Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) Infinium

When the LCBO announced they were going to be selling Sam Adams's Utopias this year through a lottery system, it had me intrigued. A bottle of beer (granted 710mL) selling for $115 - and they needed a lottery system to handle demand? I thought about entering the lottery but never acted before the deadline so I missed out on Utopias.

Then I found out about another premium Sam Adams beer the LCBO was bringing in: Infinium. At $15/bottle this was a steal by comparison. It was also going to be in limited supply but Guelph was lucky enough to have it stocked in two of its LCBO locations.

When I walked in to the local LCBO, Infinium didn't appear to be as rare as I first thought it'd be. There were boxes of it throughout the store and in different departments. Maybe the LCBO got more cases at the last minute? Or maybe other buyers knew something I didn't at the time - maybe it's not worth $15? No, that can't be ...

Placing Infinium in both the beer and wine aisles makes sense. This beer is a lot like a champagne: Very fruity, though not as sweet, and highly carbonated. The beer is even packaged in a champagne bottle with a cork and cage. The beer has an apple cider colour and has an enormous, big bubble head that quickly dissipates to leave just a ring at the edge of the glass. When I drink champagne, I normally drink it cold so I figured I'd start there for tasting the beer. It smells of dried fruit and tastes of it too. Its kind of like a Belgian tripel mixed with champagne - I definitely get that alcohol taste I find in champagne's aftertaste. Letting the beer warm-up did not make things better in my opinion - I found it introduced a strange aftertaste. 


Maybe it’s because I'm not a big champagne drinker - or maybe it’s because I'm not a huge tripel fan - but I was not a fan of this beer. Even if this beer was more reasonably priced between $5-$10, I still would not but it again.

Not every beer you try is going to be one you like.

Kate's note: It was too sweet and I was not a fan. I had two sips and thought the smell reminded me of icewine (which I don't mind on occasion, but didn't expect that taste in a beer).


ETA: Jeff and I were in the LCBO in Guelph on March 6 and they still had quite a few bottles in there.

Neustadt 10W30

I love that Jeff likes Neustadt Springs' beer. I'm a fan, if only because I grew up in Hanover (about 15 minutes from Neustadt - if even) and so I feel connected to this brewery in a way.

We usually stop in any time we're heading up to see my family and the best part about this brewery (after the beer) is the staff - they are super friendly, always willing to talk and they're interesting to talk to.

Apparently this beer also takes Jeff back to his high school part-time job, too.

But enough about that.

Jeff's review:

Neustadt's 10W30 has a bold name and bold packaging to go with it.

You can't help but think "motor oil" when you read the name and see the hot rod on pictured on the can. If that has you worried, don't be; it doesn't pour like goopy molasses and it doesn't blot out the sun.

It pours a nice cola colour with minimal beige head that doesn't leave behind any lacing once its dissipated. This english brown ale has light carbonation and medium body. I get some nuttiness in the flavour and what reminds me of the rye bread they used to make at the bakery I worked at in high school.

There's definitely a sweetness to this beer; it's malty. And make sure to drink this at a warmer temperature to taste all the flavour in the beer.

Montreal - where it kind of began

OK, Montreal isn't where Jeff started drinking craft beers. He was drinking them long before a trip we took between Christmas and New Year's 2008.

Maybe, Montreal is the beginning for me.

We decided to visit the city when it seemed to be covered in ice. We went down to Old Montreal, but it was hard to get around. So we took refuge in a pub — Les Trois Brasseurs.

We stayed there for at least three hours.

It was here I really was introduced to the joy of trying different beers and Jeff really encouraged me to taste the beer - not just take a sip to placate him. We had several beers and yes, we got a little drunk (which made it hard to navigate the ice when we left the bar).

An empty glass at Brutopia

We also went to a place called Brutopia, which had several different beers on tap, all made specifically for the bar.

A photo of an otter - just because otters are awesome. Taken at the Biodome.

And, as we left the city at the end of our trip, we stopped at McAuslan Brewery, where Jeff got a couple of beers and some mustard (really good mustard).

Muskoka Cottage Brewery - Muskoka Harvest Ale

I (Jeff) discovered the Muskoka Harvest Ale last fall and have enjoyed several bottles of it.

From what I understand, the Harvest Ale is brewed using only ingredients from Ontario. It comes in a 750mL swingtop bottle - a nice presentation that makes it suitable for a host/hostess gift instead of the usual bottle of wine. 


I bought this bottle back in November/December. It was coming up on its best before date and wanted to make sure I drank it before it lost too much of its flavour. 


The beer looks fantastic: A great copper liquid with tiny carbonation bubbles rising to a thick and creamy head. The hops in this English pale ale are more floral/grassy than citrusy. The beer's also got a decent malt backbone - a nice caramel - to compliment the bitterness of the hops. 


It still has a slightly bitter finish - which I find to be ideal when drinking with food. 


I remember enjoying a bottle of this with Thanksgiving dinner - I thought it'd be nice since this beer is supposed to celebrate the harvest as well. I'm no pairing expert - normally I just drink what I like with food - but it was great with that turkey. 


The sad thing is, Harvest Ale is done for the year. Now you'll have to wait until September for 2011's offering.

Saturday notes

Wellington's Winter Cask Day

Today (Saturday) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. there's an event at the Wellington Brewery in Guelph. It's going to feature several beers as cask-conditioned ales, as well as limited edition beer. It's just $5 a person and on a windy, wintery day like today, some good beer will make it all seem better.

Mill Street Vanilla Porter

We went to the Wooly last night - as we do most Friday nights - and this is the beer I had. In fact, I had two. I really enjoy this beer. I love the vanilla smell and taste - and it's pretty easy to drink (which is why I had two. I didn't realize I had downed the first until Pam asked if I wanted another).

Jeff told me before I had it that the Mill Street vanilla porter tastes like a milkshake. While I'm not 100% on board with that, I do get what he means. I love the creaminess of the head of this beer (please, no jokes about a woman loving head), although maybe due to this milkshake idea, I expect the beer to have more body or something. But I still like it and now that it appears it is a regular on the Wooly beer line-up, I'll likely have more of it in the future.  (Visit the Mill Street pub website)

Although, if it was put up against F&M's Oatmeal Coffee Stout, which uses Planet Bean coffee, it would likely lose out. I really like F&M's stout (and Planet Bean's coffee).

Grand River Galt Knife Old Style Lager

Earlier this week, Jeff enjoyed a Galt Knife to the mouth - the beer, of course. Here are his thoughts.


The Galt Knife is another beer from Grand River brewery that I didn't care for too much the first time I had it. I'm not sure why that is. It's now my "go to" beer when I'm at our local pub (The Wooly). I like to start off with the feature tap to try something new but for the second pint - or if I know the feature tap isn't so great - I'll get the Galt Knife pretty much every time. It is a great beer on tap that drinks well by itself and goes with lots of pub food.

But this time I'm having it in the bottle that I picked up from the LCBO. It pours a nice, light caramel colour and has a decent amount of carbonation - more than I seem to remember it having on tap. The beer has some nice biscuity flavour followed by some bitterness from the hops - nothing over powering but definitely there. I'll be honest, I think the flavour was better on tap. Maybe I drank the beer too cold. 


I'll try to be a little more patient next time.

One of the things I really like about this beer is that while its 4.4% abv - what a lot of people would consider a lighter beer - it still has flavour and doesn't taste watered down. Grand River has quite a few quality beers that are lower in alcohol but not in flavour. It's nice to see someone brewing flavourful sessionable beers. I've read quite a few beer reviews where people will say a 6-7% abv beer is sessionable but I'm sorry, you can't have 3 or 4 (or more) of those bigger beers and not be feeling some effects.

One thing I'm not sure of is why the Knife is called a pre-prohibition style lager. I'm sure there's a reason for it - it'd be nice to find out.

F&M and Great Lakes Blackened I.P.A. and Devil's Pale Ale Blend

Jeff went to an event tonight without me - but he said it was a blast. Here are his notes:

Earlier this week the Wooly tweeted that they were going to have a special joint venture beer from Guelph's F&M and Great Lakes in Toronto. There was only going to be a 20L keg so it wasn't going to last long. If I wanted to get a taste of this mystery beer, I was going to have be there on time.

When I got there, the tiny keg was tucked away in the corner and the bar manager Ben was pouring pints of the one off cask ale. He told me it was a blend of F&M's Blackened I.P.A. and Great Lakes' Devil's Pale Ale. I later found out it was also dry hopped.

The beer had little carbonation - as you'd expect from a cask ale. In contrast to Flying Monkeys' Netherworld, this was significantly hoppier. That was likely due to the fact that it was a black I.P.A. that was blended with an already reasonably hoppy pale ale. The hop taste from this was also different. The citra hops left a distinct taste in the back of my mouth. It was good when it was first poured - although a little unbalanced. 


As the glass warmed up in my hand though, the coffee flavours from the the black I.P.A. became more pronounced - the beer went from a good beer to a great beer.

George, the brewer from F&M, also showed up. It was fun speaking with him about this beer and others he's working on. He had some good ideas that I hope he has a chance to follow up on.

There was also talk about turning this pin keg event into a monthly thing. I really hope that happens. I know Grand River has a beer club and Great Lakes has Project X - but those are a little hard to get to sometimes. I'm excited to see something equivalent happen locally. These kinds of events let you meet like minded beer lovers over interesting new brews.


If you have a chance to make it to an event near you, I highly recommend it.