Grozet - Gooseberry and Wheat Ale

Category: Import (Scotland, UK)

Type: Ale

Style: Gooseberry and Wheat

Brewed by: Heather Ale Ltd.

Alcohol content: 5% ALC

This is a delicious beer, it is simple and makes a true statement. It has a fruit flavour but is not over bearing. The gooseberry flavour doesn't take over the beer but does give it an interesting and unique aftertaste which is interestingly not sweet. However, this is only one aspect of its complex flavour. The rest is filled with a hopy taste with the wheat giving it a whole body and mildly bitter taste.

Overall, we are very impressed with it.  It is a great beer from Scotland with a interesting flavour, one we would have again and absolutely recommend.

Amsterdam - Nut Brown Ale

Category: Local (Toronto) 

Type: Ale

Style: Nut Infused

Brewed by: Amsterdam Brewery

Alcohol content: 5%ALC

This is now one of my favorites beers in a can. It is as smooth as silk and didn't fail to please my palate from the first sip to the last. I enjoyed how easily you can drink it, as it leaves no bitter or long lasting aftertaste which is fairly rare for a full bodied beer. To describe it in one phrase is to say "Easy to drink, not to plain but not to out there, either." Finally, it has a slightly sweet finish to the flavour of the beer. 

In the end, I will be adding Amsterdam Brewery beers to my list of beers I want to try/find and Nut Brown Ale to the list of beers to keep in stock.

Mill St. Brewery - Raspberry Beer

Category: Local (Toronto, ON) 

Type: Ale

Style: Fruit Beer

Brewed by: Mill St. Brewery INC
Alcohol content: 5.0%

When I saw on the menu that they had different fruit beers on tap daily I was excited and inquired what the flavour of the day was.  I was hoping it would be something we hadn't tried yet so was a bit disappointed when the waitress said it was raspberry which we have already tried twice.  I survived the disappointment and decided to order it since I love raspberry.

After the beer I had last week (that review is coming, sorry, we've fallen a bit behind) I was hoping it wouldn't be too sweet but was happily surprised.  At first, the beer tasted just like a Mill St. brew: flavourful but not overbearing.  Interestingly, the raspberry flavour started filling my mouth after a couple of moments and it was wonderful; not to strong or sweet, but also not too weak that it just tastes like regular beer.  The aftertaste was that of raspberry but with the hint of alcohol and beer.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mill St.'s attempt at raspberry beer.  I would definitely have it again and would even go as far to say that it is my favourite out of the three raspberry fruit beers I have tried.

Mill St. Brewery - Cobblestone Stout

Category: Local (Toronto, ON) 

Type: Ale

Style: Irish Beer

Brewed by: Mill St. Brewery INC
Alcohol content: 4.2% ALC 

Earlier this week BeerTester 1.0 and I went to the Mill St. Brewery Pub in the Distillery District in downtown Toronto.  We decided we would both get a different type of beer with our meal.  The first, which was my choice, was their Cobblestone Stout.  This is a great beer, it is flavourful with an interesting walnut and chocolate finish. The beer was served in a typical pint glass and was surprisingly black with a bitter head. It was a excellent beer, very harsh a first but the chocolate and sweeter finish smoothed out the initial taste.

Overall, it was a good and complex beer I would drink again. Too bad it isn't being sold in bottles.

Mill St. Brewery - Coffee Porter 

Category: Local (Toronto, ON) 

Type: Porter 

Style: Coffee Infused 

Brewed by: Mill St. Brewery 

Alcohol content: 5.5% ALC. 

 More coffee, less beer.

This is a very tasty beer with nice alcohol and hops flavour.  However, we are avid coffee drinkers so were hoping for a bit more coffee flavour to come through. The beer is very smooth with a light after taste and very little alcohol bite.


Overall, it is a good beer, not too strong but still flavourful.  Still, it is a bit disappointing as this is supposed to be coffee infused and there is hardly any coffee flavour.

Trafalgar Ales and Meads - Maple Bock

Category: Local (Oakville, ON) 

Type:Strong Beer

Style: Bock/ Lager

Brewed by: Trafalgar Ales and Meads Brewery

Alcohol content: 6.5% ALC.

Finally finished exams and fully recovered, we decided to celebrate with this interesting local beer brewed in Oakville.  Maple Bock is a maple infused strong beer with strong, sweet tones and maple flavour.  It also leaves a delicious aftertastes of pure maple syrup in your mouth.  The strong maple flavour doesn't allow for the alcohol flavour to come through until the last second and it quickly dissipates as the maple aftertaste kicks in.  Even at room temperature it is a delicious beer that does not fail or cease to impress the drinker from the first sip to the aftertaste of the final drops of the bottle.

Overall, we are very impressed with the maple-y sweet yet strong brew flavour of this beer.  We would most definitely buy it again and recommend it to all due to its many different flavours.

Trafalgar Ales and Meads - St. Patrick Pick: Extra Special Bitter

Category: Local (Oakville, Ontario)

Type: Ale

Style: Extra Bitter

Brewed by: Trafalgar Ales and Meads Brewery

Alcohol content: 5%

Alright, lads and lasses!  Last one for today (obviously we have been doing a lot of beer drinking these past two weeks but not enough writing - probably because of the beer drinking...and it's exam time).

This beer lives up to it's name for sure!  It is a very bitter beer with a strong bitter finish and aftertaste that lingers on the palate.  However, the flavour is very full and almost sweet at first which balances the bitterness "causing the drinker to drink more of the drink until there is no more drink to be drunk" (BeerTester1).

Interestingly, we have two verdicts on this beer.  I think it is really good and actually enjoy the bitterness because it is not just bitter to be bitter but a flavourful and with a distinct and original taste.  On the other hand, BeerTester1 says: "This is not something I would keep in stock because it is a recipe for a hangover.  It is also a bit too bitter for my taste.  I don't hate it, I just don't want to keep it around".

Overall, this is the kind of beer good with a plate of fish & chips and for those who enjoy beers such as Guinness.  I am perfectly happy BeerTester1 doesn't really like it - more for me.