Longwood Framboise; Sissy Name, Delicious Taste.

It's a warm summer evening.  Naturally, your first reaction is to jump on your cruiser and ride down to the lake, enjoying a bit of fresh air, scenery and perhaps even some sun if you're not too late.  But of course, what cruise is complete without a great beer to accompany it?  And on a warm summer evening, you're not going to want just any beer, but something exceedingly refreshing and, er, summery.  Above all, you clearly want something to test your fortitude and security with your masculinity.  Well, happily, you need look no further.

Ah Longwood's Framboise.  The beer with quite possibly the worst, most humiliating name imaginable in the history of everything.  And unfortunately, unlike other beers such as Molson Canadian,  Miller and Kokanee, this beer will not automatically make you the life of the party, allow you to excel at any number of extreme sports, or let you meet endless droves of attractive women with ease, as the advertisements of those particular beers would suggest.  Oh dear; point against Longwood.

Fortunately for the Framboise, that is about where the negative points end.  Because, to put it quite bluntly, this beer is extremely good.  Let's just go right ahead and address the elephant in the room; yes, this is a flavoured (specifically raspberry) beer.  It's also made by Longwood Brew Pub in Nanaimo, BC and thus is likely not widely available.  These minor, niggling points aside, if you have to opportunity to buy this beer, I would strongly recommend it, especially for the summer months.  There's nothing inherently wrong with drinking it out of season, but it's just so mind-alteringly refreshing that you're guaranteed to get the most out of it when the weather is warmest.

A point worth noting is that I have tried other flavoured beers as well.  Some are in the same league as the Framboise, others fall very far short.  Of raspberry beers in particular, I have tried a few others, and I can safely say that for those that I've tried, the Framboise has them beaten by a significant margin.

Now, on to the review, as if it were truly necessary.

You may have gathered by this point that I rather enjoy Longwood's Framboise.  This is a truth.  In fact, the name aside, there's very little I can critique about it.

Taste:  Exceptional.  Both extremely refreshing, as well as very flavourful, managing the perfect balance of sweetness without becoming remotely sickening.

Aroma:  It smells of raspberries, shockingly.  It's actually difficult to believe it's really a beer at first, though you can certainly detect the hops and barley through the fruity smell.

Aftertaste:  None that I could detect.  The taste remains consistent throughout.

Recommended?:  Hells to the yes.

Verdict:  Absolutely one hundred and ten percent...do try it.  If I were to have one complaint, it would be that this beer is not available on tap, should you visit the Longwood Brew Pub.  Unless you have an allergy to raspberries or some absurd objection to flavoured beer, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like it.  Swallow your pride, ignore the limp-wristed name, and enjoy a Framboise this summer.

Score:  9.5 mugs out of 10.

Lemon Tea Beer...No Seriously I Did Just Say That

Our very first beer to grace the pixelated glory of Beer Cruise hails from the distant land of Ontario, specifically the Mill Street brewery in Toronto.  If you have not heard of this particularly brewery, then I suggest you read on.  If you do not, I will find you, and dub you 'Ser Budweiser'.  Disclaimer:  Budweiser is &#@^ing awful and made from rice.

But seriously, they make a pretty swell beer.

This is what you want.  Unless you want
something bad.  And you don't want bad
things do you?

Just yesterday, I was on my way to yet another beer cruise with friends, heading down to the lake on a nice (albeit not overly warm) Sunday night.  I had in mind to pick up some Granville Island Hefeweizen, which, while we're on the subject, is certainly not the best hefeweizen I've ever had, but is more than serviceable and extremely refreshing on those hot summer days.  But it was not meant to be.  I am not a person who is particularly quick on the decision making process, which ended up working out in this case.  I quickly found the hefeweizen, but as usual, I took a little stroll around the liquor store, perusing the beer section for any newcomers.  And lo and behold, what would meet my eyes but a Mill Street variety pack, containing six different beer (only one of which I've previously tried; the Tankard Ale).


Excellent.  Now just to grab the cruiser and chose a beer of the five I've yet to try.

Naturally, the obvious choice is to pick the most unusual beer...and yes, Mill Street's Lemon Tea Beer most definitely fits the bill.  Right off the bat, it stands out in this variety pack, being the only beer of the six to come in a can (very bizarre considering Mill Street's signature and unique bottle design).  Cans, while socially inferior, are actually superior to bottles while on a cruise, due to less weight, easier handling, and convenient disposal (crush the bastard and jam it into your pocket).

Now, enough preamble...on to the review.

This beer...was not quite as interesting or mind blowing as I'd expected, but it ended up being solid all around.  Indeed the taste is quite 'citrus-y', though not overwhelmingly so, and if I'm totally honest, I never really tasted the tea portion of it, perhaps because tea tends to have a much more delicate taste than beer or highly acidic fruit.  The aroma is a different story, because it's quite pleasant smelling, and you could easily mistake it for something other than beer if you avoided actually drinking it.  Also worth noting is the lack of any real aftertaste; good, bad or otherwise.

Ultimately this beer boils down to being a good choice for a refreshing beer on a summery day, but unfortunately mostly unexceptional otherwise.  I should mention that I didn't actually drink it ice cold, as it had been taken out of refrigeration a good hour or so before drinking it, so it's entirely possible I didn't get the full story here.  I think I'm likely to try this beer again, if only because I do think something this unusual that results in a conclusion neither overwhelmingly positive nor negative demands a do-over.  But until then, assuming this is my final verdict...would I recommend this beer?  Yes, as a summer beer I would.  It's certainly worth a try.

Summary

Taste:  Citrus, light and refreshing.
Aroma:  Fruity and potent.
Aftertaste:  Negligible.
Recommended?  Yes.

Verdict:  Buy it, try it.  It's in season, and at the very least it will provoke some discussion and possible gawking from others when they see you're drinking such an unusual beer.  Shame it's not quite as unusual tasting as it sounds, but don't let that deter you from giving it a shot.

Score:  7 out of 10 mugs.

Just What In The Hell Is 'Beer Cruise'?

Well I'll tell you what in the hell Beer Cruise is all about.

Beer Cruise is about as much as the name implies; it is a blog about beer and cruising.  By cruising, I of course mean on traditional, pedal-operated cruisers.  For those of you heathens who know not what I speak of, you need only avert your eyes inches below this very sentence.

Not just any Electra cruiser, but MY Electra cruiser.  Marvel at its magnificence.

Glamour shot.  Keep your peasant's mitts off.

So why cruisers?  And for that matter, why beer on the cruiser ride?  Well, simply put, for reasons unknown to science, the combination of the two results in something magical indeed.  Ripping down to the lake or waterfront on a warm summer evening while slightly intoxicated on excellent beer is an experience without equal.  WARNING: if you do not have access to lakes, waterfronts or warm summer evenings, it is recommended you sign off this blog immediately for threat of succumbing to overwhelming depression upon reading what it is you're missing out on.

As you can see, we have a perfect and infallible explanation in regards to the combination of cruising and beer.  Now, onto the slightly more serious side of things.  Just what kind of content can you expect to find on this blog?  Primarily, the focus will be on the beer, although certainly matters pertaining to all things biking will arise.  My current plan is to sample and review at least one new beer per week, and it goes without saying that said beer must be sampled on a cruise.  The result is just not the same otherwise.  At the same time, I will have commentary on bikes and cruising locations, but I once again have to stress that the focus will be on trying new beer.  And not just any run-of-the-mill mainstream crap you can expect to see your average 17 year-old booting off his older brother (admittedly there may be some of that), but rather I will be tasting beers coming from smaller micro-breweries, especially those from BC, Oregon and the east coast.

Now, you may now be wondering just what this largely inexperienced, yet devilishly handsome young man can bring to the table that some stuffy old chap with a pH D in Fermented Maltology can't.  Well I could easily feed you some crap about offering a 'young, hip perspective', but that would be trendy, stupid and incorrect.  I'll give you my honest opinion, as someone who has enjoyed a wide variety of quality beer for the last 5 or so years.  My goal here is not to urge you to go out and buy the very beer I happen to be reviewing at the time (though I would take it as a compliment to my persuasiveness if you did), rather to just generate interest not only in beer, but more specifically in supporting those small micro-breweries and their efforts to bring new, unique and creative beer to our eagerly awaiting, salivating mouths.  Big, mainstream breweries...yes, they have their place, and they do occasionally put out something new and fresh, but it's the little guys that I can all but guarantee any fellow beer connoisseur would agree are the ones that drive forward with innovation.  And I do believe anyone who enjoys beer beyond the sensation of being drunk (for god's sake there are easier, cheaper and quicker ways to accomplish this than chain drinking beer) should support this.


And yes, I did just use the word innovation when describing beer.  Welcome to Beer Cruise.