Old Time Spruce ale

I am quite glad that I got the time to try out this recipe.  I would have been pretty disappointed, seeing as there is really only one a brief period of one to weeks in the spring that can have to make the recipe the best it can be. The main ingredient and flavouring in this [...]

Thyme Ale Review

If you read my previous entry on how I bottled this beer, I sort of already talked about what I thought of the flavor. But the sample that I tried was from the very bottom right above all the herb and yeast sludge, as well as room temperature, and non-carbonated. So, given that these guys [...]

Thyme Ale – Bottling

Finally this jerk was ready to be bottled a few days ago. The original recipe stated that fermentation would take approximately 6-7 days, but this guy was fermenting for a solid 3 weeks before it finally calmed down. As I was bottling, I put a little bit into a glass and decided to try it. [...]

Sheepshaggers Gold Ale

Clearly there is something sort of interesting and unorthadox about this golden ale. Just look at that sheep; it looks to be enjoying itself way too much for there not to be a sinister purpose behind it’s grin. Not really sure what the brewer’s were thinking in terms of the name, but the beer itself [...]

Outside the Hops: Chamomile Beer

Outside the Hops: Chamomile Ale Inspired once again by the poetically profound and leucrative book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, I have developed a slight adaptation from one the featured recipes. This is the first time I have tried making a beer entirely out of my own ingredients and with my own supplies, so I [...]

Mill St. Organic Lager

This straw-yellow European style lager is a little on the lighter side, with an alcohol content of 4.2%. The aroma is soft and fresh with a hint of distinctive skunk, and goes down smooth and crisp. A light, malty taste with little bitterness and a dry, astringent finish. A prime example of a beer that [...]

Mill St. Stock Ale

This is pretty much as simple as it gets. The most popular of the Toronto based Mill St. Brewery’s creations based on overall sales, the Stock Ale is a classic and original recipe that is made ‘without fillers and adjuncts’, says the back of the bottle. This pretty much means that the only ingredients in [...]

Garrison Imperial India Pale Ale

Wow. This is an absolute treat. I don’t think I have ever had a beer that has as much bitter complexity. This one really is quite intense, the name imperial is definitely appropriate. There are so many layers of hops that I am not really sure what to do with myself after each sip. I [...]

The Making of Calamus Ale

Well, it finally happened. I have been wanting to try my hand at home brewing ever since fellow contributors Chris Veska and Robert Nagy began exploring the delicious possibilities of starting beers from scratch. Although I was only a taster and occasional observer of the whole process, I fathomed the infinite customization of flavors, textures [...]

Duchy Organic Old Ruby Ale

The first time that I tried this beer was actually months ago, when I spend three months living an alternative (and in my view, idealistic) lifestyle trying my hand out at organic farming on the west coast of British Columbia. There, the Powell River liquor store had this beer in stock at all times. I [...]