Posted by Greg Clow in beer, beverages on September 23, 2008 at 7:46 am
The LCBO's Autumn Ales beer promotion started up last week, with 13 brews ideal for the cooler weather due on the shelves at select outlets over the next couple of months. To help hype up the release, local booze writers were invited to the LCBO head office to preview some of the beers that will be included.
Below are some quick tasting notes of the 8 beers that were sampled. Watch for more detailed reviews of some of them to show up in future Beer of the Week posts.
Erdinger Dunkel (5.60% - $3.05/500ml - LCBO 574236)
Dark ruby-brown with a large tan head. Both aroma and flavour are malty and a bit yeasty, with notes of clove and cocoa, and a nice tart/tangy finish.
Burton Porter (4.50% - $3.85/500ml - LCBO 926162)
Pours a dark and murky reddish-brown with a good sized tan head. Aroma is slightly fruity and a bit musty, with a faint hint of celery in the background. Flavour is malty off the top, with some typical ale fruitiness, while the finish is refreshingly bitter.
Harvey's Porter 1859 (4.80% - $3.95/500ml - LCBO 55400)
Dark brown colour with a small mocha head. Aroma has of a nice roasted malt character, with notes of brown sugar, smoke and coffee, and an odd hint of banana. Flavour is quite roasty, with little of the sweetness suggested by the aroma - instead, it’s more bitter and woody, with some roasted nuts, coffee and charred malt.
Belhaven Wee Heavy (6.50% - $3.50/500ml - LCBO 698977)
Clear dark amber colour with an off-white head. Aroma of sweet brown sugar with a slight smokiness. Flavour has lots of sweet caramel off the top, with some fruit and smoke in the middle, and a nice dry finish.
Fuller's 1845 (6.30% - $3.50/500ml - LCBO 504670)
Beautiful mahogany colour with a thick and lacy off-white head. Aroma is sweet and treacly, malty and warm, with an underpinning of yeast and citrus. Big and malty flavour to start, leading into dried fruit and spice notes, and a well bittered finish that brings candied citrus peel to mind.
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (6.20% - $5.75/650ml - LCBO 96180)
Chestnut brown with a good sized mocha head. Aroma is nutty and roasty, very appetizing. Body is a little thinner than you might expect, but the flavour is wonderful - hazelnut, toffee & roasted malt, and a nice bitterness in the finish.
Adnams Broadside (6.30% - $2.90/500ml - LCBO 88641)
Deep orange-amber with a good sized off-white head. Fantastic aroma of toffee, dried fruit, tea, and orangey hops. Big flavour of orange and caramel, with a long, well-bittered finish that reveals a bit of alcohol warmth.
Trafalgar Smoked Oatmeal Stout (5.00% - $3.95/650ml - LCBO 54106)
Dark not-quite-black colour with a fairly still body. Aroma is very smoky - a lot more than last year's version - with some roasted malt in behind. Body is much too thin for an oatmeal stout, seems more like a brown ale. Flavour has some roasted malt and a bit of coffee to start, but the smoke quickly kicks in, and takes on a vaguely artificial character in the finish.
The remaining beers in the promotion which were not featured in the media tasting include the following:
Monty Python Holy Grail Ale (4.70% - $3.45/500ml - LCBO 894048)
Koningshoeven Triple Ale (8.00% - $6.95/750ml - LCBO 86934)
Westmalle Dubbel (7.00% - $3.25/330ml -LCBO 676965)
Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout (7.00% - $3.95/550ml - LCBO 676023)
St Peter's Cream Stout (6.50% - $3.75/500ml - LCBO #TBA)
