NIAGARA PEACH MEAD ~ TRAFALGAR ALES AND MEADS

Trafalgar has explored different Ontario terroirs with their meads. This one explores the flavours of the Niagara Region and uses local peaches. Sampled from a caged and corked bottle the mead poured an opaque vibrant golden-bronze colour, with little visible carbonation and no head. The aroma is largely peach, with notes of honey, florals, very subtle hops and a definite booziness. The taste has huge juicy peach flavour, with subtle woodsy-spicy notes - it is rich and reminds me almost of a liqueur. The finish is a mix of sweetness (but not artificial) from the honey, sweet peaches, and a lingering booziness. The body is medium-full, the carbonation was soft and the mouthfeel was oily/syrupy. Overall ad decent mead, I think it would make a lovely digestif or aperitif served with some sharp old cheddar.

8.5% from Oakville Ontario

IRISH STYLE BROWN ALE ~ TRAFALGAR ALES AND MEADS

Sampled from a bottle the beer poured beautiful reddish brown amber, with a slight cloudiness and a good-sized sudsy beige head. The head dissipated fairly quickly leaving a cap and lacing. The nose was mild but did contain a nuttiness, grains, an earthiness and caramel malts. Taste too has lots of caramel malts and biscuity grains, finishing with a mild old world hop bitterness. The body is on the thin side of mediums and was a little watery at times. The beer is smooth and has soft carbonation. The finish is bitter sweet with roasted malts and mild hops. Over all a simple approachable brown ale. I would have liked a little more body but this is decent and easy to drink.
5% from Oakville, Ontario

AMBEAR ~ CAMERON’S

Ambear Ale (an Amber Ale) is Cameron’s most awarded beer. Sampled on draught this beer pours a clear dark copper with a generous off white head. The head had great retention and left lovely lacing as it dissipated. Lovely toast, roasted malts and caramel aroma abound along with citrusy-grapefruit hops and dark stone fruit. This brew had a nice complexity to it starting with rich caramel, roasted malts, and a little nuttiness, transitioning to a an American grapefruit-citrus–pine hops and finishing crisp and dry. The bitterness was mild but nicely balanced with the malts. The beer is medium bodied with a creamy and smooth mouthfeel. A pleasant brew, very sessionable.

5% from Oakville, Ontario

MUSKOKA CRANBERRY MEAD ~ TRAFALGAR

Trafalgar brewery and distillery have been working on a series that explores different terroirs of Southern Ontario. This is the third in their series. A ‘terroir’ is the combination of an areas climate, geology and flora. Since different areas have different terroirs, they produce different tasting honeys, which are fermented to make the mead. This mead uses wildflower honey and cranberries from the Muskoka region.
Sampled from a caged and corked bottle. The mead poured a deep, slightly murky cherry red colour with a near white head, which left no traces of lacing. The nose contained honey sweetens, cranberry juice, and a touch of booziness. The taste was primarily tart cranberries with restrained honey sweetness, with other fruits and malt in the background. The tartness almost had a sour candy quality to it – almost giving it a sweet and sour quality. The finish was astringent, not unlike wine. After the initial head dissipated the mead had very little carbonation. I found this quite flavourful and refreshing but simple. Worth a try.

8.5% from Oakville, Ontario

CHOCOLATE ORANGE PORTER ~ TRAFALGAR

Chocolate Orange Porter is seasonally available during the winter months.  Sampled from a bottle, the beer poured a dark cola colour.  It has very little to no carbonation.  There was lots of sweet orange peel in the middle with a chocolaty aftertaste, after the malts.  The orange intensified as the beer warmed.    The orange peel favour slightly artificial, and sweet.  The beer tasted like a watery version of a “Terry’s Chocolate Orange.”  I was expecting something richer with greater body.  A little disappointed with this one.

5% from Oakville, Ontario

CRAZY BEARD ~ WILD APPLE ALE

Sampled from a tin, this beverage was truly confounding. It was in the beer section of my local liquor store but was clearly not a beer. In some liquor stores it is in the cider section, but it did not taste like a cider either. Apparently it is made with barley but no hops. The printing on the tin was almost unreadable, so ingredients were near impossible to figure out - I had to go to the net to find out that it contained carbonated water and contained added sugar. Sugar was not added for bottle conditioning since it comes in a tin and the brewers have already added carbonation in the water. The beverage had a huge nose of sweet green apples- jolly rancher like green apples, and apple juice. It was clear and golden yellow with no carbonation or head. It tasted much like it smelled, an apple jolly rancher. The apple taste was artificial and the sweetness became cloying. Apparently it is supposed to contain wild apples from Northern Ontario, but I could taste no evidence of real apples. It did not taste like cider at all, but rather old apple juice. I could not taste any evidence of alcohol. The aftertaste was sweet with a little spice. It turns out this is an upstart from a few kids out of university trying to complete with mediocre fruit beers and coolers put out by the macro brewers. Personally really not to my taste.
5.2% from Oakville (Toronto)

INTO THE SHADE ~ CAMERON'S

Into the Shade is an award winning saison, receiving the Silver Medal at the Ontario Craft Brewing Awards.  On the breweries website it states this brew has endured higher fermentation temperature than your average beer and uses special yeasts. 

Sampled on draught, the beer poured a hazy pale orange-amber.  It had about a finger of head which dissipated and left good lacing.  The nose contained orchard fruits, lemon, and little spice and wheaty yeast.  The beer itself was quite sweet with a slight sourness. Both the lemon and stone fruits came through with a little spice.  A slight hop bitterness at the end.  Flavourful and aromatic for 5.3%.  Thirst quenching and easy drinking.

5.3% from Oakville, Ontario     29 IBU

BITTER WAITRESS ~ SHILLOW BREWERY

Shillow Brewery is a very new start-up brewery owned and operated by the Shillow Brothers.   They began by brewing a beer exclusively for the Beer Bistro (Sass on the Side); “Bitter Waitress” is their second release and will be their flagship beer.  Bitter Waitress is a Black IPA.   It pours a deep chestnut brown, with a foamy beige head.  The nose has a melange of grapefruit, pine, and dark roasted malts.   The taste has intense dark roasted malts, burnt caramel and subtle hints of black liquorice dryness.  The 86 IBU bitterness is well hidden behind the alcohol content, but still gives a hop kick at the end.  (German Magnum, Willamette and Ahtanum hops were used) A really well balanced beer with complex and intense flavour. 

7.1% from Oakville, Toronto, Ontario   86 IBU

(Shillow is a nano-brewery based in Toronto, brewing out of Cameron’s in Oakville)