Style: Dry Irish Stout
ABV: 5.6%
Presentation: 6 packs of 341 ml brown bottles
Brewery: Half Pints Brewing Company
Country: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk

After honing his chops as the head brewer at Regina’s Bushwakker brewpub for a few years Dave Rudge officially opened his own craft brewery in Winnipeg in August of 2006.  The fruit of that labour turned out to be the Half Pints Brewing Company, winner of several brewing awards already and continuing to go strong by producing original interpretations of traditional beer styles.  One of the first two flagship beers that helped to develop their reputation is the Stir Stick Stout, which continues to maintain its popularity and convert newcomers to the fold.

A fine specimen of Dry Irish Stout on its own, Stir Stick Stout contains a subtle extra ingredient that’s alluded to in the name, and brings it all to a new level.  More than just any old plain java, Half Pints adds a cold infusion of the prized and sought after Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee to the final maturation tank, a bean said to possess notes of chocolate and citrus to it.  Although roasted at and obtained from fellow Winnipeg business Black Pearl Coffee, the beans originate in the green mountains surrounding the town of Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia, a town so small that sometimes it doesn’t appear even local African maps.  Obscurity aside, this coffee comes with quite a pedigree, as the Ethiopians have been cultivating and brewing coffee longer than anyone else on the planet.  According to legend, around 850 A.D. an Abyssinian goat herder, in what is now present day Ethiopia, was said to have discovered what we recognize as the modern coffee plant through curious means.  It was by tracking down the cause of the peculiar behaviour of his flock, which would act nearly possessed when they would ingest the red berries of the indigenous Kaffa trees.

With that little aside out of the way let’s see what Stir Stick Stout has to offer.  Your favourite glass will do just fine to serve this in, even better if it’s a mug or pint glass.  A cool temperature rather than a cold temperature will allow for the intricacies found within to become more apparent, maybe wait 10-15 minutes before pouring it after you pull it out of the fridge.  This stout itself is a dense dark brown, it appears nearly black, however if you hold it up to direct light you’ll notice a slight translucency with deep oaky highlights.  Crowning it should be a fairly tall spongy beige head that will leave some chunky lacing as it settles and you start to empty the glass.  By this point there should be absolutely no surprise in coming across the robust coffee aromas that you’ll be encountering, along with some dry roasted malt and a pleasant blend of espresso and dark chocolate.  Moving on to the flavour, if you also can’t taste the coffee profile almost immediately then I think you may be drinking the wrong beer.  There will also be a bit of grainy bitterness and dark chocolate, however in the aftertaste things sweeten up with mocha highlights.  Transporting this all is a somewhat light mouthfeel, low carbonation, a bit slick at times but starts to feel fuller near the finish.

On the side of the label Half Pints suggests matching their Stir Stick Stout with a barbecued buffalo burger or sweet desserts.  I agree, the coffee notes will greatly accentuate grilled meats, especially with a bit of char, or even dishes with some blackened seasoning.  With desserts the same attributes will emphasize a more savoury nature, baked goods with prominent cocoa or dark chocolate, or act as a minor contrast to sweeter offerings.  Or even the next time you have a hankering for a cuppa joe with a friend, pull out a couple of bottles of this stout instead and see if it livens up the conversation more.

The next steps in the cooler:

From This Brewery:
Burley Wine
Humulus Ludicrous
Phil’s Pils
Little Scrapper IPA
Sweet Nikki Brown

Other Coffee Beers:
Midnight Sun Espresso Stout
Rogue Mocha Porter
Mill Street Coffee Porter

Other Stouts:
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Guinness Extra Stout
Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
St-Amboise Oatmeal Stout

Lateral Steps:
Lobkowicz Baron
Warsteiner Dunkel
Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter
Fuller’s London Porter

For The Adventurous:
Aventinus
Samichlaus Bier
Trois Pistoles

Style: Spiced/Herbed Lager
ABV: 5%
Presentation: 6 packs of 341 ml brown bottles
Brewery: Amber’s Brewing Co.
Country: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk

It really doesn’t get more unique for locally crafted beers than Amber’s Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager.  Okay, except for maybe their alchemically transmogrified Sap Vampire Maple Lager.  Just goes to show how closely they are sticking to their mission statement of straying off the beaten path and remaining as far outside of the box as they can get away with.  Seriously, it’s difficult to produce a decent lager on its own, let alone one with a unique slant or modification, there is no way on earth to hide any flaws or unwanted quirks with a lager, it’s all there laid bare, exposed and open to the world for better or worse.  There are predetermined expectations for a lager as well:  it needs to be crisp, clean and refreshing.  Add an extra twist to this with a curious foreign ingredient, and you still need to be able to step up to the plate and deliver.  Amber’s pulls this off with their Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager, what I like to consider as the flagship offering of their brewery, one of the first to be produced since their inception, and one that has been honed and fine-tuned until now, finally just right.

The Australian Mountain Pepper Berry is in itself a bit of a curiosity.  Originally known as the Tasmanian pepperberry on its home soil, it tends to grow on a shrub but can reach 4-5 metres as a tree, found in Tasmania and the Southeastern regions of Australia in New South Wales and Victoria, mostly in cool high altitude regions.  Previously used by the local Aborigines for medicinal purposes, it’s presently utilized as a culinary spice, although the Australian Mountain Pepper Berry is also purported to be the world’s strongest known antioxidant.  What appears to simply be a sundried blueberry tends to get ground up and used as a garnish or spiced ingredient in many food dishes, even the plant’s leaves are aromatic and spicy, similar to a chilli.

While serving this flavoured lager chilled will accentuate the crisp and clean characteristics of it, allowing it to warm a bit allows the aromatics an opportunity to be released, and the fruit and spice highlights to become more noticeable within the flavour.  There’s really no one glass ideal to serve this in, almost anything will do, although a pint or sleeve glass seems the most common choice.  You’ll be greeted by a slightly chill-hazed deep golden appearance as you pour it into your choice of glassware, with a short tight creamy white head that will linger for awhile.  There will also be a welcoming bready maltiness from the aroma, accompanied by faint fruity and flowery notes, and an equally mild spicy herbal contrast.  In the mouth it feels fuller than your average lager, smooth yet balanced with a pleasant carbonation.  Then a sweet bready malt up front in the flavour, a dry fruity sweetness following this until it is joined by a savoury zip of white pepper and floral hops on the finish, very quenching as a whole.

Due to the unique nature of the Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager, definite food pairings get a little bit tricky.  One thing’s for sure, it’ll help balance out salty appetizers and snacks with its dry, quenching nature, a casual savoury volley within your mouth.  This lager would also help accentuate mildly spicy dishes, and will most certainly hold its own with almost any cheese platter you’d care to work your way through alongside a few bottles of this stuff, even the astringent cheeses.  You see, cheese coats your tongue and your taste receptors, and by doing so numbs a lot of the flavours from the traditional red wine and cheese pairings.  Because of the dry crispness and carbonation from the Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager, it will scrub your palate while releasing its own distinct flavours to accompany and potentially contrast almost anything a particular cheese has to offer.  Experimenting has never become so fun and satisfying, give it a shot.

The next steps in the cooler:

From This Brewery:
Sap Vampire
Pale Ale
Bub’s Lunch Pail Ale
Kenmount Road Chocolate Stout

Other Unique Beers:
Midas Touch - Dogfish Head
Chipotle Ale - Rogue
Juniper Pale Ale - Rogue
Van Helsing’s All Natural Mouthwash - Sherbrooke/Alley Kat
Pi Jiu - Sherbrooke/Alley Kat

Lateral Steps:
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Fullers ESB
Erdinger Weissebier
Hoegaarden Original Witbier
Edelweiss Snowfresh

For The Adventurous:
Little Scrapper IPA - Half Pints
Aventinus Weizenbock
Traquair Jacobite

Jason Foster

Beer is an international drink, appreciated worldwide. And in the past 50 years it is an increasingly homogenized, globalized one. Who cares whether the beer is made in Canada, England or Bangladesh? As long as it is made right and tastes good.

In one respect that is true. In my home brewery I can make every style of beer that exists, as long as I can procure the right ingredients. Beer styles do not belong to a particular region, unlike wine where certain grapes only grow in certain climates. But that is not to say that the geographic coordinates of a beer are irrelevant.

Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, region is deeply ingrained in the history and character of beer. And despite globalization and corporatization, it continues to display a proud connection to local tradition. Understanding beer and how to appreciate its flavours relies surprisingly upon knowing its regional origins, because it can tell you much about what to expect and about why it is brewed the way it is.

To prove my point, let’s start with one of the oldest and more obvious differences in regional beer tradition: England vs. Germany. Think about an English beer. What do you expect to find? Myself, I think of a couple of key characteristics. I expect it to be an ale, not too dark, nor too light. Fruitiness and balance will be distinguishable qualities. British brewers like their hops, but not in an overpowering fashion - preferring to counter it with some rich caramel, toffee malts. Classic versions of British ale are Fuller’s ESB or Newcastle Brown ale.

Contrast that with Germany. Their non-wheat beers are cleaner, crisper and more accented toward one extreme or the other. They make rich, malty beers like Ayinger Celebrator, and sharp, hoppy beers like Warsteiner or Konig Pils. They aim for a full experience of one quality in beer.

Why is that? It comes down to a matrix of water chemistry, climate, government regulation and historical accident. Water in Germany differs wildly between cities. Some areas, like Munich and Bavaria have water better suited for malty beer (moderate carbonates). Others, like Dortmund and Hamburg, have water that accents hops (higher in sulphates). England has more uniform water chemistry (for the most part), leading to a more balanced beer profile.

Plus, a few hundred years ago, depending on where you lived the government might encourage hop or barley use in beer or it might discourage it through taxation. And that shaped what brewers did, based on simple economics.

The historical reasons for why regions established their own style of beers is complex, but rather interesting. And it informs why we can still taste the difference today. Beer drinkers’ palates developed over centuries to prefer beers of a particular flavour and style. It has demonstrably carried itself down through generations. The English are still not huge fans of German beer, and vice versa.

Region matters. Even in our globalized world the location of the brewer can tell us a lot about what to expect from the beer. It can tell us what brewing tradition they come from and what their water and local ingredients encourage.

So here is a quick and partial guide to what to expect from beers from particular regions:

Scotland/Ireland - Reflecting their colonized status with England, their beers are quite different than English beers. Fewer hops (due to taxation and shipping costs) and more malt accent their styles. Think Kilkenny, Traquair House or Belhaven. Rich and sweet beers.

Eastern Europe - Following the lead of the Czechs, eastern Europe leans toward crisp lagers with a hoppy accent. Blame it on their unbelievable ability to grow impressive hops. Pilsner Urquell is the classic.

Belgium - Their beer is less about climate and more about personality. For Belgians, a standard 5% barley-based beer is boring. The fun begins after that. Odd spices, funky yeasts, and big alcohol characterize Belgian beer.

Northwest Coast USA - The northwest coast of the US has fallen in love with hops. The region is well-suited for growing hops, but generally varieties that are citrusy and bold. Their beers are hop accented, usually with a beautiful hop aroma.

Latin America - Heat creates a desire for a thirst-quenching beer. Beers from central and south America are scarily easy to drink, with low levels of hops and a refreshing balance of sweet and dry.

Canada - We can’t claim a style all our own. We generally steal from others. However, I will say that I believe Canadian brewers hybridize their beers well. Canadian versions of classic styles tend to be a little fuller with a focus on refreshing. But, our lack of history is a handicap. What may be the classic Canadian beer is Yukon Gold.

While this is an incomplete accounting, I hope it gives a sense that location matters. Different regions have distinct brewing traditions, which lead to unique tastes and characteristics in their beer. So when next shopping for a beer, think about where the beer comes from and consider how it will affect aroma, taste and overall impression.

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 8%
Presentation: Single 750 ml brown caged and corked bottles,
6 packs of 341 ml brown bottles
Brewery: Unibroue
Country: Chambly, Quebec, Canada

KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk

The first time I ever wrote down an initial description of this ale many years ago I said that the flavour hit me like a velvet canoe paddle.  It wasn’t a bad thing, in fact it was quite enjoyable, simply more intense than almost any beer I had tried up until that point.

For those of you who enjoy drinking and cussing, Maudite may be right up your alley.  Pronounced “moe-dzit”, Maudite translates as “Cursed” or “Damned” from the Quebecois dialect, and refers to the gentlemen in the flying canoe on the gorgeously rendered label on the bottle.  Of course the smarmy winking devil offers a good hint as well.  What’s going on here is a reference to the old Quebecois legend of the “Chasse-Galerie”, The Legend of the Flying Canoe.  There are several variations on it but the gist goes like this:

It was near Christmas-time when 8 French Voyageurs were out deep in the woods trapping and collecting pelts, and were too far away from home to be able to get back in time to spend the Holidays with their families.  Somehow they made a pact with the devil, which made their canoe sail across the sky in order to make it home in time.  However one of them must have had pangs of regret, as the moment he invoked the name of God out of lament he freed himself from their diabolical pledge, unfortunately sending the whole lot of them and their canoe plunging back to earth.  None of them were ever seen again.

There’s actually a variant on this tale stating that they made the pact for the flying canoe in order to get back in time before all the good beer had been consumed during the celebrations.  Some people and their priorities….

Now to fully enjoy this strong red ale you’re going to have to start off with the proper glassware.  Anything with a wide brim is going to be ideal, be it an oversized red wine glass, a large brandy snifter, or if you’re in a pinch, a wide mug will do.  Because this ale is conditioned and re-fermented in the bottle, that means there’s going to be some yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, so be prepared for that.  Also this means that there will be extra flavours and aromas as a result of the yeast, so I’d recommend letting this beer sit at least a good 15-20 minutes before opening once you’ve pulled it out of the fridge.  One other point regarding the bottle-conditioning from the yeast, and in combination with the higher alcohol content, is that this beer can be cellared and aged like wine for about 5 years or so, and over time the character of the flavour will subtly shift and change.

On to the pour!  When dealing with bottle conditioned beers that contain yeast at the bottom is to stop the pour once you’re down to the last half inch of beer left in the bottle, thus still containing the yeast and preventing it from getting into your glass.  No worries if some does get poured, the yeast is harmless, and in fact is fairly healthy, being loaded with B vitamins.  At worst it will cloud up the beer in your glass and might add a bit of tart off-flavour.

After all that build up expect a tight spongy off-white head, with a translucent slightly hazed dark mahogany amber body.  The aroma is fairly complex yet will probably come across as predominantly yeasty, spicy, with hints of citrus, although there is a sweet and toasted malt backing it all up.  The more attention you pay to the smell the more different aspects you’ll be able to pick out.  The flavour is just as complex with bready malt, dark fruits, spice, and citrus, with faint peppery and leafy hops on the finish.  Carrying this all across your tongue and palate is a smooth textured mouthfeel with a medium-bodied fullness, yet a slick lower carbonation.  There will also be a bit of warmth in the flavour and mouthfeel from the higher alcohol content.

Maudite is just begging to be paired with food.  For this particular beer of theirs Unibroue suggests stews, pasta, red meat and spicy dishes.  To this I would add that it’s a great match with strong cheese, this strong Belgian brew will hold its own and go blow to blow with the sharp and intense flavours.  Oddly enough Maudite will accentuate and bring out the rich flavours of artisanal chocolates, the darker the better, or provide a balanced contrast for sweeter, milkier variations.  From roasts to grilled meat, on to pungent and savoury dishes Maudite is a great accompaniment.

No need to sell your own soul or lose your head over this stuff, fortunately for us Maudite is easily and readily accessible.  Although if you consume too many of these in one sitting you’ll start to think the devil did get his due after all.

The next steps in the cooler:

From This Brewery:
Blanche De Chambly
Chambly Noire
Don De Dieu
Ephemere (Apple)
Ephemere (Blackcurrent)
La Fin Du Monde
Trois Pistoles
Unibroue 16
Unibroue 17
Quatre-Centieme

In-Style:
Trappistes Rochefort 8
St. Bernardus Abt 12
Chimay Blue
Gulden Draak

Lateral Steps:
Duvel
Chimay Red Cap
St. Bernardus Tripel
Augustijn

For The Adventurous:
Trappistes Rochefort 10
Black Albert
Pannepot Grand Reserva
Koningshoeven Quadrupel
Brooklyn Monster Ale
Thomas Hardy’s Ale

Style: Kölsch
ABV: 4.5%
Presentation: 650 ml brown bottle
Brewery: Mt. Begbie Brewing Co.
Country: Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada

KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk

Kölsch:  a unique and fairly obscure beer style that you may have never heard before.  If not then don’t feel bad, it’s a traditional German ale–from a country that’s known more for their lagers– and one of the palest German beers produced, considered the Deutsch version of the British Pale Ale or Bitter.  Not only that, but originally it was only brewed in the city of Köln, Germany, known as Cologne in the West.  It may come as no surprise how seriously the Germans take their beer, because I’ll have you know that in 1948 the brewers of this style got together for what was known as The Kölsch Convention to formally define this style to modern brewing specifications.  In fact the Kölsch style is an appellation.  That means under German law there is a restriction allowing only about 20 breweries in and surrounding Köln to legally practice the brewing of authentic Kölsch.

Fortunate for us here in North America some brewers turn a blind eye to such matters and provide us with an accessible home grown version of the style.  Not too many, mind you, however here in Western Canada we have the Mt. Begbie Brewery in Revelstoke to thank for providing the only bottled version of Kölsch that can be found year round here in Alberta.  In fact it was my original introduction to the style.

One last thing to keep in mind is that although it is an ale, Kölsch is lager aged near freezing to help produce the clarity of the body and the cleanness found within the flavour.  It’s one of the few hybrid beers out there that are brewed like an ale but then aged and chilled as a lager, the “Steam” Ale or California Common being a North American invention similar to this style.

Now you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that a beer with such a history and so much legalities surrounding it would have its own designated glass as well.  It is fairly tall, straight-walled and somewhat small in diameter, referred to as a stange, officially with a capacity of 0.2 litres.  I’ve noticed that Lee Valley actually carries sets of these from time to time.  However there’s no need to invest in such strictly technical glassware to enjoy this Kölsch from Mt. Begbie, a tall Collins glass or your usual lager or pilsner glass will suffice just fine, or a pint glass if you want to empty the whole 650 ml bottle all at once.  It’s best served at cellar temperature as well, around 10 degrees Celsius, so by the time you pull it from the fridge and get it poured you’ll be doing all right, no need to pull out a thermometer.

In your glass of choice this Kölsch will appear a clear, pale straw yellow hue, producing at the least a short bubbly bone white head, that probably won’t last very long.  There’ll be some mild grains in the aroma, you may even pick up some dry bready notes, along with a light honey sweetness, dry citrus rind and most likely a bit of grassy hops.  This beer has a light aroma that may be difficult to fully detect, especially if you choose to serve it iced cold, so don’t get disgruntled if you don’t pick up on much of it.  A few sips in and you’ll discover that the carbonation is light in the mouthfeel, almost creamy smooth at times, but for the most part dry and especially crisp on the finish.  Fortunately the flavour is also a bit heartier than the aroma.  Starting with some sweetness from the malt, bready with near hints of caramel, it becomes drier almost grainier in the middle while picking up some honey-like sweetness, then grassy, light earthy hops on a dry finish, with faint traces of lemon pith.  Very quenching, this is the sophisticated person’s lawnmower beer, and definitely a great pick to while away a sunny afternoon on a patio.

While pairing food with this Kölsch I’d suggest keeping things light so as not to overwhelm the subtle tones of this style.  Ideal for salads, and it will hold up nicely even with acidic vinaigrettes if you choose to pass on the creamier dressings.  Lightly herbed chicken, salmon, and lighter fish can also be partnered up nicely.  It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to serve it with some bratwurst and sauerkraut if you’re in the mood to enjoy it with some traditional fare.

The next steps in the cooler:

Also From This Brewery:
Tall Timber Ale
Cream Ale

Lateral Steps:
Anchor Steam Ale
Kells Irish Lager - Rogue
Fullers Organic Honeydew Ale
Steigl

For The Adventurous:
Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
Black Cat Lager - Paddock Wood
Quidi Vidi Honey Brown Ale

Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 4.7%
Presentation: 650 ml brown bottle
Brewery: Mt. Begbie Brewing Co.
Country: Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada

KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk

Contrary to an unsettling common misconception Cream Ales possess no milk products whatsoever.  Some brewers use lactose, which is milk sugar, in order to sweeten their darker ales like stouts and porters, but this is far from the case regarding the Cream Ale style.  Even the expectation of a full, creamy texture is getting out of bounds.  It’s the newer nitrogen injected Irish ales that are adding “Cream Ale” to their names that are advertising this sort of fullness and delivering it, however they are fairly recent innovation and considerably off the mark from the traditional incarnation of this style.

In essence a Cream Ale is practically a loose American version of the rare German Kölsch style, a pale, light refreshing beer that remains a sort of hybrid between a lager and an ale.  Back in the late 1800’s American ale brewers were looking for ways to both to cut corners and to compete with the ever increasingly popular lager style.  Since refrigeration still wasn’t commonplace at the time many of the ales were produced at room or cellar temperature with bottom-fermenting lager yeast that is normally required to be fermented at colder, near freezing temperatures.  Without the colder “lagering” temperatures to help clarify the beers they retained the sweeter, fruitier notes that are associated with ales.  Brewers also added corn sugar to lighten the body and mouthfeel more akin to lagers as well.  Some brewers would cheat by blending in some actual portions of lager too.  During the American Prohibition this style was actually kept alive by Canadian Brewers here in the great white north, who also found it an easier method to produce light and quaffable beers within a shorter processing time.  Nowadays the small faction of modern brewers who tend to produce this style do so in the opposite way it used to be fashioned, thanks to common technological advancements. Although it still remains a hybrid, commonly now brewers will produce a light ale and then cold mature it for a shorter time than they would a lager.

What I enjoy about Mt. Begbie’s interpretation of their Cream Ale is that they take an already uncommon style and make it their own.  It doesn’t require anything fancy to be served in, a mug or pint glass will be fine if you don’t own any fancy beer glasses.  It’ll be nice and crisp if you drink it straight from the fridge just as with any lager, however if you allow it to warm up a bit there is a decent flavour profile waiting to be discovered.  You’ll be glad you poured this stuff into a glass as it’s a rather attractive beer with a clean light coppery amber body crowned by a tall creamy, frothy white head that possesses impressive retention.  Unlike many Cream Ales you’ll be greeted first by some light spicy, grassy hops in the aroma, complimented by some flowery honey sweetness and mild toasted and biscuity malt.  The flavour also has more personality to it than the average Cream Ale, as subtle as it still remains.  Biscuity malt that’s laced with a honey-like sweetness, crisp and dry from the middle to finish, with faint notes of green spicy hops on the finish, although not much in the way of any lingering aftertaste.  One thing I did notice is that honey sweetness might get a little too bold and out of place if this ale is allowed to warm up too much, so perhaps don’t nurse it for too long if that’s something you’re not looking for.  Lastly, although it’s quite smooth, don’t expect any serious creaminess in the mouthfeel, simply a medium-bodied ale with light dry carbonation on the finish.

For the most part this style of beer is produced to be consumed in a session, such as hanging out with your friends on a patio for an afternoon, or throughout an evening in your favourite social setting.  As the flavour profile is fairly mild, consider this when you feel like pairing this Cream Ale from Mt. Begbie along with food.  The brewery’s website recommends pairing their Cream Ale along with pasta or pizza.  It’ll balance out foods with mild salty or citrus characteristics, and I’d recommend sticking to starters and finger foods such as sweet potato fries, deep-fried wontons or calamari, in order to not overpower the beer itself.

A cream ale with a personality beyond the norm, this a proper stepping stone for those wishing to cross over from lagers to ales, especially as it’s already a bit of both.

The next steps in the cooler:

From This Brewery:
High Country Kölsch
Tall Timber Ale

In-Style:
Eric’s Red Cream Ale
Bowen Island Irish Cream Ale
Warthog - Big Rock
Sleeman Cream Ale

Lateral Steps:
Dead Guy Ale - Rogue
Thirsty Beaver Amber Ale - Tree
Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat - Grizzly Paw
St-Ambroise Pale Ale

For The Adventurous:
Czechvar
Paulaner
Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer
Yukon Red