This is what I call a pseudo-sour. When I hear the word sour, I imagine tartness from Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus or Pediococcus . The sourness and tartness from this beer is fruit derived, which is just fine.


Thorny Horn = 7/10


The nose has a bit of funk to it, but all I got was raspberry jam and bike tire air. It is all about the jammy fruit tartness on par with cranberry cocktail juice. You do get a bit of chocolate and acidity enhancements. The sourness is fruit derived only.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 6.8%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (label gives reasonable description of flavour)

Glassware: Tulip

Food Pairings: I'm thinking dessert. The fruit sourness would balance a sweet cheese cake. I raspberry or other berry topping would bridge the two nicely.

Cellar: This one might develop more sourness as time passes. If you can still find one, it would be a reasonable addition.

I think things need to be spruced up around here. Readership is increasing, which is nice. Either that or more bots are subscribing to learn about beer. No one leaves any comments though. Barley Mowat gets lots of comments, especially when I post dumb stuff. Then again, his stuff is interesting and thought provoking. Here are the top five reasons why, I think, no one leaves comments on my blog. I also like making lists.

5. People just read the score I gave a beer and move on. Confirmation of one's palate is important.

4. No one actually reads my crappy blog. They just subscribed to be polite. I can't blame them. The layout is ugly, there are no pretty pictures and nothing else to click on.

3. My description of a beer is the definitive guide and should not be questioned. Highly unlikely.

2. Most - actually all - posts never leave room for debate or opinions. I drink, I comment, I provide food pairings. It is more of a lecture and not a forum for debate. There is no lingering question that needs to be answered. Which leads me to number 1.

1. ??? You fill in the number one reason below in the comment section below - yes there is one. Everyone hates an uncompleted list. True, this is a dirty trick but I'm OK with that.

Centennial Saison = 7/10

This is a very simple beer, but highly enjoyable. The saison part is bang on with dry citrus fruits, spicy yeast, slightly musty with a dry finish. Add to this the juicy tartness of apricots and we have a winner. It didn't linger very long, which only leaves you longing for more.

I can't find a photo of this beer, but VictoriaBeers.com has lots of pretty pictures.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 Didn't say, but it tastes around 6%
Value +1 its nice, very nice
Appearance +1 always tastes better in the brewpub

Glassware: Tulip.

Food Pairings: So this saison is sweet, fruity and slightly spicy. Indian dishes would be an ideal pairing. The fruity sweetness could act like chutney to help calm the spice, yet the spicy yeast would harmonize well. I bet you could use this beer in a reduction to glaze just about anything. Perhaps a spicy pound cake would be nice. It's effervescence could help lift the fat from any dish. Peking duck suits this option nicely.

Cellar: I don't think it was bottled, but if it was, it wouldn't cellar well anyways.

Without any fanfare, Vancouver Island Brewery released the Black Betty Saison. Normally, there is a media blitz with contests, brewery tastings and samples for local bloggers. The saison is normally a dry, lemony brew with a pronounced noble hop bitterness. Hops flavours are greater than expected due to restrained malt body. A high attenuation yeast will do that. This is also one of those beers that people like to flavour, along with stouts, lambics, wheat ales and porters. I have this disdain for flavoured porters, perhaps it is because I like porters and few local breweries make an unflavoured one. In this blogger's opinion, fruit flavoured beers are patio fare. But blackberries are a late harvest berry, fall has come early and this beer tastes great so its timing can be over looked. [VIB just announced an open house Sat. Oct 5th from 1-4pm with samples of Black Betty and the returning Storm Watcher Winter Lager]

Black Betty Saison = 6/10


There is reason to be cautious about smelling a berry flavoured beer. Often the nose is unbearably sweet. Luckily this is not the case with Black Betty. It is pleasantly blackberry with a hint of spice. This beer is not overly carbonated and the medium-light body ends with a slight sweet berry linger. Black Betty's flavour is as described, a nice balance of berry sweetness, cracker malts with a hint of spicy yeast character. This is not a flavour powerhouse but just a nice brew.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 6.3%
Value +1
Appearance +1


Glassware: Pick either a fluted Pilsener, elongated tulip or a white wine glass

Food Pairings: Restrained enough to go with any meal. Would go nicely with a fruit flan desert. The berry flavours will resonate and the carbonation and alcohol will lighten the heavy creaminess of the flan. A good cheese option would be a chevre mixed with berries. Even better, put that goat cheese on a mixed greens salad and toss with a berry vinaigrette.

Cellar: Nope, drink it fresh.

Sticking with the theme of the three fruits, here is the local raspberry addition to their strong abbey style ale.

Das Razz (Spinnakers) = 5/10
Ratebeer 3.29 64th percentile
Beer Advocate

A sweet, syrupy raspberry odour jumps from the glass. The cider-like, raspberry sweetness packs a fair bit of astringency and tartness. This will certainly appeal to cider drinkers. The cooling at the end carries the berry flavours away quickly. I thought it was a little sweet, but the Mrs. quite liked it.

Taste +2
Aftertaste 0
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Other 'fruity' reviews
Currant Noir
Fruli Strawberry
Cherish Kriek Lambic

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)

Just do it. Just do the review - get one more ahead. No matter how crappy it is..tick tick tic. My readers are familiar with my crappy reviews.All 90+ of them, yes I keep track. I'm goal orientated remember?

What the Huck = 5/10
Ratebeer wanted password and I was not into that today
Beer Advocate B

Ok.focus. I'm a little bit blurry from the beer- or is it from playing Left4Dead2 for over an hour? Most likely the game, we tried a new map..SHUT UP and focus.

I never expect great things from Fernie brewing; this is a fault of mine. Maybe I am held up on the name. I've been to Fernie, BC. Honestly the best part about the town was the road sign that said "please visit us again". That again is not fair- it is near... Well, the sign was very nice.

The Huck is a huckleberry wheat ale. It did not give a good first impression with it's uneventful wheat and grass nose. There was a slight berry fruitness involved. Taste is very important. WOW, that last sentence makes me sound so stupid. It tastes like every other wheat beer you have sampled: cereal, grass, yeast and citrus. The Huck added a suitable tart huckleberry flavour. It was neither too tart, nor overly syrupy. Your linger was tart yeast with an off sweet berry tongue caress. This is the perfect summer beer. If you see their Sap Sucker Maple Porter: get it!

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (Fernie has never made great labels)

I have never been a fan of flavoured porters and stouts. Just give me the good stout and put the fruit in a smoothie for the morning. Usually the fruit is there to hide the fact that you are drinking a pretty lame porter or stout.

Blueberry Oatmeal Stout = 8/10

This changes everything. The nose a bang-on for a good stout. There is rich, bittersweet chocolate, roasted grains and juicy blueberries. Alcohol warmth from start to finish only sets things up for a good flavour run. Every sip parallels the nose but the blueberry sweetness was a little syrupy. Still, the long linger was excellent and only made me want more.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 7.5%ABV
Value +1
Appearance 0

This brew is always a yearly favourite. Andrew's Coconut Porter won a Gold Medal at the 2010 Canadian Brewing Awards in the fruit and vegetable category. This brew even beat out Quelque Chose by Unibroue.

Coconut Porter 2010 (Swan's) = 9/10

Served in a true pint glass; this brew let off faint aromas of bittersweet chocolate and dry coconut. It was full bodied that started off dry with cocoa but ended juicy. Each sip was creamy with bittersweet chocolate and dry cocoa and coconut. A long slick coating of chocolate coconut milk never went away. A very enjoyable pint.

Taste +5
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol 0 5%
Value +1 (even if the cover band was annoying)
App +1 no label but this is FTW.

Whenever you dive into a fruit lambic, you know there will be some sweetness. This one was a little over-done.

Cherish Kriek Lambic 4/10

Ratebeer 3.12 61st percentile
Beer Advocate B

This was a syrupy sweet fruit lambic with a light-medium mouthfeel. The colour was clear and deep red. It was very bubbly and sweet like maraschino cherries. There was only the faintest of lambic tartness at the end. What was left over was a long, slick sweet coating of mildly tart cherry syrup. I thought it was too sweet for a lambic.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value 0 (too sweet)
Appearance 0 (boring label)

Storm Black Currant Lambic
Chapeau Kriek Lambic
Fruli Strawberry

Ratebeer 3.24 77th percentile
Beer Advocate B-

Taste +2

• Nose of lime leaves and pine hops
• Taste was bitter and astringent with citrus and pine, maybe a tad floral
• every taste had a mild lime flavour and banana
• Malts were of course caramel with a little bread

Aftertaste +1

• The caramel malts and citrus/lime fades to leave an acidic tongue coating
  

Alcohol Content +1 7.5%

Couldn't really notice a burning nor warmth.

Value 0

It was a neat flavour but not worth a repeat purchase.

Ingame Enhancement 0

The aftertaste still haunts me.

Overall 4/10

It was a unique taste sensation that kinda worked. The tart lime cordial meshed well with the caramel and PNW hops.

Mango Weizen
24-mile Blueberry Pail Ale
Audacious Apricot Wheat

24-Mile Blueberry Pail Ale (Phillips)

The claim to fame for this latest Phillips brew was that all ingredients were obtained within 24 miles of the brewery. The barley malt was grown and malted locally and the hops came from Saanich. This may not seem like much, but it actually is quite a big deal. The carbon footprint of beer (and wine) is not really that big. It is something special when a company can make it even smaller.


Taste +3

I was surprised how mild the brew smelled. The nose was very lager like: pale, grassy, lettuce with a slight acidic blueberry waft. This 'Pail' ale was the colour of a faded purple stuffed animal with little head retention. Sipping this beer also gave no surprises. There was pale grasses, mild nuts (pecans), and lettuce with a tart astringency similar to that found in dried blueberries. The medium mouthfeel was surprisingly carbonated and effervescent. Overall a very refreshing beer; almost ciderlike in sweetness. The blueberries were there, but they were not a dominating flavour.

Aftertaste +1

The slight berry astringency faded along with the floral and lightly spicy hop ending.

Alcohol Content 0 5%


Value +1

This was not a beer I would buy again, but I really liked it for a few reasons. Firstly it is very tasty and unique. The second is that it shows initiative. I love the idea that all of the ingredients for this beer were grown right here in the Greater Victoria area. It makes the carbon footprint for this beer comparatively small. Very few brewers are using local ingredients; to my knowledge only Rogue Ales is making a local ingredient beer.

Ingame Enhancement +1

I biked home carrying this beer; so my carbon footprint got even smaller.

Overall 6/10

This is a great beer, not only for flavour but for the planet. The floral, pale ale was greatly enhanced by the local tart blueberries. Well done.

Unibroue 17 can save the planet
Bailout Bitter and Carbon Footprints
Swan's Raspberry Wheat

Fruli Strawberry

Ratebeer 2.61 24th percentile
Beer Advocate B-

Taste +4

I am usually not a fan of flavoured beer, but this one is different. The nose is all about the syrupy strawberries. It is oddly off dry with a creamy tartness of wheat. How could anyone miss the creamy strawberry flavours that dominate the palate. It was not as sweet as one would expect from the nose.


Aftertaste +1

Again, it was an off dry, clean ending with a slight effervescence. The lingering flavour was strawberry candies.

Alcohol Content - 1 4.1%

Value +1

This was a very refreshing brew. It was quite sweet, but not sickly. I can't see drinking more than one of these in a session.


Ingame Enhancement +1

This was enjoyed in the luxurious Clive's Classic Lounge at the Chateau Victoria. With opulent surroundings and great drinks, I can see why I keep coming back here.


Overall 6/10

You must like sweet wheats and strawberries to enjoy the Fruli. If this sounds like you, get it before they change the taps.

Mango Weizen
Brussels Fruit Beer Apple
Pyramid Audacious Apricot

Pyramid Audacious Apricot Wheat

Ratebeer 3.03 50th percentile
Beer Advocate B-

Taste +3

It was hard to get an aroma from the bottle, which was sad. But the taste made up for it. The sweet apricot syrup mixed very well with the tart wheat. A tongue grabbing firm yeast was very apparent at the end.

Aftertaste 0

It was very dry with only the mildest of yeast tartness.

Alcohol Content 0 5.1%

Value +1

I wish this beer had been in a glass so I could pick out more flavours.

Ingame Enhancement +1

This brew was enjoyed at Cyberdogs in Seattle with my family. It was lunchtime at the Seattle Comicon, so the place was a little busy. The vegatarian/vegan hot dogs were worth the 30min wait. Their great craftbeer selection also made the wait easier.

Overall 5/10

Straight from the bottle you could pick up the tart wheats and sweet, syrupy apricots. I'm sure the score would be higher if it was sampled from a glass.

Tangerine Wheat (Lost Coast)
Brussels Fruit Beer Apple
Mango Weizen

Brussels Fruit Beer Apple
Lambic Fruit

Ratebeer 2.68 22nd percentile
Beer Advocate C+

Taste +5

I was not expecting this; it was lightly lemony, citrus with a bit of wheat. There was an abundance of effervescence and a sweet apple cider taste. Even thought it was quite sweet, there was a faint spiciness and a light wheat/yeast tang.

Aftertaste +1

The was a sweet apple juice like flavour that was not too tart.

Alcohol Content -1 3.2%

Value +1
This brew was delicious, refreshing and surprising to the palate. I have never tasted anything like this before.

Ingame Enhancement +1

This is being used to boost the score up.

Overall 7/10

Usually fruit lambics have a good tartness or sourness to them. Not this beer; it was pleasantly sweet. You could tell that it was made with 30% apple juice.

Chapeau Kriek Lambic
Storm Black Current Lambic

Mango Weizen (Trade Route Brewing)
Flavoured Wheat Beer

Ratebeer 3.01 44th percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +3

I'm sure you can imagine what the nose was like. Yup, it smelled of wheat tartness, yeast and tart mango. Luckily it was a nice balance of sweet and tartness. The sweet mango creaminess/juiciness balanced well with the tart wheat, biscuity yeast and lemon tartness. It poured cloudy with a orange hue like fresh mango juice.

Aftertaste +1

The mango juice and tart wheat rolls of the tongue and leaves a slight astringent residue.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value +1

This is a nice flavoured wheat beer. The added fruit juices did not overwhelm the palate.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Still sitting in my Seattle hotel room sampling many great beers.

Overall 6/10

If you are looking for a refreshing flavoured wheat, your search is over. This one would be perfect on a hot summer day.

Tangerine Wheat (Lost Coast)
Belgian Wit (Granville Island)
White Bark Wheat Ale (Driftwood)