I had the monumental foresight to release part 1 of 'Tis the Season for #beersaturday, knowing part 2 would fall right on Boxing Day! 'Tis the season for Seasonal beer gift packs and I like to share the adventure with legions of thirsty followers.
Source: https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.
With last week's trip through the Amsterdam Brewery YYZ Flight Pack, I cracked and drank it before Christmas. It is a day AFTER Christmas but I will have admit I destroyed this week's variety pack before the big day as well. Lemme share how it was.
Strap on your holiday drinkin' stockings and lets do this!
Before we get started...
Here is the top-secret view from within the beer section of our provincially owned and operated LCBO liquor store. This business is neat not only because they are the only profit-generating department in the province, it is also the single largest purchasing body of wine in the world.
I spend most of my time in the Ontario Craft section but have been drawn to the International aisle which has been encroached upon by the seasonal section. The overflow is because of the glut of holiday packs, gift packs and other cleverly-named samplers. With the weird and exotic craft beer labels, the garish holiday patterns make it look like a unicorn barfed all over the shelf but let's see which one looks the most intriguing.
Like last week, today's selection was picked from this nice selection of seasonal gift packs.
It is Winter in Perth!
Not Perth, the bustling metropolis in Australia, but Perth Ontario which is a small town not too far from Ottawa. While it was known while I was close as the place the Hershey factory was, that has long since closed down and Perth Brewery https://perthbrewery.ca/ is one of the craft breweries which seem to pop up in every lucky small town. Apparently, their branding has an affinity to thistles and I recall enjoying and reviewing Calypso IPA https://perthbrewery.ca/product/calypso/ earlier this year.
Here is their Winter Sampler Pack which boasts a nice variety of beer styles and flavours. While it is true I heavily prefer IPAs, I have an appreciation for many styles of beer and enjoy the adventure of tasting something new.
Taking a look at this line-up, it looks like I will get a chance to enjoy a few different styles. From a lighter Pilsner, to a nutty dark lager, a coffee stout and I would not even be buying a variety pack honestly if it did not contain an IPA.
Pistachi Ho-Ho!
First up is a Christmas-themed Dark Lager called Pistachi-ho-ho https://perthbrewery.ca/product/pistachi-ho-ho/ I till be honest when I say I wasn't looking forward to this one much as I am not a fan of pistachios. My little one is and was curious to see one of her favourite snacks as an ingredient for beer.
I do like a good dark lager though and a little vanilla is just about enough to stabilize most flavours.
This is officially classified as a flavoured bee because of the addition of pistachios and vanilla. Often times, you can emulate these flavours with a combination of hops and malts so that you stick to the German Purity Law. At first taste, it was a sweet and malty taste and I really couldn't find the nut flavour I assumed would be unpleasant to my taste. It never really arrived or was nicely smoothed out by the vanilla which was subtle and not overdone.
All in all, it was a solid dark lager with a nice sweet touch that didn't rob the beer of its malty body. Pleasantly surprised!
Coffee Time
Next up is Mocha Stout https://perthbrewery.ca/product/mocha/ which promises to be thick and dark. When I brewed beer all those years, one of our specialties was a chocolate coffee stout we brewed because a normal stout seemed not to be thick enough. So, I enjoy a nice flavoured stout to provide a very rich taste with relatively low alcohol by volume.
The side label tells a whole new tale of buzzwords with some exotic ones like indulgent, organic, Madagascar and espresso. This might be something else!
Now I don't know why you would need chocolate and vanilla extract rather than just chocolate and vanilla unless you are a very advanced brewer and knew that the chemical reaction would be better with the refined extracts. It is neat that they actually brew the espresso locally and purchase it through fair-trade channels.
Again, being nothing but honest, I can't remember a single thing that stands out about this beer good or bad. Perhaps because it was so similar to that which we brewed so long ago and it tasted like home. You can see it is not completely opaque like many other stouts but did pack a nice malt punch and the coffee/hops bitterness was again smoothed out by the vanilla but not killed. Made me crave a campfire and another.
Euro Pilsner!
As you can see by this shot, Euro Pilsner https://perthbrewery.ca/product/euro/ is clear enough to read the paper through...of the Apple logo in this case. The website says very little about it but I am assuming it is the cleanest, clearest most boring beer you could possibly imagine. A fantastic pilsner is a rare bird but this is probably because I haven't spent enough time in Czech pubs.
Authentic Pilsner is about all it says on the side along with the simple 4 ingredients. Water, Barley, Hops and Yeast. There is something nice about the simplicity of what goes into the beer and the taste that comes from moderation and clean brewing process.
I am not sure I would buy this again, unless I found a Coors Light drinker that was finally looking to take a small step into craft beer enjoyment. I do not hate this and crushed it pretty quickly.
Finally an IPA!
Having enjoyed Calypso and Hopside IPAs from Perth in the past, I was really looking forward to this one the most. 78 IBU and 6.5% abv sure sound to be up my alley with a brewery I already know does IPAs right. That is a damn big hop on the label so it better taste like it!
You damn right that was a tasty beverage and fully yet not obnoxiously hopped. Less sweet than the Calypso but definitely tasted like something I would like to buy again. I may get that chance again as it was added to their core line up and I just have to hope the local folks order more.
Out of the lot, it was a nice to enjoy the variety, but I will have to give this one the stamp.
#BEERSaturday!
Thanks again for this wonderful #hive #beer gift by 
The link @detlev/xmas-beersaturday-week-183 marks the 183rd #beersaturday contest. 
I am honoured to curate for:
