Ochakovo - 5.3% - Russia

This brew from Moscow is pretty darn tasty. A delicious beer you could enjoy when it's 10 degrees on a sultry Siberian summer afternoon.
The extra alcohol does not influence the taste of this beer and the result is a smooth, crisp lager that any beer drinker would enjoy.
Again, this is one of those stand-by beers that you can order and enjoy around the world.
Here's to you Comrade!

Mill Street Organic Lager - 4.2% - Toronto, Ontario

Mill Street Brewery in Toronto, Ontario brews both my favourite beer, Tank House Ale, and some of the worst beer I've ever tasted Mill Street Ginger Beer. Needless to say the possibilities were endless for their Organic Lager. Fortunately, Mill Street Organic delivers.
Crisp, smooth and refreshing it is a tasty lager with a bit more silkiness that I expected.
It's nice to finally find a beer that doesn't taste like DDT.

Kostritzer - 4.8% - Germany

This beer scared me!
Judging by the bottle this is a serious beer. Bavarian Purity Laws and the like.
But this is a serious job and so I decided to try this Black Lager on a cooler summer night.
All things considered this is a pretty good beer. Lighter in flavour than I was expecting, not bitter, actually quite refreshing. The flavour but less bite and silkiness than Guinness.
Tasty.
But still a serious beer.
Beer to drink with men in lederhosen.
Okay, maybe not so serious.

Weihenstephaner - 5.4% - Germany

When you advertise on your bottles that you are the world's oldest brewery, you set yourself up for some intense reviews. Fortunately Hefe Weissbier it up for it. Full of flavour, cloudy, and rich in texture this beer is very close to Hoegaarden with a bit more depth to its flavour. Delicious!
Fortunately, this German brewery is savvy enough to understand North American stupidity. On their back label they are careful to note- "Wheat Beer...Contains wheat."


I think if you are allergic to wheat and decide to drink a "WHEAT Beer" ...you've got it coming to ya.

Tyskie - 5.5% - Poland

Having experienced the charm of Polish vodka in the past I felt was ready for this Tyskie with some paint brushes that needed cleaning. Taking a deep breath, I snapped the top off this Eastern European swill and once again found that my judgement of a beer based on label or country of brewing was completely wrong!
Tyskie is a good, solid beer. Mild and tasty this is another one of those delicious beers that surprises. While stronger than most at 5.5% is does not possess the jet fuel flavour that some stronger beers have.
Did I mention smooth? Believe me, this Polish beer is smoother than some Polish women I know.

Yankee Jim - 6.6% - Utica, NY

Having just moved a boat through Utica, New York I didn't hold much hope for this beer. However, if I was ever to go through Utica again I might just pick up a bottle or six of Yankee Jim. The 6.6% does not over power the beer and the claim of high gravity doesn't detract from the thirst quenching ability of this brew. This might be the beer to drink while passing the day fishing on the banks of the Erie Canal in upstate New York.

VB - 4.6% - Australia

This one almost got away on me. You know when you begin drinking a beer and look back at the glass and suddenly it's gone? That's how VB goes down. A pretty smooth, light, thirst quenching beer to be tossed back while sitting around the barbie (BBQ - not the doll.) A Mountain Dew of beers.

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Newcastle Brown Ale - 4.7% - England

Admittedly dreaded this one a bit. Again without justification! Expected heavy dark beer.
Not the case with Newcastle Brown Ale. Delicious and nutty with a dark colour but not the weight of some darker beers. Again, a great beer out of England. I'm noticing a trend. No wonder they have so many pubs!

Innis & Gunn Canada Day - 7.7% - Scotland

So, I've been saving this beer for today and who wouldn't seeing as each bottle comes in it's own box. Happy Canada Day Everyone! There was a time when that would have been Happy Dominion Day which brings us to Scotland and this lovely brew. Powerful stuff that Canada Day 2012! You can certainly taste the oak aged process. I might say it has a hint of apples. You can read the side of the box for more flavour ideas (madeira cake, sherbet, and pear? What the hell is that doing in my beer?). The extra kick comes across with a sweetness that would be easier to drink on Canadian Thanksgiving, but not bad on July 1st!

Neustadt Lager - 5% - Neustadt, ON

Ah, a microbrew I've never heard of. I took a break from painting my house to try this lager form Neustadt, ON. While I've lived here my whole life, I've never heard of the place!

It poured out nice and bubbly, amber and unfiltered.
It tasted like.....
aluminum!!!???
What the hell?
Best before May 31, 2012!?
Not good.
Who's in QC at the LCBO these days?
Maybe I need to try a fresh tin of this one!

Tennent's - 5% - Scotland

Being a wee bit Scottish myself I feel somewhat ashamed that it has taken me this long to try a Tennent's lager. However, I now have and feel I'm a better person for it.
It's bloody well not even July yet and we're burning up in the heat here in Canada. That said, its a perfect time to be sampling this smooth mellow lager from Glasgow. Not over powering or bitter, yet Tennent's has a substance and body that other blond lagers lack.
As refreshing on a hot day as standing over top the lawn sprinkler in your kilt.






Do they even have lawn sprinklers in Scotland?

Cobra - 5% - India (UK???)

So, its a hot afternoon and I thought I'd try this bottle of exotic Indian Cobra Beer! I figure that if anyone knows how to brew a beer for hot, humid climates, it's got to be India!
Smooth, with a nutty, bitter finish, I'm not sure I could tell the difference between this lager by Cobra and Heineken in a blind taste test.
However, as I take this job seriously I decided to look Cobra up. Turns out it was once brewed in India. As I read more I found this beer, with interesting Hindi script and elephant designs in the bottle's glass, is actually brewed in the UK. Horrors! With more "research" I find out it is 51% owned by Molson-Coors and now brewed by a company named Molson Coors Cobra India. I might as well have opened a Molson Canadian!
Funny....No ads running in the Asian subcontinent with a brown guy named Joe proclaiming..."I AM INDIAN!"
Give them time.
Knowledge is power....but it can also ruin the allure of an exotic brew.

P.S. Sorry I missed yesterday, I was drinking Moosehead and saw no reason to spend the time blogging about it. (Good beer but you've already had it!)

Fuller's ESB - 5.9% - England

I wasn't sure what a champion ale, as this claims to be, was but I'm glad I found out.
A delicious amber that is flavourful and smooth. The extra % alcohol over regular beers is noticeable with the sweeter tang of a fortified beer but this one lacks that jet fuel flavour that some stronger beers from North America possess.
High quality, high alcohol beer.
Do the English brew a bad beer? I don't think so!

Great web site too!

Creemore Springs Kellerbier - 5% - Creemore, ON

Creemore Springs has been brewing beer since about 1987. They were my first brewery tour at the tender age of 17. Since then they have been brewing decent beers that I have enjoyed off and on for the last 20 some years.
However, their Kellerbier really puts Creemore on the top shelf in my opinion.
Full flavoured and spicy Kellerbier is a beautiful unfiltered beer that you'll be ordering anytime you get the chance. Seasonal and often out of stock this is a beer to grab when you can find it.
Love this beer!

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Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel - 5.3% - Germany

You know what its like when you go to the fridge and all that's left is the dark beer and its a hot day and you're looking for a refreshing amber cause you just want something to cut your thirst but you take out the dark and crack it open anyways and don't expect any refreshment?
That's what happened to me today.
But unlike some dark beers that drink like a meal, Erdinger Dunkel is a delicious and refreshing dark beer. See, its a wheat beer that pours like a dark, with a great head, and is silky smooth to drink. Not overly heavy but full of refreshing flavour. Just enough bitter to wake up the palate. Actually it might just be unlike anything you've ever had before.
A dark beer for a hot patio.

Barking Squirrel Lager - 5% - Brampton, ON

I didn't have great expectations for Barking Squirrel Lager.
I'm not a big fan of barking things, squirrels, or even Brampton come to think of it.

However I am a big fan of this beer.
A little sweet with some seriously tasty hops make this smooth beer my new favourite.
This beer has a terrific balance of everything you want in a brew.
A great beer that I think is still, as yet, relatively undiscovered; but not for long!
Check out their website.


Hmmmmm....good things do come from Brampton. Who knew?!

Faxe Amber - 5% - Denmark

I was expecting an exciting amber from Faxe.
With a Viking on the label why wouldn't I?
Being some small part Dane I felt a connection to this brew.
I was looking forward to it.
The can cracked with a clunk, not the typical crisp fizz. The beer poured out, and was a pretty amber hue, but the flavour was about as flat on the tongue as the beer's carbonation. Not a terribly full bodied beer. Bitter but without depth. Nothing offensive but nothing to wear a horned hat about. Think Rickard's Red imported from Denmark.

Bud Lite with Lime - 4.0% - Anheuser-Busch, USA

We here at the Beer Tasting Spot will not turn down any beer.

Well, its Bud...its light...it has a hint of lime and doesn't give head.



Not sure but there may be a joke in there somewhere.



Beer brewed for women who don't like beer.

'nough said.

Celt Golden Crafted Ale - 4.2% - Wales

Looking at the bottle, and not the label, I was expecting a dark serious beer. I've avoided it in the heat wave we've been having.
"Never judge a beer by its bottle".
Glancing at the label today I saw that this Celt Golden Crafted Ale only had 4.2% alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised. Mild carbonation and a rich, tasty, sharp hops flavour makes this ale perfect for a swelteringly hot patio. Checking out their website,  I found a link to a beer sommelier, Tom Newman.
For those not "in the know" a beer sommelier is a serious beer expert who suggests beer and food pairings and discusses all the flavours that you are going to taste in a beer.

By the way....I am not a beer sommelier. I like beer.
I'm not about to tell you what beer goes with what food.
Except this.
All food is best eaten with beer. Full stop.
I'll also suggest that Celt Golden is a darn fine beer.

Abbot Ale - Greene King - 5% - England

I'm the first to admit that I'm no fluffy connoisseur of flavour. I don't taste chocolate, cigar, flowers, or bark in my beers. I don't try to imagine something that's not there.
Enter Abbot Ale.
Imagine you step off the plane in London, nip into a pub, and ask for a pint.
They could do a lot worse than to pour you an Abbot Ale.
Deliciously silky smooth, beautiful in colour, a superb flavour of hops with just the right amount of bitter, mildly carbonated.
Perfect pub beer.
The label says "with masses of fruit characteristics".
I have no idea what that means and I certainly don't taste any fruit in it.
Just delicious beer.


"masses of fruit"?...sounds like a cooler.....who writes this stuff?

Headstock - Nickel Brook - 7% - Burlington, ON

Better Bitters Brewing Company out of Burlington, Ontario, Canada has produced a beer in Headstock that is clearly designed to get your attention. The can alone is jacked with enough art to make your head spin before you indulge. They are not kidding when they say this is a strong beer. This beer may need a warning label. The snap-your-neck hops flavour and the 7% alcohol makes for a solid bitter. Similar to the American IPA's and Crazy Canuck but stuffed with way more hops flavour.  The intense flavours in Headstock require time to work through a pint of this beer. This is a beer to be sipped, a beer to be enjoyed slowly, slow beer, groovy beer.
Peace out Man.

Warsteiner Premium Dunkel - 4.8% - Germany

Feeling ripped off by the Molson M I just reviewed, I decided to grab for a real beer.
Germans know a thing or two about beer and so I grabbed a Warsteiner Premium Dunkel.
A good dark Bavarian brew. This Premium Dunkel, German for dark, is a tasty Bavarian beer that satisfies without being over powering. (Or at least it washes the tasteless Molson M out of your mouth.)
Interesting, the can exclaims that this beer is "A Queen Among Beers".
Not even sure what that means.
Perhaps a popular brew for Toronto Pride Week? June 22 - July 1, 2012
Here's to you and anyone in rainbow lederhosen!

Molson M - 4.9% - Somewhere in Canada

Hmmm...I wasn't even sure what this beer was called.
Big M, BM for short? Ah...Molson "M".
Now I've heard the Monty Python joke about some American beer being like making love in a canoe but never really felt it applied to anything Canadian.
Until now.
But I figured it out.
This is beer to bong. Frat boys everywhere rejoice. Molson Coors Canada have put together a "micro carbonated" beer that you can chug-a-lug through funnel and hose without all that pesky foam coming out your nose.  And the young ladies in the room, who might not be beer drinkers, can enjoy this watery, tasteless swill along with you. Coors influence on Molson can be best tasted in this brew. Think Silver Bullet with a black label wrapping.

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Boxer Premium Lager - 5% - Wisconsin

Say you are looking to have your governor thrown out of office and you fail and he continues to trash public service unions and the like. You're gonna need to go home and drink a really good beer.
Boxer Lager from Wisconsin is just the beer for you. With a hint of sweetness and no aftertaste it is the perfect smoothness to wash down the bitter after-taste of defeat.
All politics aside, surprisingly great beer! But then I'm a bit partial to simple, sweet American beer...come to think of it that's what I like about American girls too.
This blog is gonna get me in trouble one of these days.

Muskoka Brewery Cream Ale - 5.0% - Bracebridge , ON.

While the Muskoka chair does have an American counterpart - the Adirondack chair, there is no American comparison for this delicious cream ale. With just enough hops to give that nutty, bitter delight to an ale, Muskoka Cream Ale is a great addition to any weekend at the cottage. Excellent for any cottage country activity, sitting by the lake, around the campfire, or shooting road signs. Sorry, my youth - not yours I'm sure.

Check out the Muskoka Brewery!

Traditional Perry Pear Cider - Spirit Tree - 6%

Fruity, bubbly, and tangy yet not overwhelming.

Great for a change from your standard beer craving. Again, like their pub cider, a little expensive if you're looking to fuel a bender but manageable for a special occasion.

Not sure I could tell the difference between the apple and pear ciders from Spirit Tree. 

Definitely not after three or four of them.

Tasty if you like cider.

But its not beer! 

Karlovacko - Croatia - 5.0%

It's pleasing to see that anywhere you go in the world someone is brewing a good, solid lager.
No much else to say about it. Labatt's Blue with flavour.
Next time you're working up a sweat in the Balkans, grab for a Karlovacko.
A real mouthful.
The beer and the name.


For crying out loud...
Eastern Europe...
always so many letters...
I can't even get a picture of the can with the whole name!

Pub Cider - Spirit Tree - 6% - Caledon, ON.

So, already everything is falling apart with this blog.
Set up to showcase 41 beers given to me for my birthday I've already gone and buggered that up.
You see, we were out driving today in Caledon. Suddenly there was a sign for the Spirit Tree Estate Cidery. I've never been to a cidery and decided to remedy this.

Now I know it's not beer, but seeing as its my blog and cider is a refreshing beverage, I don't give a hoot.

Their Traditional Pub Cider pours out bubbly and clear. Light blonde colour. It is a crisp, fruity, and tasty beverage. Not too acidic or over powering in any way. Delicious. Very drinkable on a warm June afternoon. A wee bit expensive should you be looking to provide enough for a large crowd. Each bottle 500 mL will set you back close to $6.00. However, if you wanted to throw in something new to change up a beer blog, what's $6.00 among friends?

Crazy Canuck - Great Lakes Brewery - 5.2% - Toronto, ON.

Wow! Based on the can design I was expecting a Molson Canadian knock off.  First clue I was wrong was the light amber colour of this pale ale as it poured out of the can. Next was the delicious hops flavour that flows over you as you drink it. Awesome beer. Why haven't I heard of this before?! If you like the flavours of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or some of the newer IPA's out of the States you will love the Crazy Canuck! I love everything about this beer. Strong flavour, crisp, dry, delicious, a loon and a toque on the can! Makes me want to yell.... "I    am     Canadian!"

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Fruli - Strawberry beer - 4.1% - Belgium

Nothing says MANLY like beer. Especially a pink beer poured out of a tiny, 250 ml, bottle from Belgium. This fizzy Belgian white beer is perfect for anyone, okay ladies, looking for a refreshing summer beverage. Actually a very tasty beer. Takes a bit to get used to the strawberry flavour but definitely better than those old Durango coolers from the early 90's! (Remember those Kate? Ouch!)

Secretly enjoyed this one although not a beer recommended for swilling while demonstrating testosterone fuelled behaviours such as roping cattle or rioting in Vancouver.

Maple Bock - 6.5%- Trafalgar Ales and Meads, Oakville, ON.

When they say this is a maple flavoured beer, they ain't kidding. Rich, dark colour, clear maple syrup fragrance from beer. A sweet, solid beer with 6.5% alcohol. Perhaps a winter drink or dessert drink. Not to be trifled with on a sultry, summer afternoon. Beer to make a meal of. Actually made a loaf of bread with the rest of it.

Fuller’s - Organic Honey Dew - 5% - England (Wales?)

Solid, pale beer. Just a hint of sweetness and almost no bitter. Good summer drink after mowing the lawn. No extreme flavour of honey. Patio beer. Nice blond colour. Would order it again. Funky bottle worth keeping. 

Wells IPA - 5% - England

Says its brewed in the Heart of England. Couldn't find that on a map. A tasty and refreshing beer. Beautiful amber in colour, this beer cuts a thirst with its mild bitter finish. Great summer beer, very drinkable, would order on a patio.

Check them out at on their web site.