Across The Nation Swift Currant
Central City Brewers + Distillers

330 mL bottle from the LCBO; one of six brews in their "Across the Nation Collaboration (West)" sampler. Bottled Mar 15 2017 and served well chilled.

Pours a dark reddish-burgundy, deep-hued yet translucent, with one finger of creamy, light beige-tinted head initially situated atop. It lasts for the better part of five minutes, dissipating into a full, frothy collar and bubbly cap; a fine coat of smooth lacing is also produced. Fruit beers can be a tough sell for me, but this one is objectively gorgeous. I'm getting subtle hints of dark chocolate and toasted, caramelized malts on the nose, but with plenty of fruity blackcurrant character to help this brew live up to its name. Suggestions of black cherries, red grape and blackberry, with a faint hint of tartness; very nice.

Dark malt flavours of caramel, toasted grains and hints of chocolate are present, but mostly overshadowed by the marquee ingredient - which imparts notes of dark fruit confiture, as well as a slight overall tartness to the profile. I'm still getting black cherry and blackberry mixed in with the currant, with maybe a bit of raisin and cherry pit in there, too. Finishes tart and fruity, but dries out thereafter. Light-bodied, with middling carbonation levels that inflict some gentle agitation on the palate; the texture is not exactly crisp, nor is it particularly smooth, but it's easy enough to pour down the hatch.

Final Grade: 3.83, a B+. Swift Currant made for a pretty good quaff - and by fruit beer standards I'd say it's probably a little better than most - though in the interest of transparency, I'll mention that I like blackcurrants, and that they're one of the few fruits (of those sometimes added in the brewing process) that I always seem to enjoy in the finished product. So while I do like this one, its still not perfect - e.g. the malt backbone could stand to be beefed up a bit. I'd happily drink this again, but it's probably not something I'd go out of my way for.

Dark brown with a ruby tinge, some visible carbonation when held to the light, and 2 fingers of beige head.

Smells of beer and berries. Chocolate, cocoa powder, and sour, fruity, berry notes.

Tastes very bready, sour, like a good dark bread with raisins or currents. Sour notes on the end and a hint of cocoa.

Medium body, with moderate, foamy carbonation.

Got in the Across the Nation pack, drinking in Muskoka, March 6th, 2018. My first brew from the Yukon, and I'm loving it.

Appearance: Produced barely a half finger of head that did produce ample lace while it was there, but disappeared before the one quarter mark. The body is a slightly red tinged dark brown that's nearly black. When put up to the light you can just barely see some thin but fast moving carbonation along the sides of the glass.

Smell: Berry taste up front, which I presume are currants with a background note of toasted toffee malt and a hint of tobacco. Warming really helps bring this one out.

Taste: Starts with mild toasted toffee malt with a fruit note which then makes a powerful acidic presence known as currant and blackberry comes forward and nearly drowns out the barest hints of dark chocolate before a toasted burnt malt and coffee touch brings it to a fairly balanced end.

Mouthfeel: A bit low on the carbonation, as points deducted for the lack of head and it's relatively sedate presence. Despite being acidic, it doesn't overwhelm with it's tartness and it does leave a mild berry aftertaste with a hint of mild roasted malt. It's a bit of an odd beast, it transitions well enough, but the fruit seems to almost overwhelm a lot of the beer aspects.

Drinkability: Medium bodied and more on the lighter side which is a pleasant surprise. Low carbonation make it easy to drink but lacking in both crispness and creaminess. Very refreshing and it doesn't wholly abandon it's beer aspects in the face of it's fruitiness.

Final Thoughts: A solid and unique offering, as the darker often bitter aspects are very tightly caged by acidic fruit. It does answer my fruit beer question (that being why not just brew a cider/fruit wine) with the answer of I want dark beer aspects, but I want them reigned in somehow with a unique flavour but not quite overwhelm them entirely. I don't think I'd seek it out again, but I certainly wouldn't turn one down by any means. Thumbs up.

From the lcbo for around $2

 

Pours a reddish dark colour with a beige head. There is some persistent lacing.
Smells of toasted malts and coffee.
Tastes like a stout with some extra acidity from the black currents.
I'm afraid this is a fail for me. I feel the blackcurrants add too much acidity and detracts from the the nicely done mix of malts. Still I'm glad i tried it.

Bottle: Poured a clear black color ale with a large light brown foamy head with light retention. Aroma of light roasted malt with sweet currant notes is OK. Taste is a mix of light roasted malt with sweet currant notes with more residual sugar then I was expecting. Body is light with good carbonation. Not bad but not memorable either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

355ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Part of the Across the Nation collaborations this time featuring Yukon's Yukon Brewery. 1st of 6 in the tasters pack.

Appearance - Clear, but dark ruby in color. Like really spectacular color. Finger and a half of light tan, frothy looking head. Middling to low visible carbonation.

Smell - Dark fruit. Some roasty and grainy notes interspersed. Currants and blackberries as the forefront throughout, making this a fruit beer first and anything else second.

Taste - Some berries and some sweetness initially. Then turns roasty and then ashy for a split second before the currants and especially blackberries pop back up.

Mouthfeel - Smooth and light-medium bodied. A little thin but the thinness helps with these unusual combinations of flavor profiles.

Overall - A pretty damn solid start for this six pack with a fruit beer. The blackberries and currants don't really mesh with a roasty beer with hints of tobacco and ash, yet somehow this works better than I'd thought. A pretty good start and reminds me to see if anything else from the Yukon is available in these parts.