Unfortunately my time in Alaska has come to an
end. My ship is now repositioning
to the Caribbean… not sure how much good craft beer I am going to find
there! But for now I will continue
to tell you about my last few stops just outside of Alaska – did I mention my
run took me to Canada as well?
Our stop in Canada took us to Victoria in British
Columbia. Here we discovered a
brewpub called Swan’s that was the home to beer brewed at Buckerfields
Brewery. We went back here a
couple of times so we could try the whole selection! Conveniently you could choose flights in four or six glasses
or try each beer in taster size individually…. I got flights of six almost
every time !
Here are my tasting notes from Swan’s:
Old Towne Lager
Pale, watery gold in colour with not much head to
speak of, this lager is solventy with a maltiness that gives it body. Not my favourite from here but a pretty
good lager overall
Pandora Pale Ale
Warm gold with a low head this brew has a sweet aroma
with a malty base. It has a sweet
taste with a very subtle fruitiness overwhelmed by a malt finish.
Extra IPA
Orange gold with a low white head, this IPA has a
good combination of hops, nettle and grapefruit on the nose. It starts of bitter with a nettle taste
that lingers followed by subtle fruit in the background.
Buckerfield’s ESB
This Extra Special Bitter is amber with a quickly
dissipating head. It has a malty
aroma with an underlying sweetness.
To taste it begins bitter with a sweet maltiness lingering on the
tongue. A very good example of
this style in my opinion.
Appleton Brown Ale
Brown with a low head, this ale smells smoky and
malty almost with a coffee background.
This tastes like a watery stout with a combination of grain, malt and
roastiness.
Berry Ale
This is a more subtle fruit beer, being amber with a
red tinge and a low head. It
strongly smells of berries and tastes bitter to begin with a raspberry shot
then a lingering grainy taste left behind.
Honey Lager
This brew tastes like an IPA with a sweet
background. Golden straw in colour
with minimal head is has a hoppy, lightly sweet aroma. Bitter to begin with a background taste
of sweetness from the honey this lager finishes with light nettle and
hoppiness.
Arctic Ale
Gold straw in colour with a low head there is minimal
aroma to this brew, possibly slightly malty. The taste was also minimal to me, a touch grainy and
biscuity. I like my beers a little
stronger than this but my Bud Lite drinking friend adored it.
Coconut Porter
Not being a fan of coconut, I didn’t think I was
going to like this one but along with the berry ale and ESB it is actually one
of my favourites. Dark brown but
red in the light with a low tan head this brew has a strong coconut aroma
accompanied by a light roastiness.
In tasting it is smooth and creamy with slight coconut and a good amount
of roasty aftertaste.
Riley’s Scotch Ale
For a high alcohol content ale I found this
surprisingly easy to drink and very smooth. Brown with red highlights and a low head this scotch ale has
a dark, fruit cake aroma. It is
oily in the mouth but not in a bad way and is fruity and grainy.
Oatmeal Stout
Black with red highlights and a low almost
nonexistent head, this stout had a good burnt aroma with a background
sweetness. As with the Scotch Ale
it was very smooth tasting of coffee with a lingering sweet, burnt aftertaste.
Phew!
That was a good run of beers there! I have a couple more installment from my times in
Alaska/Canada, next we will look at some more commercial beers and then the
beers I like from Canada… then we will move on to new pastures!
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