Beer # 294 Harbinger American pale Ale Descendants Beer and Beverage Company

#294 Harbinger American pale Ale

Descendants Beer and Beverage Company

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Microbrewery, Established 2014
American Pale Ale 
5.5 % ABV IBU: 38
473 ml Aluminium Can
$3.00 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @Descendantsbeer

Another new brewery for me, Descendants Brewery in Kitchener Ontario. Opened in 2014 by husband and wife team Robin Malloy and Lee Brooks (I actually had a minor panic, attack when I wrote that sentence that sent me to google to make sure that it was a husband and wife team... since the names were not gender specific I didn't want to offend anyone!). It's getting hard to say that any one specific location in Ontario is a hot spot for new craft breweries. At one time I would have classed the Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph areas as a burgeoning hot spot for craft beer, but now with so much development in the craft beer scene it feels as though every town in Ontario with four corners and a population over 5 has a craft brewery on the way. Even around me there are three new breweries opening soon within a 45 min drive (Torrance, Orillia, Coldwater). If I drew a 2 hour circle around me I think it would contain at least 150 breweries that are open, or opening. Kitchener was like that it seemed a new brewery was opening in the area almost every year. and with new breweries in the greater Southwestern Ontario area opening up like Hanover, Seaforth (SEAFORTH!!!! it's a bend in the road I swear, I've driven through it!), Kincardine, Guelph, and London, it now just seems to be the norm. Craft beer has taken over Ontario. I couldn't be happier!

Neither could Robin and Lee it seems. Their brewery has been well received and is garnering accolades across the province. "Harbinger" means herald, or omen. it is generally used to foretell the coming of a person or event that will be significant. A bold choice for a name of a beer; will it live up to its name? Aside from nomenclature, Harbinger is one of their three core beers, they call them the "3 Amigos." The other two are "El Buscador Cerveza" Mexican style lager, and "Reynard The Fox Golden Wry Ale" that's a "Rye" ale for those who didn't get the pun... I look forward to checking these other two out and maybe some of the other seasonals they offer. Perhaps it's time to go back to Southwestern Ontario for a visit.

Onto our beer for tonight.

Pours a medium dark gold in colour with a large fluffy off-tan head made up of small bubbles. Nose is bright and fruity with lots of malt and caramel hints of mango and citrus. Earthy, floral and herbal notes round out the aroma. first sip is bitter greens, herbal, hop forward sliding down into some sweet caramel malt. Spice and hints of stone fruit some florals and a hint of marijuana right at the finish. Aeration brings out more green hops with some sweet malts and some bitter greens on the linger.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


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

Final Thoughts:

I am a sucker for a good Pale Ale. Be it India, English, American or New England. They smell great they taste great and they are very refreshing. This one fits the bill nicely. Descendants managed to find a nice balance of fruit, hops, malt and florals to make this beer quite enjoyable any time of the year. I would recommend you run right out and try it. In this cause "Harbinger" means, a foretelling of good flavours.

CJT

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