Maple Butter Tart Ale

Maple Butter Tart Ale? That seems like a gross idea. According to the 473mL can, this flavoured beer was an idea developed by folks from Midland Township in small town Ontario and brewed in Gravenhust by the canny folks at Sawdust City Brewing Co. The can of the 5% ale is pretty awesome, featuring a black and white depiction of some kind of eagle or griffin creature holding a colour hot air balloon bearing a gooey butter tart. The can invites the drinker to "crack open a can of your favourite dessert", and reveals that this odd grog is brewed using butter rum extract, vanilla extract, maple extract, and caramel extract. That's a lot of extract!

It's a lovely looking auburn brew--clear, and crowned with a luxurious, fluffy, off-white head. As I expected, there is a cloyingly sweet nose that does, for all the world, smell convincingly like a butter tart baked with maple syrup. The mouthfeel is quite thin, which doesn't work in this beer's favour. Its taste is, given the potent aroma, surprisingly restrained.  There are sweet, buttery caramel notes, as well as slow-rolling maple elements. A bit light, however, on both malt and hops, with only a tinge of bitterness on the back end.

 

This is a curious beer. It smells both potently delicious and a little bit revolting. Because of the strong smell, I expected comparable flavour, though I found it tasted slightly thin. This beer would likely prove pretty scrumptious poured over vanilla ice cream, but as a standalone brew I found it a bit baffling. Too sweet and too thin makes for an unusual combo. Still, the parties involved with the Butter Tart Ale are to be commended for innovating a truly unique beer. Not my cup of tea, but a genuinely inventive ale. 

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale

Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale is a behemoth at 10.2% alcohol. Plus, apparently it's "soaked in lots and lots of delicious Vermont maple syrup". I'm listening.

I was gifted a 16oz can of the stuff during a trip to North Carolina. It comes from Charlotte, where it's brewed by NoDa Brewing Company. According to the NoDa website, it's a member of their "NoDables" series. It's a hazy orange grog topped with a thin layer of off-white head. There is a sweet and powerfully boozy nose. The beer is thick and very sweet. There isn't a whole lot of overt maple in the flavour, but there is some sticky syrup sugariness. There is a layer of dank, resinous hops that brings some heat.

This beer is wildly strong and very flavourful. It's way too sweet by the end of pint, but tastes pretty decent until that point. My beer was also a bit heavy on sediment.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Picaroons Maple Cream Ale

Picaroons Maple Cream Ale is yet another offering from a brewery near and dear to my heart, the Northampton Brewing Co., out of Fredericton, New Brunswick. It's sold in in 500mL bottles, contains 5% alcohol, and is, according to the label, brewed using pure New Brunswick maple syrup.

This is a lovely looking brown ale--clear and topped with a tan head (Regrettably, I don't seem to have taken a photo). Again, according to the label, the stuff is "conditioned as a lager and brewed as an ale." It has a malty, slightly toasted aroma that features a dollop of pleasing maple sweetness. In truth, it's a somewhat thin bodied ale. It is malt driven, but mild. It's creamy mouthfeel is smooth and easy-sipping. Maple notes are present, but not dominant. This brew is a bit watery on the bitter side of the equation--there could be a bit more hop emphasis, though the creaminess is nice. It alo has a slightly toasty quality.

Not a bad maple offering. It isn't overly sweet, but I'd like a bit more ale body.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale

Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale is sold in 341mL bottles and contains 5% alcohol. It hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, where it is built by Granville Island Brewing. It's a very attractive brown coloured ale--it actually bears a slight resemblance to quality maple syrup--and it's topped with an off-white head that thins rapidly. There is very little carbonation.

Kitsilano has a mild aroma that is sweet and features some toasty malts. According to the label, this stuff is brewed using real maple sugar.  I was worried that it would be cloyingly sweet--it is sweet, but in a restrained, understated way. The flavour starts off malty, with some faint maple sweetness. The back end is toasty, with a slight bitter crunch.

This is not a bad brew, but I'd like a bit more body--I found it to be a bit too thin. This could possibly be fixed by upping the carbonation a bit. I really dig the toasty finish though.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.