The benchmark in pumpkin ales. Rating: 88 points Stats: Pumpkin Ale. 5% ABV. Montreal, Quebec. Size: 341mL bottle Colour: Deep amber Mouth Feel: Medium carbonation; creamy and full in the mouth. Purchased: LCBO Price: $9.95 (4/pack) Pairing Notes: n/a After the first disappointment on the Great Pumpkin Ale countdown, I chose to go with a known entity … one I already knew I loved from…
“Pumpkin Ale” (Spiced Beer) Black Creek Historic Brewing
A pumpkin ale that is more ghostly because of what doesn’t appear. Rating: 70 points Stats: Spiced Beer. 5% ABV. Toronto, Ontario. Size: 500mL bottle Colour: Light-brown amber Mouth Feel: Low carbonation; low specific gravity; light end. Purchased: LCBO Price: $3.95 Pairing Notes: n/a First up on the Great Pumpkin Ale Countdown is this traditional sampling from Black Creek Brewing. This is…
Searching for the Great Pumpkin … Ale
As Canadian Thanksgiving arrives and we sacrifice hundreds of thousand of pumpkins across this fair land as part of our traditional devourment of the greatest pumpkin pies in the country, it seems appropriate that I spend a few days at least contemplating that other pumpkin treat: pumpkin ale. What makes a great pumpkin ale? And what is the…
“Hops & Bolts” (IPA) Creemore Springs Brewery
A beer that behaves like the rich kid on the block pretending to be edgy and cool and in the end just tastes obsequious and insecure. Rating: 77 points Stats: Pale Ale. 5.3% ABV. 60 IBUs. Creemore, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Light-orange amber – unfiltered Mouth Feel: Medium carbonation; creamy finish Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.85 Pairing Notes: n/a Do you recall those…
“Canuck Pale Ale” (Pale Ale) Great Lakes Brewery
Rating: 85 points Stats: Pale Ale. 5.2% ABV. Etobicoke, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Amber — unfiltered, cloudy ending. Mouth Feel: Medium, very natural carbonation; dry and refreshing ending. Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.50 Pairing Notes: n/a It’s been said that ‘Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity.’ This beer doesn’t help much…
“The ‘Witty’ Traveller” (Belgian Wheat Beer) Railway City Brewing Company
Stats: Belgian Wheat Beer. 4.2% ABV. 15 IBUs. St Thomas, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Pale (very pale) off-‘yellow’ watery straw; faintly cloudy. Mouth Feel: Low-medium carbonation with a dry finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.85 Pairing Notes: Greek Food (e.g. Souvlaki) → 78 points So, the next surprise in my Getting Canned series of beers only coming in cans is also the final taster from…
“Side Launch Wheat” (Wheat Beer) Side Launch Brewing Company
Stats: Wheat Beer. 5.3% ABV. Collingwood, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Muted, unfiltered straw blonde Mouth Feel: Medium carbonation with a spicy but dry finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.70 Pairing Notes: Grilled Chicken → 87 points Third up on the “CAN”-do count-down is a wheat ale from the small Georgian Bay community of Collingwood known more for its spas and shopping and ‘mountain’ vista…
“Nickel Brook Headstock” (IPA) Better Bitters Brewing Co.
Stats: IPA. 7.0% ABV. 80 IBUs. Burlington, Ontario. Size: 473mL can Colour: Golden straw (chardonnay) — clear except for profusion of heavy particulate that grows with the pour. Mouth Feel: Medium, very natural carbonation; light start and a refreshingly bitter finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $2.85 Pairing Notes: n/a → 84 points Penny for Your Thoughts ♦ Nickel for Your Thirst Next up on my Getting…
“Brockton IPA” (American IPA) Granville Island Brewing
Mmm, I remember when … I remember when the Granville Island Brewing Co. began its production (1984) … or near to it as it was 1986 that I moved to Vancouver for a year . I remember when it was one of the first microbreweries in country that was still either “Do you drink Canadian…
Ale No. 4 ~ “Signature Ale” (English Pale Ale) County Durham Brewing Company
For the fourth tasting in my Ales Bells series, I thought it appropriate to reintroduce myself to one of the standards in ales, the English-styled pale ale. Compared to the chocolate brown of my last tasting or the first in the series, Beau’s “Gilgamesh” (an “old ale”), you can clearly see the reason why this style is called…