Chocolate Mint Brown Ale, Dead Frog, BC

Sometimes you know it will be bad... and you just want to know _how_ bad.

Well, we drank most of the bottle. A small glass with desert is OK.

Tastes like beer flavored with after-8 mints. Hm.

Pommeau de Bretagne, Manoir dur Kinkiz, FR

I loved this! Its a mistelle, a mixture of juice and distilled alcohol, in this case apple juice and eau-de-vie of apple. It was rich, complex, sweet but not too, 17% alcohol, and I wish I could buy it here! Thomas brought a bottle from France.

Taunt yourself by viewing it on the web

Surly Blonde Big Belgian Triple, Phillips, BC

A nice winter beer, warming!

Scottish Ale, Granville Island, BC

Their seasonal. Its OK.

Hoppelganger, R&B, BC

Tasty, hoppy, as advertised.

Crooked Coast Amber Ale, Driftwood, BC

Slightly sweet and reddish. Tasty.

The Hammer Imperial Stout, Phillips, BC

Nice rich 8.3% imperial stout.

Red Racer Pale Ale, Central City Brewing, BC

Simple, tasty, drinkable, economical. A well-crafted ale.

Blackberry Porter, Cannery Brewing, BC

As I remembered, not so great, tastes like flavoured beer... which of course is what you expect when you drink a flavoured beer, but still.

Red Racer Pumpkin Ale, Central City Brewing, BC

Enjoyable seasonal, I bought a few six packs of it, but its gone now.

Avatar Jasmine IPA, Elysian, CO

I bought this out of curiosity, it seemed a long shot, but Julie likes jasmine.

What a pleasant surprise! Its not really an IPA, if the hops were strong Julie wouldn't like it, it seems to me they "dry-hopped" it with jasmine flowers, and it works really, really well! A few weeks after drinking a few in the bottle, I found it on tap at the Whip, but only a temporary thing.

Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, Elysian, CO

Honestly, I can't remember, but I think it was good...

Saison de Dottignies, Br. De Ranke, BE

I've been really enjoying Saisons in the last year. Its my new discovery, so imagine my surprise in getting one from Belgium, the source, and it wasn't good. Kindof sour, in a bad way.

Double Chocolate Stout, Young's, UK

On sale at the liquor store, I now know why!

Yuck, degulas, it tastes like an OK stout that had chocolate flavoring added, slightly medicinal, and cheap.

Old Ruby Ale, Waitrose?, UK

Slightly sweet, organic, tasty. Also, reasonably cheap, despite being imported. I like the cents/ml price they have on the shelf at the BC liquor stores!

Porter, Eel River Brewing Company, CA

Think it was OK, but can't rightly recall...

Redecorate your home!

I had a coffee with a friend of mine, Wanda, a few months ago (I think, paternity is a blur), to talk about how to do an easy website for her new business. I ran into her on Broadway today, while Julie was getting a haircut, and she's gone and started La Claire Interiors, check it out!

Recidive, Brasseurs et Freres, QC

An irish style stout, dry, low alcohol (4.8% ABV), and tasty.

Weizen Imperiale - Grande Cuvee, Les Trois Mousquetaires Microbrasseurs, QC

Really nice, little bit sweet and hazy, 8%ABV. I'll try some more of their beers.

Jack d'Or, Pretty Things, MA

prettythingsbeertoday.com make a nice "American Saison". Interestingly, despite its complicated spicy flavour, it doesn't have any spices in it. They are very emphatic on the web page about that! I guess that's different from Driftwood's Farmhand Ale, which does have some black pepper in it.

I think I like Saisons, this one is a bit expensive for regular drinking, despite its beautiful bottle, but I want to try more!