Event Horizon
Halo Brewery

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From Small Batch Dispatch's November curation. Canned October 31/25. My 18th beer from the Toronto, Ontario brewery, and 2nd for 2026. Ridiculously recommended by Sundae the cat...

A- This one pours like motor oil, suggesting that the body is full. The coloration is deep dark brown/black, and the head is creamy at first, with a dark tan color with pinkish hues....it settles down to a bubbly ring around the inside of the glass. As for the lacing, there isn't too much to report about, as there are several small dots of foam desperately clinging but eventually settle right back into the liquid....nothing in this category to brag about but nothing offensive either.

S- Right as soon as the bottle was cracked, there was an intense rooty, Earthy aroma, that lingers on well into the pour....this would be the sarsaparilla used in the brew! Licorice, damp forest wood, soil, and ashy char....the Sarsaparilla...now I know where proper root beer gets some of its aroma/smell from! The finish smells somewhat sweet, like Coke, brown sugars and maybe some black licorice milkshake. Interesting and exciting....like nothing else I've smelled before.

T- The flavors are interesting for sure....I get Rootbeer, black licorice, sarsaparilla, rooty qualities, rustic Earth, mocha coffee, cocoa, toasty brown sugars.....the finish lingers with Sarsaparilla. Weaker than I would have first imagined and its good....just different!

M/O- Lighter in body than I thought and the carbonation is pleasant....plentiful but velvety smooth. As for the drinkability, it is easy enough to drink, however, I am fine after spitting a pint of this with a friend....would work paired up with a chocolate based dessert. A decent brew for sure!

Dark walnut under a nice looking head, no lace at all once that goes. Smells of chocolate and roasty caramel malt. Proper tasting stout, no rough edges to it, nothing too extreme. Chocolate, dark sugar, gentle roast means the rest of the beer doesn't get hidden. Easy to drink. Simply made with some grace.

Jet; cola and bacon fries(?!); bubblegum, brown sugar, slight roast, and candy finish; soft.

4 4 4.25 4 4

Canada Mint nose. All sorts of candy notes, but doesn’t cloy. Get away with it, anyway.

 

a sturdy stout brewed with sarsaparilla, definitely in my top couple of beers i had on my entire toronto trip, its absolutely magic, and was easily the highlight of my visit to halo. its a pretty unassuming beer, a well made but relatively simple base stout, nice full body and on the dry side with a deep roasted grain profile but not a ton of the bitterness that usually goes with it. its frothy headed and flavorful without being rich and overly complex. the key here is the sarsaparilla root its brewed with, its fragrant and interesting, and ingredient i havent seen much in beer before, and certainly never to this level, its fantastic really. the flavor it adds is crazy, cherry cola and root beer, strong vanilla and black tea, brown sugar sweetness, subtle spice like anise and allspice too, chicory earthiness, its sweet but not desserty, just really interesting and delicious, and its interaction with the coffee, chocolate, and roasted nature of the base stout is perfectly harmonious. this is splendid beer, a perfect introduction of a new ingredient in my opinion. not over flavored, but really robust. i was relatively unfamiliar with the actual taste of sarsaparilla before this beer, now i know i love it. i thought this was exceptional!

An excellent beer. I very much enjoy the sweet taste it has. A unique flavour from other stouts. Very smooth and clear.

Robust smell.

Best at room temp to allow for the flavours to come out.

 

 

 

Dark brown color with mocha head. Aroma is like a smoked cherry cola if such thing existed. Taste follows with malt, cola flavor, Doctor Pepper, root beer, some light fruitiness, fudge in the background. Light body, soft carbonation. Really easy drinking and tasty stout with unique flavors.

 

 

 

Poured from chilled bottle dated Sep 19 2016. Quick head formation and dissipation that is/was dark tan in colour. Aroma is sweet sarsaparilla. Taste is semi sweet. Strong backbone of black licorice and caramel with mild bitterness. Medium light mouth feel with carbonation almost nonexistent. Overall it's a very drinkable beer if you like root beer or sarsaparilla. If not pass on it. A bit one dimensional but as a fan of root beer I can appreciate it.