Dark cola hue, lace-y tan head, sweet mocha waft, and creamy malt texture up-front. Bitter chocolate nuances, dulcet fruity hints, and ripe raisin stint nearly nullified by pungent barley-hop insistence. However, this Particular Ale needs clearer, distinct character to be considered first-rate.
All posts by John Fortunato
USHERS DARK HORSE PORTER
Tan-headed dark brown porter laminates aromatic caramel sweetness to ashy chocolate-prune enrichment and dry coffee bitterness. Fleeting sharp-hopped soft-watered red wine ethereality pleats unobtrusive dank malt finish.
URSUS PREMIUM LAGER
Sourdough nosing and sweet floured yeast mouthfeel succumb to bland sugar malt follow-up. Yet frisky citric hop fizz revives bittersweet nut-grain conventionality.
URTHEL TONICUM FINIBOLDHUS ALE
Sweet and sour floral yeast sinew encounters bitter hop fizz at upper palate as hints of orange rind and raw vanilla peak through. Creamy, assertive, but un-involving.
URTHEL HIBERNUS QUENTUM
Foremost floral hops lace embittered grapefruit-orange tang of astringent alcohol-stricken white-headed straw-hued medium-bodied tripel. Black pepper speckles clove-coriander-cinnamon spicing, sourdough seduction, and herbaceous whim, but predictable brown sugared finish sags compared to finer Belgians.
URPIN LAGER
Adequate ivory-headed clear-bodied lager layers chaffed wheat and freshly harvested hops above slick honeyed malts to dry rye finish that gets soggy.
UPPER CANADA REBELLION LAGER
Bold amber-hued billowy-headed premium lager gains bubbly citric zest by alcohol-burnt finish. Bittersweet honeyed mocha malts sneak through lingered hop merriment.
UPPER CANADA PALE ALE
Brisk roasted barley template receives creamy malt richness, absorbing well-hopped soda-like fizz of highly carbolic moderate body. Mild fruitiness sweetens polite grain finish. Serve to pilsner fans as an alternative.
UPPER CANADA LAGER
Microbrewed lager with delicious spring water, roasted barleymalts, perky hops, and sinewy yeast. Sharp grains consume well-balanced finish of simplistic classic.
UPLAND WINTER WARMER
Barleywine-styled cold weather treat parlays chocolate malt sweetness and plum-prune ripening into encouraging off dry cognac glimmer. Tertiary pumpernickel, rye, and cocoa bean illusions fill roomy center.
UPLAND WHEAT ALE
Effervescent light-bodied sunny yellow wheat brew sprinkles coriander, apricot, and orange peel notes above desolate grain graze. Gentle floral hop nature picks up herbal lemongrass-peppercorn refinement. Best with an orange slice.
UPLAND PALE ALE
Cloudy dark amber medium body receives pleasant floral hop-spiced tingle conjuring mildly bitter orange-lemon fruited finish. Doughy yeast sweetness sustains as grassy herbal transience fades.