Canny Man

Radical Road Brewery is a newish craft brew producer out of Toronto, Ontario. Their Canny Man is the first of their beers that I've had the privilege to sample. It's "a wee heavy matured in scotch whisky barrels", according to the label. Additionally, it is apparently matured for 71 days. Canny Man comes in a great looking opaque black 750mL bottle that, for some inexplicable reason, comes wrapped in a silly looking tissue paper wrapper and adorned with coasters. This beer is wildly overpackaged. It contains a wallop of booze, at 9.1%.

Canny Man is a hazy brown ale that pours beneath a veritable mountain of tan head. The aroma screams of scotch--it tastes peaty and wood-smoked, over top of a malty bod. A formidable wee heavy, this stuff has many layers. It is, at times, malty, sweet, smokey, warm, peaty, and boozy. Sweet and malty hang around the foreground, while boozy and smokey lurk in the shadows near the finish.

This is a dynamic and enticing fortified brew out of an interesting new local (to me at least) brewery. I have only two complaints. One, a bit more bitterness would take this beer to the next level. And two, lose the tissue paper. It's wasteful and looks foolish.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.