Rhuby Cove Cream Ale

According to the copy on the 473mL can, Rhuby Cove Cream Ale was originally developed by Mill Street Brewery’s St. John’s, NL outlet. This version, brewed by Mill Street in Toronto, is made with rhubarb purée and strawberry purée. The flavoured beer has a hazy, dull orange-gold colour and it pours with a modest layer of eggshell head.

Rhuby Cove has an aroma that is straight up strawberry rhubarb pie—sweet and slightly tart, with lots of fruit. The flavour, too, has lots of nods to that pastry delight; however, there is an underlying ale element that doesn’t totally land. The mouthfeel is a bit thin.

The combo of fruit purée and nondescript cream ale isn’t bad, but a pale ale with a bit more crisp crackle or else some saison funk would’ve made me a happier lad. Still, the beer is interesting and more than just a novelty. Rhubarb is a flavour that I believe is well suited to beer. This particular effort isn’t my favorite as an integer; however, it truly nailed that strawberry rhubarb pie aroma (a personal fave), and that’s worth a lot to me.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.