The lagers were done and second up was fruit beer. Like in the last post I have taken liberties in this category (with #2) but it was a matter of fit it in here or duplicate a raspberry beer.
‘Fruit’ Beers
1. KLB Raspberry Wheat Beer – Toronto, ON – 4.5% abv – can
Though also a wheat beer I think I can get away with this beer in this category without anyone crying ‘foul!’. This light bodied ale smells and tastes of sweet raspberry candy. My personal guess is that they don’t use fresh raspberries, but perhaps a concentrated raspberry syrup instead. Regardless, this beer is quite pleasant and refreshing on a hot afternoon.
2. Great Lakes Green Tea Ale – Toronto, ON – 4.2% abv – bottle
This is the non-fruit offender and is not technically a fruit beer. This beer is light bodied with a very slight bitterness. Flavours detected are biscuity malts, light grassiness, sweet grains as well as very faint hints of green tea. If I were not told this was a green tea ale I would have a hard time naming it as such.
*BREWERY FRESH!
3. Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer – Toronto, ON – 5% abv – can
This beer pours golden-amber and has a significant haze on it. The name correctly identifies the major flavours found in this brew: lemon and tea. Both of which provide a bitterness that allows the hop presence to be slightly diminished without compromising on flavour balance. I contemplated going down to the Mill St brewpub shop to grab this beer as part of my ‘fresh from the brewery’ mantra but I don’t think it was brewed and canned there so it was purchased at the LCBO.
Food pairing: Watermelon, Mint & Feta Cheese salad
Pairing fruit with fruit beer initially seemed sensible but also required something to make it ‘pop’. Since the beers do not have strong, complex flavour profiles feta cheese was a perfect choice. It did not interfere with the flavours of the beer, and on the contrary the inherent salty flavour profile complimented the refreshing tastes of the other ingredients in the salad (watermelon & mint) and also made the beers seem more refreshing in contrast.
My winner: This was also a hard category to choose a winner but for the opposite reason of the lager category: I don’t really care too much for any of them. I will give my vote to the KLB Raspberry Wheat. I didn’t love it but it wasn’t as not good as I thought.
Tasters poll winner: This came as a surprise to me but there was a tie between the KLB Raspberry Wheat and the Mill St Lemon Tea Beer.
Next up: Pale Ales…
Beer With Me 