Ise Kadoya Imperial Smoked Porter

Ise Kadoya Microbrewery is located in Ise, Japan. The company also makes soy sauce, miso, cider and other Japanese food products. They are best known for brewing this Imperial Smoked Porter, Triple Hop Ale and an Imperial IPA among many other flagship beers.

The Imperial Smoked Porter pours a purely opaque

black with a brown head thickly capped on top. Aromas of smoked malts, nuts, heavy molasses and sweetness are all apparent. The taste is overly sweet with a huge smoky character looming behind this sweetness. Molasses, roasted malts, nuts, caramel malts all become apparent as subtle flavors withing the smokiness. An minute earthy peat like character also becomes distinguishable in the taste. The head is seemingly everlasting and produces a ridiculous amount of beautiful lacing. The alcohol taste is less prevalent than I expected with the ABV of this beer being 7%. I consider the smoky flavor to cause this discrepancy in the taste by overpowering the mild alcohol burn. A hugely rich beer full of flavors which in my opinion end up clashing with each other and in the end draw away from the beer overall. I do not believe I consider this to be an Imperial style of beer as it is neither alcoholic enough of rich enough. None-the-less, I consider Ise Kadoya Imperial Smoked Porter to be an interesting beer but not as incredible as I was hoping for.

Grade - B

Next Post- My 400th Beer - Mikkeller 10

Half Pints Little Scrapper IPA

Firstly, yes, I lied at the end of my last post. I promised Hitachino Nest Commerative Ale as my next review, but due to unforeseen "technical diffuculties" I have a flagship IPA from a small Canadian craft brewer with a very punny name. Half Pints Brewery is located in Winnepeg, Manitoba and has received minor notice or attention thus far. It wasn't until very recently that the brewing company expanded distribution beyond Manitoba. None-the-less, I feel that their products which I have sampled thus far to be quite spectacular. The brewery's flagship beer is the Little Scrapper IPA, but they also brew up seasonals such as the Weizen Heimer, Burly Wine, Pothole Porter and possibly the best Canadian Imperial IPA, the Humulus Ludicrous.

The Little Scrapper IPA is 6% ABV and 50 IBU's and pours a bright copper colour with a bountiful slightly off white head. Quite a bit of carbonation at first, but this subsides over time. Tons of huge bubbles appear in the head and the carbonation appears to die down. The aroma is full of hops, citrus, pine needles, fruits and a subtle malt finish. The taste matches well with the aroma with forceful hops overpowering the citrus and pine nuances. The malts are in perfect symphony with the strong hops. The alcohol is pretty much unnoticeable amidst the full flavoured hops. Little Scrapper is medium bodied and has a huge amount of lacing. This is certainly a very drinkable session IPA that I would like to drink more often. Fortunately for us hopheads, Little Scrapper's big brother Humulus Ludicrous is and even better offering. I find Little Scrapper to be pretty price comparative to other flagship IPA's such as Tree HopHead, Wild Rose IPA, Yukon IceFog or Lost Coast Indica. Overall, a pretty solid craft IPA.

Grade - A-

Next Review - Hitachino Nest Commerative Ale

Rogue Ales Mocha Porter

Rogue is most definitely one of the most acclaimed and truly talented craft breweries in America. The Mocha Porter is no exception and is definitely and an amazing and well crafted beer. Rogue Ales was founded in 1988 and is located in Ashland, Oregon. In addition to craft brewing, Rogue distills a huge variety of liquors and spirits.

Rogue Mocha Porter is a dark, rich porter full of flavor. Mocha, espresso, chocolate, rich roasted malts, toffee and caramel flavors are bountiful. The mocha is more prevalent in the flavor than in the aroma and the dark body and tan head is extremely appealing. The mocha flavor is absolutely delicious and slightly bitter which gives it a enhanced flavor. I really enjoyed this beer, and will definitely try it again.

He'brew Jewbelation- Year of the Date

He'brew has one of the greatest names of all American craft brewers. Their beer though not amazing, is well crafted and definitely tasty. The Jewbelation- Year of the Date is no exception. On the bottle, the caption "Half Doppelbock & Half Belgian Dubbel" was interesting enough to make me buy this beer. But was the beer rewarding enough for how much I paid ($5.89- beer is excruciatingly overpriced in Canada). I would have to say that is was a well crafted beer, but not quite worth the money. None-the-less, it was a satisfying beer drinking experience.

At 7.8% alcohol by volume, this so called half doppelbock, half dubbel is a fairly big beer, and certainly not a session beer. A beautiful dark brown body with a thin beige head. Aroma is malts, coriander, cinnamon, and yeast. Rich taste with a hint of date sweetness. A fairly enjoyable libation experience.

Japanese Craft Beer: Hitachino Nest XH

In recent years, Japanese craft brewers have been making huge strides into the beer connoisseur market with interesting ales. For the most part, Japan and beer are known for such rice adjunct beers like Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin. Recently a raft brewer has paralled Sake brewing to beer, this being Hitachino. Hitachino is most well known for their Nest Ales, in particular the Espresso Stout which has received much acclaim in the craft beer community. Other craft breweries such as Ise Kadoya have begun to distribute their products to North America as well.

Hitachino is brewed at Kuichi Brewery in Ibaraki, Japan. Since only a few Hitachino beers are currently distributed in my area, I figured I would pick up the cheapest one to try. This happened to be the Hitachino Nest XH (Extra High) Ale, which

is apparently matured to 8% ABV in sake casks is a Belgian Strong Ale.

I was slightly apprehensive due to the unknown flavors which would be imparted on the beer by the sake casks and the alteration of the unique yeast taste character which I love in Belgian Style beers. However, I found that in the end, Hitachino Nest XH is a unique brew but maintains the depth and character common in a Belgian Strong Ale.

The pour is a dark brown color nearing on a shade of black with a thin off white head. Complex aroma involving strong yeasty esters, rich toffee malts, slight hops and a grassy mould like aroma. First taste is extremely smooth and sweet with yeasts and malts at the forefront. Subtle and complex hints of grass, earth and spice. A lovely Belgian Strong Ale, but I was unable to place the Sake cask maturation flavors at all. None-the-less, the Nest XH is a very drinkable and enjoyable 8% ABV beer.

Charlevoix La Vache Folle

I recently bought a four pack of Charlevoix La Vache Folle beers. Included in the package were two ESB's, one Imperial Milk Stout and one Amarillo Double IPA. Microbrasserie Charlevoix is a craft brewer located in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec which opened in 1998. Their flagship beers are the Dominus Vobiscum Belgian Style Ales as well as the "Mad Cow" La Vache Folle beers.

The most incredible beer was the Imperial Milk Stout which was a truly wonderful experience. A big beer with amazing coffee, chocolate, roasted malts and cream. A unique mixture of the roasted malts with creamy flavors.

The ESB was the only beer in the pack which could be considered a session beer. Hugely drinkable and very crisp, clean and has a delicious malty hops taste complex. Beautiful pour with bountiful white head.

The last of the beers I tried was the Amarillo Double IPA, which was an unusual Imperial IPA. The first taste is extremely sweet with forward hop bitterness. Floral hops, grass, lemon, lime, grapefruit with mild malts throughout are also detected. A very drinkable Imperial IPA.

Grand River Brewing Galt Knife Old Style Lager

A few weeks ago, I did a video review for a beer given to me from an old friend. This beer, Galt Knife Old Style Lager, was from Grand River Brewing in Cambridge, Ontario (http://www.grandriverbrewing.com/). Grand River Brewing, unheard of by me, operates out of a historic factory once home to the Galt Knife Company. The beer itself was quite good, especially for a Premium Lager which is one of my least favorite beer styles.

The pour is bright amber copper body with about a finger of clingy white head. A complex aroma involving sweet toffee malts co-mingled with lots of floral grain and sweet hops. Being only 4.4% alcohol did not reflect the full body and crisp drinkability of the Galt Knife Old Style. Sweet malts are predominant but then replaced by grassy hops with hints of fruit. Slightly bitter aftertaste is unexpected, but fully welcome. For me, this is a great session lager for many occasions.

Central City Brewing Red Racer IPA

Central City Brewing (http://www.centralcitybrewing.com/) is one of the craft breweries from the Vancouver area that is finally getting some distribution in Alberta. Central City Brewing Company, based in Surrey brews 7 flagship beers under the title of Red Racer. Interestingly enough, Central City uses standard 355 mL cans as opposed to glass bottles. The use of cans or bottles for storing beer has become a large debate recently, however, I find no real difference between the two. However, several brands use clear bottles instead of brown or green. The increased light entering the bottle results in a skunky beer.

Central City Red Racer IPA is a classic West Coast style IPA with huge resinous hops with sweet lemon and grapefruit floral notes. At 6.5% ABV, this is not a great session beer, but has great drink ability. Clear amber body with a finger of thick off white head and mild carbonation. The aroma is sweet grapefruit and malts intermingled with bountiful hops. The flavor is predominated by the floral hops with subtle tones of grapefruit, orange and pine needles. Overall, a wonderful IPA with huge potential to become massively popular within the Canadian craft beer community. I would place the IBU's for this beer around 50, a perfect value for a hophead's session IPA. When compared to the widely popular craft IPA's in the US such as Dogfish Head 60 minute, Lagunitas IPA, Sierra Nevada or Lost Coast Indica IPA, Central City's brew holds strong.