Nickel Brook Gluten Free Alcoholic Beverage

Jeff's sister has recently become gluten intolerant. Neither of us can imagine living life like that. No beer? That’s just wrong. 

She’s been trying out all kinds of gluten free alternatives to things. Some have been pretty good: her gluten free pizza is actually good. Other things have been pretty horrible. 

Here's Jeff's take on a gluten-free beer:  

She’s been trying to convince me to try Nickel Brook’s Gluten Free. She says it’s great and that I’d probably like it too. I’ve been resisting because a) the track record for gluten free products has been mediocre at best; and b) her taste in alcoholic beverages is not my cup of tea (Bacardi Breezers and that kind of thing).

Today when I was in the LCBO, I saw Nickel Brook’s Gluten Free in cooler and I thought, “What the hell, why not?” I finally gave in to trying it.

Nickel Brook doesn’t call their product beer. I’m guessing that’s because there’s no barley in it. But they do advertise on the back of the can that it has a taste that will satisfy any beer lover. That’s dodgey right there since I’ve yet to find a beer that everybody loves. 

So I’m assuming they’ve gone with the “medium bodied ale with moderate hoppiness” approach - a beer that appeals to no one in particular (but isn’t offensive to anyone either) and is immediately forgettable. But they are working without the advantages of gluten so I’ll cut them some slack.

The beer pours the colour of apple juice. It fizzes up to a big bubbly head - and then almost instantly disappears. I know gluten is key in trapping gases to make bread rise, I’m assuming some of the same mechanics carry over to head retention. I could be way off though. There’s also zero lacing. After sitting for 5 minutes, it looks like you have a glass of carbonated apple juice.

It smells a bit like pears and apples. It has the same kind of taste. Mild cidery taste of apples and pears. Thankfully it’s not sickeningly sweet although there’s no hops in either the aroma or taste (I guess “any beer lover” can live without that). Ya... this doesn’t taste like beer at all. It doesn’t even taste like bad beer.

I love beer. If I ever became gluten intolerant I have no idea what I would do. But I do know this: I would not drink Nickel Brook’s Gluten Free. Never.

Grand River Brewery Curmudgeon IPA

I'm at work, so what does Jeff do? He goes out to get a new beer to review. Nice, sweetheart. No, it's OK. I didn't want any.

What Jeff has to say:

Here is another beer in the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's (LCBO) spring specialty beer release - Grand River Brewing’s Curmudgeon IPA.

What I really like about Grand River’s packaging is that the bottling date is very obvious. Of course, in my infinite wisdom, I didn’t capture that in the photo. You can just barely make it out the start of it in the picture on the top left of the label. (Also, the new labeling style - especially for Curmudgeon - is a huge improvement aesthetically).

The beer pours a crystal clear burnt orange colour and you can see the carbonation bubbles racing up to the surface - although there aren’t many of them after letting the beer sit for a couple of minutes. The head is a nice creamy colour and decently thick. The aroma has a lot of floral hops along with caramel and biscuit from the malt.

The taste first hits you with bitter floral hops. The middle brings in a nice malt backbone of caramel/toffee.The finish returns right back to bitterness. Again more floral and piney than citrusy. There’s a pleasant earthiness to it. The beer does a good job of hiding the additional alcohol - it’s 6.5% abv.

The value on this bottle is very good. I got my 500mL bottles at $3.00 each. That was a mistake by the cashier as it’s supposed to sell for $3.60. But even at $3.60 this is a great value. Heck, it’s a good beer at $5. I guess that’s the advantage of getting beer from a local, talented craft brewer as opposed to trucking in some craft beer from the States (Why are the Southern Tier beers always close to $9/bottle???).

Muskoka Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout

Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout is Muskoka Cottage Brewery’s previous seasonal. I’ve already seen their Summer Weiss in stores so I know I’ve been slow to review this.

I’ve also been slow to try this; I’ve had this bottle in the cellar since before Christmas. I’d heard all the great praise for it - I believe it was the number one rated beer (for Canada) on either ratebeer.com or beeradvocate.com - but for some reason I still wasn’t intrigued enough to try it before now.

The beer pours pitch black. Only around the edges of the glass do you get a little ruby-brown colour. The head dissipates quickly and there’s next to no lacing. There’s no mistaking the dark chocolate smell off the beer. That’s pretty much all I get off it - the chocolate is just so over powering. I’ve read that other people can smell the cranberries but I can’t.

The beer’s pretty thick - it’s not quite a milkshake but it’s getting there. The dark chocolate taste is equally smooth, no real harsh edges. I think I might be able to detect the cranberries in the finish. There’s a bit of a tartness to balance the chocolate and it works nicely. Overall, though, the beer is still pretty sweet and I would likely have it as a dessert as opposed to with a meal.

I’m not sure why I didn’t have that urgency to try Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout, it was a mistake. I might not want to drink it all the time, due to the sweetness, but it is certainly enjoyable. With any luck you can still pick up some bottles at the LCBO. If not, I’m guessing Muskoka will make it available again next November.

Head-to-Head: Gemini Imperial IPA and Tree Brewing Co.’s Hop Head Double IPA

The LCBO’s 2011 spring release includes a number of IPAs. Two of them are Southern Tier’s Gemini Imperial IPA and Tree Brewing Co.’s Hop Head Double IPA. I figured I’d take this chance to taste them side-by-side.

The Gemini pours a much brighter beer than the Hop Head: It has an amber colour to it that’s very clear. The Hop Head, by contrast, almost looks opaque: There’s more of a brown tinge to it and a lot less translucent.

There’s maybe slightly more lacing to the Hop Head. Gemini’s aroma is a lot sweeter than Hop Head’s - although they both have a dried fruit smell to them, and both have a hint of spice as well.

The sweetness is Gemini’s aroma carries into its taste. The caramel of the malts makes the hops taste candied. This really helps balance the beer in terms of flavour. There’s a bitter finish but it’s certainly not one of the driest beers I’ve had. At 9.1% abv, it’s not surprising you can get hints of alcohol in the flavour. But again, this is balanced from the spiciness coming from the yeast.

The Hop Head has an earthier taste than the Gemini and isn’t as sweet. There’s still malt there to support the hops but they’re not taking the lead. There’s more of a piney taste from the Hop Head. The Hop Head also has some alcohol flavour to it, although it’s a measly 8.3% abv (ha!) compared to the Gemini.

Something else of interest for the Gemini is that it’s not actually one beer. Gemini is a blend of two beers: Unearthly Imperial IPA and Hoppe Imperial Extra Pale Ale - an interesting tidbit I gained from reading the back of the bottle. “The more you know,” as Blossom would say on one of those NBC PSAs.

Both of these beers are satisfying. When it comes down to choosing one over the other, it’s going to be a matter of whether you feel like a sweeter, more balanced IPA, or an earthier, piney IPA. I can definitely see situations for both.