Driftwood Naughty Hildegard

Driftwood Naughty Hildegard

Ratebeer not up
Beer Advocate not up
Taste +4

Yup this is an English style bitter for sure. The nose is right with toffee malts, pine, spicey resin hops and a lot of them. The mouthfeel is medium to full and surprisingly creamy. Your taste is just like the nose. It is very hop assertive is the pine and resiny department. The bitterness is barely balanced by the big toffee and bare biscuit malts.

Aftertaste +2

This is oddly clean, but about 30% of the bitterness lasts a long time. The palate is cleansed and coated with a goo of resin and pine malts. It is only slightly astringent.

Alcohol Content +1 - 6.5%

WOOOT

Value +1

If you like your English style bitters and you know who you are. You can come out of the closet; it is OK to love a bitter. This is a bitter you will like. Take Fullers ESB and then intensify the flavour.

Ingame Enhancement +1

This was the perfect refresher after a morning at the gun range. I was mislead; Meterman promised handguns and rifles. They were there but they were AIR RIFLES. It was still a good time.

Overall 9/10

This will please all English bitter lovers. All the flavours were there: pine, spicy, resin and toffee. It was a palate slap of hop happiness.

Howe Sound Baldwin and Best Bitter
Belk's ESB
GI Bitter

Alcohol Consumption and Diabetes Risk

I'm not sure why the topic of alcohol consumption and human health has grabbed my attention. Perhaps it is such a large part of our societies' social fabric. This can be good and bad. I'm a delusional optimist so I shall focus on the good. It is either that or I am looking for any reason to rationalize the enjoyment of a good craft beer.

This article caught my attention the other day. It appeared in the September 2009 edition of my favourite journal The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Don't laugh, I'm serious. The articles can be very interesting.

In this study researchers looked at the effects of alcohol consumption and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Subject were either told to do nothing (placebo), take metformin (drug), or adjust their lifestyle. One drink was defined as 12g of alcohol, which is slightly less than an average beer. After three years those who drank between 1-6 drinks per week had a lower risk of developing diabetes than those who drank less than 1 drink per week. However these results were only seen in the groups that took metformin (drug) or modified their lifestyle. If you do nothing and drink beer it will not help prevent type 2 diabetes.

There were a few other interesting findings. Moderate drinkers also had higher concentrations of HDL or good cholesterol than did non-drinkers. Also, patients who reported higher levels of alcohol consumption tended to be older, less obese, male and white. They also drank more coffee and tea, exercised more and had a greater caloric intake. This was odd because despite their greater caloric intake, these patients tended to be less obese than non-drinkers. This finding could not be explained by differences in physical activity.

So what does this mean? It is simple. Enjoy your beer in moderation, get off the couch and exercise more. If you want a more medical or scientific explanation... Moderate alcohol consumption pair with lifestyle modification, significantly reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in high risk individuals.

Golden Ale Salt Spring Island

Golden Ale Salt Spring Island
American Blonde Ale

Ratebeer 2.85 29th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Taste +2

The nose is nutty with hints of digested fruits. Average taste of tart honey with a bitter snap at the end.

Aftertaste 0

It was clean and dry with a wisp of honey.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

If you like blonde/pale ales, this will be sure to please. I am just not a fan of this style

Ingame Enhancement 0

This was one of the brews at the Epic Tactical Nuclear Penguin tasting party.

Overall 2/10

It was pleasant drinking beer. The was just no excitement, but this is just the way it is with a blonde ale. Certainly a big step above the macro swill blonde ales.

Trappist Achel Blonde
Saint-Martin Blond

Red Racer White Ale

Red Racer White Ale
Wheat/Witbier Ale

Ratebeer 2.97 37th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +2

Nothing really shocking in the nose: wheat, grass, lemon and orange spice. The taste is right with a slight lemon/orange citrus hints. There is also the tang of yeast/wheat but it just seems so uninspired.

Aftertaste 0

It was dry and clean with the simplest of yeast and citrus tang.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

The wife liked it.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Nope.

Overall 2/10

It was a mass appeal Belgian wit beer. All the standard flavours were there: wheat, orange, lemon and yeast. It was just a little lack-luster for a beer snob like me.

Red Racer Classic Pale Ale
Estrella Damm Inedit
Allagash White

Anchor Porter

Anchor Porter

Ratebeer 3.85 98th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Taste +4

I was so happy to find this brew at the Penny Farthing CBAW in Oak Bay. The nose is glorious with roast, vanilla, cocoa and dark chocolate. It was nicely carbonated and tingly on the tongue. The mouthfeel was medium and slightly rich. I loved the very roasted bitter chocolate and vanilla flavours.

Aftertaste +2

It lingered forever with the dry, roasted cocoa. It was not a mouth coating aftertaste. Oddly, the bigger the sip the longer it lasted.

Alcohol Content 0 5.4%

Value +1

I can see this being a staple in my fridge.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Spent part of the night playing Burn Zombie Burn on the PS3. It is a simple top down, cartoon gun wack. It was fun and well worth the $10.

Overall 8/10

This is a great porter. There is the richness, roast and chocolate that every porter lover craves.

Black Butte Porter
Granville Island Porter
Samuel Adams Honey Porter

Fireside Winter Ale

Fireside Winter Ale (Salt Spring Island)

Ratebeer 2.33 13th percentile
Beer Advocate C

Taste +2

The nose smells lightly of dark fruit, caramel and alcohol. There was a light, creamy mouthfeel with a hint of maple syrup and spice. The taste was quite light for a beer this strong. It's caramel backbone was a little weak. There was no hiding the alcohol burn/tingle.

Aftertaste +1

It was lightly caramel sweet with a palate cleansing alcohol burn. It was very dry cider like.

Alcohol Content +1 7%

It burns like a bad urinary tract infection.

Value 0

It was nice but not exciting.

Ingame Enhancement 0

No nothing; I'm done here.

Overall 4/10

It was a below average winter warmer. The caramel and spices were there, but just not enough.

Lions Winter Ale
Lighthouse Winter Ale
Winterbier Dopplebock

Sergeant's IPA

Sergeant's IPA

Ratebeer 3.36 76th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Taste +3

The nose is a true West Coast IPA with the earthy grapefruit hops and light, grassy malts. The citrus hops give a pleasant buttery mouthfeel. There is just enough of a palate slap before the hops yield a light bread and caramel malt.

Aftertaste +1

There is a nice coating of citrus and pine hops but it faded too quickly.

Alcohol Content 0 5.5%

Value +1

This is an excellent IPA for under 5$ for a bomber. It will certainly be a regular purchase.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Nope no gaming again, just watched a movie on the PS3. It was Up In The Air and was very good.

Overall 6/10

This was a nice surprise; it was a good and hoppy IPA. Don't let the low price fool you. I plan to go out and try all the other Old Yale brews.

Hop Goblin IPA
Pelican IPA
Driftwood Satori Harvest IPA