Friday, July 10, 2015

Beau's Kissemeyer Nordic Pale Ale

The quest for the perfectly balanced pale ale is a long and winding road.  Different interpretations of the genre can lead to different results.  In my mind the perfect pale ale has a strong and fragrant nose, with a good malt and hop balance and a smooth finish.  I have tried a plethora of different pale ales and each have had their strengths and weaknesses, but Beau's have come up with an intriguing creation that is one of the closest interpretations I have found.

The Kissemeyer series of beers are collaborations between the good folks at Beau's and other brewers.  Nordic Pale Ale is a unique brew that features a variety of different ingredients such as herbs, dried heather, cranberries, and maple syrup.  One would think that all of these ingredients would result in a mess of conflicting flavours, but Beau's have pulled it off.  It pours a proper straw yellow colour, as pale ales should, with a foamy bitter head.  On the nose those herbal notes really come out, complimenting the hops quite nicely.  The sip starts with an herby/malty almost sweet flavour, which is where that maple syrup comes in.   This herby intro progresses into a nice and bitter/hoppy middle.  A lot of pale ales punch you in the face with hops to start and then follow it up with the malt, but Nordic Pale Ale switches it up which makes the beer more palatable to those not used to hoppy beers, a very nice touch.  The finish is not the smooth trail off that most pale ales have, but it's actually a bit sour, but not too sour, which makes it a neat drink.  Overall this one is a true winner, the syrup and herbs make it much more drinkable than a lot of pale ales.  Some purists may be turned off by the extra ingredients, but this is a perfectly balanced beer that is a bit out of the ordinary.

It's available at the LCBO as well as the Beau's brewery in Vankleek Hill, ON.

Alc 5.6% IBU 30

Rating 4.5 Steins

What you need to know

Website:
www.beaus.ca

Brewery address
10 Terry Fox Dr.
Vankleek Hill, ON

Twitter
@beausallnatural

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BeausBrewery?fref=ts