Innis & Gunn Canada Day 2012

A yearly brew made to celebrate Canada

Beer : Canada Day 2012

PHOTO BY BRETT ENQUIST

Brewery : Innis & Gunn

Brewed In : United Kingdom (Scotland)

Style : English Strong Ale

ABV : 7.7%

Price : $4

Notes : Brewed for Canada Day

Story : One of the things I like about Innis & Gunn is their beers come in gorgeous packaging.  The Canada Day brew is no different.  Canadian artist Gary Whitley incorporates Canada's maple leaf into the design of the box for this years Canada Day beer.

Appearance : With a thick two finger head, that left a good amount of lacing, the beer poured an oak and mahogany colour.

Smell : Not much to the nose other then the toffee.  It is slightly sweet too.

Taste : Fairly complex, the beer bites your tongue with a bit of Goldings hops but that quickly fades and leaves a oak, toffee, and dark fruit flavours lingering for quite some time.

Mouthfeel : Medium to full bodied but a bit watery.

Drinkability : I enjoy Innis & Gunn beers - especially their Blonde and Rum Cask (now known as Rum Finish) - but I don't know if I would buy this one on a regular basis if it was available all year round.  It definitely is a nice treat every Canada Day though.

Pub Chat: Episode 10 - Okanagan Spring Summer Weizen

Oh the joys of summer

Summer is here, or it was close when we decided to do an episode on Summer Weizen by Okanagan Spring.  Besides talking about the apricot beer we also talked about summer, and what exactly it means to us.  We are joined by Brett Enquist .

Download here .  Or subscribe in iTunes here .

Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

A review done by candlelight!

Beer : Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

Brewery : Boulevard Brewing

Brewed In : Missouri, United States

Style : Saison/Farmhouse Ale

ABV : 8%

Price : unknown

Notes : Available year round.

Story : My buddy Kevin went to Charlotte for work and drank a ton of good beers.  This is one of the ones he brought back to share with me.  The power went out just before we poured the beer.  So we lit some candles to enjoy this brew.  How romantic!

Appearance : Tank 7 poured a hazy honey yellow with a bit of a white frothy head.  The lacing on it was very nice.

Smell : Like saisons it had a yeasty aroma that was also filled with citrus hops, pepper spice, and sweet honey.

Taste : The flavour was incredibly well balanced with pine, grapefruit, and a bit of yeast, with a finish that was hoppy but slightly sweet.

Mouthfeel :  A good amount of carbonation in this medium bodied beer.

Drinkability : This beer was very good and I would pick up a few bottles if I ever came across them.  Will have to check out more beers from Boulevard as I really enjoyed their Rye-on-Rye and Chocolate Ale.

It’s Raining in Bamberg

My first homebrew review

Beer : It’s Raining in Bamberg

Brewery : Homebrew by Mark Mruss

Brewed In : Winnipeg, Manitoba

Style : Rauchbier

ABV : 7.2%

Price : not for sale

Notes : none

Story : I made friends with Mark through Twitter, and our love for beer.  After meeting for drinks a few times and discussing beer, including his homebrew, he was willing to share a bottle with me.  I figured it deserved a review.  I had to check to see if I have had a rauchbier before other than Half Pints Smoktoberfest, which is the only one I have checked in on Untappd, that I could find.

Appearance : The beer poured a dark brown and it looked slightly lighter around the edges.  Not much of a head came with the pour.

Smell : One of the few times where the saying “where there is smoke there is fire” does not apply.  Really smoky, faintly buttery and a bit of burnt molasses, It’s Raining in Bamberg had a very pleasant aroma.

Taste : If you like smoked beers then you would probably enjoy the taste of this one as well.  It was a very creamy smoke flavor with enough malt to make any beer geek happy.

Mouthfeel : Medium bodied and a bit of noticeable carbonation made the mouthfeel satisfying as well.

Drinkability : It was quite good.  Actually it was better than I was expecting. Thanks again for the beer Mark!

The Great Burger Hunt - Syls

Another rural edition!

This edition of the burger hunt is completely spur of the moment – more than usual.  Driving to Winkler to deliver some materials to a job site for work, I drove passed Syls in Carmen on the way.  So I figured on the way back I should stop in and check it out.

Nestled right on Highway 3, 64km from Winnipeg, the main road through Carmen, home of Eddie “the eagle” Belfour, Syls is a little building on the side of the road where you park and walk up to order, with only a few picnic tables to sit at if you don’t plan on eating on the go.  Syls has been around for over 50 years.  So they must be doing something right.

Looking at the menu, it is vast, very vast, and it took me a few moments to decide if I should even get a burger.  I could have gotten a burger, chicken burger, fish burger, hot dog, fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, shrimp, pizza pops, chicken wings, pizza perogies, chicken fingers, regular perogies, battered mushrooms, different kinds of milkshakes, soft ice cream, flurries, sundaes, wraps (3 different kinds), salads (4 different kinds), subs, floats, slushies, mozza sticks, and if I came early enough I could have even got eggs, sausages, muffins, or hashbrowns for breakfast!  That’s a big menu and all of it priced relatively cheap.

But I was on an impromptu burger hunt, so I ended up getting the bacon burger combo.  It didn't take long for my bacon burger combo to come out and during that time they must have served at least a dozen other customers.

The burger was rather thin but actually was quite good.  I was a little worried when I opened the tinfoil and it looked more like a McDonalds burger.  The toppings were really well balanced - the perfect amount of onions, pickles, mustard and ketchup, without overpowering the generous amount of bacon.  Even though there was nothing special about this burger it went down quite enjoyably.

The fries looked very much like McDonald's fries.  Again I was worried they would be terrible.  But unlike McDonald fries these were unsalted, making them actually edible.  I don't think I’ve ever been on a burger hunt that consisted of a burger and fries looking exactly like a fast food burger and fries and enjoyed it.  Yet Syls really surprised me.  No there isn't anything special about the burger and fries but I can say that this is a great place to stop if you're on the road and cutting through Carmen.  Unlike most burger places the amount of food you got was perfect too.  I didn't walk away with two pounds of left over fries after filling my self up; there was just the right amount.

What I got : Bacon burger, small fries and drink - $8.41.

Burger Taste : 3/5

Fries Taste : 3/5

Price Value : 4/5

Menu Selection : 5/5

Overall : 3.75/5

Syls

132 4th Ave SW

Carman, MB R0G 0J0

(204) 745-2432