For centuries, long before hops were accepted as the universal seasoning in beer, man used a host of plants, herbs and spices to flavour his brews. Juniper, angelica and bog myrtle are still used in Scandinavian countries in traditional home brews. In Belgium their famous cherry (kriek) and raspberry (framboise) predate the hop beers. (Current versions include hops in the mix plus the additional flavouring. The basic beer recipe today is malted grain, hops, water and yeast to ferment it all.) Belgium’s fruity beers still set the world standard for these type of specialty brews. Meanwhile in Ontario a growing number of craft brewers are perfecting their art of flavouring with a slew of local ingredients. All of the beers below are available in select LCBO and The Beer Store locations, at the breweries and local pubs throughout Ontario. For more on the Ontario brews see http://www.ontariocraftbrewers.com/ or to locate a store nearest you go to http://www.lcbo.com/.
Amsterdam Framboise
If you think fruit is for wimps this classic Belgian style ale will change your mind. Fermented a second time with whole raspberries, it’s full bodied and malty with a tangy tart raspberry flavour. (Toronto, 6.5% alcohol)
Better Bitters Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsener
Hide from your kids or they’ll be seduced by the fresh apple juice flavour of this slightly sweet brew from Burlington. Rounded with just hints of hops, it’s all about the apple. (Burlington, 4% alcohol)
Cool Brew Buzz Beer
Made with the finest B.C. hemp and choice German hops, it’s a wholesome high (hops are part of the nettle family, first cousin to cannabis, a hemp plant). Smooth, medium bodied with a nice roasted malt flavour, sorry to say smoke fans, the buzz is only from the alcohol. (Brampton, 5% alcohol)
Lakes of Muskoka Honey Brown Lager
Made in cottage country from pure malts enhanced by the bee, this amber coloured lager has a honey of a nose. Light and delicately floral, it’s a smooth thirst quencher with notes from the apiary. (Bracebridge, 5% alcohol)
Mill Street Balzac’s Coffee Porter
The perfect java jolt, this robust, rich ale has a great black coffee character with dark chocolate notes. Flavoured with coffee from Balzac in the Distillery District, its buzz betters Starbuck’s. (Toronto, 5.5% alcohol)
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A beer you can sip as you nibble a chocolate, it has a rich, deep spicy sweetness and a dark brown colour. Or forget dessert, this is your postprandial. (Oakville, 6.5% alcohol)
Trafalgar Blueberry Mead
Not technically a beer, but mead, reputedly the oldest recorded fermented beverage known to man. No hops, rather made from fermented honey and PEI blueberries, its honeyed bubbly blueberry character makes it the perfect base for an adult style ice cream soda. (Oakville, 9% alcohol)
Belle-Vue Kriek
Lambic style (spontaneously fermented by wild yeasts), aged in barrels, then infused with cherries and refermented for about a year, it has pleasing complexity. The cherry comes through nicely in the nose and taste which finishes with a refreshing slight cherry pit bitterness. (Molenbeek, Belgium, 5.1%)
Mort-Subite Framboise Lambic
The name means sudden death in French but no chance of that with this lambic style, raspberry juice enhanced brew. Matured slowly in oak casks, its raspberry flavours are multi-levelled and rounded by sweetness. (Asse-Kobbegem, Belgium, 4.5% alcohol)
Mott’s Clamato Red Eye
What’s more Canadian than a bloody Caesar and a beer? Well put the two together and hold the vodka eh. Beer and tomato clam juice is a hangover remedy for some; others may want to create the condition by downing a pack of Red Eye. (Canada, 4.8% alcohol)