Across The Nation Bouclier Canadien
Central City Brewers + Distillers

Color is a nice bright yellow, looks mostly clear and pours with a good finger of frothy white head that has a decent retention to it and leave good amounts of slightly runny lacing.

Aroma is a slightly lemony citrus with a faintly peppery lager yeast on the back-end. Light citrus flavor forward lemon peels and some bitter grapefruit juice and very faint notes of honey.

Surprisingly bold malt flavor with a round mouth-feel to it, fuller bodied then most Pils, nice grainy malt flavor with a good amount of sweetness and a faintly earthy spice with a ghostly traces of sulfur, Light bodied with a higher then average carbonation to it.

Back-end is also more hoppy then most Pils as well, mildly bitter with a very herbal and slightly medicinal hop flavor, notes of rosemary, nettles and dried basil and maybe a ghostly hint of burnt bitter coffee, finish is dryish with a semi-spicy lager-like yeast flavor with faint notes of black pepper and turmeric, ghostly hints of creamy clover honey on the aftertaste with a dry lightly bitter lingering herbal flavor.

Straw with champagne bubbles, topped with a finger of white head.

Smells of malts, fresh grain, and slightly fruity.

The taste follows the nose and is slightly sweet, resembling a German or Czech pilsner.

Light body, lots of spicy carbonation.

Drinking by Lake Muskoka, March 11th, 2018. Decent Pils.

 

Appearance: Has a brassy yellow body that showcases steady carbonation. Produced two fingers of head that produced some lace but retained exceptionally well.

Smell: Has a bit of an odd acidic funk to it, there is certainly a flowery and earthy hop presence, but that acid note certainly the dominant scent. Warming doesn't really help it's case either way.

Taste: Grainy malt that gives way to a lemon snap and ends with a crisp dusting of flowery and earthy hops. The lemon note is probably that acidic note I noticed on the nose, but it doesn't get out of control here.

Mouthfeel: Not much in the way of aftertaste, and while not exactly crisp does come across as very clean. Carbonation is a bit odd as it seems to start a bit flat and only makes it's presence known near the end.

Drinkability: Refreshing and easy enough to drink, pushing the limits of light body which is good. Settles down decently.

Final Thoughts: Certainly better then a run of the mill, and while there's not much that's overly exciting here, it's a perfectly serviceable pilsner that I wouldn't turn down. I'd try to reign in that funk on the nose though.

From the LCBO for around $2

This #5 out of the across the nation mix pack
A lovely pale yellow lager with a white head and some fine lacing.
This Pilsner style lager has some nicely understated malty sweetness accompanied by some medium potency hops.
The carbonation is excellent and the mouthfeel is good also. However I find this mixed brew to be a bit underwhelming considering Trou du Diable's reputation. A sort of over hopped Pilsner.

 

 

Bottle 3 of the eastern Canada Central City collab. This rendition is with Le Trou de Diable from Quebec. Excited to see what these two nationally renowned breweres could come up with. 330 ml bottle served cold in a chalice.

Appearance - A clear but pale golden colored beer is poured and topped with a finger of moderately lingereing white head. Great clarity and not a ton in terms of visible carbonation. Some pretty lacing left behind.

Smell - Clean and grainy with little else to distinguish. A modicum of sweetness sits around on the back end, with some faintly earthy and slightly herbal hops.

Taste - Clean and grassy with some caramel sweetness and a hint of a well hopped earthy taste. Not sweet but leans towards that way is there isn't an overwhelmingly crisp hop presence to much things up. Balanced and very drinkable.

Mouthfeel - Light-ish bodied, middling carbonation and a slight drying finish. Clean and crisp and everything you're looking for with a beer of this style.

Overall - A nicely balanced lager, with some hop presence but lacking the super assertive hops that define (and in some cases wreck) an otherwise outstanding lager. Certainly good and a nice mix in this six, however with the collective brewing power of these two breweries, i could've seen this collaboration being something truly extraordinary.

 

Clear gold with a modest head. Light bready nose. Crisp feel with a significant hop punch at the end. A bit of a hybrid, I'm not sure about it.

 

Pours a clear straw colored body with a finger of pearly white head that forms excellent lacing down the sides of the glass. The nose is fairly bold, with earthy and spicy noble hops coming off with fresh grass clippings and a slightly metallic hint. The palate has a crisp, herbaceous start, with fresh and zesty noble hops playing off the sides and into a well-integrated finish. Quite bitter on the finish, maybe throwing off the balance a bit, but it makes for a very refreshing beer ll the same. One of the better beers from the pack. Long Live Lager!

 

 

330 mL bottle from the LCBO; one of six included in their "Across the Nation Collaboration (East)" mixed pack. Bottled Mar 21 2017 and served slightly chilled.

Pours clear, light golden-yellow hue, capped off with nearly an inch of frothy white head. Its existence is fleeting as it dissipaties swiftly over the next couple of minutes - though it at least has the courtesy to imprint a messy ring of foamy lace, as well as leaving behind a respectable, persistent collar. Coarse cereal graininess can be detected in the nose, with a fruity undercurrent of apricot, pineapple, lemon peel and subtle grassy hops.

Good stuff; straightforward compared to some of the brews borne of this collaboration, but still an undoubtedly solid lager. The backbone consists only of clean, grainy pale barley malt sweetness, with the hops dictating the remainder of the profile. They come off with more of a grassy, floral bitterness than they did in the aroma, which is more in line with a traditional pilsener - yet there are still subtle suggestions of the apricot, citrus and tropical fruit flavours that were teased on the nose underneath. The aftertaste has some lingering bitterness, but I was genuinely surprised to read that this weighs in at 40 IBUs. Light body, with middling carbonation levels that soften quickly, making this a very smooth-drinking lager. Excellent sessionability; plowing through a six-pack of these bottles on a Saturday night would not even qualify as a challenge.

Final Grade: 3.93, a B+. Bouclier Canadien might not be an objectively exciting beer, but I think it's still a very well made pale lager that I'd be interested in drinking again. The fruity hops liven things up a bit, and the base pilsener itself is constructed as well as most of the German-sourced stuff we get around here. I can't say I've had all that many TdD beers, but the few that I've tried have all been great. This one's no exception. So far this is my favourite in the "East" six, but there's still three more to go.

 

Bottle: Poured a bright golden color pilsner with a medium pure white foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of sweet cereal notes with subtle buttery notes is enjoyable. Taste is a mix of clean cereal notes with some residuals sugar. Body si full for style with medium carbonation. Not bad but better than most beers from this series.