Granville Island Brewing: Lions Winter Ale

To the best of my knowledge, I've never tried a winter ale during my quest for awesome beer. I'm honestly not even very sure what defines a winter ale? I'm expecting to taste snowball fights, GT racing, hockey, and possibly pushing a car out of a snow bank all rolled into one. God knows what that should actually taste like

The aroma of this ale comes across uniquely rich with vanilla. Seriously, vanilla. I had no idea you could use vanilla to mellow up a brew. This beer smells great and goes down smooth and easy. It's robust, malty, and sweet on the palette.

This is a truly distinguished and balanced ale like nothing I've ever had before. If you're really looking to try something straight out of left field then this is a great option.

This would be a good choice to pair with desserts and chocolates. Sneak some in at the next birthday party that you attend and see how it goes over.

For its uniqueness and easy going cozy feel, I rate this beer a B. Its perfect in the right occasion but not diverse enough to be in constant rotation in my beer fridge all year round. This guy belongs in an ottoman by a roaring fire on a cold snowy night.

Check out more from Granville Island Brewing at www.gib.ca/

Support your local brewery!

Hop City: Big Mouth Tap Room Pale Ale

I have to admit, I'm a pretty big fan of Brampton's own Hop City Brewing. Their Mr. Huff pilsner is always my go to beer whenever I go for burgers at The Works.  Barking Squirrel became a summer patio staple for me on my visit to Ottawa last year. They brew great beer and I'm excited to taste whatever they come up with.

The other night while I was stocking up my fridge at the LCBO, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Hop City beer that I've never tried before; Big Mouth Tap Room Pale Ale.

This beer has a powerfully spicy hop aroma. I initially thought it was Saaz hops but after a brief examination of the can I stood corrected as Cascade is the main event here. This is exactly the kind of pale ale that you should expect from a brewery with "Hop" in the title. This pale ale is loaded to the brim with 48bu's of bitter hoppy goodness. This really must be the most unique tasting pale ale I've ever tried and is by far my favourite beer that Hop City has put out.

I was snacking on some cheddar rice crackers tonight so I'm not even going to qualify that as anything close to a food pairing.

Ask your local LCBO for this beer! I was able to pick it up at the LCBO in liberty Village and they've had it stocked regularly since.

I give it an A+ !! This is my favourite pale ale and it will be hard to top it. Any challengers?


I wonder if the guys from Hop City would invite me for a tour of their brewery after reading this?

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Hops and Robbers "Extra Delicious IPA" by Double Trouble Brewing Co

Ok so look, if you're going to put "Extra Delicious IPA" on the label you'd best be prepared to live up to it. Thank god brewmaster Paul Dickey delivers on his words. What can I say about this delicious IPA?

I'm a sucker for awesome logo design (as my previous review of Muskoka's Mad Tom has proved). The crazy artwork depicts what I consider to be the brewers version of Hamburgler. Thats right, I made reference to that cheeseburger stealing 1950's style crook-in-a-cape. The Double Trouble equivalent is a classy robber silhouette stealing a bag of Hops. Smart guy, at least he won't end up overweight or stricken with heart disease from his crimes. On to the beer review...

Aroma: Very refreshing and hits me like aromatic bait of hops and citrus.

Taste: Easy going and laid back with just enough fruity aftertaste to keep me guessing that secret citrus ingredient (pineapple).

Overall: I love this beer. It's an awesome weekend party favour and it complimented my jalapeño nachos with little effort. A worthy adversary to some of my usual favourites and definitely worth a try.

From what I've been told, Double Trouble Brewing has some other unique and adventurous beers in the works,
so stay tuned and support your local brewery!

Hops and Robbers, I give you an A !!

Check out more from Double Trouble Brewing at www.doubletroublebrewing.com