Tasti

Watching the 2021/22 AFC Championship on a chilly Sunday afternoon (this seemingly endless backlog is wild! It's week 4 of the 2022 season as I post this!), I wanted something crisp and low-octane, so I opted for a 355mL can of Tasti, a kölsch-style beer from Toronto’s Eastbound Brewing Co. Tasti clocks in at just 4.5%. It’s a straw gold brew with a layer of white suds.

Tasti has a floral aroma with cracker and toast elements and just a hint of grain sweetness. The flavour is understated, but agreeable, with lots of grain, some sweetness, and a quick, dry finish.

Nice, refreshing, and light brewski.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Sunny Afternoon Lagered Ale

Granite Brewery’s FVX Series comes Sunny Afternoon Lagered Ale. The 4.7%, 27 IBU kölsch-style beer comes in 473mL cans and also from Toronto, Ontario. It’s a clear golden brew with a sudsy white crown.

Sunny Afternoon features honey and malt aromatics. It has a sweet flavour, characterized by honey and clover notes, and a short, dry finish.

This is a fairly charming little lagered ale. A bit too sweet, perhaps, but a refreshing brew. A great warm weather tipple.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Clean Cut Inspired by Kölsch

Clean Cut Inspired by Kölsch is, as you’d imagine, a Kölsch-style ale from Ottawa, Ontario’s Beyond the Pale Brewing. A 5% alcohol brew, CC comes in 473mL red, white, and blue cans. The beer inside is a cloudy straw gold number with a thin nimbus of white head.

The beer has a pleasantly crisp straw nose, backed with a gust of bitterness. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, but the flavour has grain and hay freshness. For finish, there is a slightly dry hops vibe.

I’d have expected this beer to be a bit clearer. It tastes fresh and fun, but not all that memorable.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Ol’ Woody Alt

Named in honour of the old wooden motor boats that once dominated cottage country, Ol’ Woody Alt is a 5% alcohol, 35 IBU altbier brewed in Gravenhurst, Ontario—billed as a “lagered ale” in its copy. Produced by the Sawdust City Brewing Co., Ol’ Woody is sold in 473mL cans that have a decidedly coffin-looking image that is apparently a boat.

The beer itself is a very handsome clear auburn potion with an ivory head. It has a nutty, bready, and malt-driven scent, and a flavour to match. Ol’ Woody tastes pretty well-balanced, with some graininess, well roasted malt, and a slight note of mown lawn.

I’m not going to go out on a limb and call it memorable, but it is clearly cleverly brewed by people that care about their ales. When Sawdust City speaks, the Stout Man listens and, even when I’m not blown away, I have seldom been disappointed.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

1857 Kölsch-Style Lagered Ale

The latest in a spate of Ontario-born kölsch-style ales, 1857 Kölsch-Style Lagered Ale comes from Waterloo, where it’s nourished into existence by Abe Erb Brewing Company. A 4.8% alcohol potion, 1857 is a golden ale with a faint touch of haze and a bright white head. It comes in 473mL cans.

The scent is a somewhat pedestrian grain and malt combo, but the flavour has some life and a pretty respectable bitter kick as it closes out.

Pretty crisp and hoppily pleasant, I thought 1857 was a pretty decent take on the classic style from Cologne. A bit more booze would’ve been a welcome plus, but the flavour worked and the freshness quotient was solid. Not a beer I’ll seek out, but one I’ll doubtless buy again.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Brown Van Kölsch-Style Ale

Brown Van Brewing's Kölsch, or more appropriately their Kölsch-Style Ale is a 4.8%, 23 IBU number from Ottawa, Ontario. It's a crystal clear straw gold ale hat pours with a slim cover of white head.

This kölsch-style brew has the slightly sweet aroma of toasty grain. The flavour profile meanders from sweet and grainy opening notes toward the finish line: a short, dry, and unexpectedly bitter back end.

Because of the sweet to bitter progression and the curtness of the finish, this beer manages to have exemplary crispness without sacrificing much flavour. While perhaps not as style-typical as some of the classics from Cologne, I find Brown Van's version of the tricky little brew to be a novel and noteworthy take. A bit more booze would be nice, but with its current strength, clarity, and brightness, this is the kind of craft beer that might turn heads among the macro lager crowd.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Brown Van Kölsch

Brown Van Brewing's Kölsch, or more appropriately their Kölsch-Style Ale is a 4.8%, 23 IBU number from Ottawa, Ontario. It's a crystal clear straw gold ale hat pours with a slim cover of white head.

This kölsch-style brew has the slightly sweet aroma of toasty grain. The flavour profile meanders from sweet and grainy opening notes toward the finish line: a short, dry, and unexpectedly bitter back end.

 

Because of the sweet to bitter progression and the curtness of the finish, this beer manages to have exemplary crispness without sacrificing much flavour. While perhaps not as style-typical as some of the classics from Cologne, I find Brown Van's version of the tricky little brew to be a novel and noteworthy take. A bit more booze would be nice, but with its current strength, clarity, and brightness, this is the kind of craft beer that might turn heads among the macro lager crowd.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Haters Gonna Hate

A totally new style to me, Haters Gonna Hate is an Imperial Kölsch. At 8% alcohol and 40 IBUs, this lagered ale from Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. has some fiendish heft. According to the label (which features a hipster cat walking a tiny dog), this beer is an extra strong rendition of the Vankleek Hill, Ontario outfit's popular Lug Tread Lagered Ale. Sold in 600mL bottles, this murky orange grog pours with a fluffy white cloud cover.

Haters Gonna Hate is No. 46 in Beau's Wild Oats Series. It has a tremendously engaging nose--one that is thick and sticky with tropical fruit, but also boisterously boozy. The taste walks the same walk, particularly with the recurrence of big fruit notes in the early going. However, ye olde back end of this beer is what surprised and delighted me most. The finish is certainly strong and boozy, but there is also some really interesting, resinous hops that lend an almost IPA feel to this weirdo take on the Kölsch.

In truth, I'm not totally sure what gives this beer its Kölsch-style pedigree, as it tastes nothing like any Kölsch I've ever downed, but it is a flavourful, assertive, and downright fun ale. Add to that the large format and the silly label, and you've got a real winner. Well done, Beau's.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Absent Landlord Country Kolsch

The copy on the side of the 473mL cans that house Absent Landlord Country Kolsch taught me that in 1855, a gent named Henry Blyth bought the entirety of the town of Drummond, Ontario, rechristened it Blyth, and never even visited the damn place. From this anecdote, Absent Landlord gets its name. A Kölsch-style ale from Blyth, Ontario's Cowbell Brewing Co., Absent Landlord features 5.3% alcohol and 18 IBUs. Hazy and orange-gold, it decants with a nicely sudsy off-white head.

Absent Landlord has a sweet and fruity scent that is closely replicated in the flavour. There is something almost wheat-like in the taste, with vague banana notes nestled in with lightly toasted malt. Out back, there are sufficient hops to offer a sense of closure, but little more than that.

While not quite what I expected, Absent Landlord offers a refreshing (literally) take on the Kölsch style. No idea what makes it a "Country Kolsch" other than the fact that Blyth is a rural community. Perhaps it's an attempt to thwart the sticklers in Cologne who insist that a Kölsch must come from their fair city, or perhaps it's because there is a bit of a witbier element. Whatever the case, Cowbell has created an interesting little ale here. I'd buy it again, though I'd be more likely to do so in a timely manner if this beer was a tad less sweet and had fewer banana esters.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Track 85 Lagered Ale

Track 85 Lagered Ale is inspired by Canada's railroads and comes from Toronto, Ontario. This kölsch-style ale is a product of Old Tomorrow Ltd., and features the likeness of our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald on the 473mL cans. At just 4.5%, this brew wades into light beer status.

Clear and aburn-hued, Track 85 pours with a nice eggshell head, but little carbonation. It has a sweet, malty nose, with lots of grain elements. The flavour is similarly oriented, with a sweet, grainy freshness up front. There is very little in the way of bitterness, just a touch at the end, and the finish remains malty and sweet with a glimmer of toastiness.

 

This lagered ale checks many, but not all, of my boxes for the style. It's too sweet, insufficiently strong, and lacks hops pops. However, on the positive side of the ledger, it's extremely sessionable, with an interesting flavour, and an agreeably toasty finish. I'd definitely buy Track 85 again, but I wouldn't call it a tremendous example of the style.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Golden Vox

A collaborative beer brewed by the beer geniuses of Van Kleek Hill, Ontario, and Canadian hip-hop stud K-OS? Yes. I'll buy that.

Golden Vox is billed as a rye pale lagered ale. It charges the gate at 6% alcohol, 46 IBUs, and pours a beautifully clear golden colour. The 600mL bottle that houses this elixir features a rad, leather-clad, sunglass-sporting fox on the label. The suds pour with a thinnish white head. There is a substantial toasted grain nose that comes with a modicum of bitterness. To my unschooled but evolving palate, there is a grainy, Kölsch-style flavour built alongside a tiny burst of rye warmth. The beer finishes cleanly, with a soupçon of bitterness that agreeably seals the deal.

Golden Vox has only a marginal dose of rye zeal, which let me down a trifle, but this calm and patient offering from Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. offered a nice flavour and an agreeable mouthfeel. Not all that dissimilar from Beau's legendary Lug Tread, Golden Vox adds a faint glimmering of rye charge to the equation to differentiate itself from Beau's stable brew (in truth, they were so similar I worry I couldn't

Tell them apart). There is a slight tinge of wood-aged sweetness that adds a touch of depth to the ale, which provides a bit of oomph.

Fans of Beau's excellent Lug Tread should be particularly intrigued by this oat soda, though I predict widespread satisfaction. It's only slightly richer and subtly different, but worth sampling. As with the vast majority of the Beau's brews I've sampled, Golden Vox is well crafted and pleasant. I'd have liked a bit more variation, but this ale is certainly worth sampling.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Revivale

Lost Craft Revivale is a Kölsch-style ale, though there is no mention of that particular appellation on the Spartan 473mL can. Rather, the copy on the can refers to its contents as a "premium lagered ale" and as being "inspired by a specialty beer style from Cologne". The brew in question comes from Toronto, Ontario's Lost Craft Brewing Co. It's a cheery pale golden ale, clear, and thickly covered with a frothy layer of loose white head.

Revivale exhibits a fresh, pastoral nose, packing a fair few malt notes and a nice, faintly sweet grain profile. Its mouthfeel is creamy and agreeable, built around a mild flavour. Major tasting notes involve cereal grains, roasted malt, and sweet grass, in advance of a gently bitter finish.

Lost Craft's effort with Revivale is quite similar to another Ontarian lagered ale, Beau's Lug Tread, though it has a little bit less panache. That said, it is a nicely constructed and thoroughly enjoyable beer reminiscent of Cologne's finest. The first beer I've seen in Toronto's beer-selling establishments, I think it's a commendable first effort.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Lug Tread Lagered Ale

Beau's All Natural Brewing Company of Vankleek, Ontario produces a beautiful little brew called Lug Tread.  According to the Beau's website, Lug Tread is a lagered ale because it is top fermented and then cold-aged.  Pretty cool.

Lug Tread contains 5.2% alcohol, comes in snazzy 600mL bottles and is sold in 4 packs.  The packaging is truly exceptional.  It looks stylish and is environmentally sound.  Each bottle is individually stamped with a packaged on date and a batch number.

L.T. looks like a pale lager, but about a half a shade darker.  It has a white head and average lace.  The scent is sweet and malty, with a toasty sort of vibe.  The taste is much bigger than a conventional pale lager, but lighter than an average ale. It's sweet with a hint of smoke.  Something about this brew reminds me of toasted marshmallows.  Also, there is a touch of fruit, possibly plum.  The aftertaste remains sweet, but balanced against a welcome shot of bitterness.

This is a great beer, in what, as far as I can tell, is a unique style.  The flavour is smooth but offers a lot to contemplate.  Definitely get it.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.