Oh..What a Night!
I recently had a night to remember. There's a fantastic spot in Pickering at the base of Liverpool Rd, called Port. Dining there is something to behold - great ambiance, great food and drink and a fantastic staff. But I digress... Todd and Darryl, the two fellas who reside over this great place, Chris Rendell from Sleeman and myself got together last week to celebrate our love of beer. I brought Corne de Diable from Dieu de Ciel in Quebec and also a gift of Simco SMaSH that I received from Greg Nash, one of the great brewers from Halifax. Chris brought two bottles of Terrible from Unibroue - one from 2009 and one from 2002.
We started with the Corne de Diable which was wonderful. The appearance was slightly cloudy with a rosee, reddish tinge accompanied by a thick ecru foam. The nose was citrusy and grassy and had a gentle dose of darker breads and caramel. The body had hints of nuts (filberts), with a dash of herbs - sage and rosemary. The finish was full with some nice lingering bitterness and just when you thought it was gone, it slowly crept back warming you on the way
The Terrrible 2009 (10.5% ABV) was extremely dark with garnet edges. The foam unfortunately dissipated a touch to quick. Bouquets of spice (pepper) and dark fruits (plums and prunes) were augmented by a sweet and fruity body. The finish was smooth and warming .
The Terrible 2002 (10.5% ABV) was like angels dancing on your tongue. Visually, we were treated to exactly the same as the 2009. That's where the similarities ended. Now, we had aromas of port and sherry with soft waves of malt in the form of molasses. There was also hints of rum and pineapple. The body even more complex than before provided us with caramel, demmarra sugar, chocolate, mocha, almonds and some nice sultana raisins. The finish was soft and gentle providing the warmth of a great fireplace.
Our final forray that night was to give way to Greg Nash's creation. He had given it to me back in November while I was in Halifax and I was saving it for the right occasion. He did tell me recently that he had thought it might have lost some oomph over the winter. Let me tell you, if it did - it was still outstanding.
Simcoe SMaSH (single malt, single hops) is a high alcohol, heavily hopped beer (rated somewhere over 200 IBU's). The colour was beautiful - reddish orange with a nice, thick off white foam. The aromas were perfumy - piney and sweet with some layered hints of citrus, peach and apricot. The body was great - lots of malt and also a good portion of pine needles. The finish was long, mouthcoating and hung around in the back of my throat for a decent length of time. Expecting my taste buds to be overwhelmed by such a big beer, I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful balance of this beer. Well Done Greg!
I hope you too get to enjoy the splendours of beer with your friends - pick up something you don't know and explore. The secret is take time and share your comments.
Cheers
We started with the Corne de Diable which was wonderful. The appearance was slightly cloudy with a rosee, reddish tinge accompanied by a thick ecru foam. The nose was citrusy and grassy and had a gentle dose of darker breads and caramel. The body had hints of nuts (filberts), with a dash of herbs - sage and rosemary. The finish was full with some nice lingering bitterness and just when you thought it was gone, it slowly crept back warming you on the way
The Terrrible 2009 (10.5% ABV) was extremely dark with garnet edges. The foam unfortunately dissipated a touch to quick. Bouquets of spice (pepper) and dark fruits (plums and prunes) were augmented by a sweet and fruity body. The finish was smooth and warming .
The Terrible 2002 (10.5% ABV) was like angels dancing on your tongue. Visually, we were treated to exactly the same as the 2009. That's where the similarities ended. Now, we had aromas of port and sherry with soft waves of malt in the form of molasses. There was also hints of rum and pineapple. The body even more complex than before provided us with caramel, demmarra sugar, chocolate, mocha, almonds and some nice sultana raisins. The finish was soft and gentle providing the warmth of a great fireplace.
Our final forray that night was to give way to Greg Nash's creation. He had given it to me back in November while I was in Halifax and I was saving it for the right occasion. He did tell me recently that he had thought it might have lost some oomph over the winter. Let me tell you, if it did - it was still outstanding.
Simcoe SMaSH (single malt, single hops) is a high alcohol, heavily hopped beer (rated somewhere over 200 IBU's). The colour was beautiful - reddish orange with a nice, thick off white foam. The aromas were perfumy - piney and sweet with some layered hints of citrus, peach and apricot. The body was great - lots of malt and also a good portion of pine needles. The finish was long, mouthcoating and hung around in the back of my throat for a decent length of time. Expecting my taste buds to be overwhelmed by such a big beer, I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful balance of this beer. Well Done Greg!
I hope you too get to enjoy the splendours of beer with your friends - pick up something you don't know and explore. The secret is take time and share your comments.
Cheers
posted by Roger Mittag at
6:12 PM
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