It's 11.05 ... somewhere

"You again?"

That was my greeting at Buster Rhino's when I walked in for another taste of a special brewmasters' birthday beer that had me in a perpetual state of beergasm.

Sarah, My IPA Girl's greeting-with-attitude may have been because it was my fourth trip to the bar in three days for the beer, or it could have been because the last time I saw her I spit on her.

More on that in a bit.

The beer is a Triple IPA called 11.05, named for the shared birthdays of the two brewers who collaborated on its creation (Sam Corbeil, Sawdust City and Ryan Morrow, Nickel Brook); it's alcohol count; and for its release date. And I wanted it. Bad.

And so began another damned quest.

When you live in Ontario it is often difficult, or at least impractical, to find decent IPAs and their friends. The LCBO and The Beer Store, bless their government/foreign multinational hearts, do what they can to bring us delicious beers - sort of - but it's really a hit or miss affair to find the best of Ontario's craft beer on the retail shelves.

Great beer is always available at the breweries, of course, but that brings us back to the impractical. Sure and it's all wonderful if you live in Burlington, like my friend Don, and have Nickel Brook Brewery in your backyard. Or if you live in Toronto, like my friend Cat, and have Amsterdam Brewery just down the road and any number of great breweries and brew pubs within cab distance.

But I have no such luxury living in The Shwa. There are a few new breweries around that show promise, but there is nary a decent IPA to be found. So I can either drive into Toronto or beyond or hope (often against all odds) that the awesome ale I'm seeking shows up in a nearby bar.

So when Sawdust City and Nickel Brook collaborated on a Triple IPA that was all about the hops, I was on board in a big way. But the chances of me finding the time to get up to Gravenhurst to the Sawdust City bottle shop was slim, so I was going to have to find it on tap somewhere. And with time and money issues, heading to Toronto to find it wasn't going to much easier than Muskoka.

At least Don will get his hands on this, I figured. Surely this beer will be available in Nickel Brook's bottle shop, as they are co-collaborators. But no. "None at Nickel Brook. So I'll never get one," Don lamented.

But after a few days of searching I lucked out: the good people at Sawdust City told me, via Facebook, that they sold a keg to my local, Buster Rhino's in Oshawa.

Hello!

I decided to pop by on the weekend to find out when my man Darryl was going to tap this baby, and two days later I walked into the bar after a work shift and there it was on the chalkboard.

"11.05."

I was able to keep my grin on my face, but barely. This is a Triple IPA, a rare (it's expensive and time consuming to make) style that I have enjoyed but once during my one year as a craft beer addict. It's also important to remember that big, boozy beers that clock in at 11 per cent alcohol are usually big and boozy because it is extremely difficult for the brewer to mask all that booze.

11.05 - Triple awesomeness in a glass

Morrow and Corbeil must have some certified mad skills, because this beer is billed as a hop monster with little boozy malt character. Kinda of like my dream beer recipe.

So yeah, I was excited. Both brew masters are at the top of their games so I was anxious to see if the beer would taste as advertised.

"11.05 please," I said to the lovely Jessica, who gave me a smile and really, really HUGE and intoxicating citrus hops in return. Grapefruit, mango and bitter orange, as well as lots of resiny pine dominate the tongue and the finish is all pine, silky smooth and chewable caramel malts and more citrus, with just a touch of booze at the end.

Out-freaking-standing beer.

Halfway through my glass I turn around and see Sarah, off-duty and enjoying a stout with her friend Courtney, two amigos who recently returned from a beer-cation to California. Now Sarah, all of 24, has tons more experience in the world of IPAs than I, and as the keg was tapped the day before I knew she had already tried it and I was eager to get her take on it.

"My IPA Girl," I cried, sauntering over to their table in my best Ron Burgundy walk. "Tell me you agree 11.05 is amazing!"

"It's okay," said the woman who has enjoyed a Heady Topper or two and has (at the time of writing) a bottle of Pliny the Elder resting in her fridge. "But I've had better."

Truth, I admit, but still blasphemy.  She clearly needed more convincing. "Sarah," I sputtered, quite literally, as a small projectile of excitement left my mouth and landed - ping! - on her jacket shoulder.

All style and class, this guy.

"Oops," said I, wiping it off cool as a cucumber and continuing my nattering about the awesomeness of the beer while Courtney looked at me like I was slightly insane. "It's a Triple IPA that's all about the hops," I reminded Sarah. "Why don't you think it's fantastic?"

"I like it," she answered. "I've just had...better."

Maybe so, Sarah. But it's the best Triple IPA I've ever had and I was back the next day for some more. Twice, actually:  I returned for lunch and then had a nightcap after another shift of my keeps-me-in-gas-and-beer part-time job. Each time the beer tasted a little better than the last.

I also learned a few things about the bar business along the way. I popped in one afternoon to find Darryl and Julian, a sales manager with Flying Monkeys Brewery, in the midst of an animated discussion about IPA drinkers in Oshawa and the number of empty kegs littering Buster Rhino's back room.

Caps of Wisdom from Flying Monkeys 

It seems Darryl would prefer not to pay deposits on kegs if certain sales reps didn't pick them up for return, and Julian would really like it if Buster Rhino's could carry Smashbomb Atomic on tap.

I promised Julian I would be there every day (and blog about it to my friends) if he and Darryl could strike a deal. Darryl was hesitant on his end because Hoptical Illusion didn't sell well when he carried it during the summer and Julian didn't want to commit to solving the empty keg issue until he spoke to his boss.

I left them to their negotiations.

Eventually, all good things must pass, and on the seventh day the keg of 11.05 was drained. I know this because on the eighth day I entered the bar full of hope, only to see that faith dashed when I noticed the chalkboard did NOT contain the numbers 11 or 05.

On the bright side, a keg filled with 11 per cent ABV, premium-priced beer, took just a bit over a week to empty. In a town that many would have you believe doesn't have many IPA drinkers, I think that's pretty impressive. I know I didn't drink it all myself.

But still. I wanted one more day.

Jessica, seeing the look on my face, was sympathetic. "I'm sorry we are out of 11.05, but we have something new you might like: Citraddiction from Great Lakes. They tell me it's all juicy hops. I think you'll like it."

"Juicy hops, huh? I guess that'll do. I'll take a pint, please."


**

I've been hearing for nearly a year about the greatness of Lake Effect IPA from Great Lakes - one of their Tank Ten series beers - so I was eagerly anticipating the release of the new batch. With a Rate Beer score of 98 and 80 IBUs, this is a beer worth waiting for.

Great Lakes, Canada's two-time Brewery of the Year, hasn't failed me yet so this has got to be a hop bomb, right?

Kind of. Maybe.

It was certainly the bomb on the nose, with a big blast of grapefruit, followed by more grapefruit and lemon with some pine at the end. But I was looking for more bracing bitterness than was delivered so I was a wee bit disappointed. Still a fine IPA, but not in the class of My Bitter Wife, another Great Lakes IPA that was my Mid-Summer Beer of the Year.

Citraddiction - A world class session beer

Citraddiction was another story. This Great Lakes beer is single-hopped with Citra, just like the brewery's excellent Karma Citra IPA, but with a lighter body - it's a 4.4 per cent session beer - and more juiciness. Waaay more juiciness.

This beer is all about the hops, with grapefruit and mango flavours fairly bursting out of the glass and lingering on my palate for what seems like forever. Or at least until the next sip. It wasn't 11.05, but it was damn good.

One of the more interesting beers I tried this year was Bog Water from Beaus. A Gruit beer, this unique brew features bog myrtle - an ancient herb used by brewers for hundreds of years (at least until the Bavarian Purity Laws came into effect) - and results in a dark, spicy ale that very nearly defies description.

I'll try anyway.

There is almost no aroma but there`s plenty of bready malts on the tongue, along with some earthiness and an eclectic mix of spices. Some are lager-like and others not so much. Must be the myrtle. A gift from my daughter for baby-sitting my wonderful grandkids, this is an interesting beer, to say the least.

My first saison is now in the books after I found Sorachi Ace from Brooklyn Brewery in the LCBO recently. This highly regarded beer - 98 on Rate Beer - showcases sorachi ace hops from Japan and is billed as `Sunshine in a Glass.`

I agree.

Bright and zesty with a creamy head, this beer is all lemon and spices on the tongue. It's wonderfully carbonated with a crisp finish that includes lots more light citrus and Belgian spices. Very nice. Great, actually.

Cheers!