Dead Crow Bourbon Beer

You may have noticed that I have not been updating the list as often as I used to. Well, work is crazy busy and I don’t have the kind of time I used to to write up every beer I drink. OH, I still drink a lot of beer (as of this writing I’m at 1,423).

Now, since my time is limited, I have decided to only spend the time to write up really good beer, great experiences…or the most vile beers I try. This post, my friends, is that of the latter.

In my experience, when something says its Bourbon beer, it has been aged in bourbon barrels, or has had some portion of it infused with the essence of bourbon, direct from the source. So when I grabbed Dead Crow Bourbon beer, I was expecting more of the same.

The bottle was clear so I could see that it had a clear, dark orange colour to it, which is along the same lines as many Innis & Gunn, which are oak aged. I had no reason to believe that this beer was going to be the shit show it turned out to be.

After I poured it out, I took a smell; way too sweet to be bourbon. Let’s take a look at he the ingredients. I crap you not, this is how it went: Beer, Sugar, Bourbon Spirit, Flavoring. Are you for real? The first ingredient in this beer is…..beer? From where? What kind of beer?

Ok, benefit of the doubt, there are a lot of new fusion beers out there, like all the a-rita’s from Bud Light (notice there is no link to them……) and the new thing it to make beer cocktails (never) so maybe these guys are just ahead of the game.

No Dice. One sip and I cringed. It was way too sweet. It was like sugar water.

It only took another sip for me to decide this was one of the worst beers I’ve ever tried. Congratulations Dead Crow, you have found yourself in a very special group; Beer Ken did not finish. Make room Ghost Face Killah, Ghosttown Stout, Leifman’s Goudenband, Dragon Stout and Spring Bock.

Country of Origin: England
Alcohol Content: 5.5%
Sequence: First
Finished: No
Vessel: Kitchen sink

 

Hurry Hard Amber Lager

Last summer, Triple Bogey Lager blew me away! (Read the post to see how much)  A co-worker knows these guys quite well and hinted that they were working on a beer focused on the curling world, called Hurry Hard (pretty much they only thing Americans know about curling is that you yell that all the time). Being a champion curler myself (OK, it high school and we did it as a joke, but we still won!!) and a fan of the game (no, it’s not a sport) I was very interested to see what they would make. Beau’s made a Coffee Porter last year in Burnt Rock (when a player accidentally touches the rock, it’s considered “burnt” and taken out of play). That was a fantastic beer.

Lots of time has passed and I completely forgot about that little tidbit. That all changed on the weekend when I was in the LCBO and saw a shelf full of curling rocks and corn brooms. Without thinking, I grabbed three of them. Oh no, not to share with anyone, for myself.

Last night, I just couldn’t take it anymore, knowing that it was in the fridge, waiting to be drank drove me crazy, so I poured it out. It was really dark for an amber, not red, but more of a dark brown colour.  It smelled of malts and, well, just malts. Nothing really stood out.

It tasted, at first, like a typical, malty amber lager, until the after taste; there wasn’t any! It was super smooth and full of flavour. What Triple Bogey did for regular lager they did for amber lager, made it smooth and refreshing for enjoying after a great game of golf/curling. What’s next for them, some sort of Equestrian Ale?

Those other cans wont last long in the fridge.

Country of Origin: Canada, eh!
Alcohol Content: 5%
Sequence: First
Finished:  Yes
Vessel: Glass by way of can

 

Innis and Gunn White Oak Wheat Beer

If you look back on my experience with Innis and Gunn, you can see that it started off horribly and then slowly moved its way up to Not That Bad. Then, earlier this year, they surprised me with two really good beers(Craft Lager and Toasted Oak IPA)

So, of course, now I seem to grab one whenever I’m at the LCBO. Last week was one of those days. I saw an I&G bottle with a blue label and thought to myself “self”, I thought, “you haven’t had a blue label, right”. So I looked it up and nope, I’ve never had White Oak Wheat Beer. Wait, Wheat Beer? Innis and Gunn? Alright. Stranger things have happened.

I read the back of the bottle and it described the beer as sparkling and a flavour that you would expect from a cup of earl gray tea. Colour me intrigued. It poured out a clear dark yellow and had barely any head. Right away I understood what the label was referring to. The whole kitchen started to smell like my mum was steeping a pot of Earl Gray after a nice beef dinner, complete with yorkshire pudding! (If you haven’t had it, you’re missing out!)

It smelled very floral and very sweet. It tasted, for the most part, like a wheat beer that was infused with tea leaves. It was so out of left field! The closest thing I could liken it to is Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer (which is a 5 star beer).

So, suffice it to say, I enjoyed this one a lot.  I’m looking to grab some more if I can.

Country of Origin: Scotland 
Alcohol Content: 6.4%
Sequence: Third
Finished: Yes
Vessel: Glass by way of bottle

 

Sleeman Lift

The wife and I were having a friend over for drinks after training one night and I needed to pick up another case of Twisted Tea, since we had downed the last two we bought (damn that stuffs good). While I was in the beer store with 2, I sauntered over to the can section to see if there was anything new. Among the tall cans of cheap-ass bum-beer and cheap-ass hippy-beer I saw a can from Sleeman that I had never seen before. Lift? What’s that? “For the performance focused. Contains coconut water” the can proudly displays. This sounds interesting….and probably disgusting.

As I take it up to the cash, I tell 2 that this beer is going to suck. The lovely girl at the desk laughs and says she hasn’t seen anyone buy it yet (not a good sign). We banter a little longer and she grabs my case of Twisted Tea and then I leave for the gym.

When I get there, I start telling people about this likely disgusting beer that I bought and how I can’t wait to drink it. Most don’t understand why I would be excited to drink gross beer, but some get it. “Coconut water? I think they’re trying too hard” says one. “Who would drink a beer after exercise?” asked another (she’s new and doesn’t realize that is my after-workout staple).

When I got home, I made sure to toss it in the fridge so it was nice and cold for later on in the evening. I started off slow with a Innocente Glance Rye Pale Ale and followed that up with a Flying Bison Rusty Chain. Then I decided enough was enough. Lets get this crap out of the way. It poured out a dark orange and it smelled like shit stale lager. It was a musky, malty, non-coconutty smell.

I’ve had coconut water and I was expecting this to be an alcoholic version of that. The first taste was all lager. And not good lager like a vienna or a lug tread, a bad lager like a Canadian. Kinda like if you were a kid, and Uncle Joe left his bottle of Canadian on the table to go out and have a smoke and forgot about it. Then when you were cleaning up an hour later saw there was some left at the bottom….and drank it. Ya, it was like that.

@Bryhendornet put it nicely by saying it should be called “Old Milwaukee Light Sport”.

It was not good.

Country of Origin: Canada
Alcohol Content: 4%
Sequence: Third
Finished: Yes
Vessel: Glass by way of can