Trafalgar Critical Mass

I’m in the minority on this one, but I liked it a lot. 7 oz nip bottle purchase at Volo. Deep brown beer, no head. Very sweet and slightly oxidized malt aroma. Brown sugar, molasses, rum and raisins. Sweet toast and toffee along with a light maple character as well. The flavour is very sweet showing brown sugar, toasted almonds, marzipan, black pepper, rum and a touch of apricot brandy. Cooling mintiness on the back of the palate. An elegant and complex brew.

(200ml bottle) Courtesy of Lubiere. Very similar to the Korruptor but a lighter, more cherry and fig nose. Headless with a deep reddish body. Flavours of strong prunes, mild cough syrup and a lingering ABV burn. Very enjoyable like the other. I wish they’d just say this is a barleywine, bottle it and forget upsetting people at the festivals.

Draught at C’est What. This beer was in a word, outlandish. Cloudy, prune-juice like appearance, brilliant Blue Curacao (candied orange rind) in the nose and mouth, along with other burnt flavours and dark fruits (raisins, cassis). Long, bitter finish like superfine vodka, perhaps some vanilla. Oily texture with soft, baby-sized microbubbles. Some diesel fuel in back of the throat hurts the effect, but overall, an incredible and unique beer. Needs to sit in a cask for a spell and let those flavours mature!

Clear bottle, 200 ml, 2006, gift from Steve Gamble, savoured on April 28 2008, eye: ruby, no effervescence, clear, no head, no lacing; nose: lots of caramelized malt, alcohol, candied fruits, caramel, lightly oxidized, molasses, rum, liquorice; mouth: liqueur-like, caramelized malt, lot more hops than the mouth can perceive, candied fruits, caramel, molasses, rum, liquorice, finale in caramelized malt with lots of hops, mildly sweet and bitter, a bit thin, full body, not much carbonation; overall: nice surprise FRANÇAIS Bouteille transparente, 200 ml, 2006, cadeau de Steve Gamble, savourée le 28 avril 2008; œil : rubis, pas d’effervescence, claire, pas de mousse, pas de dentelle; nez : beaucoup de malt caramélisé, alcool, fruits candis, caramel, légèrement oxydée, mélasse, rhum, réglisse; bouche : liquoreuse, malt caramélisé, beaucoup plus de houblon que la bouche ne le perçoit, fruits candis, caramel, mélasse, rhum, réglisse, finale en malt caramélisé avec beaucoup de houblon, moyennement sucrée et amère, un peu mince, corsée, peu carbonatée, légère astringence; en résumé : belle surprise

Draught sample at Bar Towel pre-tasting for C’est What Spring ’06 Festival. Murky chestnut-brown with a very still body and no head. Aroma is warm and boozy with notes of pineapple, burnt sugar and yeast. Flavour has lots of dark sugar and fruit, with a bit of yeast and spice - it reminded me of a barley wine crossed with a Belgian strong. It is admittedly quite hot in the finish, but it’s a very young beer so that’s to be expected from the 13% alcohol. I think with a bit of aging, those edges will mellow and it’ll turn into a very nice beer indeed.

On Tap T-dot beer festival. Much better than the rating permits from tap. A nice smooth scotch and vanilla taste blended on top of a dark copper body with enough of a foamy head. Definitely a must try at this festival. They’ve perfected the batch in biohazard tins! re-rate: On tap at volo. The beer seems to have lost it’s edge as a stand alone beer. after a few other microbrew at the festival this was a standout, but now it’s sickeningly cloying ina medicinal sort of way. on re-rate, the beer averages 5-4-5-2-12. Results are averaged

Bottle thanks to sammy for sharing: Mahogany in color with very little head. Aroma, has some fruits, a spiciness to it, and some alcohol. Flavor, a sweet maltiness to it, quite bitter in a weird way. The alcohol comes through pretty strong, seems like some honey notes in there as well. Screwy beer, would probably benefit from some age.

To commemorate the rating of my 1953rd beer, as that is also the year of my birth, I’ve gone with this, the strongest beer in Canada. Bottled two days ago. Alcohol, plums and coca-cola aroma. Cloudy burgundy, pours the tiniest and shortest lived tan head. Strong alcohol taste, pit fruit, burned malt. Reminds me of Hurlimann Samichlaus when it was fresh. Full bodied, bitter, alcohol is very apparent. Hopefully a few years will round this out. Kudos to Trafalgar for brewing this heavyweight!