While writing our past blog on Hot Pot and discussing the necessity of having a nice cold beer to accompany it, I began thinking about beer in all its glory. Beer is the perfect companion to drink while
a) Eating Nachos & Wings
b) Watching Sports
c) Hanging out with friends
d) All of the above
The list for the different occasions where beer is a welcomed addition is endless. This then led to further thought on the topic of beer which is the sole reason for our post today. When do we ever celebrate beer for the beer itself? We hope our post today will be a small step towards giving back for all that it has given us (are we still talking about beer?! W.O.W.). To accomplish this task, I enlisted the help of 8 of my fellow men (as in mankind N good thing you added this, I was about to have an aneurism) and we narrowed down the selection to 13 different beers for our tasting pleasure. Our panel of judges sent the 13 beers through a rigorous test of aesthetics and taste. Due to the intense nature of this event, we did have some fallen comrades along the way (Actually 1 comrade, Gerry) but after a fun night of tasting, we had our results. Without further ado, let’s introduce the combatants for our Friday’s Battle Royale. Being Canadian, there was a distinct home advantage and the Canadian contingent was very strong Friday night as 7 of the 13 beers tasted were from Canada. Go Canucks Go!
Top: Imports | Bottom: Exports
First up, hailing from Quebec’s Unibroue Brewery was Joe’s pick, La Fin du Monde (The End of the World). Our 8 panel of experts gave this beer a combined score of 5.4/10. It was definitely very tasty but being our first beer, we were very critical in our assessment. The alcohol content is 9% and it was a nice way to kick off the night. http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/la_fin_du_monde/
Our second beer was a preview for our upcoming trip to San Fran and Napa Valley as N picked San Francisco’s very own, Anchor Steam Beer. Anchor Steam had the unfortunate position following our stellar first beer and fought an uphill battle, ranking a lowly 0 out of 10. http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/
Third up (Joe’s pick) was a local Alberta brewery in Canmore’s Grizzly Paw Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat. There was a wide range of scores in this beer as some really love it (9/10) while some didn’t like it at all (-5/10). The average score however was 3.4. http://www.thegrizzlypaw.com/drink/beer/grumpy-bear-honey-wheat
After the first 3 beers, we thought it would be a nice time to step back and try a nice clean beer. A clean beer? What does this mean? Being the health aficionado that I am ?!? Since when?!, I picked Toronto’s Mill St. Brewery’s Original Organic Beer which is Ontario’s first certified Organic beer. There was nothing much to like or hate about the beer and scored 2.3/10 as it did not stand out besides the novel concept of being organic. http://www.millstreetbrewery.com/#/ourbeers/bottled-beer/original-organic
Our fifth beer came from Belgium as we tried the Delirium Nocturnum (Jewel’s Pick), known for the pink elephants on their label and the 9% alcohol content. This beer ranked 2.2 with us however, we would like to give this brewery one more shot in the future and try the Delirium Tremens which seems to be a very highly regarded beer around the world. http://www.delirium.be/Anglais/Histoire/histoire.htm
Our 6th beer was my pick coming out of Scotland called Innis & Gunn Original. This beer is unique for the fact that they pioneered the process of using used bourbon oak barrels to age their beer giving it a unique taste. Despite the exciting idea, it scored a 0.2/10. http://www.innisandgunn.com/index.htm
Our 7th Beer was Quebec’s Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel’s, Aphrodisiac (N’s pick, purely due to the “pretty naked girl” on the label). It was a dark stout beer with a hint of cocoa that nobody really enjoyed and received -1.3/10. Taste is subjective however, and the low score might be attributed to the fact that our judges are not fans of stout beer. It would be interesting to see how a big fan of dark ale would rank this beer. http://micro.dieuduciel.com/en/beers.php
Our 8th beer was the Wraspberry Ale coming from another local Alberta brewery, Wild Rose (N’s Pick). Just as it sounds, it tastes like raspberry. The only judge who objected to this beer was Johnny who is not a fan of “fruity drinks”. This beer scored a 3.6 out of 10 and was well liked by our female judges. http://www.wildrosebrewery.com/beer/wraspberry.html
Despite J’s stamina for drinking beer, writing about it is another story and he has lost steam so I am forced to step in! For our 9th beer, I thought we needed some Asian representation so we went with Japan’s oldest beer, Sapporo. The oversized can, designed to look like the steel of a samurai sword, is visually appealing but this beer only scored 0.4 for taste among our esteemed panel!http://www.sapporobeer.ca
Like our very first beer of the night, the 10th one was also from Quebec’s Unibroue Brewery. It is the first ale brewed by Unibroue and as such, they chose to follow the Belgian tradition for white ales by naming it after the city in which it is brewed. With an average rating of 6.2, it scored second highest of the night! http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/blanche_de_chambly/product#/product
Our 11th beer, Affligem, is brewed in the Flemsh village of Opwijk, aka. 100% Belgium Beer. With a score of 4.3, it is a light to golden beer that tasted and looked average. Among a wide selection of beers, it is forgettable yet not offensive. Overall, the word that would best describe it amidst this beer tasting would be…”meh!” http://www.affligembeer.be/
Next came the appropriately named, What the Huck! Brewed in Fernie, the punny name quickly became the brunt of jokes after the taste test where it scored a measly 0.8 due to the sour first impression. Only one person (starts with J, rhymes with gulie ) seemed to enjoy it and it is safe to say that she was enjoying pretty much every beer she tried that night! http://www.ferniebrewing.com/what-huck-huckleberry-wheat
To complete Quebec’s Unibroue Brewery’s triple threat, our lastbeer was Trois Pistoles. Apparently, the third time really is the charm as here we have our WINNER! This was the best tasting beer of the night with an average score of 7.5. And what a coincidence, this beer has won many metals and awards around the world. It is named after a small village of Quebec and the name means “three coins” ~ so all our guesses stand corrected (J, you can stop using your hand as a pistol now)! Check out the recipe for Trois-Pistoles Brown Sugar Cookies @ http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/recipe/89/ | http://www.unibroue.com/en/beers/trois_pistoles/#/product
All in all, this was a unique & enjoyable way to spend the evening with friends. We accompanied the beer with Korean-style BBQ meats and this self-serve style eating was a perfect companion for the evening activities. Consider planning your own beer tasting party and tell us your results! Just get each participant to bring 2-3 beers of their choice and supply them with scorecards to keep track of their findings. The boys initially bulked at the idea of having to do “homework” as they called it but after the 5th beer, they realized that it was a smart move (aka. girls are always right!) and it’s neat to see the overall results once everyone has sobered up a bit! Here is the scorecard we made for our tasting:
Final Note: If you plan on hosting your own beer tasting, please make sure to pace yourself accordingly. Although you might feel like a girly-man by sharing a bottle of beer with others (in separate cups of course), there’s no shame in admitting that we can’t all be Team Germany. Enjoying and remembering the different tastes is the name of the game. Big thanks to JJJJG for participating!
Tags: Affligem, Anchor Steam, beer, Delirium, Dieu Du Ciel, Fernie Brewing, Grizzly Paw, Innis & Gunn, Mill Street Brewery, Sapporo, unibroue Brewery, Wild Rose
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Before we even got to the food stands, we wet our appetites with free samples. J especially enjoyed the salsa stand! 
Many small businesses have used the Farmer’s Market to launch and establish their brand. For example, you can now find Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roast at Chinook Mall. Pictured is a Calgary Farmer’s Market favorite, Simple Simon Pies. 
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