Background: Japanese lager brewed with malt. Once again, in Canada.

Appearance: Pale amber body, fluffy white head.

Nose: Clean, some mild malt notes and a bit of floral hops.

Taste: The malt seems fuller than the adjunct version, and the hops come through a bit more clearly. More sweetness on the front, but the same dry finish. Some fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: Light body and zippy carbonation. Dry, oily finish.

Overall: Still not something I would drink every day, but a good summer beer and as an accompaniment to sushi it's ace.

Background: This whisky from Canada is blended from three base whiskies (maize, rye, and barley malt), each of which was aged in oak barrels with a different amount of toasting. In addition, after the base whiskies are married portions receive further aging in sherry casks to round out the flavour profile.

Nose: Sweet and fruity, tons of caramel and vanilla over an underlying spiritiness.

Taste: Very smooth. The oak and sherry combine to produce a nice nuttiness, and the whisky comes through with some spiciness and a sweet graininess. Finish is long and sweet, with the alcohol perhaps coming through a touch hot.

(And we do the dilution dance once more)

Nose: Didn't really do much. The fruit's diminished, but otherwise the nose has remained the same.

Taste: Again, not much change. A fair bit sweeter.

Overall: Smooth, drinkable whisky. Nothing overly exciting.

Appearance: Fluffy white head, light golden body.

Smell: Tart Granny Smith apples with a bit of coriander and light malt.

Taste: Very light. A bit of wheat, a bit of apple, some spice notes. Tart, dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Thin, highly carbonated.

Drinkability: Intriguingly delicate; nothing to get in the way of drinking it, and the light flavour would pair well with light cheeses or starchy desserts. I think this would go particularly well with a fruit pie like rhubarb or blueberry (even apple, if you want to go really crazy).

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.