Spring Maple Belgian Blonde: Candi Chop
Spring Maple Belgian Blonde Ale from Lake of Bays Brewing Company in Baysville, Ontario pours a golden honey colour with light amber tinges, a moderate and soapy white head that settles as a stringy collar without leaving much lace at all. This maple-infused ale really doesn’t smell like maple at all, but has a rather odd blend of sour milk, butterscotch, shredded wheat, candi sugar, yeast and soapy hop aromas.
I Find More Caramel in Here than Maple
I simply can’t find maple in the taste of Spring Maple Belgian Blonde Ale either. I do get caramel-sweetened malts, yeast, freshly cut grain and graham cracker flavours, accented by floral and peppery hop tones. This ale is medium bodied with rather mild carbonation. There is a slightly creamy and yeasty character in the mouth, but I find it very syrupy overall. The finish is almost cloying and thick with caramel, then the aftertaste is tart, bordering on sour with a lemon oil tone. It goes from one extreme to the other and leaves my teeth feeling sticky.
Burnt Rock: Hurry! Hurry Hard!
Brewed in collaboration with Patrick Boisvenue of Members of Barleyment, this vanilla porter from Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company in Vankleek Hill, Ontario is opaque black with a spongy, light beige head that settles as a thick film without leaving much lace. Burnt Rock smells of vanilla, molasses, waffle cone, toasted grain and a light red berry jam.
This Sweet Porter is Great with Pastries
The taste of Burnt Rock also has an overarching berry flavour and is rather sweet overall. Flavours of lightly roasted malts, mild coffee, dark toffee and vanilla are also present. This spiced porter is very thin bodied with a moderate carbonation, making for a creamy mouthfeel. The finish has tartness and sees the berry flavour move back to the fore, while the aftertaste is mildly bitter with a burnt coffee note.
Old North Mocha Porter: Mocha Chocolata Ya Ya
Old North Mocha Porter from Lake of Bays Brewing Company in Baysville, Ontario is an opaque, steely black with a frothy off-white head that leaves spotty lace and settles as a collar. This coffee-infused American porter has vanilla, coffee, chocolate, dark fruit and musty wood aromas.
Deep, Dark Aromas and Flavours Highlight Old North Mocha Porter
The taste of Old North Mocha Porter has strong roasted grain, coffee, vanilla and chocolate flavours, accented by a berry-like character and finished with a pronounced bitterness. The mouthfeel is quite thin with a faint tingle on the tongue from mild carbonation, while the aftertaste carries notes of coffee and dark fruit.
Cannery Blackberry Porter: Beer for a Dessert Island
This flavoured American porter from The Cannery Brewing Company in Penticton, British Columbia is dark brown and ruby in colour and yields a thick, frothy beige head when poured that leaves some chunky lace and has great retention. Cannery Blackberry Porter has a bright and juicy fruit aroma that brings to mind not only blackberry, but cherry and raspberry as well. The backing is very dark, smelling of coffee, cocoa and roasted grain.
This Sturdy Porter is Bursting with Fruit Aroma and Flavour
The taste of Cannery Blackberry Porter is anchored by a rich and malty blend of chocolate and toffee flavours, with blackberry not only contributing to the taste, but adding a sturdy tartness to the brew that remains throughout the finish. The porter is full-bodied with a creamy, yet grainy mouthfeel. Sweet fruit and bitter chocolate and coffee notes linger in the aftertaste.
Peche Mortel: Sinfully Rich
This coffee-flavoured imperial stout from from Microbrasserie Dieu du Ciel! in St-Jérôme, Québec pours an opaque black with a large and frothy tan coloured head that gets retained as a thick collar and leaves behind a generous amount of lacing. Péché Mortel has a very bitter aroma, with roasted malts, coffee and chocolate creating a deep and thick body.
Espresso Beans Give this Beer a Bitter Kick
Péché Mortel tastes like dark roast coffee, dark chocolate and roasted malts, accented by a dark fruit tone that reminds me of plum or black cherry. The stout is full-bodied with a medium carbonation level, creating a creamy sensation on the tongue that gives way to a mildly oily character on the back of the tongue and throat. The aftertaste is markedly bitter and there is a warming hint of the stout’s elevated ABV.
Cannery Brewing Maple Stout: Maple Leaves Me Sappy
This flavoured stout from the Cannery Brewing Company in Penticton, British Columbia pours an opaque black with a small tan-coloured head that doesn't leave much lace, but sticks around as a thin collar throughout the glass. Cannery Brewing Maple Stout smells of molasses, maple syrup and coffee. A roasted malt note creates a bread-like character and grainy hops can also be found.
The Maple Flavour is Distinct but not Overpowering
Cannery Brewing Maple Stout tastes like roasted malts, bitter chocolate and brewed coffee at first, with the sweet maple syrup flavour really coming through on the tongue and lingering in the finish. I find the mouthfeel a bit watery and the beer has very little carbonation, but it’s still smooth and creamy on the tongue. The aftertaste is bitter with a resinous quality.