Big Hole Headstrong Pale Ale

Brewed by Madison River Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Belgrade, Montana USA

On tap at the Alex P Keaton in London, Ontario. Head is thin, beige colour, and had a decent life. Some nice lacing present. Aromas are oranges, slight pine, lots of hops and some caramel malts. Taste is hoppy bitterness, orangey, and sweet malts. Very nice! Finish is very smooth and this has become my new session beer!

650ml brown bottle. Wellington County version. Poured copper-orange, with a lasting pillowy white head. Great aromas of floral/iorangy hops, light caramel. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Flavour of toasted malts, more orangy hops through the middle, ends with light bitterness.

Contract brewed by Wellington Brewery, Guelph, Ontario. Nice, deep amber colour is perfect for the enigmatically named pale ale style. Fairly good head retention. Behind the classic layers of grain and hops are some sweet notes such as dark-berry fruit jelly and a hint of chocolate. Good, rich, chocolatey start leads to a milkshake-like middle and a firm, dry, bitter finish. Great length. A very satisfying pale ale.

New brew, on tap, cafe volo. I am really impressed with this one it’s a nice clean drink with no odor and a subtle and soft caramel taste. It’s hard to tell what the characteristics of this one are after having the bigfoot, but it’s clean and as far as pale ales go, this is a definite must have.

Tried this at its Canadian Launch at the Bow, but held off rating because I felt it wasn’t served properly. Glad I did. The 650ml bottle version was much better. Dark orange pour, light fizzy white head. Cascades dominate aroma (non-existent in launch draft form). Mouthfeel was light to medium with a good amount of carbonation. Taste was pleasantly bitter - my palate is no longer blown away by bitterness, but I can see how some might find this above average in terms of bitterness (again, at the launch, this was hardly bitter at all). Decent malt balance, maybe just a little lacking in anything else going on. Only deterrent was a strong bottle metallic taste that thankfully faded. This was a really nice Pale Ale, one I would say that has more in common with the American interpretation than the English, but a good beer regardless.

Pours an amber colour with a medium head. Bottled Canadian version. Aroma of sweet roasted malt and hops. Medium body. Big roasted malt taste with a good hop bitterness. Bittersweet caramel aftertaste.

650 ml bomber from the Canadian contract brewer, Wellington. Label had date of bottling as March 05...no best before info so I don’t know if this is pasturized or not..probably sterile filtered as it poured a clear lovely copper-orange with an ample rocky tan cap. Good lacing. Moderate carbonation. Nose is filled with toasty sweet smells and light grassy aromas. Medium bodied, big, chewy, toasty sweet malts ( Maris Otter?) are kept in check by a very persistant hopping which goes to a pleasant bittering in the finish with a touch of warming from the alcohol. A very well crafted APA...I think this is the tastiest ale that Wellington has ever made...hope they keep the contract.

Draught. Wellington County version. copper-orange hue. small white head. hoppy aroma, some grainy maltiness is also evident. pretty solid hop structure. a pretty good quaff.