For this #beersaturday post I'll be reviewing two beers from Oast House Brewers, a small micro brewery located in Niagara on the Lake, in the province of Ontario.
The brew pub and restaurant is housed in an old traditional red barn that was actually built back in the 1800s. It has a tasting room, events hall upstairs and patio outside where patrons can enjoy some food and of course, some beer.
The Niagara region is mostly known for its wine and something a little interesting is that some of the beers that the brewery produces are actually finished in wine barrels. They say that it imparts some additional flavor on the beer, which I wouldn't doubt that it does.
There is a definite country theme to the brewery and it's beers. You can see it in their can design and marketing and you can almost hear a southern accent when you read their website.
Belly on up to the bar and allow our down-to-earth team to roll out some of Niagara’s finest hospitality.
That is the most country sentence that I've read in a long time. I don't know if there is a country accent in Canada but if their is, in reality it would come from the North no doubt.
The brewery has a lot of small batch beers on tap and a lot of them sound pretty good to me. But let's check out the two that I tried, starting with...
The Barn Raiser Country Ale
Brewery: Oast House Brewers
Origin: Niagara on the Lake, ON Canada
Style: Pale Ale (IPA?)
Abv: 5.0%
IBU: 16
Marketing: Red and cream colored can, barn board imagery with a distinct country vibe to the design. There is a blurb on the back that sounds like a good bit of marketing but is ultimately just words.
"The beer embodies the spirit of helping each other out... etc"
This makes me wonder how this beer in particular does that exactly? To their logic, I suppose that any beer served to another person that has helped you, also embodies the barn raiser spirit...
When I started to read the blurb I was thinking that it was going to mention something about a portion of the proceeds going to some cause or something, but nope, nothing like that. Ultimately this is just words. I would categorize the verbage on the back as just some harmless nonsense for marketing. It's meaningless but I don't hold it against them.
Color: The beer poured a golden yellow color with a bubbly foam on top. It looked appealing for sure.
Nose: A very hops forward aroma with both fruity and floral notes coming through. Citrus, grapefruit and orange blossom for me.
Taste: Mildly sweet with a strong bitter finish that lasts and lasts. Definitly hop forward in taste as well, with strong citrus grapfruit flavors. I'm getting some pineapple notes in the background as well.
Texture: Nice carbonation. Nice mouthfeel. Light to medium bodied.
Impression: Very fresh and crisp tasting with lots of nice flavor and aromatics. This beer definitely celebrates the hops used rather than its malt. I don't drink IPAs or pale ales very often so I'm not a good judge of them but if I closed my eyes and took a sip I would have guessed that it was a an IPA. It didn't have the distinct oiliness that I find common in a lot of IPAs though. For me this was an all around very good beer. I would recommend it.
Pitchfork Porter
I drank this beer at a restaurant for my dad's birthday a while back so I don't have quite as much info on it in particular but I did note a few things about it after dinner.
Brewery: Oast Brewing Co
Origin: Niagara Falls, ON Canada
Style: English Ale, Porter
Abv: 5.3%
IBU: 20
Marketing: On theme with the country vibes both in name and imagery. Black and white coloring, a barn and hayloft imagery. I didn't read the back of this one.
Color: It poured very rich dark color but not a lot of head on this one.
Nose: Lots of roasted notes.
Taste: Strong and bold taste with lots of roasted flavors that you would expect from a beer of this style.
Impression: because I drank this one at a restaurant I didn't go too deep in my analysis but overall I really liked the beer. I haven't seen it in the store yet but will definitely buy it again if I do.
I really liked these two beers from Oast House Brewers and would like to try more from them if I can find them at the stores in my area. I'll keep you posted if I do!