I feel for NHL fans who continue to suffer due to the lockout. In solidarity with them, I have been exclusively consuming Canadian beers.

In my northern dalliance, I have thought a lot about maple syrup and myself. It’s been fun, but I think I need to cool it for a while because every time I have pancakes, I want beer to go with them and that violates my no-beer-before-10 a.m. policy.

Labatt Blue is my go-to going out beer. It’s a pilsner style lager and tastes great. The flavor is full and is 5 percent alcohol by volume. If I were to complain about one thing, it is that Labatt bottles are only 11.5 ounces instead of the standard, but still odd, 12 ounces. Like many beers, I prefer to drink Blue out of 24-ounce tall boys and 16-ounce pounders.

I’m especially fond of getting six packs of pounders because you can stash your beer in the plastic rings if you need to travel. You can drink Blue all night because the body is light and slightly foreign in a good way: a Canadian strip-club-like charm.

Unsatisfied with simply trying Blue, I had to take a ride on the wild side with Labatt Ice. This Ice style beer is slightly more alcoholic at 5.6 percent alcohol by volume. I wasn’t looking forward to drinking this because generally anything with Ice should be removed from the pool of things you could be drinking.

Luckily, Labatt Ice tastes exactly like Blue. You might want to opt for Ice over Blue if you’re hanging out with your high school friends and want to feel nostalgic.

I was still feeling adventurous, so I ventured further down the snow rabbit hole with Labatt Maximum Ice. I was terrified of Max, which is a menacing 7.1 percent alcohol by volume. I was concerned I was about to descend into the depths of white-girl wastedness again. Much like the regular Ice, Max Ice tasted a lot like Blue, but it was as if you had poured malt liquor in with it. That is not a good thing in my opinion, but if you’re into it, I say give it a try. If you want to chase the dragon, this is not a bad way to get started — be sure to mix a couple of these in between your Four Lokos.

The take-home message is that Labatt tastes like Labatt, even if it’s just wearing a hat.

—Compiled by Dylan Sorensen, staff writer, djsorens@syr.edu

Published on December 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm

Contact Dylan: djsorens@syr.edu