#73 Affligem Tripel

The third and final rendition of the Affligem pack is the Affligem Tripel. This is extremely similar to the Affligem blond but this time coming in at a crisp 9.5% ABV. I wish I had both this and the blond side by side to compare but it pours a hazy golden color with a fair head, decent retention and lots of lace. The aroma is again of fruity and a little less musty. Taste is fruity this time picking out more of a peachy taste but still spicy and sticking with the heavy carbonation. The alcohol is a little more present here but only slightly. Again it finishes with a nice dry kick and light crisp taste making this very drinkable. Affligem really kicked it up a notch and fit its great 6.8% blond into a classier 9.5% ABV beer! Excellent... 4.75 out of 5

#72 Affligem Dubbel

The second Itteration of the Affligem family of beer the Affligem Dubbel is a nice, light brown, somewhat cloudy color when poured. It has a small tan head with medium to short retention. The aroma is of oak wood and malty. The taste is malty, with some caramel and a little bit of spice and maybe a touch of cinnamon. This beer is quite light for a darker beer but is the first Ive tried of this particular style so I was not sure what to expect. I enjoyed this one. 4 out of 5

#71 Affligem Blond (Belgium)

Another great one pack I received was a 4 pack of Affligem (2xBlond, 1xDubbel, 1xTriple) + a great Affligem labeled goblet. I dove head first into the Blond...

The Affligem blond is labeled a strong Belgian Ale; it poured a deep golden yellow with thick head, great retention and lots of lace. The smell was musty, hoppy and a little fruity. The taste was pepper-like spice mixed with a fruity banana sweetness and finishing with a moderate bitterness. It is heavily carbonated giving it a nice dry kick. This Blond is masks the 6.8% ABV well and is extremely light making it easy to drink. Will drink again - 4.25 out of 5

#70 Hobgoblin Ale (UK)

Happy holidays everyone! This Christmas I was grateful to find a plentiful variety of beer under the tree and decided it would be a great time to start blogging more frequently again.

First up is an interesting English Ale, Hobgoblin by Wychwood Brewery. I received this in a gift pack as seen in the picture which came with its own branded glass. This is a dark red-ish brown ale with a light tan head with an aroma of dark chocolate and roasted malts. The taste was of rich malts, chocolate, hints of caramel making it sweet but with a perfect mix of bitterness. I enjoyed it but not sure if I could drink more then 2-3 of these in a sittings despite the average 5.2% ABV.

3.75 out of 5

Rudder's

So the holiday season has started and its been a long time since I posted anything... I took a short time off to just kick back and enjoy some of my favorites before coming back strong in 2011! But this doesn't mean I haven't had a chance to try anything new...

On a recent trip home I ended up at a family gathering at a local brew pub known as Rudder's, in good old Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Ive had good word that they had some fine brews here so I was excited to get started on them! Conveniently they had a sampler pack which was 3 7oz glasses of any of their brewed beer. I opted for the Yarmouth Town Brown, Rudder's Red and one that was not on the menu which we will call the Rudder's Irish Ale.

First up I had the Irish Ale, it was a somewhat cloudy, pale brownish color and with little head (which seemed to be caused by the small portions) and had a small aroma of dry malt. The taste was sub par for what I expected and again of just dry malt, a fair alcoholic taste and not much else, very simple. It did however go down eays and wa snot very heavy. 2.5 out of 5

Secondly I had the Rudder's Red which was a nice deep red color as expected with a retaining head. The aroma was gentle yet distinguished. The taste was surpassed expectations, I expected this to be your average amber ale, and I was wrong. It had a nice complex and smooth taste with just the right amount of bite from the hops. It had been a while since I had an amber ale of this quality 4.5 out of 5!

Lastly was the Yarmouth town brown. Now i'll tell you what, I love the name, it just has a great ring to it. The beer itself unfortunetly did not carry the same ring... The beer was a brown almost oak-like color and had a heavy aroma to it. My first sip was not where I thought this beer was going. It was fairly heavy, with an earthy taste to it and was missing some hops to add complexity. I see where this beer was trying to go but It needs a little more "umph" to it. Overall tho it could have also been much worse. 3.5 out of 5

For simplicity's sake these will be going up as 67, 68 and 69 but I have had others in between... More to come on those at a later time ;)

#66 Greene King IPA (England)

I picked this one up last weekend. At pours a clear golden/brown color and has a fair head with retention. The aroma is floral, spicy and a bit fruity. It was quite light and crisp tasting, a little hoppy, slightly yeasty and had some sweet malts with a bit of what seemed to be a hint of apples. This is a very modest IPA, not very bitter as I normally like them; very plain but also has a low ABV. This beer is probably best with a meal but does not live up to other beers. 3/5

#65 Rogue's XS Imperial India Pale Ale (Oregon, USA)

I made my first trip out to Premier Wine and Spirits on a fine Friday evening after work to take a look at their wide variety of beer and boy to they have a nice selection! I was like a kid in a candy store, I just couldn't decide what I wanted. I picked up one that was previously requested as well as another from a brewer I had heard a lot (more to come on those another time) but then I set eyes on exactly what I was looking for... Rogue's XS Imperial India Pale Ale. $20.02 for a 750ml Ceramic bottle @ 9.5% ABV this beer is no joke. A highly rated beer already, winning 2007 Beer world championship as world champ, I knew I was in for a treat.

It poured a fairly thick, cloudy orange color with a large white head that retained for a quite a long time and thick lace. The aroma was very hoppy and extremely citricy landing somewhere between peaches and oranges with light smell of alcohol in the background. The taste was like nothing ive ever had before; instantly I was hit with a punch of hoppy bitterness for just a split second which quickly turned into a nice smooth almost fruit juice-like peachy sweet taste and finished off with a ever so elegant alcoholic aftertaste like that of a vodka. Now I can't say that I usually like a vodka like taste in my beer but this seemed to fit, leaving your mouth wanting another smooth refreshing journey. The texture was fairly creamy with moderately heavy body. This beer is not for the faint of heart; its on the extreme side of beers so if you're looking to try this out, be prepared. Overall I give it 4.5 out of 5!

More Fun Facts:

Tasting Notes:
Above and beyond an India Pale Ale—I2PA is radically hopped with an intense aroma and hop bitterness.

6 Ingredients:
Malts: Two-row Pipkin Pale.
Hops: Saaz, Cascade & Northwest Golding.
Yeast & Water: Rogue's Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.

74 IBU

#64 Kronenbourg 1664 (France)

So far, despite my French descendants, I have not had much luck finding a good French brew. I cracked open a can of Kronenbourg 1664 hoping to change that. It poured a nice light golden somewhat amber color. The aroma was very calm, not much to distinguish itself here, a little hoppy which was a good sign but that about it. The taste was still quite faint but had a nice light bitter taste to it mixing with a bit spice and some sweet notes. Nothing spectacular about this beer but very drinkable. 3 out of 5

#63 Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale (Halifax, NS)

I was surprised to see this one from Keith's as I had heard nothing about it. Now in the past Ive always been a Keith's fan, Ive since out grown that taste as Keith's IPA taste like water with a some specs of flavors in it. Nonetheless I am loyal to my long time friend.

This ale poured a nice dark brown color with a clean head on it. The aroma was chocolaty and a little nutty. The taste was of roasted nuts, malts, and sweet chocolate with an accentuation bitterness of hops. Overall I was quite impressed with this new product and would drink it again; 4 out of 5

#62 Propeller Pumpkin Ale (Halifax, NS)

I recently took a trip down home and my Mom had conveniently picked up some beers for us to try, one of which was the Propeller Pumpkin Ale I had heard so much about. Brewed with Howard Dill's world famous atlantic giant pumpkins this fall special is a local hit.

It pours a golden/orange lightly clouded color with a small but present and lasting head. The smell is of that of a pumpkin pie with some spicy notes. The taste is light pumpkin, medium spices, light malt, pretty light all around really and a low-medium carbonation. Overall I liked this one, and being my first pumpkin ale I was quite happy with it and can see why it appeal to such a wide crowd. 3.5 out of 5

#61 Garrison Oktoberfest Brau (Halifax, NS)

Ah fall... a great time for great beer and this fine Garrison Oktoberfest Brau is no exception to that. This marzen style brew pours a rather dark brown color yet light enough to still be quite translucent this Garrison special has a medium white head. The aroma is mild and malty with hints of caramel. The texture is creamier then expected yet still pretty light in taste. I found the taste to be very similar to the propeller hefeweizen actually, tasting of toasty malts with a fair amount of sweet notes and again hints of what seems to be caramel. I think it may be a little lacking on the hops for my particular taste but still a good brew nonetheless. 4 out 5

Time for a post!

Ive been busy of late... drinking new beers that is! The bad news is I havent had the time to write up full reviews on some of these but I figured it was time to update you all on what Ive had the honors of trying as well as my rating of them:

1. Löwenbräu (Germany) - 2.5 out of 5
2. Propeller Kristall Weizen (Halifax, NS) - 4 out of  5
3. Newcastle Brown Ale (England) - 3 out of 5
4. Big rock traditional Ale (Alberta, Canada) - 2.5 out of  5
5. Garrison Raspberry wheat ale (Halifax, NS) - 3 out of 5
6. Murphy's Irish Stout (UK) - 1.5 out of 5
7. Clancy's Red Amber Ale (New Brunswick, Canada) - 3 out of 5
8. St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout (Montreal, QC) - 3.5 out of 5
9. Garrison Porter's Ale (Halifax, NS) - 2 out of 5
10. Chimay Blue Grande Réserve (Belgium) - I plan on doing a full review on this one once I can get my hands on it again so you'll have to wait and see!
11. Hoegaarden (Belgium) - Unique and very drinkable 4 out of 5

So there we have it, I believe that brings me up to #60 and I have some new beer in the fridge waiting for a review so keep your head up for my next post soon! 

#49 Old Milwaukee (USA)

Straight from Wisconsin this an American style lager. It pour a light yellow/golden color with a thin white head that dissipates fairly quickly. The aroma is very subtle and composed of very little of anything noticable except a little corn. The taste is watery, very crisp, light and a little grainy with a bit of corn as most american lager's do. There is very little after taste to this one, it is far from heavy and not bitter at all. Overall its just your everyday average lager. 3 out of 5

#48 Foster's Lager (Australia)

Ive wanted to try this one for a long time now, the big 750ml Jumbo cans have been staring me in the face long enough. Upon cracking this brew open it had a nice familiar aroma too it, not too fruity, not too heavy, very well balanced. It poured out a light golden color with a bone white head that retained itself very well. Taste was what I had hoped for, a nice light and crisp, refreshing blend with a great finish of bitterness, leaving your mouth wanting more. texture was slightly creamy and was very carbonated. 4 out of 5

#47 Bavaria 8.6 Special Blonde (Netherlands)

Get ready for this one.... I'm not sure where I first heard of Bavaria years ago but I was under the impression it was a well known beer because it was good. So I picked up some Bavaria 8.6 Special Blonde to give it a try and boy was I surprised. Upon opening the can it had a very skunky malt aroma to it and It poured a deep gold color with a white head. Any type of fine beer taste was just overpowered by alcohol, it was almost vodka-like. Even at 7.9% ABV beer should not taste like this in my honest opinion. Not my cup of tea per say, id recommend staying clear. 1.5 out of 5

#44, #45, #46 - Rogue's Roost Microbrews

A friend and I recently frequented Rogue's Roost Microbrewery and Pub right on Spring Garden Road in beautiful downtown Halifax. I had never been but had heard many talk of their famous Raspberry Wheat Ale. So we had a couple appetizers and a I had a chance to try 3 of their brews.

First off I was anxious to try the Raspberry Wheat Ale. As a typical wheat ale is, it was very cloudy and golden but this time with a hint of pink. The aroma was distinctly of raspberries with some modest soft notes I couldn't quite pick out. The taste was as you'd expect; Raspberry but also very smooth and crisp, light and not really too sweet nor bitter. With that being said it wasn't exactly what I normally drink as far as a beer is concerned. the fruitiness kind of throws me off a bit but I can definitely see how someone who normally does not drink beer could enjoy this. I must give it some props on originality. 3.5 out of 5.


Next up I really wanted to try my favorite style of all beers; India Pale Ale. This beer came out with a nice dark copper color to it with a nice slightly tinted white head on it. The aroma was of citrus as most of Rogue's brews are with a bit of caramel-esque notes. The taste was definitely bitter, like i like it, hoppy and was completed by the slight hint of citrus. As most craft IPA's this one was also a higher ABV% although I'm not sure exactly what the number was. Overall very well balanced beer and would order again! 4 out of 5


To round it all off I wanted to try their Red Ale. This one came out cloudy and a red amber color similar to the IPA. Following tradition this one also had a slightly citrus aroma to it but not as strong as the other last 2. The taste was not what I was expecting, came up a bit short. It had a taste of cereal and grainy malt, a little bitter sweet with a touch of honey. Not my favorite but still better then a lot of beer out there. 3 out of 5

#43 Dab Original (Germany)

Another beer from Germany picked out at the NSLC. This one is very similar to the last review of Boris; It pours yet again a pale yellow with a paper white head. The aroma is a bit sweet, with a hint of heavy malts. The taste is quite creamy and finishes with a nice balance of malts and hops. Liked this one a fair bit but still doesn't make it up the list. This one gets the same 3.5/5

#42 Boris (Le Flacon D'Alsace) (France)

Picked this one up at NSLC in Darmouth mostly because of the can. Boris Lager from France has a 5.5% ABV, pours a light yellow color with a bit of white head. Aroma of a little smooth, fruity and maybe even a little buttery.  The taste is very bland and watery as most macro brews are and has a sort of skunky bitter aftertaste to it. Overall not too bad but not great either, a hair above average. 3.5/5

Reviews to come...

I've had the chance of trying sevral diffrent beer this weekend so I'm going to be playing catch-up with posting the reviews but just a heads up of whats comming:

• Boris (France)
• Dab (Germany)
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew Rasberry Wheat Ale
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew IPA
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew Red Ale

#41 Warsteiner Premium Verum (Germany)

Going to keep this one nice and short. It pours a light golden color, light fruity aroma to it. Taste was awful, too much of a flat sweet taste to it that left a terrible aftertaste in your mouth not really leaving you wanting another sip. Unfortunately at 4.8% ABV it has very little to offer. I had to debate this for a while but i'll still give it a 2/5 as i'm sure i'll encounter worse.

#40 FAXE 10% Lager - Denmark

Next up FAXE 10% from Denmark. Where do I even start with this one? Its label states "Extra Strong Beer" and at 10% ABV it really isn't joking. Upon cracking this one It had a really odd smell to it and the closest way to describe it is similar to an  Popeye's candy cigarette box smell; it was dirty, sweet and a little perfumy even. It poured a nice golden yellow color with little head. The taste was harsh even for a 10% beer and has little to offer other then alcohol taste covered by a lingering sweet perfume taste, with some of the hops and malt coming through midway through. I can't really recommend drinking this unless your only goal is to get really hammered and don't care about the taste; in that case strongly recommended.... 2/5

#39 McEwans Scotch Ale - Scotland

Time to get back into the international beers with this interesting beer from Scotland. I picked up some McEwan's Scotch Ale at the local NSLC but was unsure what to expect from. It poured a very dark chocolaty color with a small frothy head. The aroma was very sweet and chocolaty again with hints of caramel. It had a creamy texture to it and again tasted very sweet of chocolate and caramel malt liquor. A little too sweet for my taste but came packed with 8.0% ABV. 3/5

#38 Holsten Maibock - Germany

I picked up this beer in the international beer section in the NSLC. It pours a nice golden color with a thick head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is sweet in nature, malt with hints of apple but seems to be lacking in the hops department. The taste is smooth and sweet and also has the apple-ish flavour in it. Unfortunetly it seem to be lacking in the hops for my liking and comes across very bland. For 7.0% ABV theres is very little alcoholic taste to it and can definitely get you drunk but just doesn't cut it on this list. 2/5

#37 Propeller IPA - Halifax, NS, Canada

I just had to run out and grab another local brew after the feedback I received from my last review, this time around I have the Propeller India Pale Ale. In true IPA style this beer has nice orange-gold color to it smells very strongly of hops as soon as I started the pour with very little head. The taste follows suit with a strong taste of hops, a little sweet, a bit of malt and small hints of citrus finishing off with one of the most pleasing bitter tastes I've had so far! Very happy I picked this one up and will definitely invest in a growler or five from the brewery. 5/5!

IBU's- 68

Hops- Warrior, Amarillo.

Malts- Pale, Crystal, Wheat.

Water- Soft

Colour-  3.9°L

#36 Propeller Hefeweizen - Halifax, NS, Canada

As promised another brew from local brewery Propeller. This fairly cloudy, golden wheat beer is definitely well crafted from start to finish. The brew has a yeast smell and commonly has yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle. The case the beer came in has a tid bit on swirling the beer before pouring to mix the yeast sediment in for some extra flavor, I opted to pour as is. The beer is creamy yet finishes with a dry, crisp and refreshing taste. Made with special Weizen yeast, German Noble hops and equal amounts of barley and wheat malts I give this beer a solid 4/5.

IBU's- 12

Hops- Spalt.

Malts- Pale, Wheat (50%).

Water- Soft

Colour-  2.5°L

#35 Rickard's White

Let's take it mainstream for a bit here and try some Rickard's White. I had yet tried this beer until a recent visit to the The Pógue Fadó Irish Pub (which has some great food by the way,) for a diner with my visiting family.

To begin with the beer itself is fairly cloudy, the smell was of a citus-y nature and the taste followed right along with a quite strong orange, fruity taste. It wasn't terrible to drink, went down fairly smooth and was a little creamy. I only had 1 but I don't think i'd be able to drink something like this all night due to the strong citrus taste but I could definitely see how this would appeal to someone who does not drink a lot of beer. Even so, this is my  blog so I get to decide the rating =)    2/5


Up Next... Propeller Hefeweizen

#34 Big Rock Grasshopper - Alberta, Canada

Just picked up a 6pack of Grasshopper by Big Rock Brewry in Calgary, Alberta. Grasshopper is a wheat beer, weighing in at 5%alc./vol and for all its worth is pretty standard Canadian beer. 

Style: Wheat Ale

Colour: Golden Yellow

Key Ingredients: Three types of pale and wheat malts

Character: Light on the plate, yet packed with glavor and aroma, European hop aroma, with fruity or citrusy notes.

Source:http://www.bigrockbeer.com/#/beer/grasshopper

There was nothing perticularly wrong with this beer but there was nothing particularly special or different about this beer either. I will give it a modest 3/5.

#33 Pilsner Urquell - Czech Republic

This next beer Pilsner Urquell from Czech is a Pilsner from Pilsen.  At 4.4%alc./vol. its not that potent. The aroma from the beer is a nice fruity smell. The beer taste is heavy but goes down really easy, its a little sweet and very soft. I give it 4/5.

#32 Czechvar - Czech Republic

Next on this list is another golden lager. Czechvar is 5.0alc./vol. at first pour it has a strong scent of the hops. First taste of this one follow the smell, its very hop-y yet smooth, the aftertaste is crisp a little bitter and leaves you wanting yet another sip of this fine premium beer. Although claiming one of the best lagers in the world on this label this one is just average for me 3/5.



NOTE: This beer is generally know as Budvar but because of the Budweiser trademark this is marketed in the US and Canada as Czechvar.

#31 Tuborg Pure Gold Premium Lager

Next up is Tuborg from Denmark. This beer boast's to be a premium "pure gold" beer while coming in at a respectable 5.5% alc./vol. This beer is exactly as it claims, a nice golden lagen and earned its name as a premium beer. Tuborg has a light crispy taste to it, but has a hint of fruit and sweetness and as stated on the label, "perfectly balanced". This is definitely a nice crisp lager, I would recommend giving it a try. 4/5

#30 Propeller (London Style) Porter

So my first new beer is going to be from local company Propeller where I'm hoping to go on a brewery tour soon. anyway let's get right down to it.

This is one of the only Porter's Ive had. The beer itself is very dark, comparable to a keith or rickard's dark. First sip was strong but smooth. This is a full flavored beer with a nice smooth taste to it. This was a decent beer 4/5 .

IBU's- 39*

Hops- Warrior, Wilamate, Irsh Moss.

Malts- Pale, Crystal, Roasted and Chocolate.

Water- Soft

Colour- 47 °L

* IBU stands for International Bittering Unit - the scale used to measure hop bitterness in beer. An IBU is one part per million of isohumulone, an acid derived from hops. If you like the very bitter “bite” of the “Extreme Beers,” a higher IBU would be an indication of that snap. 

A General IBU Guide:
Ales
Pale Ale / Amber Ale – 20-50 IBU
India Pale Ale – 40-60 IBU (this would have quite a bitter bite)
ESB, aka Extra Special Bitters – 28-40 IBU
English Brown Ale – 20 IBU
Porter – 20-40 IBU
Irish Stout – 30-60 IBU (can be quite bitter, depending on signature)
Barleywine – 50-100 IBU (power punch!)

The Journey Starts

I have been drinking beer since I was 19 (*cough* 15). At the time I did not enjoy the taste whatsoever and was not exactly my drink of choice but at that age you'd drink whatever will get you drunk. Little did I know how much I would come to enjoy the refreshing taste of beer. Once I reached college, beer become much more the "manly" drink of choice, I got use to the taste and started getting into different types of beer.

Nowadays I have found myself enjoying trying many different type of beer from all over the world as well as the different types of beer I can find locally. So one day my friend and got to talking about this guy he knows who set out a goal to travel and try different types of beer around the world. He suggested since I am into trying different beer to try something similar. Thus the idea was born; Try 1 000 different types of beers from around the world and list them, blog them, review them. Now I must warn you that I am far from a professional beer reviewer or critic but more of a personal opinion of the beer. There will definetly be some learning along the way as well.

So I hope you join me on this adventure, I will be updating it as I try new beer and get time to update.

I have a list of beer I have already tried before starting this blog, I may review them again in the future but for now here they are:

Beer dank before 8/20/2010

1. Keith's India Pale Ale*
2. Keith's Red Amber Ale*
3. Keith's Traditional Lager*
4. Keith's Dark*
5. Coors Light
6. Budweiser
7. Bud Light
8. Bud Light Lime
9. Rickard's Red
10. Rickards Dark
11. Propeller Bitter*
12. Keystone
13. Molson Canadian
14. Molson Cold Shot 6.0
15. Moosehead Dry ice
16. Alpine Lager
17. Miller Genuine
18. Sleeman Cream Ale
19. Strongbow England Cider - England*
20. Fischer Traditional - France
21. Old Speckled Hen - UK
22. Red Stripe Lager - Jamaica*
23. Guinness Stout* - Ireland
24. Samuel Adams Lager
25. Heineken Pilsner - Netherlands
26. Stella Artois Lager - Belgium
27. Corona Lager - Mexico
28. Dos Equis - Mexio
29. Sapporo - Japan

* = Recommended