When you have to get the beer, don't fool around

Cascadian Dark Ale, by Alley Kat

Alley Kat released 5 limited edition 650ml beers for their 15th anniversary. I only got my hands on the fifth and final one: Cascadian Dark Ale. The lady at the brewery explained to me that Cascadian Dark Ales are also known as Black Indian Pale ale (IPA). This beer pours a dark red-brown colour and smells sweeter than it tastes. The palate is more bitter than I expected which was a pleasant surprise because of the sweet chocolaty nose. It was all around a smooth, well-balanced drink and I hope I can get my hands on a few more. I also hope I can get my hands on the other 4 anniversary beers which names are Smoked Porter, Trippel, Apple Wit, and Ginger Beer.

Alley Kat is doing it right by keeping it interesting and ever changing.

Hek beer. ANDREA DYER GUEST SPOT

As we were walking out of the Superstore Liquor Store with a flat of Old Mill, a 12 pack of Hek (for sampling purposes) and two bottles of wine, my friend and our favoured beer connoisseur around these interweb parts can literally be quoted as saying,

“I’ve been cutting down on my drinking lately”

HAHA.
I remember the days where I’d make similar statements - usually during a week long bender after a tough round of college exams or while boozing on a weekend camping trip.

…And that’s pretty much all that Hek is good for: a time when you’re too poor to care about flavour, or a time where you’re too pissed up and dirty to care. It’s a pretty mild lager brewed at Big Rock in Alberta, and while it’s quite obviously a beer when it first passes your lips, it’s as though you took a big swallow of tasteless air once it passes your windpipe and sinks home. Nothing worth remembering.

Then again, maybe that’s your intention in drinking it in the first place.

Gösser beer

I don't know anything about this beer, the only thing english I can make out on the can says that it is "Austria's finest beer" and that it's 5.2 percent alcohol (who knows what gut besser is). . It's refreshing and tastes pretty good. Not much more to say for this one. It's fairly bitter and goes down easy.

Oh damn. I think my friend whitney is in Austria, I should have axt her about this one. Ohwell.

alley kat aprikat, by andrea dyer

when i was living the age where wiping-the-snot-on-your-sleeve-in-winter was still appropriate, my loving parents had a nifty solution for fending off the cold:

beer.

it always did the trick and never asked me to return any favours.

so when i subjected myself to the apocalyptic weather of edmonton, relic and i put on our jackets, braved the outdoors, cleared the shit from out throats and warmed our bellies at the alley kat brewery on 60th avenue. it's the fourth oldest brewery in canada and has the capacity to produce 2.4 million bottles of beer annually, which is fairly attractive to an alley kat virgin such as myself.

after a few sips of so on and so forth, i decided that the fruity sweetness of 'aprikat' (alberta's first fruit beer) was the one for me. it's a perfectly carbonated german-style wheat beer - only in place of banana and clove extracts - apricots! the flavour is obvious but not overly dominant for those who'd still like to taste their barley and hops, and although i'm sipping one now on an empty stomach while pounding this out, it'd be an excellent after-dinner or summertime patio companion. and it ain't gonna talk back to ya.

...ah summer.

only 5 months left of this shit.

bottoms up.

guest review by andrea dyer

St.Ambroise Blonde Pale Ale

This beer is made by McAuslan brewing in Quebec. It's amber coloured, has a bit of a sweet citrus taste and smell at first but then comes off fairly bitter. I'd for sure drink these guys again, they're tasty and well balanced throughout.

I (barely) remember having another beer made by McAuslan years ago and I remember it was pretty good also.

First time using a glass to drink beer at home, classy!

Showing off pabst/antihero wallart board. Siiiikkkkk bro

Modelo Especial

This beer is made by the same company that makes Pacifico and Corona amongst others. I found it goes down real easy and was very refreshing in the hot sun but had a bit of an off after taste. The beer in the photo got a little to warm in my backpack so it wasn't as enjoyable as any other ones I had in Cabo. Nonetheless I wish the cops at the airport didn't steal the other ones I had to bring back so I could enjoy a few more of these right now. I like Pacifico more and Corona less.