Volo Piccola by Bar Volo

I recently travelled to Toronto for a company event and had to make sure that I visited Bar Volo, one of my favourite spots in the city. Bar Volo brews a pretty diverse selection of beer styles and their numerous taps include their beer, guest beer—and a small number of beer engines for cask ale. On this visit, I made sure to try Volo Piccola, an English dark mild conditioned and served from the cask.

Appearance: Piccola is served in a glass mug and appears a murky chocolate brown in the dim light of Bar Volo. It comes with a perfectly dense head of foam that lasts from your first sip to your last—in fact, when you're done the beer, the head is still there at the bottom of your glass. There is absolutely no lacing.

Aroma: It smells very faintly of smoke and roast, like coffee or chocolate.

Flavour: Piccola's flavour profile can best be described as a combination of watered down coffee with chocolate malt—and believe it or not, I mean that in a good way. This is an absolutely delicious beer. There's also a slight mineral character, possibly due to the water profile.

Mouthfeel: The body is perfect. It is thick but also somewhat slick with the low carbonation you expect from cask ale. This beer is exceptionally crushable.

Overall: Piccola is exactly what I wanted it to be. It is bang on the style. One of the best beers I've had all year.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Down the New Zealand Pilsner Rabbit Hole

There are many different beer styles but the majority are well-established and well-known to brewers. Their characteristics and the ingredients that comprise them are generally understood and accepted. That said, the craft beer explosion over the past decade or two has led to an evolution and expansion of traditional beer canon. New styles have emerged. Some have trended then waned—take white IPAs or India Pale Lagers for instance—while others seem to have completely redefined the brewing industry. (Yes, I'm talking about hazy or New England-style IPAs and pale ales.) New Zealand (NZ) Pilsner is a relatively new and seemingly only loosely defined style. Most articles on the style have been written in the past three years. Popular primarily in its country of origin and among homebrewers, its defining features seem to be that it is brewed mostly with Pilsner malt and NZ-grown hops. Much has been written about hops from NZ, especially Nelson Sauvin , a particularly standout vari...

Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales

This is a quick review of Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales from Nokomis, Saskatchewan. Appearance: Classic IPA comes in a traditional 335mL can featuring clean and simple graphic design. The beer pours a little hazy but has a nice copper colour with head that lasts throughout the glass and leaves thick lacing. Aroma: I smell resinous pine and a touch of candy. Taste: Citrus, pine and just the right amount of sweetness. This is a really well balanced. Mouthfeel: Carbonation is slightly less than medium. Body is slightly fuller than average. Perfect for the style. Overall: It's rare to find such a prototypical example of a West Coast IPA released by a brewery that was founded in the last 10 years. I really enjoyed this beer, which is the first I have tasted and reviewed by this brewery. Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Naughty Hildegard ESB by Driftwood Brewery

The classics never go out of style. Naughty Hildegard ESB is not a new beer to me. Instead, it's an old favourite from earlier days of my foray into craft beer. A friend recommended it to me over a decade ago, advising that it was a decidedly North American take on English Special Bitter. And that it is! Appearance: Naughty Hildegard pours a beautiful copper color that brings to mind classic American craft beers like strong pale ales, red ales and IPAs. I drank this from a classic Spiegelau PA glass. White foam pours thick but ebbs as you drink, leaving just a touch of lacing. Aroma: It smells like fruitcake. In a good way! There's a touch of dessert-like sweetness coupled with the scent of dried fruit. Underneath all of that is a subtle hint of resinous pine. Taste: This beer is sublimely balanced in the old school way with a solid malt foundation and decidedly West Coast hop profile. Caramel malt adds colour and sweetness without overpowering the bitterness and fruit flavour...

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