Background: The brewery's flagship ale, an American Amber crafted from "mainly" pale malts.

Appearance: Pours a beautiful amber with a dense off-white head. Very pretty.

Nose: Sweet, toasty malt. Any hop aroma is masked by the malt and a slight amount of esters.

Taste: Medium malt sweetness, some citrusy hops and floral notes. Malt has light toasted accents and a bit of caramel character. Medium hop bitterness to balance the malt.

Mouthfeel: Moderate body, high carbonation. Finish is oily, and the hops stick around.

Overall: Solid, middle-of-the-road example of the style. I don't particularly care for it, but then again it's not a style I particularly care for.

Appearance: Clear chestnut, fluffy tan head.

Nose: Caramel maltiness, light fruity esters.

Taste: Moderate malt sweetness expressed as caramel, light toffee, and toastiness on the high notes. Medium bitterness continues into the dry finish; mild hop character.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, light carbonation.

Overall: Nice. Easy-drinking brown ale.

Appearance: Hazy straw colour.

Smell: Clean grain aroma, grassy hops with a citrus bite.

Taste: Coarse, sweet, grainy malt dominating. A fair amount of fruitiness, and some citrusy hop flavour to go with the medium hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, peppy carbonation. Medium body.

Drinkability: Good. Nice light-feeling beer, perfect for a crisp autumn day.

Appearance: Opaque black with a long-lasting light brown head.

Smell: Rich roasted malt, yeast, and cocoa.

Taste: Sweet roasted malt in the beginning, bitter chocolate and coffee notes in the middle, and some floral hops. Long finish shows some chicory characteristics.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and creamy medium body, medium carbonation, mild drying astringency in the finish.

Drinkability: Great; excellent example of the style.

Appearance: Pale cloudy body with a sticky white head.

Smell: Floral and citrusy hops dominate.

Taste: Hops from the nose once again in the forefront, but a nice background of pale malts, a hint of yeastiness, and a light sweetness to offset the bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Light, clean, and crisp.

Drinkability: Very refreshing, very drinkable. Good beer for the summer.

Appearance: Cloudy orange body, effervescent white head.

Smell: Sweet, citrusy malt with some spice.

Taste: Biscuity malt, tangy yeast, lots of fruitiness, subdued spices.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied, with a fairly high level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Clean, crisp, and refreshing, except...at 9% ABV it's a bit much for regular drinking. Yeah, celebratory limited release; yeah, special beer; I just wish special didn't always mean "big" to American brewers.

Appearance: Slightly hazy medium brown body, coarse tan head.

Smell: Sweet malt with some citrusy hop aroma and a bit of caramel.

Taste: Starts out sweet, toasted malt; some earthy and yeasty notes in the background along with just a hint of diacetyl; nice medium hop bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, medium-high carbonation.

Drinkability: Excellent example of the style. Full of flavour and well-balanced, easy to drink quite a few.

This month's Session is hosted by Greg Clow of Beer, Beats & Bites, who selected "fruit beers" as the theme for this installment. Fruit beers occupy an interesting niche in the beer world, with a lot of people deriding them as girly or as attempts to cover up the taste in order to appeal to people that don't like beer. Having no such prejudices myself, I decided to cover two very different winter release beers made with cherries.

First up is the local boy: Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, MI produces a Cherry Stout, which is made from barley, malt, and cherry juice and clocks in at 8.5% ABV. Purchased as a single 12 oz. bottle for $2.59.

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Bell's Cherry Stout

Appearance: Deep, dark brown with a very slight red tint. Minimal reddish-brown head quickly dissipates.

Smell: A hint of roasted malt at the beginning is quickly overwhelmed by sweet and tart cherry aromas.

Taste: Malt presents mainly as cocoa, with a bit of coffee flavour. Sweet-tart cherry overlays the rest, but the flavour doesn't feel integrated at all. Sweet with a sharply sour bite from the cherries. The finish is fairly pleasant, and sticks around for a while.

Mouthfeel: A bit light for a stout, but a good level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Persistently mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.

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Well, that was a bit disappointing. Let's hope the next beer will do better.

The second is Quelque Chose, a spiced cherry ale from Unibroue in Quebec. This beer is made with roasted malt, and whole cherries are soaked for months in a mildly bitter ale before being blended into the beer. 8% ABV, purchased in a 75 cl bottle for $9.99; the bottle is marked as best before 7-17-2021.

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Unibroue Quelque Chose

Appearance: A vigorous pour produces no head whatsoever. Deep garnet in colour, slightly cloudy.

Smell: A bit of citrus, some sweet cherry. Mild cinnamon and allspice notes.

Taste: Sweet cherry at the beginning, Christmasy spices start to come through in the middle. Hints of plum. Slightly tart, but mainly just sweet.

Mouthfeel: Thin and syrupy, with minimal carbonation.

Drinkability: Oh, it's definitely drinkable. Beautifully balanced clean flavour, but a nagging question remains: where's the malt? This is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I would consider to be a beer. It's delicious, but the taste is so centered on the fruit that it's more like a wine than an ale.

Appearance: Coarse foamy white head with minimal retention. Pours a cloudy light amber.

Smell: Wheat and citrus with some yeast notes.

Taste: Fruity wheat with a background of medium spicy hops and overtones of lemon. Sweet with lots of malt character.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and light. Medium to light carbonation.

Drinkability: Light and easy drinking, with a flavour profile that allows it to pair well with a wide range of foods.