Name: Bolt Cutter
Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Style: Barely Wine
ABV: 15%

Birthdays are a special time for everyone and when a brewing company turns 15 something special happens. Founders Brewing Company hit 15 years old this year and released a monster of a barley wine. At 15% Bolt Cutter is still very drinkable with a little heat from the booze coming on at the end. This was my second offering from Founders and I’m very excited to review it.



Appearance: Bolt Cutter pours a clear, deep copper colour with a small off-white head. This head dissipates quickly and leaves minimal lacing.
Smell: Bourbon and caramel are the first notes that I can smell. I also got a little sweetness of brown sugar and fruit. I can get some citrusy pine from the hops but it’s very muted.
Taste: The taste is very similar to the smell with rum notes, caramel and honey coming through. I didn’t get as much of the bourbon as I would have thought considering it was aged in bourbon barrels. Again, there is some hop presence but it’s muted.
Mouthfeel: This is a full-bodied beer with moderate carbonation. It’s very sweet like any good barley wine should be.
Drinkability: There’s definitely some booziness to the Bolt Cutter but that’s expected with a 15% beer. The sweetness for me is fairly balanced and I would definitely drink this again if I could get my hands on it.

Founders Bolt Cutter is a fairly good barley wine. While it’s not my favourite one out there it definitely holds it own. Unfortunately this is a limited release so if you haven’t been able to get your hands on it yet you probably won’t be able to.

Rating: 7/10

Name: 2xIPA
Brewery: Southern Tier
Style: Double India Pale Ale
ABV: 8.2% (Varies from year to year)

Not quite an imperial, but certainly not a standard India pale ale. Southern Tier’s double IPA is a hop lovers dream. Citrusy and clean with an incredible finish. This was my first beer from Southern Tier and it’s what made me fall in love with their brewery.

Appearance: Southern Tier’s 2xIPA has a very clear, rich, golden colour. An aggressive pour reveals a thick 2 finger head which dissipates quickly and produces very nice lacing.
Smell: The hops are definitely there. I smell a very acidic citrus note with a pine and grass smell coming in as well. I can’t really detect any malt on the nose.
Taste: The 2xIPA is a lot more balanced than Southern Tier’s Unearthly IIPA. The sweetness from the malt is still there but the hops aren’t lost to it. When you first take a sip you can taste the sweetness but the pine from the hops comes in right afterwards. As the sweetness and pine dies down, notes of pineapple and caramel shine.
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel for the 2xIPA is pretty standard for Imperial IPA’s. Medium carbonation with a thicker body. There’s a slight hop bite near the end.
Drinkability: In my opinion the 2xIPA drinks more like a regular IPA than an Imperial IPA. It’s very smooth with little to no boozy notes.

Southern Tier is a great brewery and while I don’t like all of their offerings the 2xIPA is my favourite. The balance of the malt and the hops is perfect and the beer is very affordable. While it’s becoming increasing difficult to find in Ontario, this beer is well worth the drive across the border where you can find it in bottles and on tap.

Rating: 8.5/10

A Bock is a defined as a strong lager from Germany. Traditional bocks are sweet, relatively strong (6.3%–7.2% by volume), lightly hopped (20-27 IBUs) lager. The beer should be clear, and colour can range from light copper to brown, with a bountiful and persistent off-white head^[1]. A doppelbock is simply a stronger, more malty bock.

For those that don’t experiment with different beers I’ve found that bocks are a pretty safe jumping off point. They don’t have the extreme bitterness as (I)IPA’s but they still pack a lot of flavour and body. For this review I’m going to review a doppelbock that’s readily available from the LCBO.

Appearance: Pours a lovely dark reddish-brown with a small head that dissipates quickly.
Smell: The aroma on this one is a little complex. I definitely smell the malty sweetness coming through. This leads to bread/yeast and some sort of fruit, possibly figs or raisins. I don’t get any hop notes coming through
Taste: The first taste is very malty (as can be expected from a doppelbock). Within the sweetness of the malt I can taste figs and raisins as well as notes of nuts and yeast. The taste closely mimics the smell and once again I can’t detect any large amounts of hops. From what I’ve gathered the bitterness falls around the 17 IBU so I’m not surprised that the hops are lost.
Mouthfeel: I found this beer to have a small amount of carbonation but it still had a medium body. The finish is slightly dry and alcoholic but not in a bad way.
Drinkability: Coming in at 8.5% ABV this definitely isn’t a session beer. The sweetness from the malt isn’t overpowering and the dried fruit notes and dry, lingering finish adds to this beer.

This was one of my first Doppelbocks and the first beer I’ve tried from Schloss Eggenberg. While I’m more of a hophead, I appreciated the balance of this beer. While the hops aren’t noticeable the sweetness isn’t overpowering and doesn’t make your teeth hurt. The price tag also doesn’t hurt your wallet at only $2.85. I would definitely buy this beer again and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t experimented with different type of beers.

Rating: 8/10

Name: Unearthly
Brewery: Southern Tier
Style: Imperial India Pale Ale
ABV: 9.5% (Varies from year to year)

When it comes to craft beer in Ontario the options are fairly limited. We have a lot of Ontario craft beer but our choices for American craft beer are rather limited so when I saw a new bottle of Southern Tier I had to pick it up.

Coming in at 9.5% ABV Southern Tier’s Unearthly Imperial IPA is definitely not for the feint of heart, especially when it also costs $9. It has a strong earthy, citrusy aromas to it with a lot of malty sweetness to back it up.

Appearance: Unearthly pours a nice deep amber colour with just the tiniest amount of haze. With a rather aggressive pour I got a decent off-white head which dissipated quickly (probably due to the alcohol strength).
Smell: The aroma of this beer is absolutely amazing. Pine and citrus notes come through as well as burn caramel.
Taste: This is where the beer falls apart for me. It starts off great with the citrus and pine flavours from the hops but it quickly transforms into a very sweet beer. To me the malt dominates this beer and the hops only get to shine in the aroma. The malts are very sweet and sticky with big notes of caramel and toast. The finish has some spicy alcohol and a lingering sweetness.
Mouthfeel: I found this beer medium bodied with a little carbonation. It’s pretty smooth considering the high alcohol content and it finishes dry and a little sticky.
Drinkability: Definitely drinkable if you prefer your beers on the sweet side. Due to its high alcohol content you probably wouldn’t want to drink more than one.

Southern Tier has so many great beers that I was rather disappointed with this one. At $9/22oz I was expecting a more balanced beer with a lot more hop presence and less malty sweetness. I would definitely drink it again if I could find it for under $6. I can see why a lot of people like this beer but it’s just not for me.

Rating: 6/10

One of my favourite rum drinks of all time is a really simple one. Rum and Grapefruit juice. The drink is insanely simple and very fresh tasting.

Recipe:

• 1 oz Dark Rum (Angostura 1919, El Dorado 12 year)
• 1 half of a Grapefruit

Directions:

1. Place ice in rocks glass
2. Pour rum in
3. Cut grapefruit into half
4. Squeeze grapefruit into the glass
5. Enjoy!