5 Great Brews for Warmer Weather

5 Great Brews for Warmer Weather

It seems that warmer weather has finally arrived and that we’ve seen the last of any snowflakes that may drift from the sky–at least for the next five or six months, anyway.

The Northampton Brewery deck is open, and other outdoor beer venues will soon follow suit, so I thought I’d use today’s column to do my annual list of great summer beers. I realize it’s not summer yet, but the way seasons run around these parts, you know there will be days (like two Saturdays ago) when it feels like summer, with temperatures reaching the high 70s.

Some of these brews have made my list in years past, while others are new entries.

Either way, please feel free to let me know what your favorite warm-weather beers are. I’m always looking for new options.

So, in no particular order, here are five great brews for the warmer weather:

Victory Summer Love Ale – This crisp blonde ale became one of my favorites last year. It’s refreshingly light in its mouthfeel, while retaining a medium body, with a nice bite from the Noble hops employed in its making. The malt has a tasty biscuit/cracker flavor and it finishes dry with a small amount of hop citrus residue. This is a perfect brew for watching the sunset on a river.

Mahr’s Brau Ungespundet Hefetrub (Kellerbier) – Known mostly as Mahr’s U for this clear golden brew is grassy and somewhat fruity, with a subtle caramel note gracing its finish. Smooth and light-bodied, it finishes crisply. I can scarcely imagine a better hot summer afternoon beer than this one.

Pretty Things American Darling – Oh, wait: I just did imagine one. American Darling is the craft beer movement’s perfect answer to so-called “lawn mower beers” issues by large industrial brands. Although it’s infinitely more complex than any big-brand brew, American Darling blends it’s tasty flavors in such a way that probably wouldn’t scare off a Bud drinker. But those who know beer realize that it’s simply Dann and Martha Paquette’s brewing brilliance that makes the beer an across-the-board winner for all types of palates.

Troeg’s Sunshine Pils – This brew’s name all but announces its desire to be quaffed while soaking in the season’s infrared rays and ultraviolet radiation. Pilsners, when made well, are probably the best warm-weather style. This one features a subtle but tasty citrus aspect, with a body that’s a little fuller than most European pilsners.

Northampton Brewery Summer Fling – It wouldn’t be a proper list by me of its didn’t have an IPA on it, right? This session IPA (just 4.4, alcohol by volume) showcases a flavorful grainy malt character enveloped in a light and citrusy hop blanket. It’s a perfect brew for the Brewery’s beer garden.

Source: Brews for the Warm Weather

The 7 Different Beer Styles

The 7 Different Beer Styles

If you’ve been confusing your pilsners with your IPAs and imperial stouts, you need to consult this thorough chart from Greg Engert. His profiling system separates beer into seven categories — crisp, hop, malt, roast, smoke, fruit and spice, and tart and funky — and is used nationwide to help drinkers understand what’s in their glasses. Even if you hate beer, he has some ideas for you.

1. CRISP

Crisp beers are lighter, cleaner in flavor, and crisply refreshing. They range in color from straw to amber, have low to medium abvs, and are light to medium in body.

Delicate fruit: While not particularly malty or hoppy, these styles show a bit of fruit flavor—like green apple, berries or pear—from the employment of ale yeast.

NOTABLE STYLES
Cream Ale
English Blond Ale
American Blond Ale
Wheat Ale
Kölsch

Malt-accented: Lacking the fruit and spice aromatics of most ales and showcasing a much milder hop profile than Pilsners, these brews demonstrate a full bready, almost biscuity, malt flavor in addition to their crisp dispositions.

NOTABLE STYLES
Pale Lager
Helles Lager
Amber Lager
Vienna Lager
Märzen/ Oktoberfest
Helles Bock

Brisk hoppiness: A more emphatic hop regiment, typically employing German and Czech-grown hops (often referred to as Noble hops), results in crisp and refreshing brews that are drier and snappier in the finish, with spicy, herbal, and floral aromas abounding.

NOTABLE STYLES
Pilsner
Kellerbier/ Zwickelbier
Hoppy Lager/ India Pale Lager
Imperial Pilsner

PAIRINGS FOR CRISP BEERS: Spicy cuisines, light seafood, leafy greens and salads, sushi, roast chicken.

2. HOP

These brews are all about the delicious aromas and pronounced bitterness derived from generous additions of hops. Though typically endowed with some malt richness, hops in these brews will always provide the most intense flavor contribution. These beers range from medium to full bodied, yellow to brown in color, and low to high abvs.

Earthy and dry: Lighter and drier malt profiles along with earthy, hay-like, grassy, and woody hop flavors serve to define the character of these brews.

NOTABLE STYLES
Ordinary Bitter
English Pale Ale
English India Pale Ale
Belgian IPA

Malty backbone: While judiciously hopped, these beers have a fuller malt profile and body, often adding fruity flavors and a degree of caramel. The flavor balance still leans heavily toward the hops, which are highly aromatic and suggestive of pine and tropical fruit.

NOTABLE STYLES
California Common
American Amber Ale
American Imperial Red Ale
American Barleywine

Bold, herbal and citric: The milder malt character and the heavy use of intensely flavorful hops leads to brews that are brimming with hop-driven notes of citrus, resin and tropical fruit.

NOTABLE STYLES
American Pale Ale
American Fresh Hop Ale
American India Pale Ale
American Imperial IPA

PAIRINGS FOR HOP BEERS: Aged/hard cheeses, fried foods, burgers, rich/intense meats, deli sandwiches.

3. MALT

Malt-driven flavors dominate the flavor profiles of these brews; in each, expect a degree of sweetness and deep malty notes of nuts, toffee, caramel, toast, and fruit. These beers range from copper to dark brown in color, from light to full bodied, and low to high in abv.

Toasty and nutty: These brews tend to combine a mildly crisp quality with full bready malt flavors; think biscuity, nutty and toasty accents. Stronger versions can show a touch of caramel, while the biggest begin to display raisin and fig nuances.

NOTABLE STYLES
English Mild
Dark Lager
Dunkel Lager
English Brown Ale
Düsseldorf Alt
Dunkles Bock
Doppelbock
Eisbock

Fruit and toffee: In addition to a solid malt backbone, these brews possess mildly fruity aromas; caramelized, toffeeish flavors are layered with notes of dried fruit, red delicious apples, oranges, and plums.

NOTABLE STYLES
Best Bitter
Scottish Ale
Irish Red Ale
Biére de Garde
Belgian Pale Ale
Extra Special Bitter
English Strong Ale
Wee Heavy/ Scotch Ale
Wheatwine
English Barleywine

PAIRINGS FOR MALT BEERS: Pizza, root veggies, blue cheese, cured meats, seared pork, poultry, game.

4. ROAST

These brews employ highly roasted malts grains for coffee and cocoa flavors, rich mouthfeels, and very dark appearances. They can be medium-light to full bodied, from deep copper to black in color, and low to high in abv.

Soft and silky: Though these brews tend to be dark and malty rich, they do not show intensely roasted qualities; the profiles gravitate toward milk chocolate, hazelnut and latte. More intense styles exhibit dark fruit nuances.

NOTABLE STYLES
Schwarzbier
Brown Porter
Sweet Stout
Oatmeal Stout
Imperial Brown Ale
Imperial Porter
Foreign Export Stout
Belgian Stout

Dark and dry: The roastiest and driest of the dark brews; notes of burnt grain, tar, dark chocolate and espresso predominate. Fruit flavors emerge in the strongest versions, including plums, cherries, raspberries, and prunes.

NOTABLE STYLES
Dry Stout
Black IPA
American Brown Ale
Robust Porter
American Stout
Imperial Stout

PAIRINGS FOR ROAST BEERS: Grilled/blackened pork, poultry, game, seafood, dessert, barbecue, raw shellfish.

5. SMOKE

Brews that incorporate malts smoked over various wood fires, or aged in Single Malt Scotch Whisky oak barrels. These beers range from medium-light to full bodied, can be deep amber to dark brown in color, and may be medium to medium high in abv. They are typically milder brews, were it not for the often dramatic smoky flavors.

Subdued smolder: The smoked flavor is more subtle for styles within in this category; prevalent toasty and/or roasty malt flavors balance against the woody, peaty, or spicy smoked notes.

NOTABLE STYLES
Smoked Beer
Steinbrau
Smoked Porter

Spicy and meaty: Heavily smoked, sausage-like flavors are the calling card of these beers. Bonfire aromas overlay a range of subtler flavors, from biscuity malt to bananas, nutmeg, and clove, to raisins, toffee and nuts.

NOTABLE STYLE
Rauchbier

PAIRINGS FOR SMOKE BEERS: Raw fish, sausages, game meats, pork cuts.

6. FRUIT & SPICE

The flavor profiles of these beers are most notable for the bold fruit and spice flavors they possess; fruits and spices are sometimes added to further accentuate such flavors. These brews may be sweet, semi-dry, or dry, but are never overtly bitter. Abv ranges from low to high, body is low to high and color ranges from golden to dark brown.

Bright: Expect brighter fruit qualities from these styles, like apple, pear, peach, orange, lemon, banana, and apricot. Bubblegum is apparent in some cases as well as the following spices: clove, pepper, vanilla, and coriander. Stronger versions show malt notes of toffee, caramel and toast.

NOTABLE STYLES
Kristalweizen
Witbier
Hefeweizen
Belgian Blond Ale
Saison
Gruit Ale
Belgian Strong Blond Ale
Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Tripel

Dark: Expect darker fruit qualities from these styles, like fig, raspberry, prune, raisin, cherry, plum and strawberries; some are downright vinous, sharing aromatics akin to red wine. Spicy aromatics arrive in the guise of clove, pepper, rose, nutmeg, cinnamon, and even a hint of smoke in some cases. Malt flavors manifest themselves with chocolate, caramel and nutty notes.

NOTABLE STYLES
Dunkelweizen
Belgian Dark Ale
Dubbel
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Weizenbock
Quadruple

PAIRINGS FOR FRUIT & SPICE BEERS: Crab, mussels, lobster, lighter fish, cured meats, sausages, salads, poultry, pizza, spicy cuisines.

7. TART & FUNKY

These are the sour brews that show rustic, earthy and winey notes. Some are rather light and elegantly acidic; some are darker and vinous, while others are exceedingly funky and sour. They can be light to medium-full bodied, range in color from straw to dark brown, and may be extremely low in alcohol or even quite strong.

Delicate: Mild acidity, paler malts, and lighter bodies make these refreshing and crisp. They are characterized by being softly tart, brightly fruity (lemon, orange) and lacking a prominently funky character.

NOTABLE STYLES
Berliner Weissbier
Gose
Faro

Fruity and vinous: The most wine-like of all of the Tart & Funky brews. Pronounced acidity is coupled with fruity aromatics (cherry, raspberry, and black currants), sometimes resulting from an actual addition of fruit. Many exhibit caramelized, vanilla, toffee, and toasty flavors due to oak aging.

NOTABLE STYLES
Flanders Oud Bruin
Flanders Red Ale
Wild Ale
Traditional Fruit Lambic

Earthy: Typically quite sour and funky, and sometimes aged in oak barrels, these brews possess intensely rustic qualities; many show horsey, farmy, earthy, barnyardy, and leathery notes. Milder fruit notes may occur, and are redolent of peaches, strawberries, apricots and grapes.

NOTABLE STYLES
Saison
Wild Ale
Gueuze Lambic
Traditional Unblended Lambic

PAIRINGS FOR TART & FUNKY BEERS: Rich meats, game meats, mussels, clams, oysters, funky cheeses, fruit desserts

Source:  7 Beer Styles

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Top 10 Beers to taste at any Beer Festival

Top 10 Beers to taste at any Beer Festival

The thought of one person walking around the grounds of beer festivals for a couple of days and objectively telling you what the “top” or “best” beers are is blatantly absurd. There are hundreds of beers to sample through, and the fact that everyone’s tastes are distinct makes it even more difficult to come up with a list of beers.

And yet, among the greatest joys of attending a beer festival is being able to sample different things and reflect on your discoveries and preferences afterward. With that in mind, you should certainly try the following craft beers during the next festival and see if they make it to your favorites list.

1. 3 Minutes to midnight

An Imperial Stout beer with 10% alcohol content by Bellwoods Brewery, this beer is aged with tart cherries for three months to give it rich and complex notes of tart fruit, roast malt, and bitter chocolate.

2. Fermium House Ales

Brewed by Bar Volo, this Black Imperial IPA with 7.5% alcohol content has a wonderful mix of mango, pine, and orange, as well as roasted malt and chocolate/

3. Red Tape Stout

Brewed by Indie Alehouse with 10% alcohol, this is a delicious, creamy stout with black color.

4. Witchshark

Another Imperial IPA but brewed by Bellwoods, this double IPA has 9% alcohol and combines an aggressively bitter and hoppy taste with juicy and fruity tones. It is deceptively smooth and consistently among the top beers in Canada.

5. Zombie Apocalypse

Another top brew by Indie Alehouse with 10% alcohol content, this is the kind of strong drink with a chocolatey, roasty, boozy feel.

6. Fangboner

A Brett IPA brew by Great Lakes that combines hops with Brettanomyces yeast to produce an appallingly brilliant bitter/funky hybrid that begs to be guzzled down.

7. Amsterdam  Bar Hop Brett Bier de Garde

This all-brett IPA by Amsterdam is brewed with a different hop every time, though it maintains its dry bitterness with complex pineapple, mango flavors and notes of herbaceous grape. It has 6% alcohol content.

8. Coffee Porter

Brewed by mill Street, this is a nice, award-winning porter with 5.5% alcohol content. It is made with Balzac coffee.

9. 504 Pale Ale

Brewed by Liberty village, this is a refreshing and vaguely subtle IPA with 4.8% alcohol content that is meant to calm you after riding the dense route for which it is named.

10. Nutcracker Porter

Brewed by black Oak, this dark porter has 5.8% alcohol and notes of coffee, figs, cinnamon, and spice rounding.

This list is not conclusive, and with breweries introducing new drinks to the market, feel free to try out new entrants at the beer festival. They might just make it to the list next time.

 

Photo Credit: BlackOakBeer

Top 5 Reasons to Attend Edmonton’s Beer Festival 2015

Top 5 Reasons to Attend Edmonton’s Beer Festival 2015

Have you ever had the opportunity to visit a beer festival? There is something very unique about it that makes it an enjoyable experience. Even if you are not a beer lover you should try a festival out, as it will change your opinion of them. There are endless amounts of reasons to go, today we will explore a few of the more popular and more convincing arguments of why you should just drop everything and go.

The first reason you should go to a beer festival is to learn how to taste beer like an expert. Beer festivals often offer you the opportunity to participate in classes that teach you the proper tasting methods. Not only that they will provide the beer that will be tasted. This means that you will teach your palate the proper art of beer tasting! What can be better than that?

These festivals offer a wide variety of culinary booths or areas. These will teach you what foods to combine with certain beers and how to cook using certain types of beers. This will give you the opportunity to try and enjoy new foods as well as picking up a few recipes for that next party. Some of these festivals, especially those in the south, offer the best chili that you will ever try.

These gatherings are also one giant party. These festivals give you the opportunity to go out with friends or family to enjoy a new experience. Many people also make new friends at the festivals as well. There is ample opportunity to find people that have your same tastes or crave the same experiences. It also gives you something fun and new to do with the friends you already have.

Beer! What more could you ask for? These festivals are packed with beer. The prices are at acceptable levels. How many other festival do you know, that make it all about the beer. These festivals pride themselves in presenting their visitors with the best beers available as well as the tools to enjoy them.

More beer! Festivals include a great variety of breweries. These offer breweries from all across the country a chance to present their beers to the public. Many microbreweries go unnoticed or untried, as they are not experienced. These festivals will give you the opportunity to seek new varieties and possibly to find your new favorite beer.

It is important to get out and try new things. Beer festivals give people the opportunity to try not only new beers but also a new experience. A festival will be a fun environment where you can go and experiment new and undiscovered beers. This is only true if they are over the legal drinking age. This is a new opportunity to enjoy your pints and it should be tried at least once. However, be sure that once you have gone, you will most likely look for the next one in town.

 

Get Your Tickets for Beer Fest 2015, March 06-07

Beer Fest 2015: Musical Line Up!!

Beer Fest 2015: Musical Line Up!!

Each year we aim to have the highest level of entertainment. This year is no different!

Check out our amazing musical line up for Beer Fest 2015, March 06- 07 at Shaw Conference Centre.

 

Lyra Brown

lyra-1

 

Born and raised in Edmonton, Lyra Brown’s innate ability for writing stories, poems and lyrics began at an   early age. Raised in a family of musicians, there was no shortage of musical knowledge and inspiration in her household. At 16, she invested in a four-track recorder, which she has used to record and produce over 50 songs.

Lyra’s homemade recordings captivated local audiences and led to substantial opportunities in the music industry. For example, in March 2008, Lyra was asked to open for Metric’s Emily Haines at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Lyra has been showcased on CBC television, was named the winner of the 2009 Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Competition, and has had countless songs played on CBC, CKUA, and CJSR.

Source: Lyra Brown

Photo Courtesy of Malorie Shmyr.

 

Cadence & Nathan

cadence_nathan_5_sm

Cadence and Nathan are a sibling duo originally from Sudbury, Ontario and are now based in Edmonton, Alberta.

After dipping their toes into the Edmonton music scene (Cadence as a solo act, and Nathan accompanying various local bands), they decided to combine their musical talents and perform together.

A unique blend of pop, country, and folk, citing such musical influences  as Evan Dando and Julianna Hatfield, the pair write songs that are both honest and poignant. With Cadence on acoustic guitar and Nathan playing dobro, their sound is a fresh take on the singer/ songwriter genre.

Source: Cadence & Nathan

Photo Courtesy of Erin Walker – Walker Photography

 

Rob Taylor

rob

Rob’s artistic life began as an enthusiastic child eager to play his Aunt’s piano or hear his Grandfather play harmonica. Since then, his journey has been an inspiration for many great songs. He’s an expressionist whose presentation is full of sound and fury. He stands alone as a musical bard, reeling stories with a spontaneity guaranteed to captivate attention. Rob has also fused his guitar and vocal talents with Celtic, Rock and Blues ensembles.

Source: Rob Taylor

 

The Moanin’ After

moaning after

The Moanin’ After, led by Edmonton-based songwriter Michael Dunn, goes to great lengths to recall a time when a few certain values still meant something to country music. Commitment to songwriting and musicianship. Honesty. Heart.

Their first record, Come On Out Back To The Shed Tonight, co-produced by Michael Dunn and Harry Gregg at Big Dreamer Sound in Edmonton, and released in May of 2013 helped bring Dunn, as the writer, to a larger audience.

Source: The Moanin’ After

 

Braden Gates

braden gates

A born raconteur in both his songwriting and song introductions, he is often compared to a young Loudon Wainwright: for his similar grimacing as he hits the notes and the sharpness of his observation and sly humor. Drawn to those with a story to tell, Gates aims to communicate these stories in a way that brings people together – which is often the case in one of his intimate live shows. Gates’ second album, Ferris Wheel, is a combination of intricate guitar work, driving fiddle playing and honest story telling.

Source: Braden Gates

 

Carrie Day

carey dare

Alberta based folk/roots singer-songwriter who has gained a reputation for her breathy vocals, poetic  lyrics and skilled arrangements that channel raw emotion straight to the listener’s heart.

With a style of her own, Carrie Day’s sound may be described as a cross between Joni Mitchell and  Cat Power. She is an emotionally charged artist with an exuberant stage presence, and a keen ability  to capture listeners and warm their hearts. An introvert and shy by nature, Carrie’s songs showcase  both her musical talents and her gift of reflection.

Source: Carrie Day

Photo Courtesy of Glenn Eilers

 

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