OK 15 minute beer review, GO! New format. The speed review, so many reviews to catch up on and Victoria brewers have been pumping out the releases. So the Belgian golden strong is the hard to master category that is owned by Delerium Tremens and Duvel. It should be strong but not show it. Sweet, but hinting to the dry. Crisp finish to reveal minimal hopping. We all look at the category and compare beers to that pink elephant. Which is unfair, there should be room for interpretation. Rather like a Schopenhauer essay, your perception is your reality. Still if you are going to label it, you gotta own up. Does the C12 make the grade?  You tell me. I'm out of time.

BGSA by C12 = 7/10  

A tad syrupy for a BGSA, but tasty fruitiness makes you overlook that. I noticed apricots, pears, cotton candy and a slight wood presence. This beer was a tad hot, but nothing unreasonable. Did not taste a hop presence, but that's OK. There was a hint of wood character, think wood pencil dipped in vanilla extract. Over all, worth your hard earned money.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 10.6% (yah right)
Value +1
Appearance +1 great description of flavour.

Glassware: Certainly a tulip that Kendrew envies.

Food Pairings: Candied salmon, with carrots and turnips

Cellar: Maybe. Didn't see a lot of residual yeast.

I love a good 18D. Perhaps I should explain myself. 18D is the BJCP style guidelines for a Belgian Golden Strong Ale. One might think of these beers as imperial Pilsners fermented with ester producing yeast strains. It is wonderful when a simple brew using mostly pale/Pilsner malts, some simple sugars and noble hops create such a flavourful beverage with deceptive strength. When one things of a 18D, there is only one example: Duvel. The aroma has depth of light fruits, spices and oddly no alcohol. Each sip carries on where the nose left off with an additional effervescence and subtle warmth. So how did the Barque stand up to this world renowned beer.

Barque = 9/10 


Everything started from the moment the cap hit the floor. Sadly the initial fruitiness faded to reveal an unassuming nose of moderated spices, dry yeast and mushy bread. Things got real with the sip. It was Duvel, everything was there; the soft chewy bready, the abundance of pears, lemons and apricot baby food. But something else was riding on this creamy, effervescent flavour wave. It must be the south side Wai-iti hops with their lemon and orange zip. Sadly the ending was too clean. Stellar, certainly a contented for Victoria beer of the year.

Taste +5
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (Nice label art but I wish there was some tasting notes on the label)

Glassware: Duvel glass. Only a Duvel glass. Most certainly a Duvel art glass.

Food Pairings: With spicy and calm sweet flavours, this beer is a must with a spicy pasta dish. I'm thinking about a simple pesto - heavy with garlic - topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Thai food is a lime presence would bring out the citrus in the Barque. Try it with dessert of key lime pie.

Cellar: Duvel has been known to improve with age. This might just do the same. It is surprisingly well priced for the quality, I plan to put a few down.

A yearly repeat beer rarely gets a second mention unless something is different. Dean mentioned that the recipe for Belgian Black was slightly different this year. The taste reflects this.

Belgian Black = 10/10

Last year I mentioned that this tasted like a ramped up Keepers stout. This year a lot of that roast is gone which allows more berries and yeast spiciness to waft out of the glass. Each sip warms and coated the tongue with a glycerin like thickness. Then the flavours come: dark fruits, all spice, and highly conched bittersweet chocolate. Maybe there is a bit of rum and raisin pudding in there too. Each sip and change in temperature reveals something new. Lost is the astringency but gained is a smooth sweet finish. I don't think this is cellar worthy because there are no harsh flavours that need to be mellowed out. After a while that spicy yeast might be lost, which would be tragic.

Taste +5
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 9%ABV
Value +1
Appearance +1 still great label art

So do you want the good news, or the bad news first? Bad news it is. I tried the Son of the Morning by Driftwood last night. Perhaps the name of the beer is in homage to the greatest strong Belgian pale ale, Duvel. Duvel means 'devil' in some Flemish dialects. In case you haven't Googled it already: Son of the Morning is another name of Lucifer. Check out Isaiah 14:12-15 for reference about the dark angel's throw down.  Judging by the rest of the label, I don't think they were referring to Venus. Was there truly Witchcraft used to make this beer? The pentacle in the label background hints at this fact.

What did the beer prick think?

Son of the Morning = 3/10

Perhaps I judge the beers from Driftwood a little harsher because most of their releases are awesome. I felt this one of was lackluster. Lets compare it with BCJP guidelines for a strong Belgian Ale. The aroma was heavy with the alcohols and earthy spices/hops. These esters became apparent as soon as the cap popped. Lots of fruit alcohols, fermenting pear and apricot baby food, and light Christmas cake. A little too burning perhaps. The earthy coriander spice was a nice touch. No luck in finding the long-lasting fluffy-white head. Strong Belgian ales should hide their alcohol well. Alcohol burns for the first few sips; luckily it numbs that tongue and you can pick out the flavours. Fermented pit fruits (apricots, pears), Rogers golden syrup, coriander and miscellaneous spices can be coaxed out of the golden elixir. At the end, a long burning alcohol washed away everything for a dry, mouthwash like finish. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, this is not a bad beer. It does have many outstanding benchmark brews. If you don't believe me, pick up a Duvel or a Delirium Tremens. Duvel should be at every BC Government liquor store. Rumour has it that Delirium is on tap at Vis a Vis in Oak Bay.


Taste +2
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 10%
Value 0
Appearance -1 (found the label undescriptive and offensive. Had to hide it from my daughter)

Other strong reviews
Delirium Tremens
Batch 666 Swan's
Rayon Vert (Green Flash)

This rating is chalked up to poor keg stewardship. I was on vacation in Las Vegas and happened upon Yardhouse. Perhaps it was the glowing neon signs that drew me in. The Yardhouse's claim to fame is the many, many draft beer options, there were almost 100 to choose from. Before you get excited, it does not sound as good as you might think. Once you deduct the macros, imports, promiscuous crafts the selection thins out. It is a beer tickers dream, but a geek's nightmare. I chose the only seasonal: Goose Islands Matilda.

Matilda (Goose Island) =2/10
Ratebeer 3.62 96th percentile
Beer Advocate 89%

Despite the RB and BA love, I could not see the glory. The nose was light with sweet apricots, peaches and moonshine. The other needed bits were there: silky mouthfeel, warming but it was all a tad boring. The taste was a little flat of baby food apricots, honey and vaguely spicy hops/yeast. It all ended with a slick, slippery slide of apricots, peaches and re-swallowed vomit. Perhaps this keg had been sitting around for a while. Or maybe I should not benchmark it to Delirium.


Taste +2
Aftertaste 0
Alcohol Content +1 7%
Value 0
Appearance 0

Other Belgian Strong Ale
Delirium Tremens
Piraat
Augistijn

This is called a Belgian style golden ale. The same family as Duvel, Delerium and Affligem. So I was looking forward to a big fruitness, spices and finishing dry phenolic snap. I guess one out of three ain't bad.

The Beast (Batch 666) at Swan's = 3/10

Things were off to a good start with ample apple fruitness, hint of pears and alcohol nasal warmth. From here things went south. There was no sparking mouthfeel, no alcohol tingle not much at all. It tasted very much like an apple cider with a little pear mixed in. This all just ended a little sticky and sweet. For those who love a good apple cider; this is for you

Taste +1
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 9.1%
Value 0
Appearance +1 (nice pub)

Other Belgian Golden Ales
La Chouffe
Delerium Tremens
Pranqster (North Coast)

This will be a tough week for me; so many new beers to try. The line up this week is the Belgian Black by Lighthouse, the first two beers from Hoyne, and a frozen barley wine from Phillips. I choose the Lighthouse first.

Belgian Black (Lighthouse) = 9/10

Most beer geeks in Victoria will be familiar with the nose; it smells like a ramped up Keepers. There is nothing wrong with this. I love Keepers stout. The air just oozes aromas of berries and roasted bitter chocolate. Each sip is just as your would expect: low carbonation, full mouthfeel, thick, chewy and warming. Heaps and heaps of flavours emerge. Some are expected; namely the bittersweet dark chocolate, coffee, berries and dark fruit. Not expected was the faint spiciness (allspice) and rum cake. The spiciness is most likely due to the Belgian Ardennes yeast strain used. The astringency from the bittersweet carried a long linger of warming alcohol and spice. Very tasty and well worth trying, maybe more than once.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 9%
Value +1
Appearance +1 Get bottle and art by Michelle Landry

Can beer bloggers make resolutions? Sure we can; this year I will make three resolutions.

First: Try each new release from Victoria breweries. This will be a tough one because Hoyne will have all new brews. VIB, Moon Under Water and Lighthouse have done many releases last year.

Second: Get the Extraordinary Badge on Untappd. That means you have sampled 1000 unique beers. I'm at 584 already.

Third: I know I have said this before; try and get all my 33Beer notebooks reviewed. This one is a pipe dream.


Currant Noir (Spinnakers) = 7/10
Ratebeer 3.21/5 59th percentile
Beer Advocate (5 reviews)


The nose is mostly tart black currants with a little yeast thrown in. At the start a pronounced black currant flavour coats every dental filling with a pleasant tart/sourness. The slight carbonation carried an afterthought of tastes: apricots, light pit fruits and raisins. Sour currants lingered for a while with it's good friend alcohol warmth. This is not the most unique beer in the world, but the added fruit flavours will appear to a much larger crowd. People who are not usually beer people will enjoy this beverage. The other flavours in the limited release fruit ménage à trois are raspberry and cherries.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (nice label art with a good description of beer and local ingredients)

Still committed to getting ahead on all my reviews. Only about 300 more to go.

Noir De Dottignies (De Ranke) = 7/10

Ratebeer 3.54 94th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Everything about this brew is big. The nose is big, perhaps a bit heavy on the alcohol side but dark fruits, roast and citrus still peak through. Noir grabs your tongue early and hits with a one-two combination of alcohol slap and citrus hop bite. Once the burn vaporizes away, you get a complex mesh of plum, raisins, cocoa and dark sugar. You are visited once again in the aftertaste by an unrelenting spicy, citrus hop linger.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 9%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (boring label)

Wellington County Dark Ale
Petrus Special
Chambly Noir and Video Game Help

If there were any reason to move to Saskatoon, this would be the only one. Every special release that these guys put out is just spectacular. Luckily I have a buddy that works near the brewery and ships me the limited releases. Thanks Nightware! This brew was sampled May 29, 2010; I gotta catch up on my notes.

Double Double 2009 (Paddock Wood) =7/10

Ratebeer 3.42 90th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

This is a strong nosed little ale. Abundant whaffs of fruit alcohols, solvents and light pit fruits make me worry about open flames. If you can taste anything through the alcohol burn your palate is very robust. Berries, light fruits and big citrus hops with resinous pals are everywhere. This brew is a tad big, boozy and hoppy. It will definitely benefit from aging. I have tried a few aged ones, but I will have to dig up those notes.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 10.5%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (boring label)

Dorothy Goodbody's Country Ale
Dix Grand Cru Damage Control

This was the last stop on our pub crawl. I didn't ask a lot of questions about this beer, and frankly, our server could have cared less to answer. Most of the people around us had glasses full of pale yellow swill- idiots!

Belgian Ale (Yaletown Seasonal) =5/10

It was a Belgian strong ale alright; tart yeasts, apricots and light citrus flavours were abundant. As was the slight lemon grass and alcohol warmth. The slightly sour linger was a pleasant ending. It was OK, but I have had better - many better.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 (prob over 6%)
Value 0
Appearance 0

Little did I know that I was drinking this on Dix Brewpub's last day. Had I of known, I would have asked to keep the glass. Gord had the IPA and quite liked it.

Dix Grand Cru Damage Control = 8/10
Ratebeer 3.42/5 - 4 ratings

Only a faint whiff of solvent and plum escaped from this understated brown fluid. The slickness of each sip coated everything with plums, cherries and nail polish. Bordering on the intense; the sweet solvents left a long lingering of plum and mixed dark fruit salad. Very sad thinking back and knowing that this place is gone.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 9.5%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (any pub that has peanut shells on the floor is a great place)

Dick Grand Cru and Loss
Monk's Mistress
Delirium Tremens

It's English, it's strong, it's an ale. Do we need to say anything more?

Dorothy Goodbody's Country Ale = 8/10

Ratebeer 3.27 80th percentile
Beer Advocate A- (1 review)

Alluring artwork aside, the nose is also getting me going. Though faint, it has enough biscuit and caramel malts to let you guess what is ahead. Yes, it just what you were expecting. A strong English ale in all its glory: caramel/bready malts balanced with slightly spicy and floral hops. There was a slight citrus flavour that gave an astringent and dry ending. Don't forget the low carbonation and medium mouthfeel.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 6%ABV
Value +1
Appearance +1 (nice label)

Innis and Gunn Dark Rum Cask and the Health Kick
Duchy Original Organic
Bass Pale Ale