Brews News: Pale ales get gussied up for the holidays

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People hear the words “craft beer” and think it’s all about hoppy IPAs. That style, mostly loved and sometimes hated, is non-debatable as a cash cow keeping small breweries afloat. But what of the other pillar, the one you need to know as you aim to please holiday guests.

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That’s the pale ale.

Often a core beer kept on the board for rookie brewery guests, pale ales get gussied up for the holidays.

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Pale ales – think British beer – are usually malty and earthy. But an “American” take on the style has more hops. A Belgian version goes for sweetness.

Whichever version the brewer concocts, it’s a lock that most beer drinkers will find it satisfying and home cooks and restaurateurs will find it pairs with almost any food from pizza to barbecue to roast duck.

It’s no accident the new Port Stanley Brewing, which shares a historic building with a higher-end Italian eatery, chose a pale ale as one of two initial brews.

Whistle Stop, one of the railway-themed brands from Railway City in St. Thomas, leans into hazy and hoppy. Like an IPA, there are notes of citrus. The brewery that brought us Dead Elephant IPA (locals know why this is also a railway brand in St. Thomas’s world) accurately calls Whistle Stop a “junction of flavour and smooth hazy satisfaction.”

St. Thomas’s other brewery, Caps Off, also goes with an American pale ale style with Happy Hansen, so named in honour of the owner of Happy Hour Hopyard near Mount Brydges who supplies the wee downtown brewery with Chinook and Cascade hops.

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Wee breweries also take a land of the brave approach to pale ales. Neustadt Springs always has Aye at the fieldstone brewery and sells it at the LCBO. Aye is a flavourful malt-forward ale brewed the Scottish way for a beautiful deep gold colour and a smooth delight. When Neustadt says it’s a beer on which everyone can agree, they aren’t wrong.

The beauty of a pale ale is how it can be sparked up.

Forked River in London knows this with its brand new Chaiwala. Arriving in time for Christmas, it gets an assist from the Tea Haus, the tea shop located upstairs at Covent Garden Market. Chaiwala takes a base pale ale recipe and blends traditional chai spices and black tea (along with lactose for a creamy mouthfeel). The name Chaiwala means a street vendor of tea in India.

Broken Rail in St. Marys does it a different way. Sleigh My Name, Sleigh My Name is a bright pale ale with an orange citrus and subtle chocolate flavours. It’s a seasonal nod to a smashing orange-chocolate ball.

LCBOs, and sometimes grocery stores, are well-stocked with more straightforward pale ales, including Canuck from Great Lakes in Toronto and Naughty Neighbour from Nickel Brook of Burlington. There’s a nitro pale ale from Muskoka Brewery of Bracebridge called Drifter, brewed with Chinook, Simcoe and Citra hops, each of which are often used in IPAs. If international is your passion, the LCBO has Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, a pale ale from Keighly, England, that’s great for cleansing the palate. It’s sold in 500 ml bottles and as you pour it into a straight-sided shaker glass a lovely creamy white head emerges.

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From the non-alcoholic shelf, Partake has a popular pale ale.

NEW AND NOTED

Anderson Craft Ales in London usually sells its beer-to-go in six-packs of small 355 ml cans. But now, its seasonal juicy IPA – think melon and peach flavours – is in 473 ml tallboy cans.

Black Coal, the famous stout from Railway City, is the latest to get a new label design. It’s the third can wrap the brewery has redesigned this year to better feature the Railway City logo.

A hearty 6.8 per cent alcohol hazelnut espresso porter is an intriguing addition to the Winter Beer League pack from Refined Fool of Sarnia. Christened as Sleddin, it’s made with roasted caramel and coffee malts. Then it rests on coffee beans. Sleddin is also on tap at the brewery.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London. BrewsNewsTravels@gmail.com

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