Follow Us:

Blog

New beers - October 5th, 2016

Posted on October 6, 2016

Hey folks!

Time again for your weekly update! I got a good amount of new stuff coming here and most of it local! So come check out 2 of the newest Alberta brewers, and grab a few fall favourites while you're here!

Here are the new products for this week.



Swap the Hops pale ale by Bent Stick Brewing: Brand new beer from a brand new brewery! Edmonton's Bent Stick Brewing comes at us with this approachable pale ale filled with bready malts and robust, north American hops. Balanced and refreshing, and a worthy addition to the local beer scene! ($7.39 for a 650mL bottle)

Toothless pumpkin sour by Phillips Brewing: A different and modern take on an already modern favourite! Bright lactic acidity and wonderful spice notes on a silky malt base. Super interesting! ($8.39 for a 650mL bottle)

Black Spruce porter by Bench Creek Brewing: These guys have already shown us what they can do with pale ales, so here's how they tackle the dark side! This tasty porter is riddled with coffee, chocolate and dried fruit. Robust and lightly floral with a good balanced bitterness. Exactly what any porter fan craves!

Another new contender to the province debuts a range of Albertan staples. Here's what we've received from Coulee Brewing

Hoodoo Hops IPA: Light but tasty caramel malts with plenty of Orchard fruits and citrus notes all over the healthy bitter hop base. Crisp but satisfying! ($16.99 for a 6-pack of cans)

Red Coat Trail Ale: An interesting beer style, (extra special amber). Rich caramel tones with a moderate bitterness and plenty of fruity tones. Hearty enough to take with you on a long trail! ($15.69 for a 6-pack of cans)

Devil's Coulee Kolsch: A German favourite! Barley with a touch of soft wheat. Super quenching with light but fruity hops and esters. Mild and fine carbonation with a clean finish ($15.69 for a 6-pack of cans)

Dry hopped bourbon cask ale by Innis & Gunn: A new take on things from these guys! Using real barrels to age their beer, and dry hopping! This has your typical I & G sweet and caramely malts along with hints of oak and bourbon, but combines nicely with orange, citrus and floral notes. ($7.29 for a 330mL bottle)

One more quick thing, There are 2 new beers on the growler bar that you absolutely need to try! Four Winds IPA (spectacular, straight up west-coast IPA from BC) is a keg-only exclusive in Alberta and is not normally sold in stores. Zinnebir from de la Senne is a fruity, estery Belgian ale that is super easy to drink and available at a fantastic price (It's a small keg so likely won't last long!).

Well, there's another order day come and gone. I'm always happy to see the shelves full again (and with delicious beers at that!).  A quick reminder that the Craft beer Advent Calendar is in store and available to purchase, so make sure...

Continue Reading →




Albeerta Frontier tasting - Thursday, September 29th, 2016

Posted on October 11, 2016

Well we're back into the thick of the tasting season! We're up on the 2nd anniversary of two of Alberta's new breweries (namely Blindman and Dandy) and I figured it was a good time to take a bit of a taste test of some of the newest local beers to hit the scene! See who's pushing quality, and raising the bar! See who's playing it safe and pleasing the crowd! There were some interesting results which I'll share near the end!

We tasted through a delicious range of local goodies while snacking on some tasty treats from Peasant Cheese Shop. So without further ado, meet the locals!



River Session ale by Blindman Brewing: The staple beer of a soon-to-be veteran Alberta brewer (2 years old now!?) is a flavourful session IPA with a fresh hoppy character, moderate citrus and grassy tones and a biscuity malt body. ($14.79 for a 4-pack of tall cans)

Golden Brown Dandy by The Dandy Brewing Company: This is the 2nd anniversary bottling of their staple English pale. This batch is made with Gleneagles Maris Otter malt, and a brand new variety of English hops called Jester (actually the first batch of this to leave the country). It has wonderfully robust malt with intense earthy, and lightly floral hop notes, and a mild, soft bitterness. (Not available in store. Currently only available at the brewery)

Southern Aspect IPA by Banded Peak Brewing: Much different than their flagship IPA. A rich, dense malt base serves as a silky vehicle for oodles of Mosaic and Summit hops that explode with mango, lemon, lime, orange peel, passionfruit and pineapple. In my humble opinion, this is one of the best IPAs in our province. ($10 for a 1L growler fill, $19 for 2L)

Sour Nelson by Wild Rose Brewing: A play on a past release (Heffe Nelson), this is a wheat ale done with New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops that typically exhibit generous white wine grape notes. They play with this theme by fermenting it with Laco. to give it a generous acidity, and then age it in fresh Sauvignon Blanc barrels (to further bring out wine-like characteristics. This is a truly unique (and very limited) beer by one of Alberta's first brewers. ($17.29 for a 750mL bottle)

Open Road Brown ale by Troubled Monk: Another somewhat recent contender to the scene broke in with this truly impressive brown ale. This is a style that is all but looked over by so many hop-head and sour fans. It took me 2 good attempts to make sure I don't overlook it myself! It has beautiful roasty character, with lovely toffee notes on a perfectly balanced body and a pleasant hop bitterness to finish it all off. Careful you don't drink it all in one go! ($15.69 for a 6-pack of cans)

Flat Cap stout by Toolshed Brewing: This is a tasty, medium body (for a stout) stout with plenty of toasted bread and chocolate. A mild and soft bitterness backs everything up and cuts through the malt in a very pleasant way. It's an inc...

Continue Reading →




Gin, Glorious Gin tasting - Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Posted on October 11, 2016

Gin evokes the senses of Summer and bears the unique ability to take us away from the approaching dreary cold. The beauty of gin is in its botanicals, showing off the of many different herbs, spices, fruits and other ingredients in a delicate concoction of elegant essence. Gin distillers in the current age of gin are taking to using locally harvested botanicals of which express the uniqueness of their own terroir. All of this equates to a great amount of variety in the offerings available with new ones being made available nearly every week. In this tasting I selected a handful of unique and interesting gins that expressed just this, highlighting the interesting natures of each distilleries surrounding style. Here is what we tried.



Blackwater Gin No.5
A shocking result for the night, this interesting Irish gin is something of merit. The quality was something between refreshing and oily, an extremely silky mouthfeel complimenting it's more citrusy components. The style is exceedingly approachable and seemingly left an impression on all who tasted coming in first place for favourites picks. - $48.99

Tempo Renovo Dry
This bottling was something to raise eyebrows by, tasting of a chocolate whey protein powder shake and orange creamsicles after being left in the freezer too long. If this unsettles your traditional gin sensibilities I would probably recommend you try it anyways as this one tied for second. A definite must have for the gin adventurous. - $30.99

Long Table Cucumber
A spin on an old favourite, if you enjoy the charming refreshment of Hendricks then Long Table's Cucumber will be a fun endeavour into craft distillation. Based out of Vancouver, this niche producer is making tasty and a touch on the wild side spirit. The cucumber is in a perfumed state with other herby characters like bay leaves and parsley. A fresh walk through the garden. - $48.99

Panarea Island
Hailing from Italy, this interesting offering is produced from a notable Grappa distiller. Though their roots are in the grape must distilling business their aptitude for gin distillation is notable if not remarkable. I was personally quite enamoured with this bottling, maybe it was the blueberries they used, maybe it was the Patriotic Italian in me. That being said it couldn't have just been me for this bottle was picked second favourite of the night. - $47.99

Volcanic
Well, this wasn't anyone's favourite, and it wasn't exactly special (aside from the gimmicky "filtered through volcanic rock" aspect), but it was a reasonably well executed gin that can be expected when one spends thirty seven dollars. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are the type to get excited about the uniqueness of Iceberg Vodka this may be for you. Expect a better than Bombay experience, maybe a good replacement for whatever bar back bottle you have on hand. - $37.99
Continue Reading →




Canadian Single Malt Whisky

Posted on December 11, 2022

by Evan

Interested in Canadian Whisky? You can view other posts on this subject here and here.

 

Canadian Single Malt Whisky
Where We Are Now and Where We Are Headed

 

 

On September 20th we held a Canadian Single Malt Whisky tasting here at KWM.
The lineup consisted of six single malt whiskies from a total of four different distilleries:

 

 

 


Glen Breton 'Battle of the Glen’ 15yr

Stalk & Barrel Canadian Single Malt

Shelter Point Inaugural Run Single Malt

Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt Release 3

Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt Release 2

Glen Breton ‘Jardine Reserve’ 25yr


 



These bottlings represent a good portion of what is available in the way of Canadian single malt whisky right now. There are more coming though. We will talk a little about that below. Canadian whisky has been around for quite a while - but Canadian Single Malt Whisky is still in its relative infancy.

For years looking for a Canadian Single Malt Whisky meant you were looking for a bottle of Glen Breton and that was it. This has recently started to change and now we have a few more distilleries with their own single malt offerings hitting the shelves. Here is a list of what is available now.

Glen Breton from Glenora Distillery in Glenville, Nova Scotia - The Canadian single malt distillery that started it all has been around since 1989. They currently produce the only Canadian single malt whisky with an age statement stated explicitly on the bottle. Among its current lineup you can find 10yr, 15yr, and even 25yr single malts. Glenora Distillery originally sourced its malt from Scotland. It now gets its barley from Alberta.

Glen Breton is famous (or infamous) for winning the right to use ‘Glen’ in its name after the Scotch Whisky Association set out to oppose it. In the suit - which took from 2000 until 2009 to come to a verdict - the SWA eventually lost and had to pay a portion of Glenora’s legal fees. This is where their 15 year “Battle of the Glen” gets its name.

Possibly the second Canadian Single Malt to hit shelves was Stalk & Barrel Single Malt Whisky from Still Waters Distillery in Concord, Ontario. Still Waters Distillery was the first micro-distillery operating in Ontario starting production in 2009 with their first single malt release coming in 2013. They focus on using local grain as much as possible.

Okanagan Spirits in Kelowna, BC. Okanagan Spirits dubs itself as “...

Continue Reading →




New beers - September 29th, 2016

Posted on September 29, 2016

Howdy folks!

Here for yet another week of new beers and blog posts. Autumn is more or less in full swing now, complete with crunchy dead leaves that get absolutely everywhere, and the most beautiful sunny fall days. Of course the best part is the beers that come with all this! Pumpkin and Marzen are the words that correspond with autumn (at least for me). One of my favourite things is to try different brewer's take on the classic Marzen, and that's exactly what I get to do this week!

Here are my new beers:



Raised By Wolves IPA by Driftwood Brewing: An intensely fruit forward IPA from BC's best! Liberal use of fruity equinox hops, combines with a strain of super fruity Saccharomyces (previously thought to be another strain of Brett) to make this up-to-date ultra modern IPA.

Passion fruit sour by Breakside Brewing: A fruity sour ale inspired by the German Berlinerweisse. This mouth puckering, thirst quenching beer has it's acidity accentuated by tart passion fruit, whose fruity character integrates perfectly with the wheaty base. This is a limited release that's brewed just once a year, so don't miss out!

Sour Nelson by Wild Rose Brewing: White wine meets beer with this tart, barrel aged monster. The beer is a blend of their Cow Bell kettle sour, and a hefeweizen. It's then hit with a dose of fruity, white grape-ish New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops, and then aged in Sauvignon Blanc barrels.

State of Mind ISA by Collective Arts brewing: An everyday style India session ale. Loaded with tropical, citrusy and slightly piney hop notes on a crisp, light base. The very definition of a "crushable" beer.

Oktoberfest beer by Ninkasi: Toasty malt with grassy, earthy hops. Ninkasi makes their Marzen with a slightly more robust hop profile and a tad more alcohol than the classic Oktoberfest beers, but it still fits as the perfect beer for the changing season.

Oaktoberfest by Firestone Walker: Rich honey malt notes with noble, spicy hop character. This defines Marzen the best, and so does Firestone Walker! All ingredients are imported to help make this as authentic as possible, and it's certainly worth the effort!

On top of the new Marzens, I also received Erdinger's Oktoberfest Mix Pack that comes with 5 beers and a glass!

For all the hop heads out there, another new tasty treat is hitting the growler bar. We have the privilege of pouring Four Winds IPA! This beer is exclusive to a local beer bar, and we lucked out and managed to snag a keg for ourselves! Make sure not to miss this as Four Winds is definitely one of BC's best breweries!

Finally, don't forget to come grab your Beer Advent Calendars, as they are now in store and will likely not last long!

Until next week, cheers!

- Shawn...

Continue Reading →




Newer Posts →

← Older Posts

Recent Posts
Archives

Categories