Brewery: Amsterdam Brewery
Origin: Toronto ON Canada
Style: Lager
Abv: 5.0%
Size: 568ml
Marketing: This beer really put the "tall" in "tall boy." It was 568ml in volume, which is quite large for a can of beer in Ontario and very rare to see in the store. To put it in perspective the average tall boy can is 473ml, making this one 20% larger than average. As you can see from the side by side comparison this one dwarfs a standard beer.
The can was a brushed brass color that happened to be the same shade of yellow as the beer inside it. It had simple words in white lettering and no real imagery in its design. The can was a little boring in the marketing department but thats okay.
Color: Pale yellow, brassy color with a thin layer of loosly packed bubbles. Crystal clear liquid as most lagers tend to be.
Nose: I found this beer to be very fragrant and fresh smelling with strong grassy hay notes.
Taste: Fresh tasting, a little malty for a lager, mildly sweet upfront moving to a nice bitter finish. Very pleasant all around in the flavor department and very refreshing tasting.
Texture: Pleasantly soft bubbles in its carbonation. Thin, almost watery mouthfeel. Light bodied. Good on a hot day.
Impression: I found this to be an excellent beer overall. It had a lot of taste for a lager and was very fresh and thirst quenching. This was a great summer beer for me. I actually visited the Amsterdam Brewery in Toronto, probably over 15 years ago now, when I was living in the city while attending college. It was a small microbrewery then with a nice selection of small batch beers. I imagine that it's probably grown quite a bit since then but it's nice to see that they are still producing some good beers.
Brewery: The Exchange Brewery
Origin: Niagara on the Lake, ON Canada
Style: English Ale
Abv: 3.0%
IBU: 40
Marketing: A vibrant red with white and regal looking, navy blue lettering. Simple design but with a lot of appeal. Some additional info on the back pertaining to the hops used (Fuggle and East Kent Golding).
Color: This beer poured a strange color, like a muted light brown with a bit of yellow in it. It reminded me of the color of a very weak tea. The color was a bit off putting to me actually. The liquid was slightly hazy, likely not filtered, and listed as unpasteurized on the can. Almost no head on this one, reminiscent of sparking water - quick to dissipate.
Nose: Surprisingly malty sweet aroma with an almost fruity quality about it. Maybe some candied sugar coming through.
Taste: Malty upfront but also very dry tasting kind of like a saison style beer. It had a long lasting, lingering bitterness in the finish. Not balanced, definitely more on the bitter side. The taste is an enigma to me and I can't tell if I liked it or not. It sort of reminded me of the Bohemian style beer I had a long while back that was so different that my mind couldn't quite decide how I felt about it.
Texture: Sharp carbonation over a weighty, silky, mouthfeel. Felt borderline medium bodied, which was unexpected given its color.
Impression: This beer was all around strange to me. It was as if nothing made sense to it. It looked thin but then if felt somewhat heavy in the mouth. It smelled sweet but then tasted dry. It was like the beers look didn't match the taste and smell at all which was sort of confusing. This beer also only had a 3% ABV which is pretty unusual. I didn't realize that until drinking it. The low alcohol percentage makes it a good social beer I think, one to help keep your head and wits about to carry on a conversation with friends. I didn't dislike it but wouldn't say that I liked it either. Overall I wouldn't buy it again.
