Beer O'Clock: Cowbell Care Package

To be honest, I never thought I'd see it.

Late last July, someone reached out to me to see if I would be interested in a road trip to Southern Ontario, where I would visit Cowbell Brewing Company, in Blyth, less than an hour west of Stratford. The person said that I'd be taken on a tour of the brewery, and I was asked if I would write about it on my blog.

The invitation was tempting. I like Cowbell and have tried several of their brews, and was a fan of their Kölsch-style offering, Absent Landlord. Over the past couple of years, DW and I have been down to Stratford to see some excellent theatre, and a day trip to Blyth would make a nice option.

Unfortunately, DW and I had already planned to travel to the Saguenay region during the summer, which was in the opposite direction. I responded to Cowbell, stating my regret but said that a visit was possible in 2026.

The representative replied, a couple of weeks later, and offered to send me samples of the beer, which I could review. Not being one to turn down good beer, I accepted the offer.

Again, a few weeks went by (I almost forgot about the offer), and the representative said that she would be sending me the samples in time for the September long weekend. In my response, I thanked her but informed her that I would be out of town in the days that led to and the week that followed Labour Day, and could she wait two weeks before shipping the package.

I never heard back from her.

I imagined that the rep had moved on to other things and that I had slipped her mind. And in short time, Cowbell slipped mine, though I did think of them every time I prepared a new Beer O'Clock review.

And then, in mid-December, I received a notification from UPS that a package from Cowbell was on its way. Nearly five months after the representative first reached out to me, my beer samples were on their way.

The package arrived before Christmas, but because I was busy with the holidays, with visiting friends, with the loss of our SUV, and searching for a replacement, I really didn't even have time to open the package.

But when I did, oh the surprise. It was a substantial care package. Thanks, Cowbell!

Inside the box, there was a six-pack of a Winter Mixer, with various IPAs, lagers, an Absent Landlord, and a special stout. In addition, there was a can of another stout and their latest IPA, Donny Brook. There was a key chain, fridge magnet, and a beer cozy, plus a brochure of the brewery and a lovely Christmas card.

Very generous and thoughtful.

I won't review every beer in the care package because it would make for a very long post (I have already written a review of Absent Landlord, so there's no need to repeat myself), so in this post I'm going to focus on their newest brew and the two stouts, as they are my favourite style of beer. If the lagers blow me away, I may write about them down the road.

But first, their newest offering.

Donnybrook Easy IPA (4.3% ABV; 24 IBUs)

Appearance: pours a murky, dull orange—similar to grapefruit juice—with a foamy, white head.

Nose: orange zest, grapefruit, and a hint of pineapple.

Palate: a bitter grapefruit that isn't overwhelming, with a grapefruit rind that brings up into a lingering finish. It's got a light to medium body that goes down easy, and because the alcohol content is low, it's an extremely quaffable beer.

Overall impression: when I saw the name of the beer, I thought of the Irish slang term for a brawl. Donnybrook is an Irish town that was known for its fair, that attracted some rabble-rousers who were looking to stir up things. With a name like this, I expected this hazy IPA to be in your face with intense flavours and a whopping alcohol content.

Instead, Donnybrook is a county-line road that intersects with Blyth Road, a few kilometres from the brewery in the village of Auburn. Looking on Google Maps street view, you'd be hard-pressed to find a ruckus going on there.

No, this Donnybrook is easy-going, laid-back, and highly sessionable. As stated on the can, "Donnybrook is made for post-game brews, pond skates, or anywhere folks mind their pints and quarts."

In other words, the opposite of an Irish donnybrook.

I like this brew. I could enjoy it at any time.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺 +

Chocolate Imperial Nitro Stout (9.5% ABV)

Appearance: so deep brown you could almost call it black. There's no cascading effect that you get in many nitro-infused stouts, such as Guinness, even though you pour it hard by turning the can upside-down in the glass. The taupe head starts foamy but settles to a neat, creamy, pinky-width head.

The nitro widget at the bottom of the can seems to take up a lot of real estate, as the pour, including the full head, doesn't even make it past the top of Cowbell's logo on the glass that they provided. It's not a full pint.

Nose: I immediately detected a dark-roasted coffee, which was followed with dark chocolate and cocoa powder right on its heels. It's such a rich aroma—one that I could take in all day.

Palate: the coffee continued on the tongue and more cocoa overwhelmed my taste buds. And the alcohol punched me right in the mouth.

Maybe, I'm not so upset by the smaller pour.

The finish lingers long after you swallow. Breathing in through the mouth (an inverse whistle) reminds you of what you just drank.

Overall impression: I tend to shy away from imperial stouts because I'm not keen on the high alcohol, nor do I care for the licorice and prune flavour profile that often accompanies this style of beer. But the chocolate and coffee flavours tend to temper any classic notes in this brew. The alcohol is strong and hits you at the finish of each sip, but again, the chocolate and coffee keep it all in balance.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺 +

Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake Stout (5.2% ABV)

Appearance: I messed up on the pour of this one. Like the nitro imperial stout, I poured hard. All seemed well until the can was empty, and then the foamy, dark-taupe head escaped the top of the glass. But it settled quickly to a thin lace.

A slow, even pour is recommended.

Again, the brew was near-black in colour.

Nose: sweet raspberries and vanilla flood the senses, with milk chocolate following behind. The aroma is intoxicating.

Palate: tart raspberry leads the vanilla, which is followed by a creamy chocolate in the finish. The balance isn't perfect but there's a lot of delicious flavour there. The finish is medium, with the raspberry clinging on.

Overall impression: in a way, this does taste like a cake. It's sweet without cloying, and I love the marriage of raspberry and vanilla. The chocolate supports it all but isn't as pronounced as the other two flavours. This stout is a decadent brew that would easily replace a dessert.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺 +

I know, I've given all three brews the same rating, and they're all favoured beer. It's not because they arrived as a care package that makes me like them so much. It's because they really are tasty brews made by a brewery that has shown, time and time again, that they know what they're doing.

I would definitely seek out these brews, two of which (the stouts) are seasonal. You can find the imperial stout and Donnybrook, on their own, at your friendly neighbourhood LCBO. The chocolate-raspberry stout came in their winter six-pack.

I'm sorry that I couldn't make my way to Cowbell's brewery last summer but I'm already looking at the theatre lineup in Stratford, this coming year, and will definitely drop in when I'm in Southern Ontario.

Thanks again to Cowbell for their generous care package. If the other brews in the set (I have four cans left) blow me away, I'll provide more reviews in the near future.

Cheers!