Brew Mastery

The Fourth and Final (for now)

From O.K. Spring that is...

5%/vol

The Beer:  Brewmaster's Black

The Brewery: Okanagan Spring

This Brew is the first of it's kind on this blog. It is a Dark Lager  and I thought that this would be a great finish for my O.K. Spring spotlight.

Dark Lagers are a wonderful style of lager that predates it's more popular sibling the Pilsner and other golden coloured lagers (introduced to germany around 1894). In fact this type of brew is an old style indeed. These beers are also known as "Dunkel", which means dark.

Look: very dark, when held to light walnut wood colour. Darker than most Dunkel style beer, which the name summarizes very well: Black. Thick head as well, big and sturdy.

Smell: as soon as it’s poured, can smell a toasty/brewed coffee/yeasty from a distance. after a few minutes that dissipates. when you get your nose right up in it: caramels. swish it in the glass a bit and out comes: coffee!

Mouthfeel: smooth, full bodied, almost un-carbonated

Taste: incredibly smooth, mild bitter taste throughout. similar to a cappuccino (on the tongue), with enough hoppy flavour to balance it out on the palate.

Thoughts: I must say this is already one of my favourite beers... and consumed many times before hand. what I like the most is that it’s subtle, but most of all consistent. once it’s released from the bottle and let breathe for a minute or so, each taste/gulp is the same.

I understand consistency is something a brewmaster strives for; mission accomplished.

Another thing that is good about a  a dark lager: it goes down lighter than you may think, so have a few ;)

Bye for now!

- The Parched Paige

The 11th Tasting

Hi again,

A stated in the title, this brew will be the 11th tasted for this blog o'mine.

The specimen this week is going to be a:

PALE ALE

by Okanagan Spring Brewery

Alright so this week the vessel my beer will be flowing from is once again a bottle. I don't know if this has been mentioned by me before but the OK Spring labels are very informative. They let you know what colour the beer is, where the beer lies on a numbered light to dark scale, and at what temperature it is intended to be consumed; along with all the stuff they have to put on there due to legal reasons such as: the volume of alcohol and...the amount in the bottle yadda yadda.

shall we?

Look: Somewhat flat... now the glass I used may have contributed slightly to the lack of head on this guy. It's an open taper at the top, plus it had been sitting in my cupboard for a while and not washed immediately before use. Lesson learned.

regardless, I don't think this is a very lively (fizz wise) brew. Nice colour though, very clear classic amber colour. On the paler side of a red ale, but darker for sure than a white. I find this to be appealing because it's easily defined. Other brewers who do a "pale ale" perhaps let the colour go either way; dark and light.

Aromatics: Quite "bready" and "toasty". Actually not like a typical toasted malt scent, what you get out of this is actually smells similar to a toasted slice of bread (of the exact same golden brown colour). It also has a mild hop aroma, just enough to come through on it's own.

Mouthfeel: full bodied, along with a surprising carbonated feel as well. It's by no means a bottle conditioned sparkling ale, but it does have more punch than you'd think just by eyeing it up.

Taste: up front on the tongue i'm getting a little acidity mixed with a very lightly toasted malt.

a leafy bitterness on the tail end 

Final thoughts: It won't blow you off your feet with flavour, but it isn't going to curl your toes either. I like this brew very much. Pale Ales are one of the more common ales to be brewed, and I feel that because of this they are a very good indicator of how well the brewery is in general. It is also a favoured style of mine and I admit that this is one of the better PA's I've tasted. It's really not bitter, actually this one is characterized more by the acidity with happy malt flavours and a very light hop aroma than others which are more loaded with more complex malt flavouring. This is my idea of a very consistent "go-to" brew. Session all the way

speaking of which... i've got a few more bottles of this to get through.

until next time!

- Parched Paige

Back In Action

Hi there! It's been a while, hasn't it?

I'm just going to get straight down to it because today I'm kicking off the first of several beers from one of my favourite Breweries: Okanagan Spring!

Since this is the first beer from OK Spring I'll be blogging about, I will start with the first beer I ever drank that was brewed by them. That beer is 1516 Bavarian Lager. Plus, there haven't been many lagers so far on this blog. Or ales really since I've been a bit of a slacker so far. So anyway, here it goes!

A little bit about the place: Okanagan Spring brewery is actually larger than what you would call a "Micro Brewery" since they have a brewing capacity of around 350,000hl. What sets them apart is that, though they are brewing a large quantity, it's still a very high quality product with very high standards. it's allegedly an all natural product as well!
OK Spring mainly brews according to the Bavarian Purity Law (or Reinheitsgebot ) of 1516, excluding certain brews like their Hefeweizen. Basically this Purity law states that the only ingredients allowed in beers brewed in Munich are Water, Barley, Hops (after having read a translation...yeast is left out. I don't know why, it's essential isn't it?). I suppose that this beer (Bavarian 1516) is what they feel represents that tradition most accurately.

also available in bottles! (sorry the pic is so dark)

The Pour: doesn't appear to be too fizzy, if you're pouring into a glass and you are in a bit of a hurry...you'll probably be alright, I don't think this one's going to get out of control on you.
The head initially swells to a nice height, but it's not the type to wear out it's welcome and dissipates fast.  I should be said that I'm drinking out of a standard pint glass (not the photo), and it really doesn't help things if you are looking to have a long lasting head on your beer.
It's also a light brass colour, nothing out of the ordinary.

what the nose says: again, not the best glass to be sampling from (i'm working on getting a standard tasting glass); but this one doesn't send my schnoz reeling with a complex equation to decipher. Nice and simple. the malt doesn't stand out alot but you can tell it's there. I also get a touch of a flowery hop; but again, not very strong.

Said the tongue: a very smooth mouthfeel. A very smooth subtle lager with a mild finish. I think the malt and the hops are really in balance on this one, it works quite nicely. from the moment you take it in to the      after taste you get an equal portion or malt and hops.

Ponderings: Everything about this lager suggests the word session. A term often used to describe and ale that you can sit and drink plenty of and enjoy from the first to the last. I think it could apply perhaps even more when speaking of lagers since they are typically less complex than some ales. This lager is a great brew, it's very consistent and it's flavour doesn't vary too much whether it's a fresh pour or if you are downing the dregs (so long as you haven't let it sit for a long time).
A good reliable standby lager.


that's it for this week! I hope to return soon!
Don't forget that I wold love to hear your suggestions on brews, or your thoughts on the brews i've tried!

-The Parched Paige