I admit it; this was an impulse buy. Rarely do I succumb to point of purchase marketing hijinks. How bad could a $2 can of beer be? Recently more money left my hands to purchase sugar water in a phallic shaped bottle. 

Thirsty Beaver = 4/10

Yup, it's an amber ale alright. The vague nose of buttered toast, caramel cubes is there. Each sip is mediocre with caramel malts, faint citrus and luckily low vegetal. Every creamy sip goes down real easy. For a $2 tall boy can, I was impressed. Sure better than those Holsten offerings.

Taste +3
Aftertaste 0
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (almost got a +1 for the beaver)

I was weak. Whenever I walk into a cold beer and wine store (CBAW) I must buy something. When you walk around a CBAW for 10 minutes and buy nothing it says three things about you:
1. You're cheap and the CBAW had no deals on Molson Cold Shots.
2. You are a complete ignoramus and do not know your pilsner from your pale ale. So you got confused and left.
3. You are a complete beer prick and have tried everything, or their pathetic selection is beneath your highly pampered beer palate.
I didn't want to alert them to my "beer prick" status and bought a respectable -above average - beer purchase. I bought a Tree Brewing limited release. @#$# I should have bought Chimay and looked like a Euro-Snob gastrogeek. Forget it! At least the girl at the till dug me; but I paid with VISA for a $7 purchase!
When you pay with VISA for a sub-$10 purchase it says two things:
1. You have no money and are funding your habits on overdrawn credit.
2. You have tons of dough and collect lots of Air miles points.
I had on a dirty shirt so I'm certain the cute cashier girl thought my current address was a trailer park. I am soooo lucky that I am happily married. Make mental note to buy flowers.

After drinking a bomber of 8.3%ABV, not ABW - please note the smell of maple syrup in the air, I am a little bit surly! Time for a snarky review, sorry Tree Brewing. It's not personal, it's just the beer talking. Maybe it's personal, but it's me not you.. Oh forget it the hole just gets deeper.

Hop Head Double IPA (Tree Brewing) = 8/10
Ratebeer 3.57 95th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

The last thing we need in this province is another @#$@#$ hop-soup tongue slam. Maybe we can include one more, for the sake of niche-tourism. The nose draws me in with allurin g resin and bold grapefruits. Each sip is hard to handle with the notable astringency and alcohol warmth. If you persevere, the palate is rewarded with all that your (small) hophead desires. A smashing hop assertiveness with citrus (grapefruit and pomelo) and resin barely contained by the bready malts. At the end: more grapefruit. After I move my tongue around, more flav our pockets provide hoppy bitterness flashbacks. A nice addition to the BC hop-landscape, better than last year.
BTW spend a bit of dough to create some appealing label art.
Yes I know it is the wrong beer glass style. I never get a chance to display my Hacker Oktoberfest beer mug.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 8.3%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (silkscreen label sux)

Swan's Extra IPA
Brockton IPA (Granville Island)
Dogfish Head 90min IPA

I love a good dopplebock. Please be good, please be good, please be good

Capitvator Doppelbock (Tree Brewing) = 8/10

Ratebeer 3.39 77th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

This brew is through the uprights; it's good. The nose scores big with ubermalts, candied sugar, vineous toffee and alcohol. Ditto for the full mouthfeel with ample alcohol warmth/burn. It has all the right stuff: dark sugar, hits of chocolate, breads, toffee, cherries and more. It just keeps lasting with more dark sugar and slight bitter chocolate.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 8%
Value +1 (worth recommending)
Appearance 0 (boring label)



Paulaner Salvator and beer and wine are equally as good and bad for you
Doppel-Hirsch
Spaten Optimator

Sometimes procrastination can be a very handy way to solve problems. I have not found the time to write up the Spiced Reserve Ale by Tree Brewing. This beer was released in Fall 2009. Now is the perfect time to write it up since this year's version is going to be released soon.

Ratebeer 3.13 48 percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +4

Like most winter warmers, the nose is heavy on the caramel. There is also a bit of roasted grains in every sip. The real difference is the spices that warm the back of your tongue: cinnamon, cloves, ginger. It will remind you of a mulled spice drink. There isn't much of a hop presence; I think can taste a little banana in there.

Aftertaste +2

It had a long spicy finish that coated the tongue. There was a little bit of soapiness, but it worked.

Alcohol Content +1 7.5%

Value +1

I liked this one. It was nice change of pace from the usual hop bombs lofted out of brewery windows.

Ingame Enhancement +1

Writing up this review is only making me look forward to next years edition, or maybe next weeks?

Overall 9/10

For something completely different, pick this brew up. It was a great winter warmer with all the necessary spices and alcohol warmth.

Saison du Buff
Midas Touch and How Far Will You Drive for Cheap Beer.
Granville Island Ginger Beer

Hop Head IPA

Hop Head IPA is part of the daily drinking West Coast IPA trifecta. It goes head to head with Red Racer IPA and Hop Circle for top spot in the BC hop lust category. I had this one on tap at Christie's pub. The draft list here is large and there is some rotation.

Ratebeer 3.57 95th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +3

With the name “hop head” certain flavours and aromas should be present. Plenty of citrus, pine and resinous hop present in the nose: check. The taste is just like the nose with a mild astringency: check. Bready malts just barely keep the hops in balance: check. Yup everything checks out to be a certified hoppy brew.

Aftertaste +2

A long, bitter citrus finish coats the entire mouth. There is just enough resin to make it a tongue scraper.

Alcohol Content 0 5.8%

Value +1

It was good, but not as good as Hop Circle nor Red Racer IPA.

Ingame Enhancement +1

It is always awkward to sit in a group of people talking about things you know nothing about. But I had fun drinking my beer and learning about the Victoria Seals.

Overall 7/10

A listing of this beer on the draft list is always a welcome sight. Despite its ranking behind Hop Circle and Red Racer, I have drank more of this beer than any other. It's darn good and available everywhere.

606 IPA Paddock Wood
Brew free or die IPA
Brewdog Hardcore IPA

Hop Head Double IPA

Ratebeer 3.6 85th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Taste +3

It sure is a double IPA, you can smell it. The mild citrus and grassy hops just leap from the glass. This mixes well with the faint malt sweetness. The sip is all hop piney, resiny, spicy and astringent. There is a slight burn at the end, could be alcohol or hops.

Aftertaste +1

Naturally it is slightly bitter, burning and dry. Probably 1/2 from the hops and 1/2 from the alcohol.

Alcohol Content +1 8%

Yup it burns.

Value 0

It was a little too harsh, bitter and burning for me. This was a sipping and not a swigging DIPA.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Good news, they are releasing Zombieland on DVD soon. The bad news is that I have to wait until next week.

Overall 5/10

Tree Brewing's new DIPA will appeal to hop heads everywhere. Sadly IMHO there was not enough sweetness to balance the large hop bitterness (pine and spice).

Rogue Yellow Snow IPA
Green Flash Imperial IPA
Phillips Crazy 8's

Spy Porter (Tree Brewing)

Ratebeer 3.21 63rd percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +2

The nose is very light, almost lager like. There was a vague grain-like sweetness, light caramel and a wisp of roast. It was very carbonated and dry with a good dose of roast. The brew also provided a slight bready taste with weak coffee and bitter chocolate.

Aftertaste +1

The big carbonation tang cleansed the palate very well. Everything went away except for a woody smoke residue. Much like a rauchbier only less, much less.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

It was a porter, but just lacked the richness. It felt a little watered down.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Nope I'm done here.

Overall 3/10

Technically it was a porter, but it just felt a little weak. If you wanted to say you tried a full, robust porter with roast, chocolate and coffee; this one is not it. That being said it will appeal to almost every beer drinker with not being overpowering.

Black Boss Porter
Raspberry Porter (Tree Brewing)
Elysian Perseus Porter

Black Tree Dark Ale (Tree Brewing)

This is a seasonal release by Tree Brewing. The label claims to be a specialty blend of pale ale and a rich porter. I have big expectations for this brew, their Weizen bock limited was excellent.

Ratebeer 2.92 38th percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +1

The nose was a bit off and smelled like day old coffee. Even the flavour was a tad watery. It tasted like day old coffee with corn syrup added as a sweetener. There was mild tastes of bitter hops and roasted coffee.

Aftertaste -2

It left a slick oily coating of roast/smoke that would just not go away. I had to scrub my tongue to make it go away. The morning after it was still there.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value -1

I feel bad, every other Tree Brewing beer has been pretty good. For six bucks I could have bought another bomber and still had change left over.

Ingame Enhancement 0

I did have a great night in L4D2. Dark Carnival is a great level; it is always fun to beat circus clown with the butt of a shotgun. The problem was that I kept trying to scrap the taste off my tongue with my teeth.

Overall -2/10

I feel bad but I didn't like this beer. It is not like Tree makes bad beers. Their hefeweizen won a silver medal and Hop Head double IPA won a gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards 2009. Personally I think their hefe tasted better than the Whistler brewing hefe.

Chambly Noir and Video Game Help
Okanagan Springs Black Lager and Fast Cars
Jacobsen Dark Lager

Meterman: Finally science that proves that I will live longer than you.
Flavius: I doubt it; every morning I have a healthy coffee enema!
M: Up yours for sharing that info! In the June 2009 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research , it was shown than Japanese men with light to moderate alcohol consumption had a reduced risk of heart disease.
F: Heard it before..Those with heavy alcohol consumption (more than 300 gm ethanol per week) had a higher risk; this is nothing new. To get this much ethanol, you must drink over 22 regular 5%ABV beer a week. So about a flat of Blue.
M: But this reduced risk was enhanced when they had high amounts of social support. I have more friends than you do. What was also interesting was that women were excluded from this study. There were to few moderate to heavy drinkers (only 197 out of 25044 people surveyed or less than 1%.)

Tree Brewing Hefeweizen

Ratebeer 3.45 79th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +4

The aroma is very light, yet spicy. In the air you can notice grass, grains, cloves and banana. Up front was the most pleasant lemony grain which was followed closely by a creamy mouthfeel of banana bread. This was all transmitted with a good dose of carbonation.

Aftertaste +1

A slight banana and lemon crispness fades away dry and quick.

Alcohol Content 0 5.0%
Value +1

This is perhaps the best six pack Hefe I have tasted. Pick one up at your local BCLS.

Ingame Enhancement +1

I'm sure I played and it was good. Yes this was done to bump the score up.

Overall 7/10

If you are looking for something light and refreshing, but down the Corona and pick up on of these.

Pyramid Hefeweizen
Granville Island Hefeweizen
Schneider Weisse

Flavius: Here is more proof that beer is good for you.
Meterman: I'm listening...
F: In the April 2009 issue of Clinical Nutrition, they tested beers for melatonin and antioxidant content. The higher the alcohol content for the beer tested provided higher melatonin content. This contributed to a higher antioxidant status in test subjects. Higher antioxidant status has been associated with lower incidences of heart disease and more.
M: Sorry what was that?
F: You said you were listening. Melatonin in beer..
M: Yes, but never to you. And I always thought it was your conversations that were putting me to sleep.

Weizen Bock (Tree Brewing)

Ratebeer 3.53 68th percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +4

I'm not used to great beers from Tree Brewing, but this is different. There is a huge nose of banana baby food, citrus, lemon and sweet grains. The taste is very light, refreshing and similar to the nose; lemon zest, banana and yeast.

Aftertaste +1

Sadly the ending was very crisp and clean. Perhaps there was a slight rum soaked bananas at the ending.

Alcohol Content +1 7%

The alcohol was no where to be tasted or smelled

Value +1

For $5 for a 650ml bomber, this beer is underpriced.

Ingame Enhancement +1

This was the first night they released the survivor pack for L4D. Which button makes your character wet his pants and call for mommy?

Overall 8/10

I purposely held this review back so I could buy up the rest of this beer in the city. I doubt that my reviews make that much of an impact, but I was not taking any chances. This is a great beer.

Other great and entertaining posts:
Stone Bitter Oatmeal Stout and Failure
Schneider Weisse
Fat Tire Amber Ale and Mistaken Identity

I have had several pints from Tree brewing before. This smaller brewery based in Kelowna, BC, usually produces good beers.

Raspberry Porter (Tree Brewing)

Rate beer -not listed-
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +2

This is a porter all right, it pours as dark as my parole officers heart. The nose is all raspberry jam. At first tasting shows a raspberry sweetness, more like an alcoholic extract than fresh juice. There is a good full mouth flavour on a backbone of very uneventful porter. Thankfully the raspberry is not too sweet.

Aftertaste 0

The raspberry and malt sweetness cleanly fade away; pretty quick too.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

Standard BC craft beer price $5 for 650ml.

Ingame Enhancement 0

New years spend packing to go into Vancouver. I did listen to Elbow though; great band. If it sounds familiar it was in the L4D TV spot.

Overall 2/10

This beer might be fun to serve with a dark berry or chocolate desert. Other than that I can't really see a reason to drink it. If you really liked raspberries, this beer is for you.

Flavius: I'm mad.
Meterman: So. Should this concern me, because I don't feel anything.
F: This COD is frustrating; I suffer from P.I.S.S.E.D Syndrome
M: They have drugs to help with that leaky.
F: Not that, this:
Painkiller
Instigated
Strategic
Strike
Ending in
Death Syndrome

M: Oh that. That's where he tubes you 5 times in a row, air strikes you, then calls in a chopper to chase you around the map?
F: Right. I even started an online support group at www.fear-the-pp-no-more.com
M: You really gotta start planing better use of acronyms yellow boy.

Tree Brewing - Spiced Midwinter Ale.

Tree Brewing products regularly finds their way into my beer fridge. They make good (not great but above average) beer at reasonable prices. You can also find a large selection at most BC Liquor stores.

Taste +2

A nice red/amber ale aroma of not much, maybe a little malt, a little fruit and a little spicy. The keyword here is little. The flavour is your standard spiced ale; clover, nutmeg and cinnamon. There is also a nice sweetness, almost like gingersnap cookies. The taste reminds me of mulled wine. It is refreshing to taste a little alcohol tanginess.

Aftertaste +1

The spicy sweetness coats the mouth and lasts for a while.

Alcohol 6.5% +1

The label says "Strong Ale"; strong is a relative term.

Value 0

At $5 for 650ml it is not the best deal out there. BTW Holsten Mailbock is on sale right now for less than $2 for 500ml at 7.5% WOOT.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Couldn't get on the shire; so I did the finale airplane map in COD. Meh.

Overall 4/10

This was nice beer. If you are looking for a change of pace check it out.