Canadian Amber AleHockley Valley Brewing Company
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Amber Ale 4.2 % ABV Tall Boy Can 473 ml.
$2.65 (Canadian) At The LCBO
Twitter: n/a
Second Canada Day beer (A little late posting it, but I did taste it on Canada Day!). Back to a very underrated brewery that is just down the highway a bit from Pint Jockey Headquarters: Hockley Valley. Back in January and February of 2011 I sampled Hockley Valley's Taster's Pack over two posts found here: Part One and Part Two. The Pack comprised three beers The Black and Tan, English Ale, and Irish stout. Which at the time made up their entire stable of beers. Much to my delight I saw this beer in the LCBO, Just in time for Canada Day with a patriotic enough sounding name. I like the story of Hockley Valley. It actually started out as a pilot plant for a Whisky Distillery, fueled by horse manure instead of peat. Very glad beer was easier for them to make, as we shall see tonight, their efforts have paid off well.
Onto the tasting:
Pours a dark amber with a light brown hue. Creamy off white head made up of small bubbles. Dark roasted malt sweet malt sugars and licorice on the nose. First sip is molasses, cocoa, demerara sugar. Earthy and heady. Aeration brings out more vanilla and molasses. Sweetly complex yet fruity like a good English Ale.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 Exceptional
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 6/6 Exceptional
Final Thoughts:
Certainly a beer that is more than the sum of it's parts. It is hard to quantify this beer, it's just very good. There really isn't much like this beer on the Ontario Market. Quite lovely, and well worth a taste.
Cheers
Happy Canada Day
CJT
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