and, being the great wife that she is, brought me back 3 beer from Propeller Brewery, which is only available down east.

I have written before about 2 of the brews she brought back, both of which I love. The Propeller ESB is one which was my Beer of the Week, and is on occasion available in Ontario but very hard to find. The Propeller IPA is a fabulous beer which I have enjoyed only once before and was glad to see it come out of her bag.

The third beer was a Propeller Porter. According to the Propeller website ... "This beer style was created in the mid-1750's. A dark full-flavoured beer but smoother and less bitter than stout. Made with softened water, Propeller London Porter is a blend of pale, roasted and chocolate malts, hopped with English and North American varieties.

Porter was the drink of the masses long before lagers or modern ales were fashionable. The name Porter originated because this strong, nourishing drink was reputed to be the favourite beverage of the hard working porters of London's Covent Gardens."

This beer also won Gold at the World Beer Championships (Chicago) in 2007 and 2008. Not bad!

The beer does pour pure black and has an enjoyable aroma. It has a nice head that held and lots of lacings lined the side of my glass. There was a nice balance between the roasted malt and hops and, yes, it is smoother than a stout. I am starting to notice the difference between the 2 styles.

I am becoming more and more fond of porters and would not hesitate to crack open another one of these. Propeller is definitely among my favorite Canadian breweries.

Thanks, honey! You rock!

Cheering on Canada with a Propeller

As I have written before, Teena was in Halifax and brought me back some beer from Propeller and Garrison Breweries. I have written about Propeller in a previous post.

I wanted something purely Canadian to sip on while watching Jasey-Jay Anderson going for gold in the men's parallel giant slalom, the men's four man bobsleigh finals (surprisingly only in French on APTN) and Canada going for yet another gold in the team pursuit long track race.

Exciting day!

Exciting beer!

My first Propeller was their IPA. It poured amber and had a inviting fragrance. The taste was thoroughly enjoyable with a fabulous hoppy bite and long finish. I love IPAs and sure enjoyed this one. The bad thing is it is the only one I have. Would like to be able to get my hands on more.

Next up was the Propeller Pale Ale.

Another gold for Canada in the team pursuit! What an exciting race! We're racking up those gold medals, more than anyone!

Minutes later Jasey-Jay Anderson overcame an 8/10ths of a second disadvantage to take yet another Gold!

Now I'm watching the medal ceremonies (I love seeing gold around a Canadians neck) while have a Propeller Pale Ale. It is just a touch darker then the IPA and without the same hoppy bite. It has a nice, pleasant bitterness which is balanced well by the malt. It is a very nice beer.

Watching Canada win gold while sipping away on a couple of excellent East Coast ales. Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Beer of the Week - Feb 22 - Garrison Imperial IPA

Teena recently was in Halifax to visit her sister. Before she left she asked if there was a craft brewery there that I had heard about and wanted to try.

Garrison immediately came to mind.

I first heard about it on Great Canadian Pubs and Beer and on The Bar Towel. Hopefully she would return with some.

The phone rang at work the first day she was away and it was Teena, calling from a Halifax liquor store, standing in front of the beer section wondering which of the Garrison beers I might like. There were 3 to choose from, so I said if it was not too much trouble, bring back one of each. Couldn't ask for more as she was flying back and there were weight restrictions, or I would have said a six pack of each.

So she came back with one of each, in nice big 500 ml bottles. The first one I was anxious to try was the Imperial IPA.

Garrison Brewery opened in 1997 with their first brew being an Irish Red Ale. They are very proud of the fact that nearly all their equipment was designed and made by Maritime companies, including P.E.I. They brew 7 year round ales and a number of seasonals. This IPA is one of their regular ales.

The Imperial IPA was first made in 2007 for the first annual Halifax Seaport Beer Fest. The company brags that it is the hoppiest beer in the Maritime's and weighs in at 7% APV. That same year it won Gold at the Canadian Beer Awards, and was Beer of the Year at The Canadian Beer Awards in 2008. In 2009 it won a Silver at the World Beer Championships.

This is a beer that I was looking forward to trying.

The beer poured dark brown and as it is unfiltered, was somewhat cloudy with a nice head that held. I could smell the hoppyness right away. It was surprising smooth when I first sipped it, then I could feel the wonderful hop bite coming through. The beer finished with an excellent lingering bitterness.

I understand why it has won so many awards and is well talked about. This is a beer that I wished was carried here in Ontario, as it would be a regular in my fridge. I would enjoy a growler full like the one on the left. Instead I have to depend on the kindness of others to bring some with them when they visit or return from the east coast.

Thanks Teena!

Alpine Lager

Last weekend, Teena went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to visit her sister, Sarah. She returned home with beer from three different breweries. One of them came home with a bit of a story.

Seems that her mother used to drink Alpine Lager. Teena hated it. Teena hated it so much that she wouldn't even sneak a beer from her mother. She thought it was that bad.

So she brought me home a tall boy!

I looked it up and Alpine is brewed by Moosehead Brewery in New Brunswick, Canada's largest and oldest independent brewery. The brewery was started back in Canada's birthday year 1867 by Susannah Oland and the family still runs the brewery. The first brew put out was Brown October Ale, one of which she was well-known for.

I have been known to put back a Moosehead or two every now and then so was interested in trying the Alpine.

Alpine lager came out in 1937 (original bottle from 1937 pictured). It's a 5% beer, which according to Teena, "I've never met anyone who likes it."

Not the highest praise when I'm about to try my first sip but here I go.

The beer pours very light golden colour, with a head than is more bubbly than foamy. There really is nothing to dislike about this beer. Nothing really to like either. It has a very bland and watery taste, with very little finish. Teena hadn't had one for years and had a taste of this. She thought the same thing. Perhaps the recipe has changed over the years. It is refreshing but then so is water.

If I was at someone's house and they offered me one, I would not turn it down. I would not run out though and grab a dozen on my own.

Beer of the Week - Oct 25 - Propeller ESB

I continue to find it disappointing that I cannot find many craft beers from across Canada. Seems that the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act
restricts the movement of liquor, wine and beer between the provinces.

My local LCBO has more U.S. craft beer selection than it does beer from provinces other than Ontario. This is why I was so excited when I walked into the Brock Street LCBO to find six-packs of Propeller ESB, which are imported from Halifax Nova Scotia.

Propeller Brewery was opened in the summer of 1997. Interestingly the owner John Allen (pictured at right) did not come from a brewery background but was a film industry prop master back in the early 1990s. He was a homebrewer and his home brews were well praised. According to the website, John “began to question his day job, which involved making things that only appeared real. He finally settled on an occupation where the product had to BE real.”

It seems he has done well.

Not only is this the best selling beer the brewery has but the ESB (Extra Special Bitter) won gold medals at the Chicago World Beer Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The Propeller website even provides a beer geek section in their description of their products. I am not a beer geek, just getting to know more and more about this lovely beverage. Here is the beer geek section for the ESB:

For Beer Geeks
IBU's- 30
Hops- Willamette, Pilgrim.
Malts- Pale, Crystal and Chocolate.
Water- Soft
Colour- 15.9°L
Glass - Pint Glass, American Shaker, or Mug (Seidel)
Temperature: Cellar at 40-45 F; Serve at 45-50 F

So with the research done, time to crack a bottle.

The beer pours a dark, coppery colour with a enjoyable fragrance. Even more enjoyable is the taste. This beer pays homage to the bitters I enjoyed in England. The malt and hop taste are very well-balanced and finishes with a nice, not overwhelming bitterness which lasts.

I love bitters and thoroughly enjoyed this one. There will be more of these coming for a visit to my fridge.