Beer # 143 Lemon Balm Ale Black Creek Historic Brewery

Lemon Balm Ale

Black Creek Historic Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Flavoured Ale 9.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$3.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @BlackCreekBeer

Another trip down to Toronto to the great Black Creek Historic Brewery. Designed to replicate the brewing process in Ontario in the 1860's, all the beer here are made by hand. There is no electricity or computers involved. the wort is cooked in copper kettles and the beer is filtered through linen cloths, and stored in wooden barrels. It is as much a museum exhibit as it is a working brewery. The workers are dressed in period costume and give guided tours of the brewery showing how different it is from modern day brewing. I've taken a tour of an ultra modern brewery (Anheuser-Busch in New Hampshire). The brewery is nearly empty. The brewing process is fully computer automated and all one has to do is select a programme and push a button, and the brewing process will run start to finish almost unattended. Black Creek is a very personal brewery, very hands on. If you love beer you should go down and check it out.

Onto the... historic... tasting.

Very Light chestnut in colour with a hint of orange.  The off-white head is fairly thin and short lived. The aroma is caramel and malt some green herbs and a hint of citrus, not very strong. First sip is tangy and sweet lots of caramel. Very light and clean. Finish is bitter green herbs and some lemon. Effervescent on the tongue, the beer is very lively. The lemon balm is a good bittering herb that does not detract much from the beer. Aeration gives us bitter herbs.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience:  4/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

A very good beer. However, a little thin and on the watery side. I am unable to decide whether or not it was deliberate to bring out the flavours of the lemon balm. However, I would have liked to have seen some more oomph in the beer. Very impressed with the interaction of the lemon balm, it is a nice touch.

Cheers

CJT


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