Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

The cream of the crop from Michigan has arrived at the LCBO, and this is one of those brews I could drink all day every day until I die. Dark amber, slightly hazed, and a generous off-white cap. Sweet malty aroma with hints of molasses, figs, and smoke. Sweetness in the flavour is nicely balanced with some herbally hoppy bitterness. Great beer.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

A great refreshing American Pale Ale that we just don't see in these parts with any regularity. A golden pour, clear with orange hues and a huge white head that lingers a while. Aroma is certainly hoppy with hints of citrus and caramel. Flavour is great with a nice balance between caramel sweetness and citrusy bitterness. An excellent session beer.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

A most excellent porter. Nice black body topped by a brown head that lasts for days. Roasted malt with the usual suspect aromas.....coffee, cholcolate, and vanilla. Flavour is a balance of roasted maltiness and a hint of sweet chocolate. Did I mention it was a most excellent porter?

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

I was not too excited to try this beer because when I heard the name Frank because my first thought was Frank D’Angelo. Fortunately he’s not behind the brewery. Unfortunately the beer isn’t all that good. It’s nice and dark, but the aroma and flavour is a hot mess. Too much roasted malt, and not enough of anything else.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Part of the recent Fuller's release at the LCBO. Quite similar to the Golden Pride in a lot of ways, especially colour and aroma. The 1845 has a harsher more bitter finish however, resulting in a lower score for me.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

One of the premier brewers in the world, and this is a very well done ESB. While Scandinavian and American brewers continue to try and push brewing to the edges, Fullers continues to take time tested recipes and make them just like they always have, with great results. This ESB is a perfect example, a reddish-brown pour, translucent, with rich caramel aromas complemented by a creamy tan coloured head and resinous hop aromas. The flavour is toffee and citrus. Heavenly!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

One of the 6 beers brought in as part of the Fuller's release at the LCBO. THis is a very mellow smooth beer. A clear amber pour, lots of sweet stuff in the aroma like chocolate, caramel, and hops. Tastes great with a sweetness that lingers.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

One of the 6 beers brought in as part of the Fuller's release at the LCBO. A perfect styled English IPA ()they did after all invent the style). Americans might consider this to be underhopped, but that 'underhopping' creates a nice balance between the malt and hops.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

Quite possibly the best porter brewed anywhere in the world. A solid coca cola colour with a thick creamy light brown head. Rich notes of roasted malt, dark chocolate, and coffee fill the nostrils before later tingling the tongue with the addition of dark fruits and caramel. An excellent beer.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Fullers has mastered the art of brewing traditional British style ales. London Pride is one such al. A caramel coloured beer wiuth rich notes of light fruit and citrus from traditional earthy hops. Everything comes together in the flavour with the sweet caramel notes up front and a bitter hop finish. You can’t go wrong with Fullers.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

One of the 6 beers brought in as part of the Fuller's release at the LCBO. Not as spicy as some other Winter Warmer from Britain. That's a plus here.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

One of the 6 beers brought in as part of the Fuller's release at the LCBO. This is the easiest drinking Impy Stout I have ever had. A deep brownish colour with a thin head. Lots of chocolate and cocoa in the aroma and flavour and absolutely no hints of alcohol.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

One of the 6 beers brought in as part of the Fuller's release at the LCBO. This was a very smooth drinking ESA with plenty of flavour. A lot of fruit and toffee notes abound in the flavour and aroma.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Unfortunately, the purchase of Goose Island has resulted in the beer brewing brewed outside the Chicago area, and in this case, a Labatt facility in Montreal. The beer pours a pale yellow colour, slightly clouded, with a white head. Aroma is tropical fruit and floral notes. Flavour is all tropical fruit, any malt aroma and flavour has been lost.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

An English style pale ale that seems more American in style. A clear copper pour with a light tan coloured foamy head. Aroma is caramel malts, light fruits, and a bit heavy on the citrusy hops for an English style ale. Flavour is nicely balanced between the caramel and citrus, but still not to style.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

The flagship beer of the Goose Island brewery, now brewed in Canada…yay? Comes with a twist-off cap. When did twist-offs become part of the craft beer movement? Anyway, the beer pours a translucent pale copper colour with a thin tan coloured ring. The aroma is caramel, biscuit, and citrus. The flavour is similar. I can’t help but wonder if Lake Michigan water is somehow better than St. Lawrence river water.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Went to a Grand River tasting at a friend's house this past weekend and found a lot of very good beers, but nothing truly outstanding. A jet black beer with a creamy dark brown head. Lots of roasted coffee in the aroma, a little vanilla, and a little chocolate. Creamy to the tongue with ample bitterness from the coffee and dark chocolate notes.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

There are a lot of IPAs in Canada which follow the rules of the 19th century British IPAs which means to the 21st century beer drinker, they’re as much an IPA as Pluto is a planet. At one time, both were as described, but today, they’re not. A light amber pour, almost clear, and with a thin off-white head. Cereal malt, floral hops, and yeast dominate the aroma, although I suppose one could delude themselves into believing that there is a citrus hint there. Flavour is grainy with nary a citrusy note in the mix.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Even by my low standards for Granville Island, I was hoping for more from this beer, although the fact I didn’t get that doesn’t surprise me. A dark straw coloured pour with a thin white head fills the glass. Grains, yeast, and weak citrusy hop and honey notes make up the best part of the aroma….the worst part being the honey so hard to detect. Flavour is rather bland, again the honey sweetness is quite difficult to detect among the grainy and metallic notes that are up front. I’ll avoid this in the future.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

One of the first Canadian craft brewers to be taken out by a macro, but like Creemore, the taste of the beer hasn’t changed much before or after. Still humdrum at best. The beer is a nice clear rust colour with a small off-white head. Aroma is punctuated by an overabundance of caramel notes with light herbal hoppy notes mixed in. Flavour is sweet caramel malt, balanced by a bitter herbal hoppiness. Decent enough I guess.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Just what the world needs more of….bland pale lagers. There really isn’t a whole lot to say about this one. It is a medium gold colour, clear, with a generous snow white cap that lasts long enough to spell ‘it’. The aroma is typical grainy malt with hits of European hops and yeast. Flavour is quite grainy too with metallic and acidic off-tastes in the mix.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

One of these days I hope to find a cream ale that is creamy and not a thin bodied wannabee. Like all others, this is a thin bodied wannabee. A clear amber pour with a thin off-white head. Caramel and yeast dominate the aroma with hints of maple and earthy hops there to remind you it’s a beer. Flavour is on the sweet side, not surprisingly, with notes of caramel, maple, and brown sugar. Too sweet to finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

At 5.5%, this comes in at a very weak ABV for an English style winter ale, especially in a day and age where a ‘light and refreshing’ summer saison can come in at 6%. A transparent dark amber pour with a slightly creamy off-white head. Light fruity aroma with hints of caramal and vanilla coupled with some floral hops. Flavour is spicy caramel malt, a little vanilla, and a little hop bitterness. Still, not a winter warmer by any stretch.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Like a lot of Granville Island beers, this isn’t very close to style, It pours a murky golden-brown with a generous snow white head. The aroma is grains, yeast, and spices, but lacking in the clove and bubble gum area that a good heferweizen has. Similar comment on the flavour as the sweetness that comes up front with a good German hefe is not present, instead a bland herbal flavour is up front before a hoppy finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I told my son about this, and he asked me if I was playing video games. Apparently there is a very popular video game called Hey Day. I wonder if their releases coincided with one another. Anyway, the first thing I’ll write is that this is better, to me anyway, than the Robson Street Hefeweizen. Right out of the can you can notice the traditional banana, bubble gum, and clove notes missing in the other. While still not dominant in the flavour, you can taste them.