Townsite Brewing Inc. / 4 Pines Brewing Company / Tool Shed Brewing Soulless Cedar Spice / Herb / Vegetable at 5.8% ABV (C$10.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 1-Jul-2016, reviewed 5-Jul-2016)
Appearance: clear red-tinged pale amber, one fat finger of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and lacing. (5/5) Aroma: cedar, lemon zest, floral, caramel, earth. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild peppery spice. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, spicy finish. (3/5)
The bottle calls this a “red belgian ale” (yes, capitalized like that). Now, to the best of my knowledge, “Belgian red” typically means “Flanders red”, which means “sour”. This ain’t that. I’m not aware of any other interpretations, so I’m left a bit rudderless here in terms of reviewing this… thing. I wouldn’t know lemon myrtle or pepper berry if they bit me, but Spanish cedar? Yeah, it smells and tastes like Spanish cedar. I guess I should be thankful that there’s no big pissy Citra or Simcoe in there to really round out the “drinking a hamster cage” vibe? Pretty beer, though – but I always was a sucker for a ginger, soulless though they may be. I guess it’s not a bad example of… whatever the hell it is – though the cedar really gets a bit aggressive after a while. (12/20)
6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
