APRICOT ALE ~ BLACK CREEK BREWING

5% from Oakville/Toronto, Ontario

Black Creek’s Apricot Ale is brewed by Trafalgar under contract. Sampled from a 500 ml bottle the beer poured a slightly hazy rust-coppery orange hue with a small off-white creamy head that leaves some adequate lacing. The nose is very aromatic with a ton of apricot up front and fruit, sweetness and a touch of caramel malt in the background. The taste has lots of apricot as well - though not as much as the nose would suggest. Mid sip malts make an appearance, followed shortly by an earth-floral hop bitterness giving it a pleasant balance. The carbonation is on the soft side, the body is medium and the finish is dry. Overall a pleasant quaff.

RIFLEMAN’S RATION ~ BLACK CREEK BREWERY

Rifleman’s ration is advertised as a Historic Beer of Canada made by Black Creek Brewery. The beer was originally brewed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. The beer is loosely based on a British Brown Ale that each soldier would have had daily ration for, an is brewed with local grains. The commercially available beer is not actually made at Black Creek (a pioneer village in North Toronto) but on contract with Trafalgar Ales and Meads. Sampled from a bottle, the beer poured clear reddish brown amber with a beige coloured head, that settled quickly into a ring around the glass, leaving nice lacing. The nose contained lots of roasted and toasted malts, caramel, mild leafy bitterness, maple sweetness, a hint of fruit, nuttiness, and a touch of smoke. The flavour follows as would be expected: malty, smoky, toasty, maple and brown sugar sweetness, nuts, hint of fruit and biscuits. The finish is slightly bitter with a grass English style hops. The carbonation is quite soft and still, the mouthfeel is smooth and the body is on the thin side. I think this would be very good on cask, with the warmer pour and the low carbonation. This is a quite drinkable, simple Brown Ale.

5% from Toronto, Ontario