RASPBEERY COCO LAIT ~ MUSKOKA

4.5% from Bracebridge, Ontario 25 IBU

Raspbeery Coco Lait the Moonlight Kettle offering for Febrewary. It is milk stout with chocolate and raspberry. Sampled on draught the stout poured an opaque deep brown black pour with a creamy beige head and some nice lacing. The aroma contained notes of raspberry, roasted malts, and chocolate. The taste was beautiful, the raspberries make an appearance but the brew still retains its ‘stoutness.’ Notes of raspberry and chocolate provides a nice contrast to the roasted malts. The carbonation is soft, providing a creamy mouth feel. I think this is nicely balanced stout, best drunk after dinner in lieu of a dessert. Well done Muskoka!

PB & C STOUT ~ MUSKOKA

PB and C stout is the last Moonlight Kettle of the 2016 series. It is billed as having a Rich chocolate in the body with real peanut powder added, and a slight roasted coffee finish. Sampled on draught, the beer poured a very dark brown with a thin beige head. The nose contained notes of dark chocolate, roasted malts, coffee and the slightest hint of peanut butter. The flavour followed, mostly coffee with dark chocolate. The peanut butter flavour was very buried, and I was really looking forward to the Peanut butter. There was a nice balance of sweetness with bitterness of the coffee and dark chocolate. The body was light and the mouthfeel was a little on the thin side. A pleasant stout, but left me wanting more peanut butter.

5.5% from Bracebridge, Ontario  31 IBU

DUNKEL CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK ~ MUSKOKA BREWERY

5.3% from Collingwood, Ontario 

15 IBU

This brew is the first of the Moonlight Kettle series for 2017. It is a Munich Dunkel with Black Cherry. The Moonlight Kettle Series are usually beers that have previously not been brewed, often done on collaboration with staff at Muskoka Brewery. Sampled on draught the beer poured a light bright copper-garnet colour (lighter than usual dunkels) with a cream coloured head that reduced to a cap and collar. The nose has notes of bread malts, caramel, lightly roasted Munich malts and the subtlest hint of fruit. The taste, which is a bit light, follows the nose with roasted malts, bread, caramel and a very slight cherry nuance. The carbonation was lazy and the body was medium to light. A smooth, very pleasant beer, but I would have liked a little more from the cherry.

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

SAISON DANS LA MAISON ~ MUSKOKA & LE TROU DE DIABLE

This saison is another in a series of anniversary collaborations and one-off beers marking Muskoka’s 30th birthday. This was a collaboration with Quebec’s Trou du Diable and is a saison brewed with guava. Sampled on draught the beer poured a slightly hazy unfiltered golden straw colour with a thin white head, that reduced to a ring. The aroma contained lots of citrus, with some fruity esters, sweet malts, spice and grassy/floral hops. This was a decent saison, but I got very little of the guava, until a touch in the finish. It was light and fruity, with subtle notes of tropical fruit, tart citrus, floral hops. The beer was light and crisp, with little sweetness. Quite decent!

6.5% from Bracebridge, Ontario & Shawinigan, Quebec

MOONLIGHT KETTLE SUMMER SAISON ~ MUSKOKA BREWERY

This beer was the very first ‘Moonlight Kettle’ when the series started; it seems to be a rerelease of a popular ‘kettle’. Sampled on draught the beer poured a dark unfiltered gold- amber with a generous off dense white head and great lacing. The nose contained notes of spicy Belgian yeast, clove, tropical and citrus fruit, cereal grains and pepper. Though Muskoka has called this a summer saison, judging from the boozy ABV and the full-bodied taste, this seems more like autumn drinking to me. This is an amped up saison, lots of flavour – light caramel malts, peppery Belgian yeasts, fruit, earthiness, breads, clove and coriander. The body was medium and the carbonation was on the lively side of moderate. I really enjoyed this; it is nicely balanced, complex but approachable.

7% from Bracebridge, Ontario 31 IBU

CROSS BORDER CITRUS PORTER ~ MUSKOKA & ELLICOTTVILLE

Muskoka Brewery celebrates it’s 20 year anniversary this year, as part of their special year they have released more Moonlight Kettles than ever before and are working on four collaborations with other North American micro breweries. This porter is a collaboration with Ellicottville Brewing Company in New York State. Sampled on draft this beer poured an opaque dark brown with a thin slightly beige head. Dark malts, molasses, burnt toast and citrus and citra appear on the nose. The flavour is also very roasty – with notes of dark roasted malts, citrus, citra hops, chocolate, and herbs. The body is medium-light and the mouthfeel is slick. This wasn’t as porter-y as I thought it would be – almost reminiscent of a Black IPA. Surprisingly fresh and possibly sessionable for a dark brew. Overall a nice mélange of flavour, worth trying.

4.5% from Collingwood, Ontario 33 IBU

MUSKOKA EQUINOX ~ MUSKOKA BREWERY

Muskoka Equinox is part of Muskoka’s Moonlight Kettle Series. It is American Pale Wheat ale brewed with Black cherries and Jim Beam bourbon soaked vanilla beans. Sampled on draught the beer pours a clear golden colour with a moderate creamy off white head. The nose contains sweet cherries, a touch of vanilla, dough bread. The taste follows as expected: doughy breadiness, black cherries, grass, and hints of vanilla. The cherries are not over done but do lend some sublime fruitiness. The carbonation was soft and the beer was medium-light bodied. A lovely refreshing fruit beer.

4.6 % from Bracebridge, Ontario 20 IBU

COOL AS A CUKE ~ MUSKOKA BREWERY

Cool as a Cuke is the latest offering in Muskoka Brewery’s ‘Moonlight Kettle’ series, that offers a new and unique beer each month. Cool as a cuke is an American Pale Ale brewed with cucumber and lemongrass. Sampled on draught, the beer poured a very light hazy yellow with a moderate white head. The head had great retention and left lovely lacing as it disappeared. The aroma contained lots of cucumber – with a touch of sweetness and a citrusy lemongrass. The taste has lots of florals, the lemongrass adds to the American hop bitterness, then is followed by clean crisp cucumber and subtle melon notes. This is quite refreshing and different – quite yummy!

4.7% from Guelph, Ontario 30 IBU

Malt: Canadian 2-Row Malt, Maris Otter, Wheat
Hops: Magnum, Cascade, Sorachi Ace

YOUR BREWHOUSE OR MINE ~ MUSKOKA & BARRELHOUSE BREWING

“Your Brewhouse or Mine?” is a collaboration between Ontario’s Muskoka Brewery and California’s Barrelhouse Brewing. This beer is a tasty cranberry and clementine IPA. Sampled on draught the beer poured a clear golden colour with an average white head that left leggy lacing as it receded. The nose included grassy hops. Subtle fruits and a faint smell of soft crumbly cheese. The beer itself was a lovely IPA, not too hoppy, with a good citrus bite at the end. The fruit was very subtle, especially the cranberry, it did however, lend a faint sweetness. More of the fruitiness came out as the beer warmed. The carbonation was lively and the been had a medium body. A really pleasant IPA, I would have liked a little more presence from the fruit.

7% from Bracebridge, Ontario 50 IBU

GOSE ‘ROUND ~ MUSKOKA

 This Gose is part of Muskoka Brewery's Moonlight Kettle Series. This series showcases an interesting and sometimes ‘off the beaten track’ brews. Sampled on draught the beer poured hazy light golden amber with a small off white head. The nose contains some citrus along with a touch of coriander and banana. The taste is quite lemony and tart with a hint of other citrus fruits. The salt (Himalayan Sea salt was used) is present but quite understated. I found this easy drinking and refreshing, but not as sour as I expected. The carbonation was lively and the body was light. A very pleasant summer brew.

11 IBU 4.5% from Bracebridge, Ontario

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

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY STOUT ~ MUSKOKA

STOUT WEEK - This imperial stout was a seasonal offering from Muskoka. I love Muskoka’s Chocolate Cranberry Stout, it seem like they are expanding their fruit stout repertoire.
Sampled hand-pulled on cask. This beer poured an opaque almost black with ruby highlights. There was a small beige bubbly head that fades. Raspberry and chocolate danced on a boozy sherry like nose. The flavour had raspberry notes, with dark roosted malts, and chocolate. The beer was neither hoppy nor grainy. It was a beautiful dessert in a glass without being sweet or cloying. The beer had a smooth mouthfeel and was average bodied. A beautiful way to end the night.
8% from Collingwood, Ontario  25 IBU

WINTER WEISS MUSKOKA BREWERY 

Winter Weiss (Dunkelweiss) is Muskoka’s cool weather partner to their hot weather Summer Weiss. It is brewed seasonally as the name would suggest. Sampled from a tin the brew poured an unfiltered dark brown with ruby highlights and a generous cream coloured head. The head dissipated fairly quickly and left some lacing. The smells of a weiss beer were dominant with banana, clove and spice; sugary dark malt, dark fruit and bready grains were also evident. The taste was much like the nose with clove and banana and spice at the forefront, followed by caramel malts and grain and then and earthy notes. The carbonation was moderate, as was the body. The beer was intended to be a cross between the wheaty hefeweizen and a Munich Dunkel, A very satisfying cold weather brew.
5% from Bracebridge, Ontario IBU 12

SUMMER WEISSE ~ MUSKOKA 

Muskoka’s Summerweisse is an unfiltered weisse beer available seasonally. It has no preservative an a relatively short shelf life, we sampled this from a tin, one week after the best before date. The beer poured a hazy yellow golden colour with a great white head and good retention. The aroma contained the classic hefe aromas: clove, banana, cloves, coriander, yeasty bread and a slight hint of bubble gum. The taste had lots of wheat, malt with a touch of orange and lemon citrus. Banana and clove were subtler but there. Subtle hops finished the beer. The carbonation was active and moderate. A refreshing summer drinking beer. A solid example of the style, but nothing fancy.

5% from Bracebridge, Ontario

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

HARVEST ALE BLACKBERRY ~ MUSKOKA

I tried this beer on cask (hand pulled) on a very steamy hot day.  Perhaps not the best choice for a hot day. Being ‘on-cask’ the beer was chilled but not cold.  The nose was very hoppy, but also had an earthiness about it.  Strong malt backbone.  The beer was quite hoppy (piney and resiny) and had little berry taste.   At 7% it finished with a boozy bite, and had lingering bitterness.  Now that the weather has changed, I would like to return to try this.

Reading the reviews of this beer on Untapped, I wonder if each of their casks aged quite differently as peoples experiences with this beer are widely discrepant.

UPDATE:  I did return and try this beer again.  I think the kegs must have been mislabelled because this was a different beer than the one I initially tried.   I sampled this pint ‘on cask’ as well.   This one was a reddish purple hue, stained by the berries.  The berry flavour was more evident, lending only a subtle sweetness.  Hoppy boozy finish.

7% from Collingwood, Ontario

 ~MOONLIGHT KETTLE JUST PEACHY ~ 

MUSKOKA BREWERY

This Kölsch beer is part of Muskoka Brewing limited edition one-offs.  The nose is that of light peaches.  The peaches lend a very subtle sweetness to the beer, but are barely identifiable as flavour.  Beer is sweet and dry with a nice bitterness on the finish.

5%  from Bracebridge, Ontario   25 IBU
 -beer 94-

WINTERBEARD ~ MUSKOKA

Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout.  Made with chocolate malts, dark chocolate and fresh local cranberries.  

Pours very dark brown, almost black with red highlights.  Nose is very chocolatey, with subtle cranberry.  The creamy beer introduces as chocolate with the tart cranberries singing in the finish.  Very smooth and velvety - a winter gem! (Only available between November and February)

 8% from Granvenhurst, Ontario   25 IBU
-beer 69-