Muskoka Harvest Ale

During an anniversary trip to Ontario's beautiful Muskoka region, the Bitter Wife and I dropped into the Muskoka Brewery in Bracebridge, where I bought a handful of brews and a lovely IPA glass. One of the brews I picked up was Muskoka's Harvest Ale; a 6.7% alcohol effort with a hazy golden tint and a fog of white head. According to the 473mL can, the beer is dry-hopped, though the hop is not identified.

Harvest Ale has a grassy, grainy, and malt-focused aroma. The taste is malty up front, with a hefty and dank hops finish that provides for a nicely rounded brew.

Strong and flavourful, I found Muskoka's Harvest Ale to be an agreeable can o' suds. Harvest ales are an amorphous bunch with few definitive characteristics--a group of beers that I have often found disappointing--but I found this iteration to be a pretty compelling one. With sticky hops and grainy body, this beer had a lot of positive attributes that left me both pleased and buzzed.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Autumn Hop Harvest Ale

Autumn Hop Harvest Ale is a fall seasonal from Toronto's Amsterdam Brewery. According to its 473mL can, this 5.6% alcohol ale is wet hopped using fresh Ontario hops sourced from Clear Valley Hops to reach its 46 IBUs.

The beer proved to be a hazy gold grog and it poured under a lush cloud of loose white foam. Upon cracking the can, I was greeted with a snootful of grassy and hoppy aromas. The ale tasted fresh and fine, with balanced bitterness in the form of mild evergreen notes. Sadly, the flavour was delivered via a thin mouthfeel, though things picked up a bit into the final stanza, with a bit more hoppiness.

Autumn Hop Harvest Ale had many fine elements, but its watery consistency left me a bit underwhelmed. It didn't have the pale ale crackle I was hoping for, but it was still quite refreshing.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.