Wellington Arkell Best Bitter

It's been awhile...I'm back with another Canadian brew review.

Wellington Arkell Best Bitter

Wellington Brewery

Ontario, Canada

English Bitter

4.00%

Look: The beer poured A very rich, yet clear amber, brown color.  A nice off-white head stood up for A few minutes before deflating into nothingness, leaving behind A decent amount of lacing on the rim of my glass. Not much trace carbonation visible.  Not the best looking beer I should add.

Smell: Immediately I get A very roasty, nutty scent.  I could smell it as soon as I popped the can open.  Also pick up A bit of some honey biscuit and cereal grain. Perhaps A bit of some grapefruit from hops, maybe A little pine as well.  Besides the nuttiness everything else is fairly subdued.

Taste: Some light bready notes, watered down coffee, and A bit of caramel.  About half way through the taste you get A bit of bittering from the hops to balance the beer out quite well. Finishes with A brush of some roasted cereal and some piney/grapefruit hoppiness.


Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied. Perhaps A bit lighter than that.  Medium carbonation as well. Does not sting the tongue and goes down very easy.  Maybe it could be A little more full bodied but I think that the amount of flavor to mouthfeel ratio is really making this beer work.

Overall: This really isn't A great example of A bitter, yet it's also not A horrible one.  Maybe A bit higher than middle of the road when it comes to English Bitters.  I would suggest giving it A try though if you are ever in Ontario, maybe you will have A different experience than me.  

Wellington Arkell Best Bitter gets A 3.5/5 from me.

Elora Grand Lager

Continuing on my Canadian vacation from mid March, Elora Grand Lager.

Brewed by Trafalgar Brewing Company
Ontario, Canada
Pale Lager
5%

Purchased from an LCBO in Scarborough.

(I have no idea why Blogger is doing this to my photos...)

"Dry-Hopped" and "Craft Brewed" Oh really...? We'll have to see about that.

Look: The Elora Grand Lager pours A very bright, golden color. It looks sort of like light orange juice.  The head barely existent, forms about a quarter of an inch of just pure foam. This does not look very appetizing at all.

Smell: A bit of bathroom cleaner. Seriously. It smells like lemon pledge. Maybe A bit of corn, faintest trace of some barley malt as well. The smell was pretty hard to pick up because of the solvent hints it gives off.  I really hope the taste does not follow.

Taste: Ok, here we go. The first thing I notice right up front is A hoppy twang. Not so much A good, quality hoppy twang. Maybe A cheaper, hop oil twang. It really hits you on the tongue. It's pretty sour and A bit solvent...like I imagine lemon pledge would be. After you dig your way through that, you can finally pick up A bit of sweetness that flickers throughout the middle but then gets buried again by that lemon twang.  I guess it's not awful. It could be really refreshing if I just got done mowing a couple acres worth of grass with push mower and needed to drink something to quench my dying thirst. Meh...

Mouthfeel:  The mouthfeel is pretty slick. Not really drying at all. Carbonation is pretty moderate with this one.

Overall: It's not too bad. I don't think I would really ever buy it again. It was pretty cheap and at least it was drinkable. I'd rate it higher than most Macro brews too but for me, it just doesn't hit the spot.

Elora Grand Lager gets A 2/5.

Sleeman Clear

I spent A few days in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last month. Specifically March 13-15. What did I do? Well, I drank beer. Lots of it actually.  Well I guess that's not all I did. I made A few great friends too. Yeah, that actually never happens. It did though, I swear... Anyways, over the next many posts I plan on reviewing all of the my libations.

Lets get started.

Sleeman Clear
Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company
Guelph, Ontario
"Light Lager"
4% ABV

Look: Right off the bat you can see the beer.  It comes in A clear bottle, it's impossible not to be able to. It's A very light, "corny" yellow color.  Poured almost no head at all. What did form was about an inch and A half of a rocky, bubbly head.  A sad looking beer.

Smell: Very grainy.  Before I even got close to it, I could smell fresh cut grains and heaps of corn.  Underlying all of that is A musty hint of some old apples and maybe some rusting metal.  I am not detecting anything too discernible except for maybe the corn and the metal.

Borrowed photo from Libres-Penseurs. I neglected to take A photo for some reason.

Taste: Yep, it's A light beer. The first taste I get is actually the non-existent taste. A crisp, watery, drink.  Some light hints of corn and sweet apple linger throughout the entirety. Maybe the faintest taste of some hops.  Surprisingly the beer wasn't skunked because of the clear bottle. I guess you need to actually have hops in the beer for it to skunk though. All in all, it doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't really taste like anything.  It sort of reminds me of Coors light with that hint of fruity banana or apple flavor.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation doesn't sting as much as I thought it may have for A beer like this.  Medium carbonation. Very smooth and easy to put down, especially on A hot day.

Overall:  It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's also not the best.  It's A light beer.  Primarily water.  I can't say that it didn't go down really good after walking around Toronto all day. I'll give it that.

Sleeman Clear gets A 2/5 from me.  I'd drink it again if the circumstance are right.

Abita Christmas Ale

Consumed from the bottle into A Sam Adams special glass. Purchased for $2.50 at the House of 1000 Beers in New Kensington, PA.

The Abita page about the beer can be found HERE.

Abita Christmas Ale is A seasonal brew. (Winter)

An American Brown Ale coming in at 5.50%ABV.
Brewed by Abita Brewing Co.
Louisiana .

Look: Very nice orange/brown/ruby-amber color.  The beer poured A thick 2 finger tan, off-red head. Semi-cloudy/clear.  The beer wasn't murky but it also wasn't easy to see through either. Abita Christmas Ale left some decent lacing around the glass as I consumed it. 

Smell: From the start, I get pine.  It smelled as if I had walked into A store that sold nothing but Christmas trees.  The real ones...not the plastic ones. I also picked up some very faint, lightly toasted malt.  Maybe even some faint spices hiding in and around somewhere. A bit lacking and uninspiring. 

Taste: Well. The first sip was very disappointing. I picked up almost nothing.  Some pine from the hops and maybe some light nutmeg and biscuit...but not much of those even. Maybe the beer is too cold?  After letting it warm up for A good half an hour or more, I decided to give it another go. This time A bit more flavor showed up, but not too much. Picked up some more nuttiness that blended nicely with the pineyness from the hops. Some honey and toasted malt. A little baker's chocolate, and some spices that I was unable to identify because of how faint they tasted.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Low carbonation...Which I like in these kind of beers.  I don't need A lot of carbonation ruining the flavor by numbing my tongue. The beer was just A bit chewy. Definitely came across as creamy.  It was able to coat my tongue and mouth just A little bit.

Overall: I'm pretty disappointed with this Christmas Ale. Especially compared to other ones. It's A bit piney and A little spicy but it just falls short of what I had expected.  Maybe I was hoping for too much?

Abita Christmas Ale gets A 3.5/5 from me.

Not bad, not great, A little better than middle of the road. 

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA

You can check out the web page for this brew HERE.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA is an American Double/Imperial IPA.  Served in a 12oz bottle into a mug.  Comes in at 9% with 90 IBU.

"90 Minute IPA was our first continually-hopped beer, which is a method of hopping that allows for a pungent, but not crushing hop flavor. Since introducing the world to the continual-hopping method with our 90 Minute IPA, we've since released a continually-hopped 60 Minute IPA, 120 Minute IPA and even a 75 Minute IPA (a cask-conditioned blend of 60 & 90 Minute IPAs).: "

As you can see from the quote from the website...This brew is all about the hops. I guess there other 2 are as well but this is the one I picked up.  So how does it fare for this guy?  Time to find out.

Look: The beer poured a very dark, hazy, golden, amber color.  Very beautiful glow radiating through out the glass. For some reason I was only able to get about a half an inch of a fluffy, off white head.  Subtle carbonation bubbles up from the bottom of the glass.  Not as sprity as some other "IPA's" i've had in the past, but truthfully...I prefer it this way.   90 Minute IPA left some pretty decent lacing in my glass as I quenched my thirst.  

Smell: Some toasted malts right up front, in your nose.  A little bit of light caramel and a heaping load of toffee. I'm also picking up something a bit sweeter...perhaps some donuts? Yeah, donuts. Also wafting from the glass is a blast of some fresh, sliced grapefruit and some dry orange peel. No doubt from the hops.  The smell isn't as strong as I would expect from all the hop bragging, but we'll see when it comes to taste.

Taste/Feel: Very moderate body.  A little more watery than I had expected but it actually fits with the taste quite well.  It actually is a little sticky in the mouth.  It just doesn't slide down, it is sort of like you are drinking some goo that nickelodeon use to dump on people. What was that stuff called? Ahhh...I can't remember now for the life of me. Anyways. I picked up some hints of toasted malt that came across as some light caramel and toffee. Just as I picked up in the nose when testing the smell. Vanilla.  Yes, I am picking up some vanilla...not cheap, fake vanilla but real vanilla bean. 

Now on to the bitterness, which this beer, surprisingly doesn't overwhelm you with. I was really hoping for a more bitter beer but this one did not deliver as bitter of a bite as I could have hoped.  It seems like these IIPA beers are always letting me down when it comes to bitterness. Oh well...maybe it's just me? Perhaps I set my BU hopes to high? I dont know. The hop flavors I picked up were reminiscent of grapefruit, that is the prime flavor that sticks around for most of the end of the beer. A little bit of lemon rind sneaks in just to splash your tongue with a bit of lemony bitterness that drops off into a semi dry finish with almost no sign of alcohol to be found anywhere in this 9% beer.

Overall it's a pretty good showing for an IIPA.  After finishing this beer quite quickly I did end up with a bit of a buzz from the 9%.  Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten anything all day too. 

This is a pretty good beer and I would recommend it to anyone who is into IPA's and stronger beers. However it does come at a bit of a price.

I give Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA 3.8/5.  I just couldn't give it a 4 because the lack of bitterness let me down a bit.

Greene King Abbot Ale

Abbot Ale - Perfect Real Ale

Another review of a beer that makes it way to me from across the pond. I've provided a link to the beer website, as usual, just underneath the photo.

Greene King Abbot Ale was purchased at House of A Thousand Beers in New Kensington, PA. It came in a 4 pack of pint cans that are 5%abv. It is an English Pale Ale.

Abbot Ale is brewed by Greene King/Morland Brewery in the United Kingdom.

I am very found of canned English Ales. I have a thing for Boddington's and Tetley's. So I was enamored when I saw this Abbot Ale sitting on the shelf.

Look: Greene King Abbot Ale poured a murky, dark, orange, caramel, to amber color. Even holding this up to light proved it not clear. Definitely some particles floating around in suspension that prevent me from seeing threw the beer. The head was nice, thick, and creamy. A light tan color at that. It did fade rather quickly after erupting to about 2 inches.

Smell: After jamming my nose into the glass and just about drowning myself...I came up with the following: Sweet toffee, toasted nuts, some warm caramel, a slight hint of some spicy pine, and some woodiness dragging at the end with a bit of a lemon pledge. Not too shabby at all, If I do say so.

Taste/Feel: Ok, the all important taste. Well, it's definitely a tad bitter. Not overly much so though. Your average bud light, coors, light, miller lite, etc...drinker most likely won't be able to appreciate this, but hey...you never know, right? I tasted some toffee and roasted vanilla. Coming in the middle was a bit of grapefruit bittering from the hops and some black tea leafs that I will also attribute to the hopping. Seems the hops are more complex and hidden than the malt. All of the flavors seem to be on a different level that you must explore to uncover them all. Like a maze. I like it!

After the beer warmed as I was drinking it, I noticed some orange candy taste that started to come through.

The mouthfeel was moderate and just about completely flat. Very drinkable no doubt.

Well, like I said earlier; I really do enjoy these canned ales. Maybe it's not your thing, and some people may say it tastes like chewer's spit, but it sure is my thing. I'll give Greene King Abbot Ale a 4/5

Newcastle Summer Ale

I received a sampler six pack of this from Heineken USA about 3 weeks ago and finally have gotten around to reviewing it.

Newcastle Summer Ale is an English Bitter. Coming in at 4.40% abv.

Ahhh...An Ale made specifically for summer consumption. One would imagine it being light and refreshing. Not too over powering and ready for the masses.

What do you think of when it comes to Summer? The beach, mowing the lawn, carnivals...? You can't really leave beer out of that equation either. Beer is definitely a summer staple in much of the western world. So leave it to some breweries to capitalize on the summer

fervor and make an attempt at some sort of Summer themed beer.

Newcastle is not the first brewery to make a "summer" beer and i'm sure they will not be the last either.

What did I think about it? Put your shades on, your swimming trousers, and get ready to ride a wave of summer bliss...

First of all, why is this in a brown bottle and not a clear one like the Brown Ale? Well I asked this question to customer service and was never answered. I was led around the question and instead of an answer was given the history of the Brown Ale. Bollocks I tells ya, bollocks!

I consumed this Ale on 9/13/2011 on a fairly warm day. It was clear and 79 degrees F. I guess Summer is fading but was still an enjoyable day to say the least.

Look: Newcastle Summer Ale pours a light amber, golden color. The bubbles leftover from carbonation danced to the top of the glass, doing the tango to create a thick, whispy, white head that stood about an inch and a half, and lasted for well over a minute. The beer itself does advertise itself fairly well and looks very appealing on a hot, summer's day.

Smell: Time to stick the ol' nose in the glass and take a whiff. Hmm...quite peculiar to say the least. I get apples and raisins. Very fruity. Even some pear in there too, maybe mango? Not sure I have smelled a beer like this before. Definitely a bit odd...not bad though.

I also picked up some sweet caramel no doubt from the malt, and some bitter grapefruit doused in a bit of wet hay. It's actually fairly appealing, odd...but appealing.

Taste: Down the throat it goes. This Summer Ale is actually moderately bitter. Tea like hops and some sour grape flavors float across the palate. I'm also picking up a bit of a buttery flavor. I am assuming this is from the yeast? It's a bit off putting but truthfully, as I drink more, it grows on me and I begin to actually enjoy it. About mid drink, some smoked malt and caramel begin to round out the beer. The aftertaste leaves a bit of a sticky caramel flavor that just about clashes with a grassy, slightly bitter flavor. Oh, and more butter.

Overall, the more I drink of this the more I actually enjoy it. Would I get it again? Yes, I can say I would. It's not anything exceptional and it's definitely not a great Ale. It's a good beer though if you really aren't looking for anything complicated and want something to drink on a hot day that isn't complete swill. It's light, a bit hoppy, and a Summer Ale. If you are into that thing, great. If not, also great.

Newcastle Summer Ale gets a 3/5

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I've had my share of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottles before and it has grown easily to be one of my all time favorite beers.

I absolutely love the bottle save for a few things. We will start with those. The bottle doesn't really give any background information about the beer or any statistics, or anything. It does however state:

"Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a completely natural ale. There are no additives; only the finest malted barley, whole hops, brewers yeast, and crystal-clear water. The fine layer of yeast in each bottle is a result of the traditional bottle-conditioning process that produces carbonation naturally."

It's obvious from this and the website that Sierra Nevada puts great pride in the brews they produce. They should rightfully so.

I consumed the pale ale from a tulip glass out of a 24 Fl.oz bottle. I picked the bottle up at my local Giant Eagle for around $3.49 The beer comes in at 5.9% abv and 37 IBUs.

Look: Light amber, golden hue. The ale pours a medium 1 and a half finger length head. Very small bubbles begin bubbling to the top. Not too many though actually. I only observed around 10 or so bubbles a minute. This ale leaves behind a lot of beautiful, sticky lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Very citrus like hops. A bit floral with

some big pine notes as well. Some sweet malt shows its presence. Sort of like a light honey or caramel smell, maybe some light brown sugar in there too.

Taste: Very nicely hopped. I'm a huge hop head like I have said before and this beer really hits the spot. Fairly moderate pineyness offsets just a bit of a floral twang. Some caramel and honey sweetness slides across the tongue just before you swallow which leads to another piney note from the hops. Very balanced beer.

Mouthfeel: Mildly carbonated. The label says that it's bottle conditioned so that means that the carbonation is naturally produced by the yeast that is left in the bottles. Medium body to the ale that seems to fit in perfectly with the other attributes. The beer finishes off a bit on the dry side, but in my opinion, this is just how a pale ale should be.

Overall: This is a fantastic beer. Easily one of my favorites. However, this is by no means a hopsplosion, or a hop bomb. If you are looking for something much bitter or stronger, this isn't the ale for you. I however really enjoy this ale and how well balanced it is. I'll give Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a 4/5.

Cheers!

Ballantine XXX Ale

Alright ladies and Gentlemen, here we go again. I was originally going to explain the history of Ballantine, but it's far too long and complicated a story. Instead, i'll just give you a link to a site that goes very in depth on it's history. HERE

I've had my go at some pretty cheap swill. I consider this a cheap beer, however I do not consider it to be swill. I bought this one at Myrna's Beer Outlet in Tarentum, PA for $19.99 + tax.

Ballantine XXX Ale comes in green bottles. Yeah, yeah, I know...green bottles. They aren't known for keeping beer in it's tip top shape, but oh well. The date stamped on the bottle is May 09, 2011. Only about 2 months old. Not

shabby. Falstaff Brewing stamped on the label.

Twisting the bottle cap off reveals a decent

amount of smoke. There's a fellow I watch, who does reviews, on Youtube; Joe D. He's real into smoke and would be most proud of the pyre that develops from inside the bottle. I will be consuming this from a tulip glass.

Appearance - Pours a very deep, golden color. The best way I could describe it is cut,

wet hay. Plenty of bubbly carbonation

working it's way to the top of the brew. Not too much of a head to speak of. I didn't really pour it that aggressively though since I was drinking it from a tulip glass and doubted that a large head would fit without exploding over and flooding my kitchen in sticky suds... What I did get was about a fingers worth of white, fluffy suds that floated on top like a boat in calm waters. Didn't stick around for all that long. Gone and lonely in about a minute flat.

Aroma - Fairly sweet nose at first. After taking a few more whiffs I was getting a little bit of a light malt and some subdued hops in the background. I really wish that the hops scent was more brave than it is. I'm not too keen on the sweet scent that this brew gives off.

Taste/Mouthefeel - Here is where this $20 brew becomes not just a cheap beer, but a

pretty well done, cheap beer. First glug reveals some pretty good hop bitterness right up front that follows into a light malt middle. After you get through the middle you get this odd medicinal taste that only sticks around for a short second. But, this medicinal sweetness is a bit off putting for me, not enough for me to dislike this brew, but I just can't get over that taste... I'm not even sure what it is. Corn? The beer starts off a bit sweet with some pretty good hops and finishes with a tad of hop bitterness.

The beer contains far more hops than any of your standard macro lagers or "retro" beers. The only one that even comes close is Schlitz, but that's a tale for another time.

The beer is fairly watery, which is a bit of a downfall. I would have liked it to be a bit more sturdy but I won't complain all too much. Carbonation is really vamped up and a bit in your face. Not enough that it burns the back of your throat or esophagus out, but your tongue has a bit of a boxing match in store.

Over all, you know what this really makes me think? This is your grandfather's beer. This is what he use to drink back in the 50's and 60's, while smoking a hearty cigar. I would hardly consider this a good American Ale or Ale showing, but you know what for $20 I will

definitely start keeping this beer on rotation in my fridge. This has easily become my new, favorite, "cheap" beer.

For it's price and style, plus it's pronounced hop flavor and bitterness, i'll give Ballantine XXX Ale a 4/5.

*Forgot to mention that the caps come with nifty, little puzzles on the underside. Rad.