Beer tasting notes

I have been keeping a track of some of the beers that I have tried while we have been away.  This isn’t a comprehensive list for a couple of reasons.  First, I didn’t think of the idea until I had tried so many different ones I was struggling to remember whether I had tried it or not.  Secondly, there has been the odd occasion where my memory is sketchy at best on particular details, and I’m not sure that making notes on my phone would have been any more successful.

My second caveat is that some of these beers are not craft beers.  They are the opposite of that.  But we’ve had some hot days and some cases of limited choices.  However, the most pleasing aspect has been that a number of places are really proud and promoting craft beers – and particularly ones from their local area.  And some of them have been very good too.  On to the beer.

Just as Tui is a fishing beer in NZ, Bud Light with Lime makes a very good boat beer in the US.  When we were out on the water with Jo and Ian sailing around on Kiwi, it was a very refreshing beer.  My memory is a bit sketchy on the other beers we tried, but I do remember the Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale.  This is brewed down in San Diego and was one of the breweries that we were going to call into if we had time.  We didn’t in the end.  The Red Trolley Ale was a nice red ale.  Good flavour and deep red colour had us regularly drinking this.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas was rubbish for beer.  While you could wander down the street drinking beer, and plenty of people did, it was all the standard American flavourless stuff.  I did find the Ballast Point Pale Ale at one place and had a couple of those.  It made a pleasant change.

San Diego

In San Diego, the beer took a turn for the better.  You’ll probably have seen that we made it to the Coronado Brewery and also to Ballast Point.  Ballast Point had an interesting curry stout than I’m sure Steven Wells would love to taste or try to make.  The curry flavour was more of an aftertaste but even so, you couldn’t have more than a taster of this.  Apart from this, we sampled the usual suspects at Coronado and Ballast Point, and I (vaguely) remember trying some interesting beers at the Royal Beagle (including one from Rogue) but I’m going to say that it was too long ago to remember.

Portland

There were two brew bars that we visited in Portland.  At Deschutes Brewery I had a 6 sampler.  I got to choose them which was even better.  First up was Big Rig.  It was a nice session ale with mild hops.  The Red Rambler was ok but quite hoppy as you'd expect.  The Bachelor Bitter was another popular session ale.  The Red Chair NWPA was very nice. It had an IPA flavour with toned down hops.  The Black Butte Porter had a great flavour but was very thin.  The Obsidian Stout was on nitro and had a great texture but was heavy on the really dark burnt taste like Guinness.  A combo of the porter and stout would have been good. 

We also went to the Rock Bottom Brewery.  I had a couple of beers here.  The first was a Jean Claude, which was an attempt at a Belgian wit beer like Hoegarden but not as good.   It was ok but unremarkable.  I then tried a Black Kolsch.  It wasn’t clear whether it was a mix of porter and Kolsch or whether it was brewed that way.   It tasted pretty good though, with plenty of dark chocolate and caramel.

Seattle

When we took the cruise with Argosy Cruises in Seattle, the bar staff suggested that I could tour their local breweries while we toured the harbour.  Seemed like a good idea so I had a Manny's Pale Ale, a Seattle Brewery Pike Kilt Lifter and a Georgetown Porter.  The pale ale was nice and the kilt lifter was a great deep red ale. The porter had a nice flavour but was quite thin.

At some later stage we visited the Taphouse in Seattle. They have 160 beers on tap. In a taster I had the Alaskan Oatmeal Stout, the Snoqualmie Steam Train Porter, the Stone Smoked Porter, and the Young's Chocolate Stout. Young's was a benchmark.  The steam train was nice and the oatmeal stout was ok too. The smoky porter was too smoky for me but the chocolate stout was as yummy as ever. 

Vancouver

In Vancouver we went to the Granville Island Brewing Co. Twice.  I had their hefeweizen which was ok.  Their maple cream ale was very creamy and nice with a reddish hue.  The Winter ale was a mid-red which meant that I didn't have high hopes.  I was hoping for something darker.  Boy, the chocolate nose was big though.  And the taste was damn good too. Very chocolately goodness.  Hence the return trip when we went on the dinner cruise. 

Steamworks on the waterfront at Vancouver was where I had a rye hefeweizen.  It was good.  Their Coal Porter was better. 

I also had the Phillips Longboat Chocolate Porter one evening back at our room.  This one is made in Victoria, BC.  It troubles me that it describes itself as “chocolate flavoured” but I'm sure it doesn't just have flavouring added.  It was very chocolatey though.  Quite rich with a nice chocolate finish. 

At the Wicklow Pub I had the Wee Angry scotch ale. This was nice and dark and being the first beer, struggled to touch the sides.  Next up was the Russell Cream Ale.  It was bland.  Nothing wrong with it but nothing right either.  I finished off with a Kilkenny and that was good. 

Edmonton

Hudson's Canadian Tap House was good for a Big Rock Traditional Ale. It was a nice warming ale on a very cold day. Some good caramel and malty flavours. Nice texture too. 

At The Pourhouse I tried Amber's Wytemud Vanilla Whysky Stout. I just got a taster as I'm not a big whiskey fan.  Lucky.  It had a big whiskey flavour.  I didn't notice the vanilla.  However they did have Cannery Brewing's Blackberry Porter in 650ml. It was very fruity, and even better as blackberries are a favourite of mine. 

Train

On the Train I had a few Fort Garry Dark Ales from Winnipeg.  It was a standard dark ale, a bit like Speights Old Dark – dark, malty and drinkable.  I also tried the Granville Island Honey lager. It was ok but not startling. 

Toronto

At Mill Street Brewpub in Toronto I had a Tankhouse Ale.  It is not too bad. Quite hoppy but still nice. I also had their coffee porter. Not the best exponent of the style. Too cold, too thin. Maybe it would be better if it warmed up but this is Toronto and it is about 5 degrees outside.  Actually, it did warm up and was a bit better. 

We also visited the 3 Brewers in Toronto.  It is a brew bar, but their beer menu is weird.  They have a white beer, a blonde, an amber and a brown beer.  As well, they have an extra hoppy beer.  The amber ale was quite malty and not as hoppy as some of the red ales I have had.  I was looking forward to the dark one but it was disappointing and I’d have been better off having another amber ale.

Somehow we found out about a bar called “C'est What”.  It seems to have quite a reputation in Toronto as having a great range of craft beers on tap.  It had a pretty good menu as well, and seems to have quite a wide range of entertainment in the evenings – poets, musicians etc.  I started with a 10W30. It really is dark malty sweetness, from Neustadt Springs Brewing.  It was very smooth and didn’t taste like I’d imagine engine oil tastes.  The coffee porter was a C'est What brew.  While quite bitter, it was very smooth with a strong coffee flavour.  Next up was Steve's Dreaded Chocolate Orange.  There was nothing to dread here, except that it might run out.  It was dark as a stormy night.  The mouthfeel was silky smooth.  Steve also managed to get a nice subtle orange aftertaste. I'm didn’t get the promised cardamom taste though.  But who needs it.  This was delicious as is. 

England

We saw the range of Badger ales including the "Fursty Ferret" by Countryside Ales.  It  was what you'd expect.  It's been made since 1777 and most of the ingenuity went into the name rather than the beer.

At Sullivans Bar in Weybridge I had Flowers Original ale. It tasted like the beer you get in an old pub. Was fine, but would probably avoid in the future for something nicer. 

At the Turf Tavern in Oxford I tried their own Winter Ale.  They also had their summer ale on. Seasons are pretty screwed here anyway.  It was a nothing beer.  It was on hand pull but that didn't mean that it had warmed to allow the flavour to come through.  It had no flavour.  I also tried a Clarks traditional bitter.  Slightly more flavour but still nothing that you'd go out of your way to have again.  Still, I guess that is the point of trying different beers.

At Eagle & Child in Oxford I had a Belhaven Black. On the hand pull again, was very nice and dark and good thick texture.

As you may have noticed, I have tried to include tasting notes at the end of each blog rather than building up another big list.  That means that there should be no more exclusive beer posts.