I remember this beer; it was a response to Stephen Colbert calling us a bunch of syrup-sucking iceholes. Apparently other nations were not allowed to practice in certain official venues during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Iceholes Celebration Lager = 5/10

Lagers never score well under my rating system; this one was nice. The nose was very.. well, lager like. There was a bit of vegetal and slight hints of lemon. It was very smooth on the tongue with a good snap of spicy and floral hops. The Icehole restored my faith in lagers. It blended familiar flavors like lemon, lettuce with new ones of cotton candy and candied corn. I miss the Olympics and this beer.

Taste +3
Aftertaste 0
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance +1

This porter is brewed with Salt Spring Island Sumatra coffee. Everything I have tasted from R&B has been top notch; so whenever I see something new I pick it up.

Spirit Chaser Coffee Porter = 9/10
Ratebeer
Beer Advocate B+

Rarely am I a fan of flavoured porters, unless it is coffee. This dark brown pour offers up a great dry roasted and cocoa nose. It was more so than anticipated from a low ABV brew. It was unexpectedly full bodied with a velvety cola-like astringency. The dry roasted cocoa mixed well with the slight coffee and darker milk chocolate enhancements. At the end a cola-like astringency and dry cocoa held around for a bit. This is a must for porter fans.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 4.8% but it works well
Value +1
Appearance +1

Elysian Perseus Porter
Granville Island Porter and Real Life
Baltika 6 Porter

Hoppleganger - R&B

Ratebeer 3.05 51st percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +3

It certainly smells like a standard West Coast IPA: citrus, pine trees, bready/caramel malts. The nose was pretty light though. The big hop tingle up front was more than expected. All my favourites were there; the grapefruit, citrus, pine and all slightly sweet. It was medium-full bodied and had English like biscuit/caramel malts. For those watching the stats it had 45 IBUs.

Aftertaste +1

It ended cleanly, which was odd for a very assertive hoppy brew. The citrus hop soup faded too quickly.

Alcohol Content +1 6%

Value +1

I would recommend this to any hophead. It was a good value local IPA.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Today I sent off a letter to the Ontario craft brewers association asking for free beer to sample. Wish me luck. I'm not sure if this counts as a positive score, but it does boost this beers rating.

Overall 7/10

The Hoppelganger was a good West Coast IPA; lots of citrus and pine hops with biscuity malts. Sadly the nose was a little absent. A solid performer.

Hop Goblin IPA
Propeller IPA
Green Flash Imperial IPA

Dark Star Oatmeal Stout

Ratebeer 3.27 63rd percentile
Beer Advocate B+

For those who might be noticing, I know the chalice is not the correct glass for a stout. It is just a cool glass I found at a thrift store. My new hobby will be to search thrift store for cool beer glasses.

Taste +2

The nose is as you would desire from an oatmeal stout; roasted grains, burnt toast, cereal and coffee. Oddly you can smell the alcohol; it was slightly bourbon-like. The taste was a little light, with a below average mouthfeel for an oatmeal stout. Everything about this stout was below average. The slight roasted cereal mixed with weak coffee, cocoa and vanilla. It was very smooth drinking, but for a below expected oatmeal stout this was not surprising.

Aftertaste +1

There was a brief coating of burnt toast and oatmeal, but then it was gone leaving a feeling of slightly watered down coffee.

Alcohol Content -1 4.6%

Value 0

This was nice, but I would not get it again. It just seemed below average.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Played a little L4D tonight. It too felt average; some people just do not understand the concept of Co-op gaming. Co-op means sticking together, not running around by yourself

Overall 2/10 meh

This is a good choice for someone who does not desire a strong, knock-down, roasted mouthfeel stout. To be fair, I expect a lot from a stout and this did not deliver.

Hop Goblin IPA
Stone Bitter Oatmeal Stout
Swan's Oatmeal Stout
Drake Imperial Stout and Executive class guilt

Hop Goblin IPA R&B Brewing

Ratebeer not listed
Beer Advocate B-

Taste +4

There is nothing wrong with an IPA like this one; your nose is graced with heavy, floral hops. It is similar to the smell of grapefruits and assorted bitter citrus. You get a very sweet caramel up front with a very assertive hop bitterness immediately afterwards. They blended nicely together; there was over 45IBU for those keeping track.

Aftertaste +2

There was a long lingering of malt sweetness with an astringent, bitter hoppiness to it. The grapefruit flavours lasted until the next sip.

Alcohol Content +1 6.0%

Value +1

This was great local flowery IPA. I would get it again.
Ingame Enhancement 0
Grid Defense might cause me to loose all my friends. Who needs friends when you get level beating satisfaction.
Overall 8/10

I would class this one as an excellent grapefruit, flowery IPA. Not quite as over the top as a Stone.

Other forgettable posts
Stone IPA
Broken Halo IPA
Dogfish Head 90min IPA