John Labatt Classic

Brewed by Labatt Breweries (InBev)
Style: Pale Lager
London, Canada

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

This is an average beer, certainly not a classic. No longer as heavily marketed as it was in the early 90s, but then again, in Canada, it seems only Molson Canadian is marketed to any real extent any more....no more ’Me and the Boys and our 50, me and the boys and our beer’. Anyway, I had this beer in a near frozen state. The beer is a translucent pale gold colour which looks great in a glass. There was very little aroma, but what aroma there was was slightly malty and pleasant. The mouthfeel was crisp with mild carbonation and the taste was mellow, but not watery in the least. Never really figured out why it was called ’classic’ - but it certainly isn’t as bad as Blue.

UPDATED: OCT 22, 2008 Hooked one from a friend’s case at Xmas just got round to reviewing it. This shows as a golden lager with a 2 finger rocky cap. We have a labat beer that actually laces the glass!! Really all malt beer ! Aroma is mainline: grainy, some caramel some light willamette hops. Meduim bodied, smooth mouth feel. Fair malt spine. Flavor is malty with light balance from the hops some unripened fruit tomes ( apple/pear) clean wet finish with a bready aftertaste.....right down the middle an inoffensive medium bodied all malt golden lager...see Labatt we knew you could do it!

A pale yellow lager that was surprisingly good for a big brewery beer. A subtle fruit/hop mixture was quite pleasent to taste and smell. It’s too bad Labatt din’t try to push this beer to masses a bit more.

Thanks Dad! Pours deep gold with not much head to speak of. Probably because my dad gave it to me after it sat in his fridge for over a year. Aroma is mostly of mild hops with some malt and soft fruity aromas. Taste is flat watery veggies, with lots of malt sweetness still, and a dash of hops, that leaves a bitter aftertaste. It’s still better than Blue, and it’s been sitting for a while. Thanks again Dad!

Had been buying this beer for over 20 years. I am trying to find out why it was retired?

C’était mieux que la Bleue, elle goûtait quelque chose et ce n’était pas mauvais. Légé saver de malt, pas amère.

A nice change from typical Labatts. A very tasy beer. A mild not overbearing beer which is very enjoyable.

Bottle shared with GregClow and HogTownHarry at Ciro’s. Pours a clear gold with a small white head. Nice bubbles and spare lacing. First thing you notice in the aroma is no skunkyness(!) -- the aroma is of light hops, grain, caramel malt...wait did I say hops? Hops in a Labatt product? WOW! The flavour also suprises, there’s nothing wrong with it! I tasted sweet malt with a light hop finish. It’s very mild but it’s still tasty. A hell of a suprise coming from Labatt but what isn’t a surprise, unfortunately, is it being retired. We can’t have a good Labatt product on the market can we?