Mill St. Brewery Seasonal Sampler

     I was out looking to pick up some beer when I saw the Seasonal Sampler (I'm assuming the summer season) from Mill St. sitting on the shelf at the LCBO. I was familiar with all the beer in the six pack except for the Walker's Blueberry Wheat and the Ambre De La Chaudiere. Two new beers? I had to buy it.

     The Seasonal Sampler six pack was made up of Tankhouse Ale, Stock Ale, Original Organic Lager, Lemon Tea Beer and the previously mentioned Blueberry Wheat and Ambre De La Chaudiere. For the sake of brevity I'll just review the two new beers.

     Walker's Blueberry Wheat was decidedly un-blueberry flavoured. I had to really use my imagination to taste any blueberries. Other than the misleading name the 5% beer was light to medium bodied with a dry finish. I give this wheaty beer a 6.5/10

     The Mill St. Ambre De La Chaudiere is a fairly potent beer at 7%. The medium carbonated Biere De Garde was somewhat hazy and had a nice medium body. It had a malty, bready favour with some fruit taste at the end. I enjoyed the beer quite a bit and it's unfortunate that it is no longer available from the brewery. I give the beer a 8/10

Yanjing Beer

     I was in the LCBO the other day looking for some new beer to try and I wound up buying a six pack of First Draft Lager which I will review in the future and a single 500ml can of Yanjing beer.

     The can proudly proclaims that it is the "No.1 Beer From China". I don't know how true that statement is but I can't think of any other Chinese beers off the top of my head so it might as well read "Only Beer From China".

     The beer was clean, crisp and refreshing. It was easy to drink and I think it would make a great choice to bring along to a party. You'd probably be the only person there with a six pack of Yanjing so there would be no confusion in the fridge. While obviously not the best beer in the world (I'm still looking for that one), it is quite drinkable and I give it a 8/10.

Bud Light Lime Mojito

     Last weekend while walking downtown my girlfriend and I were stopped by some people offering samples of the new Bud Light Lime Mojito. Being a lover of beer, we each accepted the two 355ml cans that they were handing out. When I got home later that evening I put the cans in the fridge to cool. I opened a can of the beer that night to have with my home made pesto pizza and I must say that it is one of the worst drinks I've had in a long while! The taste is an unfortunate combination of watered down beer and teenage party cooler. I was never a fan of the regular Bud Light Lime (although my girlfriend and mother were), but the addition of a fake tasting mint hasn't helped the cause at all. In fact, we still have one can remaining in the fridge and it is RARE for a cold  beer to last for more than a day. We'll probably move out of our current apartment in a couple of years and find the can sitting in the back of the fridge like a failed experiment. -Gazillion/10

     Speaking of Budweiser... Almost exactly two years ago I was in St. Louis for a friend's wedding. While in St. Louis I attended a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. If you love beer and happen to be in that area the tour is a must see. The sheer scope of their operation is monumental and it's amazing to watch a large brewery at work. Check it out!

Bottle Brew Conclusion

     My beers are brewed! They were actually done at the beginning of last week but I didn't feel like drinking 2 litres of beer by myself on a week night. I opened the bottle of Cerveza on Saturday night while I rolled my sushi dinner. As you can see in this picture the beer is once again clear (it's very murky while fermenting in the bottle) and there is a layer of yeast sitting at the bottom of the bottle. Try not to disturb the yeast layer while pouring the bottle. It's not bad for you, it will just alter the flavour of the beer and give you some extra B group vitamins.

     I have been told by some friends and family who have previously brewed their own beer at home that it will taste like crap but I was very pleased with this beer. When I opened the bottle it let off a satisfying hiss and it's easily just as good as the majority of bottled beers available at the LCBO or Beer Store.

     The Cerveza has a smooth and refreshing taste and had more carbonation than I was expecting. However, the carbonation will eventually disappear after the bottle is opened and will probably last less than three days. I managed to finish most of the bottle in an evening with a glass remaining to have with lunch the next day.

     Based on this bottle I plan on buying more of these beers in the near future. For the month of April Bottlebrew is holding a promotion called the MB24 special. You get 24 2 litre bottles of beer for $89 including taxes and you can select any combination of flavours that you want. That comes out to just over 60 cents per glass of beer! Get the MB24 Special coupon HERE.



Bottle Brew Update

     I purchased 3 2L bottles from Mr Beer in Scarborough today so I could give them a try.

     The fermenting instructions are printed right on the label so there's no confusion. You just remove the cap on the bottle, place a pill they give you into the bottle (the Blonde Ale and Pilsner came with a second, optional lime flavor pill that I did no use) and seal the bottle back up with a pressure release cap that is also provided.

     Now the hard part will be waiting the 10-14 days until the beer is ready to be consumed. The bottles just need to be stored somewhere room temperature while you wait. Mine are sitting near some of my guitars. Expect a review when the beer is ready!

Mister Beer Bottle Brew

     I just found out about this place called Bottle Brew yesterday afternoon. The company states:

"Mister Beer Bottle Brew is craft-brewed using only the finest Canadian Barley Malt, with no additives or preservatives used in our brewing process.

Stefan Riedelsheimer, our German born brew-master, studied his trade in Munich, Germany, before moving to Canada in the 1990's. His passion and dedication to great beer is reflected in the quality and flavour of our products.

The traditional German Hefe-Weizen style of beer, which is partially fermented and aged in bottles, is where the initial idea of BottleBrew was born.

Unlike commercial breweries, fermentation is completed under pressure in the bottle, similar to Champagne. The result is a fresher, smoother tasting, unfiltered beer with a natural fine carbonation, similar to Champagne."
    
     I will be purchasing an 8 pack of 2L bottles (equal to about 48 regular glass bottles) sometime tomorrow and I'll be sure to document and rate the results. It takes 10 days to complete the fermentation process so stay tuned....