F&M Nightmare On Ale Street
F&M Brewery

2009 Volo Cask Days. Pours black,little head, with a good roasty stout aroma. Well hopped. Acidic however in its formulation with some strong herbs, i.e. sasaparilla, licorice. I get some fennel, anise. Still bold taste, and a good cask choice.Average mouthfeel.

sampled on cask at volo as part of cask days '09, oct 31/09.

pours opaque black with just a hint of deep red highlight at the edges. the small brown head drops fast and leaves a few spots of lace.

aroma is good. light roast. toasted multi-grain bread. bit of biscuit. especially on the second day the great herbal presence really comes through. brewers licorice, bog mertle, sassafras. bit of fenugreek, reminiscent of the maple yam on rye from a recent great lakes project x. hint of smoke. maybe some ginger? big complex herbal component.

taste is good. rasty. coffee and a bit of dark chocolate. toasted multi-grain bread and biscuit. light alcohol. great herbal presence - more mellow than in the aroma, but still very present and good. bit of citrus. low bitterness level.

mouthfeel is good. just over medium body. low carbonation level.

drinkability is great. nice balance. great extra depth from the herbs. good stuff. another great experiment by george!

At volo cask days 2009

Pours black with a tan head.
It smells of licorice and herbs. A sweetness perfumes outside of the roasty malts.
Tastes slightly sweet and syrupy with a dry, bitter finish. The sap from a spruce tree comes to mind.
It is very smooth, almost chewy with all the residual sugars and bold flavours combining.
I enjoyed the complexity of this one.

Good work George.

I had the pleasure to speak to George when I was pouring his beer at Volo's Cask Days. I don't think I've ever met a man so intensely passionate about the beer he makes, and his love for the craft is a credit to our province. All brewers see their beers as babies, but George moreso, and it therefore pleases me to say this beer turned out pretty well!

Black pour with a finger of tan head. Some lace and decent retention for a cask. Aroma of roasted coffee and bitter chocolate mixed in with brown sugar and herbs.

I couldn't place the style at first, and vaguely felt it was a cross between a pumpkin ale and stout. After speaking to George it turns out that this is a spiced stout which uses sassafraz, licorice and bog myrtle. This results in a nice roasty beer, with lots if layers of herbal complexity. It certainly has a root beer feel to it, but with more depth than that. The licorice comes through nicely, and I have no idea what the other two herbs should taste like, but they've given a nice herbal feel to the whole affair. Medium bodied with a dry finish, with barely detectable alcohol.

Ontario needs more beers like this. At first I didn't like it, but it rapidly grew on me, and the complexity of flavour produced by the combination of herbs and beer base made for an intriguing ale that actually makes you think abou what your drinking. Kudos to the men from Guelph!

IIRC, this was around 7% & 60 IBU. Brewed with licorice, sasparilla and I think bog myrtle was the other herb. An interesting mix, which actually worked!

A: Black with a tan head, slight retention & lace on cask.

S: Huge herbal nose. The herbs are really working in concert, as they're tough to identifiy... but knowing that sasparilla is there, it's detectable.

T: Rootbeer, coffee, roasted beer nuts, pumpernickel bread, hints of licorice & some herbal depth, good bitterness.

M: Moderate body is quite smooth, with an off-dry finish.

D: Intriguing flavours that my taste buds would like to continue to decipher.