Saturday, April 5, 2014

Double Trouble Fire in the rye

As the microbrew industry expands so do the different types of beer and different interpretations of beer styles.  In that vein the good folks at Double Trouble brewing company out of Guelph, Ontario have come up with a very interesting unfiltered rye pale ale called fire in the rye.  A really tasty and surprisingly bitter pale ale.  This review will also give me a chance to debut a new feature of my blog, a picture of the beer which will be cool although I won't have pics of every beer I review it will still be a great addition!

The first striking feature of fire in the rye is how cloudy it is, the pour is an interesting brown colour that is so cloudy you can't see through it when you think you should be able to.  When you take a sip you immediately get a bitter and floral hoppy taste, a product of the centennial hops they use.  This hoppy beginning really strikes you but once you get past that wall of hops it settles down into a very noticable rye malt flavour in the middle that trails off into a smooth but somewhat watery finish.  The rye and grain flavour of the malt really mixes well with the floral taste of the centennial hops but I wish it didn't finish so watery.  I truly applaud the folks at Double Trouble for the creativity in this one, it has the potential to be an excellent beer but I felt as though that watery finish let it down somewhat, it really makes it taste less balanced than it should be.  I am definitely willing to try this interesting creation again, as they perfect their recipe it will get better.



It's available across Ontario at the LCBO, Double Trouble's Hops & Robbers is available in Manitoba and BC as well so there is hope that it could find its way there soon.

Rating: 3.5 Steins

What you need to know

Website:
http://doubletroublebrewing.com/

Twitter:
@DT_brewing

Friday, April 4, 2014

The Microbrew times would like you to support the CISDEP Teespring campaign

As a proud supporter of CISDEP, Christy’s Integration, Skills, Daycare and Educational Programs, the Microbrew times would encourage everyone to take a look at their teespring campaign to raise funds.  More information can be found at the following links

http://www.teespring.com/cisdep

https://www.facebook.com/events/470147963114440/

Thanks in advance


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Peel Pub House Red

Now, I know I tend to review fancier craft beers that have intricate flavours and tons of hops, but you aren't always craving something that complicated, and often expensive.  Watching sports and eating greasy pub food is one example of a time when you want something a little lighter and more thirst quenching. This is why on the Sunday morning of the olympic gold medal game I found myself in the peel pub in Montreal having house red and watching hockey, because Canada.

In all honesty I wasn't expecting much, especially at $3.50 per pint on a Sunday morning in a sketchy college pub.  Having low expectations meant I wasn't particularly disapointed to discover that it is pretty watery and bland.  There is enough malt in it to remind you that this is a red ale (apart from the obvious red colour), but apart from that this is really un-remarkable. I can't really talk about any flavour notes because there really aren't any but it is smooth and quenches the thirst, useful when watching hockey on a Sunday morning.  I imagine it would be good with chicken wings.

It's available on draught at the Peel Pub, on Peel St. in downtown Montreal.  At $3.50 per pint and with affordable pitchers as well the price is good for a drinkable red ale.

Rating: 2 steins

What you need to know
1196 Peel
Montreal QC
H3B 2T6

Website
http://peelpubmontreal.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/peelpub

Twitter
@peelpub

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Good times were had by all at the CISDEP Board game night

The Microbrew times would like to thank everyone who came to the board game night at Monopolatte and  in Ottawa last night to support CISDEP, Christy's Integration Skills, Daycare, and Education Programs.  An enthusiastic crowd turned up to play games and support CISDEP.  Christy's is taking giant leaps towards their grand opening and you were all a great help.

For more information on Christy's, please visit their website:  http://cisdep.org/

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Mill Street Vanilla Porter

I have started to become a bit skeptical of beers that advertise a certain flavour.  Unless it is a fruit beer they tend to have no more than a few notes of the advertised flavour.  This is particularly common in the stout and porter department so I wasn't really expecting a whole lot of Vanilla flavour when I picked up a couple of cans of Vanilla porter at the LCBO.  I figured I would get a good beer, but what I got really caught be off guard. From the moment I opened the can I knew this would not follow the mold of other "flavoured" stouts and porters.

First to get this out of the way, this beer really really tastes and smells like vanilla, a heck of a lot more than I have ever tried.  This beer tastes a bit like washing down a piece of birthday cake with beer, a very very odd combination.  Not to say that it is bad, odd is good but I have never had a beer with this strong a flavour before.  Once you get past the "Holy vanilla batman" impression it is actually a pretty good beer.  The vanilla flavour is contained primarily in the creamy/foamy head so once you get past that it is a very smooth and creamy beer.  Unlike some stouts and porters it is not bitter whatsoever so if you are nervous about bitter beer then have no fear, however if you are worried about a thick beer then this one is not for you, it is smooth, thick and creamy.  Where it gets let down is the balance.  When you first take a sip you are overwhelmed by the vanilla flavour, but beyond the vanillaness there isn't a whole lot of flavour left.  I felt a bit let down with how bland it seemed to taste past the vanilla head. I wish the vanilla flavour was more spread out as opposed to being all right at the start.  Regardless this is still a good beer, and one I would be happy to try again, however people who are not fans of vanilla should stay away.

It's available at Mill St. Brewpubs as well as in the LCBO in Ontario.

Rating: 3.5 Steins.

 What you need to know
Brewery & Brew Pub

21 Tank House Lane
Toronto ON
M5A3C4

Other Brew Pubs
Ottawa
555 Wellington St
Ottawa, ON
K1R 1C5

Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 1
Mississauga, ON
L4W 1S9

Website:
http://www.millstreetbrewery.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MillStreetBrewery?fref=ts
Twitter:
@MillStreetBrew

Monday, March 10, 2014

Cassel Brewery Caboose IPA

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, had some technical issues with my primary note taking instrument (my phone) so didn't have any info!   Tonight's review is of Cassel Brewery's Caboose IPA, yet another beer with a train themed name!  As someone who is not the biggest fan of uber hoppy IPA's, I always try new ones with a bit of trepidation.  Fortunately the good folks of Cassel brewery share m y philosophy of hop restraint and have produced a pretty tasty brew!

One thing that I noticed about Caboose is that it is really well balanced.  It pours a decidedly clear and light colour, less cloudy than a lot of IPA's that you see.  Keeping with that theme of being different from a lot of IPA's, it actually has a bit of a sour taste at parts.  A sip starts out with a bitter opening that nicely transitions into that interestingly sour and and citrussy middle bit.  This sour middle moves into a bitter "second wind" so to speak that nicely rounds out the IPA goodness.  I tried it at the "Winterbrewed" festival back in February and it was one of the highlights of the event, however it does pack a bit of a punch, somewhere in the 6-7 percent range, so be warned if you are planning on driving afterwards.

It's available on draught at a variety of places in Eastern Ontario as well as in bottles at their brewery in Casselman. 

Rating: 4 Steins

What you need to know
Brewery and shop address:
715-C Rue Principale
Casselman ON
K0A1M0

Website
http://www.casselbrewery.ca/

Twitter
 @casselbrewery

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cassel-Brewery-Co/201323393214987

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Clocktower Brew Pub Wishart's ESB

Clocktower Brew Pub are a prominent chain of Brew Pubs in Ottawa, as a matter of fact there are 4 of them around town.  Readers may wonder why I have yet to review any of their beers given that they are so prominent here in Ottawa.  The answer is that every time I have tried their beers I have found that the quality has ranged from bad to average so I struggle to bring myself to one of their pubs.  Regardless of my lukewarm opinion of their beers I found myself in the Westboro location with my girlfriend.  Of their 5 beers the ESB seemed the most appealing as ESB is my favourite beer type and unfortunately their beer still needs work.

Wishart's ESB is indeed a standard ESB style beer.  The pour looked a very promising malty brown with very little in the way of head.  Unfortunately the opening of the beer lets down the side a bit, it starts of being way to watery for a proper ESB.  This does progress into a pretty decent malty middle bit that is punctuated with a bitter punch that is quite surprising given the rest of the beer.  Unfortunately this bitter punch makes the beer seem really unbalanced, the watery beginning and bitter end makes it hard to appreciate.  Most ESB's are fairly complicated but this one is pretty simple, which was a bit disappointing.  Regardless of the balance issues this is actually a decent beer.  It is not pretentious and it is nice and drinkable, I just feel as though it needs refinement. 

It's available at the 4 Ottawa brewpubs in the Glebe, Byward Market, New Edinburgh and Westboro. 

Rating: 3 Steins

What you need to know
Website:
http://clocktower.ca/

Twitter:
@The_clocktower




 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Whitewater Brewery Midnight Stout

One great thing about the rise of microbrew is that you often stumble across breweries that you had never heard of who brew in towns that you have also never heard of.   This is the case with Whitewater Brewery out of Forester's Falls, Ontario.  According to google maps Foresters Falls is on the Ottawa river, somewhere between Renfrew and Pembroke, and seemingly not really near anything other than rocks, trees, and good places to Kayak, which explains the presence of a lot of kayak and tree imagery on their website.  Remote brewing location aside, I happened to stumble across their beer at the Black Tomato restaurant in Ottawa and so had to give their Midnight Stout, an Oatmeal Milk stout a try.

People who read this blog regularly will know that I love a good stout, particularly a good oatmeal stout so I was really excited to give this one a try.  I had it on draught and it pours a nice black colour with a good balanced head.  My first impression was of how creamy it is, you really get a sense of the thick, milky flavour to it.  A lot of stouts can be a bit bitter but this one is not like that at all, it is one of the smoothest and creamiest stouts I have had.  When you first take a sip you get a slight smoky intro, which is subtle but really nice.  This smokiness leads into a brilliant smooth and chocolaty middle section that trails off into that excellent creamy finish.  To say that I was impressed was an understatement.  Stout is a tricky beer type to master and it often ends up being quite watery, but Whitewater have done a great job here.  If you like stout I would strongly recommend it.

It is available at a selection of pubs and restaurants in the Ottawa valley, including a few in Ottawa itself as well as at the brewery. They also do home delivery to folks in the following towns: Beachburg, Burnstown, Chalk River, Cobden, Deep River, Eganville, Foresters Falls, Pembroke, Petawawa, or Renfew but when I met their owner at the Winterbrewed festival in Ottawa last weekend they mentioned that they are hoping to be able to expand their range soon.  

Rating: 4.5 Steins. 

What you need to know:

Brewery:
22 Fletcher Road
Foresters Falls, ON
K0J 1V0

Website: 
whitewaterbeer.com/ 

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/WhitewaterBrewingCompany 

Twitter
@Whitewaterbrew

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Benelux: Hutchison ESB

As someone who is from Quebec but lives in Ontario, it is always neat to return and try the microbrew in my native province.  Traditionally la belle province has been a place that to find a lot of interesting Belgian style beers but recently we have seen a rise in the popularity of English style beers coming from Quebec.  Benelux (as the name suggests) is a brewpub that specializes in beer styles of the low countries, so I was surprised to see an English style ESB on tap when I popped in there to kill some time.  In terms of brewpubs in Montreal, Benelux is one of the best so I was very interested to see how they would handle the art of English beer.

As the name suggests Hutchison is an ESB.  For the uninitiated ESB, or Extra Special Bitter, is traditionally the strongest and hoppiest of the bitters with the commercial gold standard being Fuller's ESB from England.  I will start by saying that Hutchison is a good example of an English style ESB, but one that could use some work.  It has a very nice balance with a decent amount of maltiness.  Interestingly for an ESB it starts with a slightly sweet taste before progressing to the malty and bitter middle.  This middle maltiness is actually a bit tame compared to most ESB's, I was expecting more to be honest.  The sip finishes with a very smooth and enjoyable finish, a sort nice little touch down from the bitter high's of the sip's middle.  Unfortunately though it doesn't quite have the complexity and flavour of a top ESB such as Propeller or Fuller's but it is still a very nice beer.  If the maltiness was more pronouced then I think that this could be an excellent beer but as it stands now it is not quite as good as it could be.  Still a very good beer though.

It's available at their two brewpubs in Montreal, the first one is on Sherbrooke St. W near Place des Arts and the second is in Verdun. 

Rating: 3.5 Steins

What you need to know
Brewpubs
245 Sherbrooke St. West
Montreal Qc,
H2X 1X7

4026 Wellington St.
Verdun Qc,
H4G 1V3

Website:
http://www.brasseriebenelux.com/

Facebook:
http://www.brasseriebenelux.com/

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Flying Monkeys Amber Ale

Flying Monkeys are an ecelctic brewery.  Awesome name aside they tend to make brews that are loaded up with hops and have a million percent alcohol so I was surprised when I popped into the beer store to see that they have made a beer that is more geared towards the masses of beer drinkers as opposed to fans of uber hoppy beers.  As this was a new beer I hadn't tried I felt it was my moral obligation to pick up a six pack and give it a try, and it was a very interesting experience. 

Given flying monkeys history with hops I was expecting a very malty and hoppy amber ale but it really isn't.  It's actually quite sweet and floral with only a light dusting of hops, although true to flying monkey form this is quite a unique brew.   When you take a sip the first thing you notice is how sweet the opening is.  This intro is where the fruity floral taste comes in, as the sip progresses it mellos out into a smooth and slightly bland middle before finishing with a slightyly sour and hoppy finish.  This sour finish is very odd for an amber, it is something that would be more at home in a wheat beer than an amber.  Unfortunately this sourness seems a bit out of place and the fruity floral intro seems out of tune with the rest of the beer.  It seems as though Flying Monkey's amber is a mishmash of styles that makes it hard to fully enjoy.   It is smooth enough to be a good session beer, and it is has the complexities of a wheat beer, but the colour and consistency of a traditional amber ale.  As a result I wasn't overly convinced by it.  It is certainly complex, but it could benfit a bit from the old KISS theory (Keep It Simple Stupid).  I salute Flying Monkey's for giving this a go, but I feel as though they need to work on this in order to make into my regular rotation.

It is available at the beer store and LCBO in Ontario as well as at their brewery store in Barrie.  Their website was unavailable at the time of writing, so I am not able to tell you if and where it is available on draught, but Flying Monkey's are often seen at pubs throughout Ontario, especially the  GTA.

Rating: 3 Steins

What you need to know
Website:
http://www.theflyingmonkeys.ca/

Brewery Address:
107 Dunlop St E 
Barrie, ON, L4M 1A6

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flying-Monkeys-Craft-Brewery/108949405799023 

Twitter:
@flyingmonkeys

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Hog's Back: Aporkalypse Now

You gotta love it when breweries use bits of their name as inspiration for a new type of beer, and Hog's Back often use the pig motif in their advertising and in the case of Aporkalypse now, the beer style.  Aporkalypse now is described a Bacon stout, yes that is right, a Bacon stout.  Meat eaters everywhere rejoice as the everyone's favourite meat is mixed with beer, the world's favourite alcoholic beverage.

To say that I was excited about this concept would be an understatement, I was really looking forward to some bacony, stouty goodness but alas it was not to be.  Don't get me wrong, Aporkalypse now is a perfectly competent stout.  It is not creamy like an oatmeal stout, it is a little more bitter and acidic, in the veins of an Imperial Stout but without the extremely high alcohol percentage. When you take a sip it starts off smooth and progresses to this bitter and slightly acidic middle, this is followed by a nice malty finish.  It has an ever so slight smoky taste to it, but you really ahve to look for it.   Unfortunately what I was looking for was a taste of bacon, but it was nowhere to be found!  Maybe the batch I had was not as bacony as other ones, but I found myself being a bit distracted by the lack of bacon flavour that I struggled to appreciate this for the brew that it is.  I think that if Aporkalypse now was an absolutely amazing stout without bacon I would not have noticed so much, but the fact that it is good but not great left me disappointed.  If I had never been told that this was supposed to be a bacon stout I would have rated it much higher.

It's a seasonal so it will only be available at certain times.  It can be found on draught at a variety of pubs and restaurants around the Ottawa area.  Personally I had it at my local (the Rochester) pub but even there it was one of their rotating taps. 

Rating: 2.5 Steins (but would be 3.5 if I wasn't told it was supposed to taste like bacon).

 What you need to know

Unfortunately they don't list an address on their website, but here is the rest of their info
Website
http://hogsback.ca/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HogsBackBrewingCompany

Twitter
@Hogsbackbrewing

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Big Rig Byward Brown

Big Rig Brewery are another member of the growing group of microbreweries in the Ottawa/Gatineau area.  The brewery is named after Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips (nicknamed the Big Rig) who is a part owner. The first time I had a Big Rig beer was at the Ottawa Beer fest in 2012 and was not all that impressed to be honest, so I didn't have all that high hopes when I went for dinner with my girlfriend.  Fortunately, they have really improved their brews and their Byward Brown is a really good example of an English style brown ale. 

The first thing I noticed about Byward brown when my pint arrived was the colour, I was expecting something lighter, but it pours a nice dark brown.   When you take a sip you will notice a very strong nutty flavour that really jumps out at you, it's a flavour you definitely smell before you taste it.  As the sip progresses it smooths out with a nice (but slightly watery) middle section that shows the slight coffee and chocolate notes before finishing with a bitter kick.  It is sweeter than the colour would suggest, closer to the commercial leader in this class, Newcastle Brown Ale, in the sweetness department but that bitter kick reminds you that you are definitely not drinking a sugary bottle of Newcastle!  Byward Brown is a surprisingly complicated beer and one that really goes well with the pub fare at their brew pub on Iris St.  As a loyal dark beer drinker I would have preferred it to be a bit thicker, but for those who are just starting to discover the dark side of beer it is a great gateway beer to thicker, maltier brews. 

It's definitely available on draught at their Iris St. brewpub as well as in growlers and six packs to go.  I have also seen other Big Rig brews at LCBO outlets in the Ottawa area so if you are lucky you may be able to pick up a six pack of Byward at your local liquor store, but their website does not have specifics of which beers are available.

Rating: 4 Steins.

What you need to know

Brewpub
2750 Iris St. Unit A (near the Ikea)
Ottawa, ON
K2C 1E6

Website:
http://www.bigrigbrewery.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BigRigBrew

Twitter:
@bigrigbrew

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Great turnout at Christy’s Integration, skills daycare, and education programs for persons with disabilities fundraiser band night



The Microbrew times would like to thank everyone who came to the band night at Luneta's Cafe and Bistro in Ottawa last night.  There were 4 great musical acts to entertain the great turnout.  Christy's is taking giant leaps towards their grand opening and you were all a great help.

For more information on Christy's, please take a look at her :Facebook Group

Friday, January 17, 2014

Muksoka Winter Weiss

January is bloody cold in Canada, and it is always a nice gesture by breweries to make some sort of brew to help warm you up in the far too long and cold winter nights.  Muskoka are the latest brewers to give it a go with their seasonal Winter Weiss, a German style dark wheat beer.  I was quite optimistic for this beer, Muskoka are one of the top craft breweries in Ontario and I am very rarely disappointed by their beers.

As advertised, this beer is a cloudy dark brown colour.  It's decidedly malty, much maltier than most weiss beers but it is not overly thick.  I was expecting a much heartier and full bodied and wheatier flavoured brew, especially for the winter months, however the lack of thickness makes it a surprisingly good session beer.  It goes down very smooth and tastes very nice, but it didn't really satisfy that thick warming desire I was looking for.   I also found that in order to satisfy the smoothness requirement it ended up being a bit too watery.  Muskoka make some fantastic beers, but sadly I was a bit let down by their winter weiss, at least as a winter beer.  In the summer it would be much better.

It's available at pubs and restaurants around Ontario, I had it at Stoneface Dolly's in Ottawa, but I have seen it at other places.

Rating:  In the winter: 3 steins
              In the summer: 4 steins
What you need to know
Brewery
1964 Muskoka Beach Road
Bracebridge, ON
P1L1V4

Website
http://www.muskokabrewery.com

Twitter
@MuskokaBrewery

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/muskokabrewery?fref=ts

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Mill Street Weizenbock

Considering that Germany is one of the biggest producers of beer, and Germans are some of the biggest drinkers of beer per capita it is surprising that we don't see all that many German style beers being created by microbreweries here in Canada.  We have plenty of British or Belgian style beers but the Germans don't seem to get a lot of love in terms of beer styles, which is a shame because a good Bock is one of the best brews you can have on a cold winters night.  Fortunately the intrepid brewers at Mill Street have come to the rescue with their Weizenbock, a truly excellent example of a German style beer.

If there is one thing you can count on Mill St. for is that they take their work seriously, and so to create a WeizenBock like this one they imported special yeast from Germany in order to truly replicate the German styles and the result is excellent. I was fortunate to have a pint at Union 613, one of my favourite restaurants in Ottawa and the first thing I noticed was the banana and nut aroma when I got my beer.  When you take a sip you really get that nutty/banana flavour which is coupled with a wonderfully smooth and creamy texture that makes it a joy to drink.  As the sip progresses you get some hints of spice and caramel before it trails off with a nice smooth finish. For those who are nervous about craft beer, do not be afraid, there is very little in the way of bitterness here, it is really smooth and flavourful. If I didn't already know that weizenbock was 7.5% I would never have known, so it could be very dangerous if you are drinking at the same pace you would drink a 5% beer, which with this beer could be very easy to do because.  This is another winner by Mill St. and if you are a fan of beer I would strongly suggest giving it a shot.  

It is definitely available at Mill St. Brewpubs in Toronto and Ottawa as well as select pubs and restaurants.  I had it at Union 613, so if you would like a glass then go there, also it is an awesome restaurant. 

Rating: 4.5 Steins

What you need to know
Brewery & Brew Pub

21 Tank House Lane
Toronto ON
M5A3C4

Other Brew Pubs
Ottawa
555 Wellington St
Ottawa, ON
K1R 1C5

Toronto Pearson Airport Terminal 1
Mississauga, ON
L4W 1S9

Website:
http://www.millstreetbrewery.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MillStreetBrewery?fref=ts
Twitter:
@MillStreetBrew

Monday, January 6, 2014

Trou de Diable: La Saison du Tongka

Have you ever wanted to try a beer that tastes like candy?  Not "tastes like candy" as a figure of speech but "tastes like candy" as in actually tastes like candy, no? Me neither but Trou de Diable made one anyway and it is a very odd concoction.  Despite the odd idea you have to give props to the good folks at Trou de Diable for rolling the dice on this one, much more so than wine, beer is a drink that can really be experimented with and a brewmaster can really let their creative juices flow into a sudsy creation, and with a microbrewery there are no shareholders or accountants worried about the profit margins. 

Saison du Tongka is light copper coloured ale that I will admit I was more than a little skeptical about.  Immediately when you take a drink you get this overwhelming cherry candy flavour, sorta tasting like those cherry hard candies that grandmothers often seem to have.   Despite the cherry candy flavour, this is NOT a Belgian style kriek lambic beer , it is a north american style pale ale with cherry candy flavour.   It is surprisingly drinkable and smooth, but the cherry candy flavour is very strong.  Unfortunately the consistency does not back up the potential as it can be quite watery and the cherry candy taste can really overwhelm the rest of the beer.   It is a valiant effort but unless you really like the taste of cherry candy then you probably won't like it.  I didn't think it was that bad, and it is always interesting when brewmasters try new flavour combinations, but this one was a bit too ambitious.

It's a seasonal so you would be hard pressed to find it.  Personally I had it on draught at the Only Cafe in Toronto but their website lists a variety of establishments in Quebec that carry Trou de Diable beer.  They also have a store at their brewery in Shawinigan. 

Rating: 2 Steins.

What you need to know
412 Rue Willow
Shawinigan, QC
G9N 1X2

Website:
http://www.troududiable.com/ 

Unfortunately I was not able to find a facebook or twitter account.  

 
 

Friday, January 3, 2014

Turtle Island Triple Chocolate Stout

One of the main reasons why stout and porter are such great beer types is that they allow the brewmasters to be creative, to really turn their beers into an art form.  That's why you see a lot of chocolate stouts and coffee porters and other such creations so I was really intrigued to try Turtle Island's latest creation, a triple chocolate stout.  Just as stouts are great ways for brewmasters to be creative, they can also be very difficult to do well, so trying a new one can be taking a leap of faith.  Sometimes the beer will be brilliant, and sometimes less so, and unfortunately Turtle Island's Triple Chocolate Stout is closer to the not so brilliant than the brilliant end of the spectrum.

Now, it's not that this beer is all that bad of a beer, I mean it isn't bad as far as stouts go, but it leaves you wanting for more flavour.   The one thing I noticed right away was the lack of any noticeable chocolate taste, which for a normal stout is not an issue but for one billed as a triple chocolate stout, that is a bit of an awkward problem.   When you take a sip it is decently malty, although much more watery than a good stout should be, it finishes off with a surprisingly bitter kick, something you would expect from an IPA or a bitter as opposed to as stout but it does add an interesting dynamic to the beer.  The problem is that as a stout, it doesn't stand out, there was nothing here that really interested me enough to want more. I am willing to give Turtle Island the benefit of the doubt as they are quite new to this stout thing, but this beer needs some work, some refinement of the process for it to be a beer that I would want to drink again. I applaud their creativity and effort, but they have a bit of work to do to bring this stout up to the level of something like Beyond the Pale's Darkness

I had it on tap at the Rochester Pub, and it is available at a small number of locations in Ottawa.  As Turtle Island are a new addition to the Ottawa Beer Scene it may take some time for them to establish themselves. 

Rating: 2.5 Steins

What you need to know
At last I heard they were brewing out of Broadhead's facilities in south Ottawa.
Mailing address:
294 Badgeley Avenue
Kanata, ON K2T 0A7

Website
http://www.turtleislandbrewing.com/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/turtleislandbeer

Twitter
@TurtleBrewCo