tasting
-
In Praise of Haze
In Praise of Haze It may seem like a misguided topic for an article. After all, everyone is brewing them and everyone is doing them. Or drinking them at least. The haze craze doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon, so what am I on about? Well, it goes by many a name, New England
-
Into the Darkness
Into the Darkness The first black lager I ever tasted was quite confusing. It looked like a stout, it kinda smelled like a stout, but it didn’t quite taste like a stout, and it sure didn’t finish like a stout. Then I never saw one again for years. To be fair, the Schwarzbier (literally “black
-
The Aroma Files #006: Coconut
The Aroma Files #006: Coconut The Aroma Files #006: Coconut WIt’s not uncommon to pick up faint notes of coconut in our beer, more so in Belgian ales or Kveik fermented beer, and even more so in barrel aged selections. But without the intentional addition of coconut flavouring, where does it come from? Lets dive
-
A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 2
A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 2 In part two, I explore the less walkable, but equally impressive. Bicycle Craft Brewery 850 Industrial Ave #12, Ottawa Having pounded a few extra kilometers into my soles, I finally walked through the doors of Bicycle Craft. The brewery is a bit of
-
2025: A Beer in Review
2025: A Beer in Review My favorite three Ontario breweries for 2025. This year culminated in a lot, but likely not enough, visits to breweries and tap rooms. While I could probably list on fewer than three fingers the number of non-positive experiences, I could also regale you with all the lovely experiences in the
-
The Aroma Files #005: Banana
The Aroma Files #005: Banana Banana, the signature weissbier aroma, and a secondary player in a handful of other beer styles is really rather simple. Unlike most beer aromas that are a cocktail of molecules, the banana aroma and flavour is typified by the ester isoamyl acetate. A few other esters, namely ethyl butyrate, and
-
The Aroma Files #004: Pineapple
The Aroma Files #004: Pineapple Pineapple is one of the most intriguing beer aromas. Even more fascinating is that while fresh, canned, and dried pineapple all have different and progressive aromas, so do the pineapple aromas in beer. Lets first explore the varying components making up the pineapple aromas in the fruit and its derivatives.
-
The Aroma Files #003: Mango
The Aroma Files #003: Mango When the juicy/hazy/NEIPA craze was in its infancy I tasted a beer that was strong with mango. Very strong. Incidentally, it contained mango pulp. Subsequently, I tasted another IPA that smelled of mango, less overtly, and not a mango was to be found. This was one of my first forays
-
The Aroma Files #002: Pine
The Aroma Files #002: Pine “A classic West coast IPA with prominent notes of pine and resin”. Visually, it’s easy to reconcile right? Hop cone, pine cone. Conveniently, the chemistry isn’t overly vexing either. The pine aromas mainly come from a few terpenes and terpenoids which are present across hops, conifers and rosemary. The primary
-
The Aroma Files #001: Grapefruit
The Aroma Files #001: Grapefruit Along with resin, pine, dank, and floral, grapefruit seems to be one of the most common basic descriptors of American hop aroma, heavily weighted towards IPAs. Of course we know (most of the time) there is no actual grapefruit in the beer, so where does this aroma and flavour come