The Great Pumpkin Ale emerges — all hail the great pumpkin ale…. Rating: 90 points Stats: Spiced Beer. 5.5% ABV. Etobicoke, Ontario. Size: 650mL bottle Colour: Deep straw, golden Mouth Feel: Medium carbonation; clean, bitter and refreshing finish. Purchased: LCBO Price: $4.95 Pairing Notes: Green curry. And so the field narrows and it comes to a point as I complete my seasonal quest for…
“St-Ambroise Citrouille” (Pumpkin Ale) McAuslan Brewing
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…
“Legendary Oddity” (Spiced Beer), Muskoka Brewery
Finally … a beer from the Muskoka Brewery worth writing about. Having previously reviewed their ubiquitous Mad Tom and Twice as Mad offerings which left me unimpressed, I was hesitant about sticking another toe in their fermented waters. Twice bitten — definitely third time shy. So why did I take the bait? The packaging grabbed…
“Hennepin” (Saison aka Farmhouse Ale), Brewery Ommegang
So now for something completely different…. My last foray into American brews salvaged what was becoming a dubious relationship. Don’t get me wrong, and contrary to a historic Canadian disdain for the brewing ability of our southern brethren, a disdain tied as much to our own Canadian inferiority complex as it is to a pre-craft-brewing…