Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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.

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

Bellwoods Runes Simcoe & Mosaic

Leave a comment

Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: DDH IPA w/ Simcoe & Mosaic Lupulin Powder

Brewer Description: (from website & menu) A pale malt bill with a healthy addition of oats, this beer received a massive dry hop addition of Mosaic and Simcoe lupulin powder. A proprietary hop product, lupulin powder is a concentrated hop powder that contains all he acids and oils from a hop cone that you want without the excess vegetal matter that you don’t. Strong aromas and flavours of blueberry, Mandarin orange and peaches lead into a soft, round mouthfeel with a pleasantly dry finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: On tap at Bellwoods Brewery, 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.
Aroma: Tropical mango, peach, yoghurt-y with hints of mandarin orange on the finish.
Taste: Juicy mango, peach, apricot and mandarin. Only lightly bitter.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: Very nice, juicy and so easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Omnipollo, Stout - Imperial, Sweden

Omnipollo Noa Pecan Mud Cake Double Barrel

Leave a comment

Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at Brouwerij De Molen in the Netherlands

Brewer Description: (from website) The pinnacle of our first run barrel project. An Islay and Cognac Barrel Aged Pecan Mudcake Imperial Stout. Brewed with aromas.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 7th July 2020. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: It was black in colour with a half finger mocha head that dissipates quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, pecan, caramel and whisky with hints of vanilla and cognac.
Taste: Sweet milk chocolate with a nice pecan nuttiness. There are also hints of oak, cognac and peat.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: This particular bottle was nice and tasty, but I don’t think that the barrels improved the base beer. It should be noted that this beer has had it’s share of infection. This is my third bottle now, of which I’ve had two good and one infected. The infected bottle clearly tasted sour and was just not pleasant to drink. You will know if you have an infected bottle, so I guess it’s a bit of the luck of the draw at this point.