Signs of Fall or rather "The sign of fall, I look for"

Those of us that love fall  are looking for signs of fall's complete and undeniable arrival.

You can look for the 1st red leaf, you can sniff that 1st cool breeze or  you can wait for fresh local pumpkins to appear. These are all good indicators that fall is coming, but they are not undeniable sings that fall has irrevocably arrived.

First Sign

There are many signs of fall and every lover of fall has their favourite. For me, Pumpkin beer is the one that says "no more waiting, no more watching, Fall IS here".  I haven't had one yet this year or even seen them in the LCBO (to be fair I haven't looked) but, what I did see last week tells me it won't be long now.

At my local micro brewery, Taps on Queen, Phil the brew master was creating the magical liquid that portents the best season of the year. My 1st hint was the the can of pumpkin puree near the brewing kettle, followed quickly by Phil's confirmation that 3.14 (pumpkin pie) was indeed being brewed before my eyes.

Phil Stirring furiously

In a few short weeks that wonder fall tradition will ready for enjoying during crisp sunny afternoons on the patio. After the 1st few pints of fall another tradition will begin 'custom pumpkin pints'. The creating, tasting, testing and debating of  custom mixtures of pumpkin 3.14 with Taps other brews.
Pumpkin with IPA, pumpkin with porter, pumpkin with lager, pumpkin with red cream ale, pumpkin will be mixed with every tap that can pour & most of  the regulars will have a the right combination in the right proportion to create (what they believe) is the perfect fall brew that represents all the best of autumn.

The wonderful aroma filling the air.

If you think that sounds a bit extreme, you've never been with beer lovers as the the warm autumn sun sinks behind the skyline and someone new comes up to the bar next to 4 regulars and asks the one sitting beside them "what are you drinking". It's a question that will have 4 answers and even more recommendations.

Daily Post - November 24 - Brimstone

Pic-of-The-day - "Brimstone".

 

Photos from a tasting at Brimstone brewery in Ridgeway Ontario.

I went with a group from work for a tasting to explore the idea of making local brews available in the future maybe for special events or even on a more regular basis.

The first glass isn't full  because I took the much anticipated first sip and then thought "hey, I brought my camera, I should be taking photos of these".

After that I patiently snapped a photo or two of each sample before trying it.


If I remember correctly (it's been a few weeks now)
we sampled:

Enlightenment Blond Ale
Hail Mary Session Ale
Bitter Rivals English Bitter
Sinister Sinister IPA
Chicory Oatmeal Stout.

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The Season has Ended

or                   

A dreamy reminder of the past vs a starker version of the present.

In actual fact it's not nearly as dramatic as it sounds. Now that I've sufficiently buried the lead, 
Pumpkin Ale is no longer available at Taps (until the Fall).

To the chagrin (I wish i could that word more often) of many regulars, their most popular seasonal brew has expired. Maybe expired is a bit dramatic, but the current supply of pumpkin has come to an end. Many consider pumpkin their 'go to' beer at taps.  I am part of a different group. We enjoy pumpkin (almost) as must as the pumpkin monobrewists (the beer version of mono theists) , but we don't drink it exclusively. We drink it occasionally or (as I prefer) in an alchemical mixture with other beers. (see: Sinister Pumpkin  )

The current incarnation of pumpkin has ended, but hopefully it clears the way for a new summer brew. No one knows what taps, phil & the beer gods have in store for the summer, but I suspect we will enjoy it.

P.S. a new batch of pumpkin traditionally appears in September or very early October, so for those dedicated to pumpkin, it's really not that long til it's return.

Sidenote: If you have noticed that the photos in today's blog look ' a bit off' it could be that I've been playing around with a new/old lens.  the photos where taken with a canon FD (read old film) lens adapted to my EOS550D. Please, don't be too harshly. It's early days with this arrangement.  The 1st image is sort of 'as is' & the second has a bit more colour & contrast added, which is more common with modern lenses.  not sure which I'd go with in the future, but it's still early days with this combo. 

Hopped Whiskey (& Barley Wine)

A few nights ago we tried  'JP Wiser’s Hopped Whiskey' & 'Tribute' Barley Wine from Renaissance Brewing Company of New Zealand. 

The idea with the barley wine was that it would have enough strength to stand up to the whiskey and not just just taste like water. It also helped that we had some left in our holiday stockpile. 

 

How did they taste?

1st I'm not expert or connoisseur so keep that in mind. 





The Whiskey tasted like whiskey.  Neither of us found it terribly hoppy. It had a hint of hops & maybe a more complex flavour generally, but it didn't scream hops. It was nice whiskey  just not what a hophead expects when they are looking for something hoppy. 

 

The barley wine was quite good. Dark with toasty & caramely flavours and as I would expect with something this strong  (10.8%) you can taste the high alcohol, but it isn't overwhelming it just sort of lingers in the back.



NOTE:  I wouldn't choose Barley Wine to go with Whiskey again.  They are both full distinctive flaours  so they compete more than they compliment.  


Photo's from this post can also be seen on flickr.

Pumpkin Ale, and something a little more Sinister.

The Season has Arrived !

It's October, the leaves are changing the air is is a bit crisp at night, and Pumpkin 3.14 Ale (that's pumpkin π) has returned to Taps, Syndicate & other purveyors of fine Canadian Brew.

Many have been anticipating the arrival of the great pumpkin.
Now that its here, is it as good as we remember?

I'd say   ...    IT'S BETTER!

*everything beyond this point is subjective & personal.*

I'll be the first to say memory is fluid & it changes over time. However, the pumpkin is better than I remember. It's a bit cleaner or crisper than I remember, the spices are as good as always & the sweetness (not really sweetness)  is much more in the back ground.   I don't remember it as ever being actually 'Sweet'  but there was something that I associated with sweet.  What ever that
pseudo-sweet quality is actually called, it started in the back ground , but moved up a bit more to the front after about 3 pints.

This years seems like that might not happen.  I've only had two so far, because out of habit I've switched up after my 2nd Pumpkin. During Pumpkin season I often get mixed pints of pumpkin & something else, usually Sinister Sam Insane IPA (formerly Chuck Norris Round House IPA).
So once again I'm drinking Sinister Pumpkin.

This is really my favourite beer!

Even when getting growlers I get Pumpkin & and Sinister Sam so we can create our own Sinister Pumpkin Pints at home.  The beauty of doing it that way is that you can play with the ratios and make different tastes each pint, for different people and different stages of the night.

Just had another sip of my Sinister Pumpkin ..  
MAN THAT'S GOOD !

I`me definitely havin` another one, but should it be called  
Sinister Pumpkin or should it be called by the more verbose name of  Insane Sam's Sinister 
Pumpkin IP`ALE

Link of The Day - Real Canadian Craft Beer Festival

The Real Canadian Craft Beer Festival is on this Saturday at the Scotiabank Convention Centre from 11 am- 9:00pm.

Looks pretty cool. Lots of Breweries, Food and Bands including taps beer & syndicate food.

Link of the Day - Beer Ice Cream

Craft Beer Ice Cream with alcohol.

 There are different flavours of beer and different levels of alcohol.

That's just cool.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Alcoholic_beer_flavoured_ice_cream_launched