Man Scouts: The Beer Tasting

On February 4, almost 20 man scouts converged on Rob's house and we sampled 17 very diverse beers, ales, porters, lagers, stouts, wits and bocks. Some of the guys were completely blown away by the strong bitter tastes of the IPAs. Others were impressed with the strong flavours of porter and stout. Most were pleased with drink that didn't threaten their manhood.



I helped organize the event. I brought the gear - mini beer mugs, a tray, score cards and golf pencils. A couple different guys helped pour, but I kept the evening moving by pouring and delivering the brews all night.

• Cerveza Cristal (lager, Cerveceria Bucanero, Cuba)
• Sapporo Original Draft Beer (rice lager, Sapporo Breweries, Japan)
• Grolsch Premium Lager (lager, Golsch Bierbrouwerij, Netherlands)
• Morimoto Soba Ale (soba beer*, Rogue Ales, OR) fifth place
• La Messagère (pale ale*, Microbrasserie Nouvelle-France, QC) seventh place
• Mongozo Premium Pilsener (pilsener, Mongozo, Netherlands)
• Village Wit (witbier, Village Brewery, AB) seventh place
• Rickard's Red (red lager, Molson Coors, ON) seventh place
• Black Tusk Ale (dark mild ale, Whistler Brewing Co., BC) second place
• Ayinger Weizenbock (weizenbock, Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer/Brauerei Aying, Germany) seventh place
• Scarborough Fair IPA (india pale ale*, Wold Top Brewery, United Kingdom)
• Blacksmith India Black Ale (american black ale, Village Brewery, AB)
• Devil's Elbow IPA (india pale ale, Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Co., BC)
• Amnesiac Double IPA (imperial IPA, Phillips Brewing Co., BC) sixth place
• Village Monk Chai Winter Porter (porter, Village Brewery, AB) second place
• Salty Scot (scotch ale, Parallel 49 Brewing Co., BC) first place
• Megadestroyer Imperial Licorice Stout (imperial stout, Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Co., BC) fourth place

*denotes a gluten free beer



My personal favourites were the Phillips Amnesiac, both Howe Sound (Devil's Elbow and Megadestroyer), and the Ayinger. Of note too were all three Village Brewery contributions - too bad they are generally sold in growlers. The best of the gluten free beers was the Morimoto Soba Ale (Rogue), in fact I'd consider buying it to drink myself.

I had a great time introducing the guys to new beer. I hadn't tried about half of them, so many were new to me too! Thanks for the fun scouts!