A Good Beer Blog

National Six-Pack V: Sleeman Fine Porter, Ontario

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 6 comments

This is a shift. I am going to include true six packs which are not necessarily pale ales when cause warrants. This one does.

It is the first Sleemans signature series brew, out for a limited time only and it is a porter. Interesting stuff but, first, look at the outside - they are blinding me with science. If packaging were up for a prize, this one wins. Beer porn. I could photograph it all day. Textured packaging, a sticker across the top and a flyer inside. Real corrigated cardboard. It made me get out the damask as a background and makes me feel like the photography studio needs an ungrade - or maybe a start.

The beer is in the style of Burton Bridge porter, highly hopped and only then malty brown. Not the other way around as modern porters would have it, like, say, Cooperstown Benchwarmer. That is good, legit. But it may make for issues with the expectant market. But who cares. This is a page from the recipe book, the Sleeman's artifact from its 1800s heritage that is a glimpse into south-western Ontario brewing as it was over a century ago.

The brewery gives its pitch at the website:

Taken right from page 68 of the family recipe book, it pays homage to the original Porters of Great Britain, and was brewed by George Sleeman back in the 1800’s.
The book is a big thing with Sleeman. It was passed to the current owner two decades ago by an elderly relative who had held it since the demise of the brewery in the Great Depression fifty years before:
John Sleeman, great-great grandson of the first Sleeman Brewmaster, revived the family business, locating its new facility just a few miles from the site of the original Guelph brewery. Pure spring water from Guelph's celebrated deep wells again provided the first ingredient. Rare, small batch brewing vessels, similar in size to those once used by John H. himself, were imported from Europe. In 1988, Sleeman Cream Ale went on sale in Ontario for the first time in over half a century. Brewed according to the recipe found on page 64 of George Sleeman's personal notebook, and sold in distinctive clear glass bottles reminiscent of those used by earlier Sleeman brewers, the refreshing ale soon earned a loyal following among the growing circle of premium beer fans.
So, one wonders what is on the other pages.

My tasting notes are not necessarily as loving as either the packaging or the story. This is a challenging style. It is not as big in terms of mouthfeels as I might like but we have to trust that the brewer is being faithful. It is somewhat sharp and decidedly hoppy. I wonder what hops were used in 1864 and how these modern hops were chosen to reflect that. I wonder if the attenuation would be as great in 1864 as 2004. Attenuation is the ability of a yeast to consume as much of the sugars as possible and determines both how dry the finish ends and how high the alcohol is. Current production would greatly change what was to what is. When a beer ends up at 5.0%, the Canadian standard, I do not think there is much chance it is honouring any tradition. This beer is at 5.5%. There is hope.

The beer advocatonians are on the case.

Oregon: Yellow Snow Ale, Rogue, Newport

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment

Another seasonal release by the LCBO and the offering of one more Rogue Ale. As discussed before, the biggest monopoly in the market left in the world, only seems able to stock Rogue ales one at a time - next Saturday, I will be at a corner store with ten. Two months ago it was their chocolate stout. Now it is this well hopped pale ale flavoured with juniper berry.

It is a very intelligent brew as you ought to expect from Rogue. The use of juniper is intriguing. Pale ales sometimes have the addition of licorice - the former LCBO offering Hop and Glory had it. The idea is to balance a level of hops that malt alone cannot withstand. The ingredient has to harmonize with both the malt and the hop as it plays this supporting role. This beer is not a mammoth effort like Stone's Ruination, but at 5.7% and 45 IBUs it is getting there.

The brewery describes the ale as:A pale ale, saffron in color with a smooth malt balance, a floral aroma with a dry spicy finish from whole juniper berries.In that description there is something of the timing of the flavour, that what juniper there is shows only in the aftertaste. The Amarillo and "Styiran" (their typo) Golding Hops. Styrians are Fuggles (not Goldings) grown in the Czech Republic instead of their native southen England. Both Amarillo and Styrians are spicy and relatively obsure indicating a careful selection to match the juniper. Similarly the malt has honey notes while also providing some graininess. All these flavours still exist within the word "smooth". A real dandy effort. Some beer advocatonians do not appreciate it, which is fair as it is a take on a standard. Definitely worth a try of you, like me, like hopped pale ales. Sadly, as Lew notes, a poorly populated heaven such as this needs the brew to move and too many were sour.

Quiz

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - leave a comment

Name that brand:

Buying beer in Quebec

Posted by Blork du Montreal on in , - 25 comments

The workers of the liquor stores in Quebec are on strike. In any other place in Canada that would cause a small crisis, but Quebec is distinct in Canada for several reasons, one of which is the retail sales of beer and wine. While spirits can only be purchased at the government-run retail stores (the Société des alcools du Québec, or SAQ) beer and wine can be purchased at any grocery store or dépanneur (convenience store).

To my knowledge, the only other place in Canada where you can buy beer in convenience stores is Newfoundland. In that case it is only selected stores (I think) and you have to buy a "package." Here in Quebec, beer and wine is available in every dépanneur, and you can buy individual bottles, not just packages.

Unfortunately, the selection of beers and wines at most dépanneurs is not great. In the case of wines, there is a clear distinction between the wines of a dépanneur and the wines of the SAQ. Essentially, wines that are shipped to Quebec in bulk to be bottled locally are sold in dépanneurs. Most are quite bad, although some -- notably the ones from Chile -- are serviceable as table wines. "Real" wines are only available at the SAQ.

As for beers, most dépanneurs handle the usual array of standard domestics -- Labatt and Molson products, perhaps some Sleeman's, and a few others. Most dépanneurs have a few "imports" which are invariably Grolsh, Heineken, and Corona. Dépanneurs in urban areas usually carry a selection of Quebec-made microbrews (usually from Brasseur du Nord and McAuslan), but the farther you get into the countryside the fewer you see of these -- unless you find yourself in an enclave of urbanites in exile.

This system has the immediate benefit of having wine and cold beer available within walking distance of any home until 11:00 pm seven days a week. However, it is not without pitfalls. For example, the dépanneur wines are not only of lower quality than SAQ wines, but they seem, quite naturally, to be less expensive. Not necessarily, however, given that SAQ prices include all taxes and dépanneur prices do not include 15% sales tax. Most dépanneur wines are priced between $8 and $12 before tax, which I find outrageous. It is still possible to find a quite drinkable wine at the SAQ for under $11. Some dépanneurs -- such as ones that are far from any SAQ outlet -- gouge the consumer by cranking the prices even higher. I once was asked for $17 (after taxes) for a bottle of wine that usually retailed for about $10 (and was worth half of that in terms of quality).

In terms of beer, the SAQ handles an interesting -- but not exhaustive -- array of imported beers, and does not carry domestics. Thus, if you want to try something interesting from elsewhere, the SAQ is usually your only choice (but not always -- more on that in another post). However, you can imagine my surprise when I found cans of Japanese Sapporo beer in my neighbourhood grocery store last week, stacked next to jars of mustard and cans of tomatoes. Sapporo is quite well known, and easy to find, but I have not had it for some time, so I bought one -- partially because I'm rather fond of the heavy aluminum can in which it comes.

I cracked it open last night over a dinner of guacamole, artisanal tortilla chips, and home-made chili. It was much as I remembered it -- a good sturdy lager with a nice lacy head and golden color. Sort of a summery beer, but robust enough to stand up to my beefy meal. Then I looked closely at the can and was shocked to see that it was made in Ontario by Sleeman's, under license from Sapporo! Quel shock!

And there lies another pitfall of dépanneur shopping. A quick visit to the SAQ's Web site revealed that "real" Sapporo from Japan is available in some SAQ stores. Those who like the convenience of dépanneurs, however, must bear with the imitations.

Since both are available, perhaps I should set up a taste test...

Thanksgiving Beer

Posted by Joe Reed on in - 1 comment

Everyone wants to know what wine to serve at Thanksgiving. I, naturally, prefer to serve beer. Plenty of beers pair well with the traditional feast:

Beer Trade War

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments

And squid and plywood and VCRs...

Canada has announced a proposed trade retaliation against the USA over what is being called the Byrd Amendment dispute which will add a 100% trade surcharge against imports of US good and it includes tariff item 2203.00.00 "beer made from malt". Interestingly, bad beer has a lower percentage of malt and some might conceivably have none. Read ales have, of course, lots.

There is an email address to make submissions. It would appear to me reasonable to have an exclusion for imports of under $200.00 CND because that would allow me to personally avoid the implications. I will try to think of better reasons later but that is it now. Have a look at this post to see what taxes are being paid already - and happily given the good things our tax dollars go to. I suspect all that will happen is that I will restrict my local purchasing as I am in this for the quality research. I encourage you all to lobby hard to ensure my needs are met by sending your submissions to:

byrd-consultations@international.gc.ca

Names for the Glass

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 11 comments

A reply to Bruno's post at his blog alerted us to the problem:

Heu... Un demi c'est 250ml, soit 1/4l, soit effectivement a peu pres une demi pinte.
This is the problem at set out in the post below:
...in France, when you order beer, the usual glass is the demi. France invented metric system, but some remains of the old days are still alive. A demi is in fact about half a pint, rounded to be 125ml. While a pint is being named distingué, and a liter of beer is a formidable (which I think means "smashing" - who knows why?)
That will soon read 250 ml. An email came flying across the Atlantic and, as it should, it has gotten me are talking about it.

For me a "glass" of beer is a specific thing, a 8 oz glass which kind of looks like a butt end of a baseball bat (shown right). You only order them in pairs except when an additional small can of tomato juice is allowed. These were the rules of the Jerry at the Midtown and they are alright by me. By comparison, a "pint" should be a straight-sided 20 oz glass with a bit of a wow up near the rim to give a bit of grip (shown left). Not that weird barrel-shaped dimply thing with the handle. In Holland, you ordered trays of small round glasses with about 5 ounces of liquid and five of foam, passes the tray around and drank them before the foam dissipated - "dead beer" they called one without a head even if there was plenty of carbonation. Never caught the name of that glass, though Alfons might know.

But both Bruno and I are mere amateurs in the world of beer glass names - even with the excellently named formidable for a litre - compared to Australians who have different glasses and different names for those glasses in each state. I have known an Aussie who owned a pub and apparently this is a matter of great importance. Ordering the wrong schooner in the wrong town in the wrong way apparently can cause variation in your sperm count level and that of those with you.

Scottish Brewing Archive
Posted by Alan McLeod on

Beer as Soft Drink

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments

In Russia that is. When I worked in Poland not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the same shop sold you your bread and your beer and instead of excusing yourself past over-loaded grocery carts, you had to weave through the weaving neighbourhood gents. As part of a crackdown on its similar problem, the Russian government has also restricted beer ads:

Russia introduced tough beer advertising laws in September, banning commercials between the hours of 0700 and 2200. The use of people and animals in beer ads will be prohibited as of next year.
Thank heavens! The use of animals in Russian TV beer ads was a shameless scourge that was encouraging animals down a very slippery slope. These three gents used to breed siamese cats. Look at them now!

An Ordinary Bar in Bayonne, France

Posted by Bruno Bord on in - 7 comments

Cold November late afternoon. I'm entering an ordinary bar in Bayonne, in front of the market. There are half a dozen of customers, drinking coffee, tea, milk with chocolate. The bartender says a loud “hello” as I sit at the bar. I often sit on bar chair, lean on the counter.

Bartender: What will you?...
Me: Well... What kind of beer on draught do you have?
Bartender: Well...Kronenbourg.
Only Kronenbourg. All right. It's not the best beer, but if there's no choice...in France, when you order beer, the usual glass is the demi. France invented metric system, but some remains of the old days are still alive. A demi is in fact about half a pint, rounded to be 250ml. While a pint is being named distingué, and a liter of beer is a formidable (which I think means "smashing" - who knows why?)
Me: How much?
Bartender: Two euros.
France had changed its currency in the beginning of the century, as millions of people in Europe. Now, everyone counts in Euros, which are about a USD worth. Prices on everyday products are rising at a dangerous rate, not only because of the economic crisis. The government raises heavy taxes on alcohol (and tobacco) to struggle against alcohol and tobacco-addiction.

Kronenbourg. The ordinary beer. Low price. Low quality. Better draught than from a bottle, though. As I am sipping my glass, I'm looking in front of me. There are shelves, with bottles on them. A lot of them are not beer, in fact. Strong alcohols, mainly. Four bottles of beer on the shelf. Adelscott (a smoked malt beer, with a sweet sugar-like taste), Leffe Blonde (a Belgian you may have already read about), Blanche de Bruges (a Belgian wheat beer), and Pelforth Brune (a French brown beer, very good in fact). Well... That's not large as a choice as the newly born beer writer might want.

A man enters the bar. He says something I don't get to the bartender. It's obviously Basque (or Euskara), one of the oldest languages in the world, and maybe the oldest tongue in Europe. This language comes from “nowhere”. Well... not really from nowhere, but actually no one knows exactly where and when it comes from. The Basque culture is really alive and strong in the Basque Country population, and its unique language is one of the most important part of it. I often see the colorful sticker "Euskara badakigu" on the door of some shops, or bars, it means "Here, we speak Basque".

I assume that the bartender and the customer are talking about the latest rugby results. Rugby is the most important sport in the south-west France, way more than football (yeah, it's not soccer here - it's football). And Bayonne has a long rivalry with Biarritz. The two cities are five miles away and the two rubgy teams are deadly enemies. It's the fight against the rich-and-smart city (Biarritz), with a bunch of highly-paid stars playing in the team, against the popular and young student populated one (Bayonne). The discussion between the bartender and the customer is now part French, part Euskara.

My glass is empty now. I've got to leave. The sun is low on the horizon. Usually, November is a rainy month on the coast. By the way... every month is rainy, here. There are many bars in Bayonne, maybe too many. All kinds of bars. From the Irish-ish pub to the Cuban bar, from the upper-class café to the drunken factoryman's hangout. But I really need to find a good bar specializing in good beers.

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