ottawa foodies

Renewing a good old thread as there are always good beers out there that need to be sampled. Tonight I enjoyed a very tasty Fat Tug from Driftwood Brewery in Victoria, BC. This was a heavily hopped Northwest Coast American IPA that was nicely balanced with a decent malt level and eminently drinkable, sessionable if it weren't for the 7% abv. Very enjoyable. Thanks to Spanky in BC for the treat!

Home brewed Festa Czech Pils

My new favorite beer.

Spaten is EXTREMELY good beer. I went through most of last summer on it. Not all liquor stores carry it, unfortunately.

Smoker Guy I knew you would come around! ;)

Alright, you've convinced me to snag a Spaten. I'm surprised that I haven't yet tried it. I typically head to LCBO and grab one of everything that catches my eye. Yup, it's a solid beer, especially for the price. It's definitely a Bavarian.

But, my top bang for the buck goes to Abbot. I also snagged one of those, among others. I'll post if I hit one that catches my attention.

Mill Street Vanilla Porter... I got it around x-Mas and was actually surprised how good it was.

Home brewed Festa Brown Ale

Mill Van porter is awesome IF you want a dessert beer, great dessert beer!

Picked up some Railway City Shambock yesterday and some Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Finish Stout, and tried the I&G tonight - a beautiful color in the glass, dark and deep reds, with a lot of Irish whiskey on the nose, lots of flavours in the first few tastes with a really good finish but I grew somewhat tired and disappointed as I got to the last mouthful, which is often the best but the finish had dissipated and the tastes had flattened out, leaving me kind of "meh" about it. Too bad, I do like the original a lot and enjoy the rum finish version.
Had a Pit Caribou Americaine IPA last night, pretty good, big flavours, a little rough, paled in comparison with the Fat Tug, a really well-finished, refined, sublimely good beer. My wife's comment on the Pit Caribou: "Horrible...awful" - I guess she didn't like it, at all.
Beer of the week: Fat Tug from Driftwood Brewery.

- btw that's a spool behind the glass - my dw's doing costumes for a local play.
- I must pick up some of that Munich beer for when the weather warms up!

Been drinking different American beers. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a refreshing beer with a hint of citrus. The Arrogant Bastard Ale was a tad on the strong side their label says it all. Lol yellow fizzy beverage. www.stonebrew.com

ABC Coffee Porter

Same Brown Ale as above ...

I'm back on Nickle Brook's Naughty Neighbor IPA - if you like Sierra Nevada, you'll love this. Its a great IPA. You guys also got me to pick up a couple of cans of the Spatan, also a good bavarian. Nice for a smooth afternoon drink. (would have been overwhelmed by my extra garlicy thai beef salad I made.)

Sunturnbrew - Smokey, malty, lots of great flavours to be had in this beer. Just a bit too sweet for my taste. This is really a special beer for those looking to try something new.

Spearhead Hawaiian Style Pale Ale. Its brewed with Pineapple!

It'll stay fresh on those long ocean voyages AND help combat that pesky scury!

FoodMonger that Spearhead is a buy in our house because we love it. I wasn't aware that it was medicinal - I'd best keep some stock in the coldhouse for the next scurvy breakout!

Just finished 3 bottles of golden pheasant , a Slovakian beer awesome. Also just finished a six pack of magic hat # 9 from Vermont, absolutely horrible stuff.

had a kichesippi "polaris" cask pint yestreday. was pretty good lighter styler IPA. Had it at the corner bar on richmond....the beer selection in there is really impressive. i think all their taps were local and they had like 10.

Yeah, I think Corner is a really good addition to the Ottawa scene. Chain pubs with good beer is something that should snowball into the larger food chains in the city. The food isn't the best, but they pretty much have the run of the LCBO.

Scrolling through this thread has made me very, very thirsty. I love my hops so my mainstay is Muskoka Mad Tom. Also loving Red Racer, Amsterdam Boneshaker, Spearhead Hawaiian Pale Ale, Nickel Brook Naughty Neighbor (I actually avoided drinking any Nickel Brook products for the longest time because the name reminded my of Nickelback), Flying Monkeys Smashbomb & Hoptical Illusion, Beau's Beaver River IPEh?, and Duggan's 9. So when does the beer-drinkin-weather arrive?

Were Canadian, its always beer drinking weather.

Beau's Sargon, a ginger beer partially barrel aged in rum barrels.

Dog something. If you like Fullers ESB you'll like this. That's not an order though.

My dd called last week from Broue Ha Ha wanting to know if there was anything I wanted so I quickly thought of Dieu Du Ciel's Moralite and one I see high on their monthly list of best sellers too often to have not tried it, Le Castor's Yakima IPA. She forgot the Moralite in the bottom of her cart - sheesh! - but hadn't paid for it. Tonight I had my first Yakima and it is a delicious surprise, piney and grapefruity goodness, definitely not your typically flavoured heavy hopped west coast ipa but a joy to drink. Had it with dinner (leftover roasted vegetable stack made with homemade corn tortillas, a joy to eat with such a good beer). Yakima IPA is a fine variation with lots of flavours, a surprising lightness, and a lower abv than many IPA's. Will buy more. Will drink more.
I have to add that I had the best Beau's ever a couple weeks ago, courtesy of my dear s-i-l, their Old Ale, Gilgamesh. It had some fine flavours but suffers from their usual fault - not enough concentration of flavours, my frequent thought about many Beau's beers - too much water, not enough flavour. But with this beer they have flavours worth concentrating and enjoying, so I continue to have hope for them and suggest that the gang there head across the river to the north of them and hit up a dep there and sample some fine Quebec beers to see the depth of flavour Quebecers are enjoying. Speaking of which my dsil very very highly recommended I try Le Trouble Du Diable's La Buteuse, a triple he really enjoyed (one of his comments: Butterscotch! MMMMmmmm); why he didn't pick one or more up for me to try and for my dd to bring out when she visited I don't know.
Cheers!
I edit to add that dsil made up for his flub yesterday by roasting a nice leg of lamb and hosting our Easter dinner. All is forgiven!

Andy, without a doubt, the IPA from Le Castor is really good. They have won several titles this years...pretty impressing.

I live on the Quebec side and I frequently buy my beer here in deps...but I have been sampling Beyond The Pale beers on several occasions in the last month and their beers especially their seasonal's really reminds me of Quebec style beers with bold and strong flavors.

wheresdafood that's a comparison I am really happy to hear and something I can understand and relate to. I haven't tried any Beyond The Pale beers yet and you can bet I'll put a stop to that thanks to your info. Thanks, and Cheers!

Another beautiful, flavourful beer I had just recently was an Ommegang Gnomegang, a most enjoyable Blonde Ale that is a collaboration between Ommegang and Chouffe Breweries. I had set it aside for a year and pulled it out for a most appropriate celebration. Glad I did. Fantastic!

So many beers not reviewed, what a shame.

My dw brought me back some beer from NS this week including a couple from a new brewery, Boxing Rock, in Shelburne, NS. I am drinking the most promising one, the Vicar's Cross, a Double IPA. Delicious! Malty, bitter and tasty. Not too sweet thank goodness, grapefruity and a nice long finish. Really enjoyable, and a fine beer for a new brewery, showing they are one to watch. Check it out if heading off to Nova Scotia this fall - recommended.

Was at BDT a few days ago, had their La Basse Saison 8.5% blonde... complex, great finish, doesn't taste nearly as alcoholic as it is... seriously i don't know how they made a blond beer that dark (amber'ish), that strong but that light tasting. The Brewmeister should get a Nobel prize for science in brewing.... now i want a case of the stuff, no, i want a keg. Several kegs, one at home, one in my office, one in my car... the trunk of course, not the front, because that would be stupid and harder to fit the fridge...