Spike Beerme Chilton

Hoyne Brewing Company Finniegans Irish Stout

Honouring Ireland’s favourite saint, Patrick, and its favourite son, James, with the smooth roasted cereal malts, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, strong coffee, slight crisp lactic tang, subtle anise spice and mild floral hop of Hoyne Brewing Company (hoynebrewing.ca) Finnegans Irish Stout. Sláinte!

Backcountry Brewing Bernard Ludwig Black Extra Stout

Toasting the Saint that was named Patrick with the flavourful malt-forward roasted oats spine, followed by mild and refreshing notes of cocoa, dark coffee, and a subtle orange zest nip in the finish of Backcountry Brewing (backcountrybrewing.com) Bernard Ludwig Black Extra Stout. Sláinte mhaith!

Brassneck Brewing Retrofuturism Classic West Coast IPA

Final brew of this aces second Brassneck night is this dry and bitter citrus zest-forward hop slowburn, boasting a sharp and zingy swirl of mango, grapefruit, and tangerine, with a finishing herbal hop flourish of elderflower in Brassneck Brewing (brassneck.ca) Retrofuturism Classic West Coast IPA.

Brassneck Brewery Willful Suspension Hazy IPA

Penultimate Brassneck of the night, it’s the delicious tropical fruit bomb of guava, papaya, dragonfruit, lychee, and touches of mango and pineapple, with a lilting spruce tip and grassy hop nip in the close of Brassneck Brewery (brassneck.ca) Willful Suspension Hazy IPA. Solid juice explosion.

Brassneck Brewing Fomfest Ūbernormal Festbier

More Brassnecks, with the surprisingly brawny bready and biscuity malt-forward lager, with citrus zest and mild floral hop end of Brassneck Brewing (brassneck.ca) Fomfest Ūbernormal Festbier. Crisp and effervescent, yet boasts a robust burst of flavour for a lager. Somewhere between lager and pale.

Brassneck Brewing Ten Times Ten American Pale Ale Hopped with Centennial

Having another Brassneck night, starting with the interesting hoppy swirl of pine pith, cantaloupe, pulpy and mildly sweet dark cherry, Japanese pear, underripe apricot, and a dry oat malt bite in the finish of Brassneck Brewing (brassneck.ca) Ten Times Ten American Pale Ale Hopped with Centennial.

Steamworks Brewing John Oliver Lager

A light and simple classic macro-style beer, in the vein of Lucky or Labatt’s, Steamworks Brewing (steamworks.com) John Oliver Lager has lilting citrus zest and bready notes, mild dry oat malts, and a subtle skunky bite, yet with a crisp, effervescent floral finish. Nothing new here, but refreshing.

Parallel 49 Brewing Ultra Fox No Coast Pale Ale

Chasing Robbie Burns Day Scotch shot with the mild swirl of mango, pear and pineapple, like a East Coast pale, meets a lilting dry oat malt nip and mild citrus zing, like a West Coast, of Parallel 49 Brewing (parallel49brewing.com) Ultra Fox No Coast Pale Ale. Clean yet flavourful take on a Coastal.

Brassneck Brewery Xenomorph Tart Barrel Aged Ale with Apricots

Ending Brassneck (brassneck.ca) evening with this odd one, like u-brew peach cider, the scrumpy English-style apple cider base, with sweet-tart notes of apricot and peach, and a mildly tangy and dank pulpy cantaloupe nip on the finish of Xenomorph Tart Barrel Aged Ale with Apricots. Neds more fizz.

Brassneck Brewery Have You Tried Turning it Off & Then On Again Hoppy Pale Ale for Technical Geniuses Only

Continuing a Brassneck Brewery (brassneck.ca) night with the sudsy dry cereal malts, a swirl of yellow plum, green grape, pulpy green pear, and bitter citrus zest, with a mossy hop end of Have You Tried Turning it Off & Then On Again Hoppy Pale Ale for Technical Geniuses Only. Playful spin on pale.

Brassneck Brewery Nebulousness Hazy IPA

More from Brassneck Brewery (brassneck.ca) with one of the brewery’s stellar core beers, the tropical juice-bomb of guava, pineapple, lychee, and honeydew melon swirl, closed out by a mildly piney and elderflowery hop zing to finish the choice hop soup of Nebulousness Hazy IPA off nicely. Solid.

Brassneck Brewery Inerta II Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Savouring the rich, smooth, slightly smoky and gauzy dark cocoa nibs, espresso, molasses, and a sourdough malt nip, chased by a swirl of bright, boozy butterscotch, subtly tangy corn mash funk, and coppery nut notes in Brassneck Brewery (brassneck.ca) Inertia II Bourbon Barrell Aged Imperial Stout.

Yellow Dog Brewing Jingle Juice Tangerine Blonde Ale

A clean, crisp final beer from the CFOX (cfox.com) and Yellow Dog Brewing (yellowdogbeer.com) mix pack collaboration, Mr. Fox’s Fantastic Box, is the tangy sourdough malt and straw, with bright hits of tangerine juice, lime pulp, and mandarin orange zest of Jingle Juice Tangerine Blonde Ale.

Yellow Dog Brewing Fa-la-la-la Lager Kellerbier

It’s the dry multigrain bread maltiness, subtle herbal and grassy hop notes, a mild black pepper bite, and bitter lime zest zing in the finish of Yellow Dog Brewing (yellowdogbeer.com) Fa-la-la-la Lager Kellerbier, from the ‘World Famous’ CFOX (cfox.com) collab mix pack, Mr. Fox’s Fantastic Box.

Dageraad Brewing Anno 2024 Belgian Strong Golden Ale

Rang in the New Year with the big hits of overripe pear and fresh, leafy coriander, mellow notes of apricot, red plum and pink grapefruit zest, and closing, mildly boozy, mossy brett funk of Dageraad Brewing (dageraadbrewing.com) Anno 2024 Belgian Strong Golden Ale. Better than that lowly champagne!

Big Rock Brewing Nebula NEIPA

More a NWIPA hop quencher than an NEIPA hop soup, is this final, and best of the bunch, brew from the Big Box of Big Rock, the mango, peach, pineapple, and guava swirl, with a bold, yet mildly dank, mossy hop finish of Big Rock Brewery (bigrockbeer.com) Nebula North East IPA. The best Big Rock yet.

Big Rock Brewery Traditional Ale

This penultimate brew from the Big Box of Big Rock is the caramel malt, subtle notes of roasted mixed nuts, molasses, cola, and raisin, with a mild floral hop finish, of the brewery’s flagship brew, Big Rock Brewery (bigrockbeer.com) Traditional Ale. Always a dependable Big Rock quaff.

Big Rock Brewery Rhine Stone Cowboy Lagered Ale

This one from the Big Box of Big Rock sports a melding of pleasant full-bodied biscuit malts and nuttiness of an ale, with notes of straw, citrus zest, and yeasty breadiness of a European lager, balancing nicely in Big Rock Brewery (bigrockbeer.com) Rhine Stone Cowboy Lagered Ale. Goes down nice.

Big Rock Brewery Grasshopper Wheat Ale

Next selection from the Big Box of Big Rock is the sudsy sourdough malt, lilting notes of the standard banana and clove, and very subtle finishing hints of dry straw, rolled oats, and yellow raisin of this Big Rock (bigrockbeer.com) stalwart, Grasshopper Wheat Ale. More a wheat ale than a weißbier.

Big Rock Brewery Wayfinder Vienna Style Lager

It’s the first of the two new brews from the Big Box of Big Rock, acquired on recent AB trip, the crisp, yet cloyingly dry caramel malt, bitter lime zest, lemon juice tang, and mild herbal hop in the fade of Big Rock Brewery (bigrockbeer.com) Wayfinder Vienna Style Lager. Average Oktoberfest quaff.

Main Street Brewing 10th Anniversary Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA

A smooth, clean, hazy that would be a great summer sipper, it’s the bright tropical swirl of mango, pineapple, guava, white peach, and hibiscus fuzzy fruitiness, lime and grapefruit zest and elderflower hop flourish of Main Street Beer (mainstreetbeer.ca) 10th Anniversary Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA.

Red Truck Beer Company Chilly Willys Cold IPA

Enjoying the crisp, slightly dry oat malt and bright effervescent citrus zest of a lager meets the mildly bitter herbal hop flourish and mild piney funk of an India Pale in the refreshing yet full-bodied Red Truck Beer Company’s (redtruckbeer.com) Chilly Willys Cold IPA. Best bits of both styles!

Beach Fore Brewing Bloody Brilliant Blood Orange Sour Ale

Tolerating the tinny flat orange soda, powdery vitamin C chewable tablets, and sharp, oddly dull, rye malt bite in the fade of Beach Fire Brewing (beachfirebrewing.ca) Bloody Brilliant Blood Orange Sour Ale. Makes my fillings twinge. Needs more juiciness, less alkalinity, and far more carbonation.

Beach Fire Brewing Lazy Lager

Enjoying the crisp and clean effervescence of the brawny oat malt, mildly bitter lime zest, pulpy pear, dry straw, tangy sourdough, and lively floral wash in the fade of Beach Fire Brewing (beachfirebrewing.ca) Lazy Lager. A smooth yet full-bodied sipper for fall storm season.