St.-Ambroise Oak Aged Pale Ale

The 25th anniversary of McAuslan Brewery, one of Canada's premier beer businesses, is cause to celebrate. They chose to mark the occasion by releasing St.-Ambroise Oak Aged Pale Ale. This beer hails from Montreal, Quebec. It's sold in 341mL bottles and features a heady 6% alcohol. It's a hazy, ruddy gold brew that pours with a creamy head.

Owing to its oak aging, the beer has an extremely sweet aroma--it's woody, with honey and vanilla notes. That sweetness carries through into the flavour, with bourbon and vanilla character, which is buttressed by some nice roasted malt elements. Not a lot of bitterness here, which is a knock against the stuff, but not a substantial one.

This anniversary ale was enjoyable, though too honeyed and sweet to be a frequent purchase. As with all McAuslan beers I've sampled, this stuff is well made. However, I prefer their darker, more substantial brews. Maybe for their 30th, they'll knock out an extra special imperial stout or something along those lines.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.