St. John's Wort

Beery Musings And Amusing Beers

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The Background Muskoka’s been going great guns of late. When you think about the amount of reach that their brewery now has, it’s impressive considering where they were just a few years ago. Here’s a picture of their branding from when I started writing about beer in May of 2010. […]

Review: Muskoka Moonlight Kettle Summer Saison

May 18, 2015 in Uncategorized by admin

The Background I go back and forth on Moosehead. Here’s the thing. Since the BA in the States changed the definition of “Craft Beer” to include Yuengling, it stands to reason that Moosehead is now a “Craft Brewer.” At the very least, they’re an independent company that has existed for […]

Review and Market Recon: Moosehead Radler

May 12, 2015 in Reviews tagged Moosehead by admin

The Background Black Oak started in the last days of 1999, initially launching with a Pale Ale, a Nut Brown Ale and a Premium Lager. I know that sounds weird. By all accounts the Lager nearly killed them. It was the least well received of the beers and it was […]

Review and Food Pairing: Black Oak Epiphany No. 2

May 11, 2015 in Uncategorized by admin

The Background I have a pretty good working relationship with Innis & Gunn, which is odd because I only like their beer about 50% of the time and I’m honest about that publicly. I think that oak treatments work well with some styles of beer and not with others. The […]

Review: Innis & Gunn White Oak Wheat Beer

May 8, 2015 in Uncategorized tagged Innis & Gunn by admin

Lab Report #1 By Jordan St. John – Grade 7 (held back) Question: Given the tendency of beer brewed with a significant quantity of hops to undergo changes to its chemical nature in direct sunlight, there has recently been introduced to the market a line of glassware that claims […]

Bru-V: Science and Sam Adams

May 6, 2015 in Reviews / Uncategorized tagged Brown Glassware / Bru-V / Rebel IPA / Sam Adams by admin

“Wait’ll you see this bridge. They spent a million dollars on it.” The van is passing through the North Carolina landscape just west of Mills River. It’s some of the greenest country I’ve ever seen, and for good reason. The rainfall in this part of the Appalachians is enough to […]

Sierra Nevada Mills River

May 5, 2015 in The North American Tour tagged Sierra Nevada by admin

The Background St.Ambroise sold a couple of years back to Brasseurs RJ and the quality has kept up. Originally helmed by Peter McAuslan and Ellen Bounsall, the beers have been and continue to be largely English in their influence. While we tend to see a lot of Belgian influence in […]

Review and Food Pairing: St.Ambroise Erable

May 4, 2015 in Beer and Food / Reviews tagged Fenugreek / Maple Beer / Sotolon / St.Ambroise by admin

“You know, Andy, when I was your age…” was the way that I’d started the sentence, and I immediately wished that I hadn’t. There’s nothing to make you feel old like having to explain your context to your younger brother. Before Andy was born, I was given my first cellphone […]

Review: Local Leaside

May 3, 2015 in Beer and Food / Reviews tagged Craft Beer / Leaside / Local Leaside by admin

The Background Grand River started brewing in Ontario in 2007, but the site that they’re on in Galt has actually been producing alcohol for something like 200 years. Absalom Shade had mills there and eventually managed to vertically integrate the whole community. He sold seed and milled grain and made […]

Review: Grand River Olde Defiant

April 24, 2015 in Reviews / Uncategorized tagged Bob Hannenberg / Grand River / Olde Defiant by admin

The Background When I came back to Ontario from university out east, there were basically two Ontario beers at the LCBO that I could be sure were going to be quality. This was before “Craft Beer,” a term which emerged around 2007, so it was just beer. Those beers were […]

Barn Door Brewing Company Winter Porter

April 22, 2015 in Reviews by admin