Do it Yourself Beer Class: Canadian Beers

Beer Class at The Porter: Canadian Beers

What do Shania Twain, Celine Dion, and the beers you’re about to drink have in common? Well, besides the fact that I can’t get enough of ANY of ‘em, they all hail from Canada! If you weren’t aware, there are a lot of really delicious beers coming out of Canada (besides the exquisite Molson), and tonight we’ll try a handful of the best of them.

Dieu du Ciel! is a microbrewery in Montreal, Quebec which produces some of our favorite beers, ones that are truly excellent examples of various beer styles. Their Rosee d’Hibiscus is a wheat beer to which hibiscus flowers are added during brewing. The hibiscus lends a refreshingly tart, herbal edge to the soft, smooth wheat flavor, as well as tinting the beer a pretty pink. This is perfect for warm weather. It is 5% alcohol by volume.

Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec also offers a wide range of beers to suit any taste. Ephemere is a white ale brewed with apple must, so it has some of the qualities of a cider without really tasting as if it’s entirely derived from the juice of apples. Hints of spices like cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg complement the sweet and tart apple flavor. ABV is 5.5%.

Corne du Diable is a boldly hop-forward, reddish ale from Dieu du Ciel!, made in the style of the American IPA. That means it’s full-bodied and has the strong hop aroma and bold bitterness of a respectable IPA, but with a good dose of caramel malt flavor to round out the experience. It’s 6.5% ABV.

We recently added three beers to our list from Le Bilboquet, also in Quebec. The MacKroken Flower is their scotch ale. It’s made with honey, which adds a rich sweetness to the already malty brew and its vanilla, dark fruit, and molasses notes. ABV is 10.8%.

The McAuslan St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from Montreal is dark and rich, with a smooth, creamy body to carry its bold flavors. Roasted malt, coffee and dark chocolate dominate in the complex but highly drinkable brew. It is 5% ABV.

Hope you saved room for dessert. The Unibroue Don de Dieu, a triple wheat ale, is kind of like the bread pudding of beers, if you consider its bready maltiness, thick sweetness, and complex spice character, with a significant amount of ripe fruit and pungent yeast mixed in. It’s a sipper! ABV is 9%.