MOONLIGHT KETTLE BIERBUIK ~ MUSKOKA BREWERY

Bierbuik is Belgian strong dark ale. The name means beer belly in Dutch. Sampled on draught the beer poured a rich amber with garret highlights and a moderate off white head. The aroma was primarily biscuity malts and caramel, with a touch of fruitiness. The flavour has lovely caramel maltiness, with more subtle flavours of dried fruit (raisins, fig), plums and spicy Belgian yeast. The finish has a dry bitterness and the alcohol is remarkably well hidden. On a cold night these can catch up with you.

7.5% from Bracebridge, Ontario 28 IBU

BEER SNOB ~ SHILLOW BEER CO.

“Beer Snob” is Shillow’s brewery second flagship beer. It is Belgian Rye Ale. Sampled on draught, it poured orangey amber with a good-sized white head, which left nice lacing. The aroma contained spicy rye, and a fruit, with floral hops and estery Belgian yeast. I really like the combination of the spice in the rye malts (It’s brewed with pale malt base with rye malt and a touch of Abbey malt) and complexity of the Belgian yeasts. The English floral hops provide a nice finish and complement the spiciness of the beer. The carbonation and body were both medium. A very pleasant beer, I will return to this one!
5.6% from Toronto, Ontario

BRIMSTONE BREWING CO. ~ BELGIAN GOLDEN ALE

This is Brimstone’s 100th brew. In honour of that, they decided to let everyone around the brewery add a secret ingredient. Sampled on draught, the beer poured a deep reddish amber colour, with an off white head that left good lacing. The aroma contains, coriander, pepper, spicy/funky and fruity and floral esters. The taste is pretty boozy with lots going on – fruitiness, spice, slight tartness and sweet booziness. (I am actually going to have to revisit this one to get a clearer understanding of the flavours). The body was medium and the mouthfeel was slightly sticky. An interesting brew.
8.4% from Ridgeway, Ontario    30 IBU
Photo Courtesy of Brimstone Brewery

BODY DUBBEL (TANK TEN) ~ GREAT LAKES BREWERY

Sampled on draught, this Belgian Dubbel Ale poured a hazy orangey copper mahogany colour with a persistent off white head, that left great lacing. The nose contained dark fruits, plums, raisin, Belgian yeast, and brown sugar. The beer is sweet up front with notes of dark fruits (plus, figs, raisins), and spicy grains, molasses and caramel, followed by peppery phenolic yeast. The bitterness of the grassy hops if soft, the carbonation is moderate and the body is in the medium range. There is a nice dialogue between the sweetness and the malts, but the beer lacks complexity. At times it seems a little thin for a dubbel. Quite enjoyable and good, but not outstanding.

6.3% from Etobicoke Toronto, Ontario IBU 18

ST. BERNARDUS ABT 12 ~ BROUWERJI 

ST. BERNARDUS

St. Bernardus (a quadrupel) is another one of those rich special occasion Abbey Ales. The brewery maintains that it is brewed using the original recipe from the early days of the Trappist Monks of Westleteren licensing their beers to a made by a local brewery. Sampled from a corked bottle, the ale poured a translucent dark brown with a dense ivory coloured head. The head left impressive lacing and eventually settled into a cap. The sweet and complex aroma contained lots of dark fruit, rich malts, peppery yeast, alcohol, and hints of bubble gum and spice. The taste too contains lots of sweet ripe dark fruit along with sugary caramel. There is also a little tartness in the flavour along with beautiful malts, and a touch of spice, but no real hop presence. The flavour is full, robust and warming with a slightly syrupy mouthfeel and moderate carbonation.

10% Watou, Belgium 22 IBU

YEAH ITS BELGIAN ~ INNOCENTE

Sampled on draught, this beer is Belgian style strong pale ale. The beer poured a golden bronze with healthy white foam. As the head died down, it left some nice lacing down the glass. The nose was what you would expect from a Belgian style beer: yeast, banana, spice, straw and malts. The flavour followed the same profile, the beer began with a straw and grassy notes followed by grainy malts – the malts weren’t as sweet as the banana that was coming through. The alcohol level gave it a slight astringency. The finish was dry and had a pepperiness (coriander perhaps?) to it. I enjoyed this but wish the alcohol level was a bit lower.

7.7% from Waterloo, Ontario

COUSIN ABBEY’S DUBBEL ~ OAST HOUSE

Cousin Abbey’s Dubbel is a very drinkable offering from Niagara’s Oast House brewery. Sampled on draught, it poured a clear very dark amber, with an off white head that quickly disappeared. The aroma contained lots of sweet malts, caramel, toffee, with notes of spice and fruit, and a whiff of booze. The taste was similar. The beer was sweet with lots of Demerara sugar and molasses. Sweet malts, plums and other over ripe fruits, spicy and estery Belgian Yeast, and vanilla all contribute to the flavour. The beer also tastes like it may have been stored in rum barrels, which have left an earthy and boozy taste. I find it medium to full-bodied, with moderate to low carbonation. Very warming on a winter’s night.

6.9% from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario IBU 18

NATTERJACK TOAD ~ MOONLIGHT KETTLE: MUSKOKA 

NatterJack Toad, A Belgian Ale, has a sad story behind it. It is beer memorializing Matthew Soos, an employee of Muskoka Brewery and a recent graduate from the Niagara College Brewmaster Program who died in August of 2015, at the age of 26. Talk began at Soos funeral of brewing one of his recipes as a Memorial beer for him. The Soos family was invited to the brewery and participated in the brewing, the recipe they chose was one he developed while at Niagara College. Natterjack Toad is a strong Belgian brewed with cardamom and pistachios. Soos family showed up at the brewery and help grind the 100kg of pistachios used in the brewing. All proceeds from the sale of the beer will be donated to charity.
Sampled on draught this beer poured a beautiful slightly cloudy golden colour with a small white head, which left nice lacing. The nose contained fruity esters, malts, cardamom, sugar, alcohol and yeasts. The beer tastes much as expected from the nose: sweet fruity malts, fruit esters, nuttiness, candi sugar, Belgian spices and yeasts all abound. The beer has a wonderful rich roundness. I hope that Muskoka makes this again.

7.2% from Bracebridge, Ontario

LA RÉSOLUTION ~ UNIBROUE 

Sampled on draught, La Résolution is Strong Dark Spiced Belgian Ale. It has been brewed since 2014 and is only seasonally available. It pours an opaque dark velvety brown with deep copper highlights. It had a little off white head that persisted and then left webby lacing down the glass. The rich complex smells contained gingerbread spices, cherries, dark fruits, caramel and Belgian yeasts, and alcohol. Sweet molasses, Christmas cake, dried fruit, Belgian yeasts, caramel, roasted malts and gingerbread spice dance over ones taste buds, leaving a boozy warmness. The beer had full flavour and a medium mouthfeel with medium-high carbonation. The beer finished semi-dry with herbal spicy flavours. I really enjoyed this one. Lots of flavour, very drinkable and nicely warming. I love the melange of favours and how well they are combined. Would definitely have this one again.

10% from Chambly, Quebec 22 IBU

BEAUTY AND THE BELGIAN ~ BLOCK 3

Beauty and the Belgian is Block 3’s newest offering, it is a Belgian Amber Ale. Sampled on draught, it poured a coppery orange colour with a small off white head. The nose has notes of toffee, spicy Belgian yeasts, bread, lemon citrus and sweet malts. Taste is very similar, it begins with the caramel malts with sweet Belgian yeasts, flowed by a little citrus fruitiness, plums and spice. Its carbonation is mellow and its body is at the low end of medium. It finished with a boozy warmness. Very palatable. 

Malts: Pilsner, Crystal 110, Carafa Special I
Hops: German Magnum, Styrian Goldings

6.3% St. Jacobs, Ontario 15 IBU

TROIS-PISTOLES ~ UNIBROUE

This Dark Strong Belgian Ale (Abbey Style Dark Ale) is yet another delicious brew from Unibroue. Sampled from a bottle. It is a seasonal beer, brewed since 1997. It poured a very dark brown with slight red undertones, with a big off white head. The head lasted quite a while and left beautiful lacing around the glass. The nose was a smorgasbord of flavours swirling around: Belgian yeasts, wheat, plums and other fruity esters, spices, molasses, caramel, raisins, roasted malts and perhaps even a touch of chocolate. The taste was a complex and as harmonious as the nose: Strong, sweet, with roasted malty molasses, fruit – like cherries and plums, rum and spices. Very little hop at the end but had a lingering pleasant aftertaste. The fines carbonation was moderate and the beer had a creamy mouth feel. Though the 9% ABV warms, it is also well hidden. A delicious winter treat!

9 % from Chambly, Quebec 16 IBU

Namesake: Trois-Pistoles is a city in Les Basques Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. The town is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

BEERS II MEN ~ SAWDUST CITY & NORTHWINDS

Beers II Men is a one-off Belgian Pale ale, brewed with peaches and Earl Grey Tea. Sampled on draught, the beer poured a light amber or dark golden colour. Both the peaches and the tea were subtle. I could taste the tannins in the tea, which lent a little astringency, but complimented the faint sweetness of the peaches. The beer has crisp bitter hoppy finish. I enjoyed this one but would have liked the peach flavour to shine through just a little bit more.

4.8% from Gravenhurst, Ontario 30 IBU

CATHEDRAL~BLOCK 3

Cathedral is a Belgian IPA ~ a lovely melange of sweet and bitter. Sampled on draught, this brew poured a hazy golden orange amber colour with lots of off white head. As the head dissipated, it left mots of lacing around the glass. The nose contained a large juicy floral hop presence, with subtle fruitiness (lemon, grapefruit, other tropical fruit) and Belgian yeast. A little funkiness and bready malts were also discernable in the aroma. Lots of flavour followed. The brewery used their house blend yeast, Belgian saison house yeast with Brettanomyces, which lend some interesting subtleties into the brew. The beer begins with sweet Belgian yeast, with sweet lightly roasted bready malts, farmhouse funkiness and and a little fruit. The sweetness is followed by the floral hops that give it a big hit of grapefruit and pine. Great marriage of a Belgian Ale and an IPA. Really nicely balanced, chocked full of flavour, fragrant but not overpowering. Will look for this in the bottle.
6.4% from St. Jacob's, Ontario     20 IBU

Yeast: Belgian Saison, Brettanomyces
Malts: German Pale, Pilsner, Vienna, Abbey, Wheat
Hops: Mosaic, Citra

MUSCLES FROM BRUSSELS ~ MUSKOKA 

Muscles from Brussels is part of the Moonlight kettle series. The Moonlight Kettle series stems form their brewers rendezvous to develop new brews; the ones released are a select few from these rendezvous. Sampled on draught this poured an opaque orangey amber colour with a medium white head. Lots of Belgian yeast on the nose, along with floral hops, clove, banana, citrus and sweet malts. The beer is a bit of a hybrid – the child of a Belgian Ale and an American Pale Ale. The taste begin much like a Belgian ale, with the banana, sweet malts, light citrus and spice, but ends much more like an IPA, with a solid hoppy ending. Interesting combination. Enjoyed this one, I would get this again.

7.2 % from Bracebridge, Ontario 50 IBU