Best of Beau's 2014 Mix Pack: Winner's Selected

 

 

The winners have now been announced from the voting for the 2014 Beat of Beau's Mix Pack, which will be out to buy late this year. There were quite a few beers listed to vote for, but the winners were...

 

 

 

St Luke's Verse (Lavender Gruit)

Legend has it that young maidens who wanted to know who their true love might be would sip upon a lavender brew and chant St. Luke’s Verse, imploring the saint to reveal their identity in her dreams that night. “St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me. In my dreams, let me my true love see.” Copper in colour, St. Luke’s Verse Gruit Ale offers up an aromatic herb-and-spice bouquet of lavender accented by thyme and rosemary. This is a flavourful, balanced beer that is highly nuanced but very approachable. St. Luke’s Verse was brewed in honour of Gruit Day, an international celebration of this style of beer brewed with a variety of herbs and spices in place of hops.

History & Style

Centuries ago it would have seemed odd to consider using only one herb to spice beer. Dozens of plants, such as bog myrtle, yarrow, heather, and juniper were commonly used in ancient brewing. These beers were known as Gruit or Grut (German for herb), and a brewers’ spice blend was a proprietary and carefully guarded secret. After the Reinheitsgebot (Bavarian Purity Act of 1516) ordered that only hops be used to spice beer, the Bavarian style of brewing took hold in most of Europe, and the gruit gradually faded into obscurity.
Luckily, some craft breweries have rediscovered this ancient form of brewing – visit the Gruit Day website – for a list of breweries participating in International Gruit Day 2014, each brewing up a different gruit ale to celebrate that day. Craft brewing is all about discovery and experimentation, and gruits are one of the best examples of this pioneering spirit!

Tasting Notes

This gruit ale’s intense lavender aroma is accentuated and enhanced with sub-notes of thyme and rosemary. St. Luke’s Verse exhibits firm flavours that parallel the aromatic bouquet, and present themselves in unison as a deliciously drinkable potpourri.


Food Pairings

Brewmaster Matthew O’Hara suggests a perfect pairing with a romantic dinner of raclette pour deux. (St. Luke whispered that it also pairs well with sweet nothings and gossamer wings.)

Technical Specs

• Alc./Vol.: 5.7%
• Ingredients: Local Spring Water, Organic Barley Malts, Organic Hops, Organic Lavender, Organic Rosemary, Organic Thyme & Brewer’s Yeast.
• Malts: Pilsner, Caramel 20, Carafoam, Acidulated (All Organic)
• Hops / Bittering: Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Perle Hops (All Organic)
• IBU's: 11
• OG: 14.2°P
• FG: 3.7°P
• Ideal Serving Temperature: 6-9° C
• Serving Glass: Goblet

 

 

 

 

 

Burnt Rock Vanilla Porter

 

 urnt Rock is a classic British-style porter brewed with additions of organic vanilla beans and extract. Despite what the weighty aroma suggests, Burnt Rock has a good, clean finish, and sessionable drinkability.

History & Style

Beau’s Pro-Am Series is a salute to homebrewers, true innovators of our craft. Beers designed by amateur brewers, brewed at Beau’s. This wonderful winter warmer was first brewed with the members of Barleyment’s Patrick Boisvenue.

Tasting Notes

With rich, luxuriant vanilla aromas reminiscent of fine pipe tobacco, selected dark malts offer up balancing chocolate and coffee nuances for this medium-bodied beer. Hops add a pleasantly dry finish.

Food Pairings

Mascarpone filled gnocchi with truffle oil, caramel and nutty treats, trifle.

Technical Specs

• Alc./Vol.: 4.9%
• Ingredients: Local Spring Water, Organic Barley Malts, Organic Hops, Organic Vanilla Beans, Organic Vanilla Extract, Brewer’s Yeast.
• Malts: Pale Ale, Munich, Carafa, Carafoam, Caramunich, Chocolate (All Organic)
• Hops: Organic Perle
• IBU's: 29
• OG: 13.3°P
• FG: 3.7°P

 

 

Winterbreewed 

 

 The 2013 edition of Winterbrewed is an Amber ale, brewed with a blend of Mexican, Guatemalan and Ethiopian Organic Fairtrade Coffee from Bridgehead. Malty, roasted, toasted flavours of coffee and barley meld with nutty, fruity inflections. The interplay is carried forward in the aroma, where caramel, peach and a touch of lime underpin fresh coffee and amber malt notes.

History & Style

Winterbrewed is a celebration of all that brewing great beer and great coffee have in common. This is the third year Beau's and Bridgehead have come together to pair coffee and beer in February – and the beer is also a salute to Ottawa's annual outdoor winter celebration, Winterlude.

Tasting Notes

Complimentary coffee and hop aromas reveal fruity nuances of lime and peach alongside a bold roasted coffee presence. Intense earthy, woody coffee flavours are interwoven with roasted caramel inflections from the malts. A balanced hop presence provides pleasant dryness in the finish.

Food Pairings

Corn Flakes, Breakfast Burritos, Bagels with Cream Cheese, Omelettes, Smoked Salmon, Spicy Caesars

Technical Specs

• Alc./Vol.: 6.0%
• Ingredients: Local Spring Water, Organic Barley Malts, Organic Fair Trade Coffee (Mexican, Guatemalan and Ethiopian), Organic Hops, Brewer’s Yeast.
• Malts: Munich, Pilsner, Caramunich, Carafoam, Carafa (All Organic)
• Hops: Perle, Belgian Cascade, New Zealand Motueka (All Organic)
• Yeast: German Ale Yeast
• IBU's: 25
• OG: 12.9°P
• FG: 2.5°P
• Ideal Serving Temp: 4-6° C

 

 

Mission Accomplished IPA

 

Mission Accomplished is an American IPA, brewed with a bold hop aroma and assertive bitterness. The combination of organic American and New Zealand hops give the beer sweet, juicy notes of tangerine, tropical fruit and pine. Bready malts provide some backbone but ultimately are no match for the smooth hop bitterness. The American yeast supplies mild, fruity esters that ease back and allow the hops to take their rightful place in the spotlight.

History & Style

The India Pale Ale (IPA) style was first brewed in England. Pale, assertively hopped and strong, over time the style became malty and weaker in alcohol. Early American craft brewers reinvented the IPA using American hop varieties, which gave the style its bold signature citrus and pine aroma.

Tasting Notes

Aromas of tangerine and pine hit the nose first, and then are joined by a spicy and floral hop bouquet, mingled with tropical fruit. The taste is of sweet, juicy hops with flavours of citrus and pine, followed by a smooth bitterness that lingers on the tongue. Bready malts provide just enough balance to make this IPA thoroughly enjoyable sip after sip.

Food Pairings

Big IPA flavours prefer equally bold and/or spicy food match-ups. Think strong cheeses, jerk chicken, or curry vindaloo.

Technical Specs

• Alc./Vol.: 6.7%
• Ingredients: Local Spring Water, Organic Barley Malts, Organic Hops, Brewer’s Yeast.
• Malts: Pale Ale, Two Row, Munich, Carafoam (All Organic)
• Hops: Simcoe, Cascade, Rakau, Citra, Centennial (All Organic)
• IBU's: 65
• OG: 14.6°P
• FG: 3.2°P
• Ideal Serving Temperature: 4-7° C
• Serving Glass: IPA glass or Shaker

 

 

 

I voted for Mission Accomplished, Elmsmere's Regret, and Bottle Imp myself, with most of my votes going to Bottle Imp. The winter Beau's seasonal, Bogwater, should also be available around then also.

 

My three favourite beers from the brewery available on regular rotation are Lugtread Lager, Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale, and the Tom Green Milk Stout.

 

The next Beau's (and beer) event I'm looking forward to - Oktoberfest.