Belgian-inspired and brewed with traditional spices, this strong brew appears reddish brown in the glass, with fruity and rich malty aromas backed by hoppy and lightly spicy background scents. Sweet fruit, malt and chocolate flavours come with gentle, bottle-fermented carbonation and fruit-cake spiciness and lightly dry bitter grip on the finish.
This peach-coloured, hazy brew topped with a fluffy white head is perfect for hot summer days. A wheat/blueberry beer, the nose boasts dried blueberries and cherry cough drops. The first sip starts out mildly citrusy and acidic, moving to a sweet blueberry centre that lasts until the finish. Soft and creamy with bubbly carbonation, this is a great beer with light, fresh cheeses like chèvres.
Made with newer hop varietals Citra, El Dorado and Sorachi Ace, the nose of this Session IPA erupts with notes of mango, tropical fruit and pine. The ale’s hue is apple-juice yellow and unfiltered. A wave of orange and grapefruit backed by prickly pine flavours comes with the first sip, but finishes with hints of soft grain and sweeter pear and pineapple. Bolder, more bitter hop notes are showcased up front, before sweeter, fruitier flavours finish things off — making for a fun interplay of bittersweet on the tongue. Plenty of carbonation combined with judicious hopping that prickly mouthfeel and the bubbles help to boost the ale's lighter body. Great with spicy, herbal Thai or Mexican fare.
Invented to slake the thirst of German cyclists, this classic, low-alcohol blend of beer and juice is usually made with grapefruit. But Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewing Company uses a blend of blood orange and grapefruit juice, adds a citrusy house soda for an extra spritzy mouthfeel, and zests more blood oranges in-house, adding it at the last second in the brewing process for maximum zip. The formula makes for an ultra-refreshing beer spritzer, with a citrus aroma that pops.
Pop the cork off this Champagne-sized bottle and serve in your red wine glasses to help the nose of this spicy, citrusy Belgian-style saison really pop. Made from a blend of beer batches — some aged in oak casks deliberately inoculated with wild yeasts, others fresh from the fermenter — gives the naturally fermented ale a slightly wild, barnyard-like acidity and funk. But the sparkling ale drinks more like a fine, complex Champagne with white pepper, bright citrus, and orange-peel notes alongside a hit of rice-crispie-square sweetness. Elegant and super food-friendly — pair with just about anything from Thai to Mexican to a grilled peppercorn steak.
Gluten-free beer usually leaves a lot to be desired. But that’s not the case with Brunehaut’s line of organic, (almost) gluten-free, vegan ales. Full, rich bodies and Belgian yeast’s signature fruity and spicy flavours dominate this Belgian brewery’s 4 gluten-free ales. This old-school Belgian brewery, founded in 1890, de-glutenizes its estate-grown barley malt, and claims there are less than 5 ppm of gluten remaining in the malt. The triple is an 8% ABV beauty with light apple and pear aromas, a honeyed-fruit flavour balanced by a crack of white pepper and hint of bittering hops and a knockout body that blows most g-free brews out of the water.
Atlantic Canada’s oldest craft breweries, like Picaroon’s, specialize in traditional Irish, Scots and English ales — and this one is worth picking up. Pouring deep amber with copper tones and a fuzzy yellow head, this is a medium-bodied ale with a light, crisp mouthfeel. The sip is layered with biscuit, spicy hop, and honey — and its spicy herbaceous notes last from start to finish, building with each sip. A light caramel and nutty backbone is just here for balance. Try with aged cheddar.