Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Single bomber at the LCBO. Pours a clean deep amber colour with a yellow head, fizzing away quickly and topping a little the brew. Spicy aromas over the rye, almost reminding me of a nice drinkable Belgian Ale. The mouthfeel is pretty fizzy as well. That same Belgian Ale taste with the spices, yeast and darker malts. Hints of cherry. Pretty nice from Cameron’s, but gets a little saturated to drink too much of it.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bomber from the LCBO, from their "Oak Aged Series" with a 8.6% ABV. Pours a dark copper colour with some red highlights. Creamy beige head, decent retention and not much lace. Dark fruit aromas with some plums and prunes. Hints of roasted malts, cherries and coffee. The taste is not as sweet as the nose gives out to be. Still the dark fruits, but milder with some hop finish and light yeast lingers. Alcohol is well-hidden. Vanilla notes and bourbon are quite mild, almost nonexistent. Nonetheless, goes down nicely.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
650ml bottle from the LCBO. Pours a very dark reddish brown with a generous pillowy beige head. Nose is dominated by bourbon with wood and vanilla undertones and a bit of raisin. Quite sweet throughout but the barrel seems to overpower everything else and doesn’t allow the malt to come through, though it does subside a bit as it warms; vanilla dominates with some coffee and plum in the background. Medium body with soft carbonation. Haven’t tried the non-oaked version to compare.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
650ml bottle, sent from wilco (thanks a lot, Mike), pours black with a medium foamy tan head that lingers. Nose brings out rum, vanilla and roast. Flavour brings out chocolate, vanilla, rum, and some astringency. Nice and dry, with a velvet palate. Not really any residual sweetness, which is surprising considering the style and ABV. Great stuff.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle: Poured a light brown color ale with a generous head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of rye malt with light spicy notes. Taste is quite smooth with some spicy notes and a smooth finish. Body is about average with good carbonation. Maybe a tad too dry for its own good and a bit too much notes of unrefined grain to be highly drinkable.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
A clear brown roggen with a thin mocha head. In aroma, a nice sweet fruity malt with light grassy notes, rye, bananas and berries. In mouth, a nice sweet fruity malt with banana, oily mouth feel, orange peel, nice. Cask at Beau’s Oktoberfest 2013.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Not sure what the deal here is but tastes mostly like a bitter or ESB. Finishes with light bitterness. Pours cloudy brown with decent head and lacing. More heavy on the malt rye profile than the hops. Ok. On tap at C’est What Festival.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
(650mL bottle from LCBO) Pours a basically opaque near-black with a foamy tan head, a little lace. Aroma roasted malt, dark chocolate, burnt sugar, something rounded and sweet that reminds me a bit of toasted coconut, light wood, some dark rum booziness. Taste starts a little sweet but becomes dry and bitter - coffee, dry roasted malt, faint licorice, some rum character towards the finish (burnt sugar, woodiness, light spice). Finishes with some lingering roast and more than a little alcohol heat. Body is fairly light and porter-esque for the heft of the beer, carbonation moderate. An interesting idea and not a bad handling of the barrel either. The booze is a little rough and the whole package could use a bit more refinement to be truly worthy of the price tag.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Another ginger beer that isn’t actually super offensive. Not that it’s great, but everything in context here. Pours golden with some head and lacing. Ginger and malt in aroma, pretty much. Tap at the rhino summer fest.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle from the LCBO. Pours a very dark brown with a one finger dark beige head. Smells of chocolate and caramel with a noticeable alcohol undertone. Sweet toasted malt start with some bitterness at the end. Quite slick mouth and soft carbonation but heavy on the alcohol at the end.