Beaus Lug Tread Lagered Ale

Brewed by Beaus All Natural Brewing Co.
Style: Kölsch
Vankleek Hill, Canada

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

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Draught @ beerbistro: Pours a vibrant yellow with a thin white head; very little lacing or head retention. Aroma is quite faint but seemed to me to be of a slightly off malt, almost like composted vegetables. Not that bad, but there’s a similarity there. Flavour is fine for what is visually a pale ale, and it does offer a lager-like crispness to it. Some complexity in sweet citrus fruits and a plum/peach tone. Not at all bad, but I question how it won the Golden Tap Award.

Draught. Clear yellow with a small white head. The aroma is grainy, toasty malt, and sweet fruitiness. Not a terrible flavour, really. It’s fairly sweet with mild frutiness, grain, and some alcohol warmth. Could have been executed a little bit better though.

UPDATED: APR 16, 2010 Draught sample at the 2007 GTAs. A year after presenting the controversial “Kölsch-Bock" version at the 2006 GTAs, Beau’s returns with the real thing for the first time in Toronto. Has a light gold colour with a small cap of creamy white head. Aroma is quite herbal, reminding me of some of the better Euro-lagers we can get at the LCBO. Body is crisp and light, I could see it being very refreshing on a summer day. Flavour is sweet too start - a bit too sweet, IMO - but the herbal hops come back in the finish, which is a touch too short for my liking. I haven’t tried enough kölsches to say how on-style this is, but it’s a nice enough summer ale.

Draft at the Cottage and a Kitchen, August 25, 2006, with GRM. Golden lager with a thin white head. Sweet fruity aroma with notes of watermelon and light sulfur. In mouth, a rather sweet unbalanced kolsch, with lots of phenolics, nail polish remover, and an oily mouthfeel. A rather cloying offering. I will have to give it another chance when the second batch is available as this is the first batch by these courageous entrepeneurs (just consider what happened to OVBC, Harts, Masters, Abe and Roscoes, Copperhead...in the difficult eastern ON market!...Ottawa is a hard nut to crack!).

Draft at The Cottage & The Kitchen; eye: golden, clear, not much of the white head, light effervescence; nose: malt, sulphide, sweet, light hops; mouth: malt, sulphide note, caramel, unbalanced finale with acridness, average boyd, good carbonation, mildly sweet, lightly bitter; overall: filling as a result of its sweetness FRANÇAIS En fût, bue à The Cottage & The Kitchen; oeil : dorée, claire, peu de mousse blanche, légère effervescence; nez : malt, sulfure, sucré, léger houblon; bouche : malt, notes sulfuriques, caramel, finale non balancée avec une pointe d’âcreté, corps moyen, bonne carbonatation, moyennement sucrée, légèrement amère; en résumé : toquante

UPDATED: OCT 5, 2008 750 ml ceramic bottle courtesy of recent houseguests. Hazy pale golden beer with a thin white head. Aroma is of light pale malt, fairly crisp with a light crackery maltiness. A kiss of herbal/grassy hops and some minerally bitterness. It’s lightly yeasty as well, lending it a certain breadiness. Moderately creamy body with a softly hoppy finish. It’s substantially better than the last time I tried it and actually quite a nice take on the style. If they can sort out the consistency problems, this should be well-received.

UPDATED: MAY 16, 2010 Re-Rate - I’ve grown to enjoy this beer, especially in the warmer weather. A lot of that has to do with the ability of this microbrewer to deliver their product in consistently fresh and unique packaging - so many micro’s cannot do the fresh thing in Ontario. I’ve also matured in my appreciation of lagers I think, and I can really enjoy the subtle hopping in this style. Very refreshing. You still need to have this as fresh as possible to enjoy it, and it will never hit you over the head with tons of flavour, but it is a unique and solid beer and one I do not mind saying I’ve totally come around to. Original 5/3/4/2/9 On tap at The Black Tomato, Ottawa. Medium yellow, small white head. Lots of streaming bubbles. Light hops and light malt in mild aroma. Taste - is again, light malt and lightly hopped with an overriding grain like quality to it. This really reminded me of Robert Simpson Confederation Ale, but with far less flavour. In fact, I was really surprised that this new brewery’s flagship offering was so lifeless - there is nothing to here to make this stand out from the hundreds of other similar beers in Ontario. Sure, tell me about he intricacies of this Kolsch style but I just don’t seem them in this beer. It was served fresh at a great establishment and was refreshing, but that’s all the praise I can come up with. Massively disappointing - we do not need more beer like this in Ontario.

Bu au Black Tomato à Ottawa (20 oz). Comme CapFlu, moi aussi j’ai entendu le nom Bowes, c’est ça qu’il arrive quand on dit un mot en français en anglais, bon la bière. Blonde claire, moyen collet. Arome de malte assé légé. Goût de malte légé et plaisant, faiblement amère.

An unfortunate incident ate my last rating, so I’m going again. I’ve downgraded my rating as the second pint I had was somewhat different than the first. Appearance is gold and crystal clear. The only drawback is that the head is very sparse and disappears quickly. Very little nose at all. However, this is acceptable in the style. Flavour is out of balance with hop bitterness dominating. There are no off flavours that I can tell, but this beer is missing some of the malt character that would balance the beer. The hops are a bit too aggressive IMHO, but you can start to pick out some hop flavour at the back of the palate. Right now, what’s missing in my opinion is mostly just balance. Also, the yeast fruitiness that was apparant in my first pint is no longer there. I found this an enjoyable pint, but it lacks balance and polish.

Verre de 12 oz dégusté à la taverne St-Eugène (St-Eugène, ONT) après une randonnée de vélo dans le coin. Arôme: Rien de particulier comme odeur. Apparence: La couleur est blonde. Présence d’un mince col mousseux avec une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût de soda en bouche. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps et la texture sont mince. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Sensation de chimique en arrière goût. Je suis d’accord avec CapFlu sur le fait que la brasserie devrait rappeller son produit surtout qu’il s’agit de leur premier.(Rating #546)