Hard hours sacrificed and rewarded with unequal returns in the quest to feed and cloth and live. But some prizes are had that wash the blood dust and curses from beaten body and spirits of the working folk. BEER. A dark mild created from the leftovers of creations that came before it, in honour of the work that went into them, Shadow of Labours. Pours a nice late evening dark colour with highlights of red. Cant be called black because of the mildly translucent nature and clarity. Produces a respectful proud head that sits down slowly and leaves a thin lingering layer. Aromatically gentle, with roasty notes and subtle suggestions of singed toffee, sweet caramel, and subtle biscuit. It drinks very smoothly with a light but present body. The tongue is easily able to let this pass quickly without missing any of its nuances. Again the gentle roast flavour and very minor caramel and biscuit just enough to add the depth I would want. The only flaw i find with this beer, is small and not unpleasant. There is a very small earthy hop note that sits just a wee taller than it should. No lingering aftertaste. Just relaxing sighs and a smile.

Another of my own endeavors, a dry hopped IPA. It is a rusty orange amber colour with medium happiness. It builds only an average head but laces well and retains a thin layer throughout. The aroma contains mango, stonefruit, mild citrus, apricot, and a suggestion of berry. There is mild malt scents hiding underneath. Oddly the aroma seems to dissipate leaving only gentle lingering notes. On the tongue it brings equal parts citrus and mango and pine acting juicy yet tart with a building bitterness that never fully becomes self aware. The malt base is nice but overshadowed. I believe this beer suffers from oxidation. I will try to make this again with more hops and less oxygen. Not too bad though.

This is an alteration of my original Bag of C.O.B. bitter. I changed some of the malts and hopped it differently. I think I liked the original better even though this is good. Pouring a slightly hazy deep copper brown it has a decent head that settles into a standard unimpressive sparse layer. Laces well. Aromas include sweet rich caramel, light toffee, sweet oaty grain, and gentle apricot? Maybe? I have to be honest, I have a hard time with the flavour. This bottle tasted different than the last and so on. The first one I tried seemed almost sour. A week later it was more like the original but much more bitter, now this one is very sweet and malty but not as bitter. I don't know. I'm new to this so.... maybe age, maybe bottle size and shape. Beats me. But I like it. I get rich sweet caramel, gently singed toffee, toasted biscuit, a general sweet malt, and indistinct earthy hops with moderate balancing bitterness. I do believe I will re review as I drink these to see what happens. It's good though. I'm enjoying this brewing stuff a lot.

Mmm another smash hit indeed Gord ! Mild and balanced- sweet and melowwww

Mmm so lovely! Beautifull fruit flavors - not bitter, tangy, or sour. Absoulutly delightfull. Perfect for tjis nice warm weather. Thanks so much Gord! Your truly talanted!

Well I must say I am quite proud of this one. It pours a lovely golden orange with a fairly substantial frothy white head that laces and lingers. To the nose it brings that classic wheat beer scent as a base and then heaps on banana, pear, and bubblegum. I added no extra like coriander or orange zest but it survives well on it's own. I wish it presented a bit more clove but I am not sad with what it's doing. In the mouth it shows off its medium light body by packing arm loads of yeasty esters. Mostly presenting as banana and bubblegum but also some light peppery notes. If it had just a hint of clove this would have been a five star for me, but as it stands it is in my top 5 favourite hefes so far. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Wow- beautiful strong aroma! Lovely colour and head. So balanced so robust ! Im impressed once again- what a treat

I made this. Although it suffers from chill haze the color is a lovely rich gold and it has an almost luminescent white head that settles into a fairly standard foamy layer that hangs on throughout. The aroma is lightly grainy and what I think of as a European lager type smell. There is very little hops aroma to spreak of. The light bodied and lightly flavoured, the grainy taste comes through on the tongue and is only hopped just enough to not be sweet. There is very little hops taste. Crisp and light, this acts more like a lager than an ale. If I've learned anything it's that I'm too afraid of hops and can be more generous with them.