You may remember my previous Bastone Brewery Post (read here). We went for lunch during work, so I was unable to sample or review the beer. I finally was able to drag Omar to Royal Oak. Begrudgingly, he agreed to go to the “biggest pain in the butt city to park”. As I now work in Royal Oak, I showed him a world of convenient, albeit paid, parking, easy walks and interesting establishments. Dare I say he didn’t complain and said he would even return? (Which we did, see my next post!)
We were excited to find out they do indeed brew on-site, and offered a flight of (really large sample) beers for a mere $8! You can’t even order a single glass of craft beer for that in most places. WE had so much beer we almost (almost) couldn’t finish it!
I will touch upon our food, but as I already reviewed the food here, I want to focus on the brews.
The flight contained 7 different beers ranging from blonde to a seasonal ale.
First glass, Monumental Blonde: A simple american-style lighter beer. Low abv, 4.5%. This beer is nothing fancy. A simple beer, akin to labatts, Bad Ass, or other lighter beers. Low bittterness, and very light. Maybe wouldn’t appeal to craft beer enthusiasts due to its ubiquitous flavor.
Main Street Pilsner: A bit hoppier and more malty (is that a word) than the blonde. A wee bit stronger (5.5% abv). Had an interesting aroma of yeasts, corn and malts. Probably one of my favorite on the flight, as the hoppiness was low and flavor profile was unique.
Witface: A Belgian-style white beer, flavored with orange, lemon and coriander. Now I am not a fan or fruited or spiced beers. If you like these types of beers, blue moon for example, you probably would like this beer. One of my least favorite samples. This beer had a moderate abv with 5.5%.
Royal IPA: This pale ale, with an abv of 6.75%. Pretty much your standard IPA. Hoppy and bitter. IPA’s if you have read my previous blogs not really my thing. All you hop heads out there, this is probably not hoppy enough for you, but alas too hoppy for me.
Dubbel Vision: This Belgian-style amber ale, has a abv of 7.5%. Brewed with candi-sugar and dark fruits. This beer is not a stand out against other Dubbel type beers. If you are a Dubbel lover, this beer is for you.
Nectar des Dieux Triple: A Belgian style strong golden ale with light fruity notes and a hint of sweetness 9% ABV. This beer was pretty drinkable. Strong candied flavors and a tart bite.
Imperial Cherry Stout: As I said, I am not a fruited beer lover and was kind of dreading this one. It however surprising good! Not the glass of caramelized cough syrup I was expecting. I apologize, but as a seasonal beer, I failed to get the abv. My guess is somewhere in the 6-7% range. This beer was full of deep roasted malt flavors, smooth with just a hint of cherry that added a deeper component to the beer. Tasty, and to my delight, one of my favorites on the flight.
For the food portion of our evening, I ordered the filet mignonettes. Beef tenderloin tips, ordered sans mushrooms, with roma tomatoes and a Dubbel Vision demi-glace, and substituted crushed redskin potatoes for the yummy pomme frittes and veggies. The steak tips were just ok. The meal kind of reminded me of stew meat, although a bit more tender, with a dark, almost balsamic and tomato tasting sauce. Good, not great.
Omar ordered his classic burger. It is rare that Omar doesn’t try a burger in these types of places. He ordered the pork belly burger, grilled and topped with braised pork belly, herbed goat cheese and a red onion marmalade. A side of their delicious pomme frittes accompanied his meal, with both artichoke, garlic and the mammoet (see previous post for description). Omar said the burger was good, but wasn’t bursting with the pork belly flavor he was hoping for.
Overall would we go again? Sure. Especially just for the beer. The value and amount you got on the beer flight was well worth the trip. We recommend. Especially for those wanting to try out new beer offerings.
