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