Monthly Archives: August 2017

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Bale Breaker Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Bale Breaker Topcutter IPA

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bale Breaker Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs. Fresh off the farm

Brewer Description: (from can) A well-balanced yet aggressive West Coast IPA, name for the tractor unique to the annual hop harvest.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a packaged on date of June 2017. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A clear dark-ish golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy grapefruit and orange followed by hints of caramel, grass and pine.
Taste: Grassy, grapefruit and orange with hints of honey, caramel and floral.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very nice and easy to drink. I feel this could be my everyday IPA if I could find it easily.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Bellwoods Brewery, Canada, Wild Ale

Bellwoods Motley Cru 2017

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 6.3%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 5th Anniversary release. Wild Ale with Passion Fruit. Blend of 1 and 2 year barrels

Brewer Description: (from website) Motley Cru is our anniversary release, with the only requirement being that the final beer must incorporate a blend of various barrels. This year’s edition is a wild ale with passion fruit blended from two mixed grain ales (containing pale ale barley malt, wheat, oats, and rye). Both new American oak barrels, and old use (wild ale program) barrels from Niagara and Prince Edward County provide an eclectic range of wild and local yeast strains, and several hundred kilos of passion fruit puree create a fantastic balance of old world sour flavours and bright tropical notes. Extra time spent conditioning in the bottle provides a lively carbonation.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle at the brewery, 2017 vintage, poured into a Bellwoods stemmed wine glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden straw colour with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sourish and tropical, passionfruit, apricot and pineapple.
Taste: Tart, sour, passionfruit and apricot with hints of lemon.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Light, refreshing and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Bellwoods Brewery, Canada, Stout - Russian Imperial

Bellwoods 3 Minutes To Midnight

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 11%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with Cherry and Cocoa

Brewer Description: (from website) Fruited, barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout. This rich and complex Imperial Stout gains a character that can only come with age (12 months in barrels), aided by the addition of tart cherries and cocoa nibs. Deep roasted flavours merge with cherries to create a complimentary tartness that marries the fruit and malt beautifully.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 500ml bottle at the brewery, December 2016 vintage, poured into a Bellwoods tulip glass.
Appearance: It was black in colour with pretty much no head and only sparse lacing, although what was there was mocha in colour.
Aroma: Cherries, prunes, raisins and oak with hints of coffee and chocolate.
Taste: Cherries, oak and raisins with hints of chocolate malt and cocoa.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: Very nice body, tastes great, and a very enjoyable sipper.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Bellwoods Brewery, Canada

Bellwoods Goblin Sauce

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 8.5%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: DDH Imperial IPA w/ Lupulin Powder

Brewer Description: (from website & menu) A huge Imperial IPA with a simple pale malt bill and a hefty addition of flaked oats. Goblin Sauce is the first Imperial IPA we’ve brewed using Lupulin Powder, a proprietary hop product jam packed with all the good stuff… and we hit it twice for even more punchy aroma. Massive juicy aromas and flavours of peach, mango, cantaloupe and wild berries, a soft round body with very low bitterness and a relatively dry finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: On tap at Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington, Toronto. A 16oz pour into a goblet glass.
Appearance: It was a cloudy orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Nice tropical peach, mango and cantaloupe.
Taste: Bitter-ish, peach and cantaloupe with hints of mixed berries.
Mouthfeel: Dry-ish, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was easy to drink but taste was not as juicy as the aroma made it out to be.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Bellwoods Brewery, Canada, Wild Ale

Bellwoods Jelly King

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website & menu) This mixed fermentation ale was soured with a 5-strain house blend of lactobacillus, and heavily dry-hopped with Citra, Amarillo, and Cascade. The result is a juicy, sour and thirst-quenching. Lots of fuzzy peach, tangerine, and cedar hop aroma and flavours with very low bitterness.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: On tap at Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington, Toronto. A 16oz pour into a goblet glass.
Appearance: It was a hazy yellow orange colour (like pineapple juice) with a thin white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some lacing. Side by side Runes Simcoe & Mosaic, it looks exactly the same.
Aroma: Sour peach, some citrus lemon and mandarin.
Taste: Juicy, lightly sour peach with hints of mandarin.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A refreshing and easy to drink sour ale.