Across The Nation Me Ol' Trout
Central City Brewers + Distillers

 

Can: Poured a golden color ale with a nice large white foamy head with OK retention and light lacing. Aroma of light cereal notes is somewhat bland. Taste is a mix of light cereal notes with residual sugar notes and very little else in terms of flavours. Body is about average with good carbonation. Bland golden ale.

 

355 mL can from the LCBO, included in their Across the Nation collaboration (Back East) mixed pack; dated Mar 21 2018 and served slightly chilled. I've really gotta start moving through these packs more quickly.

Pours a clear straw-yellow colour, with an aggressive pour generating roughly one finger of foamy white head that seeps off within the next several minutes. A frothy collar lasts on, circling a thin cap of filmy bubbles - looks a bit pedestrian, with no lace to speak of. A bit of a shock on the nose, as the first thing I noticed was some fruity hop notes of lemon-lime and pineapple - not exactly the first smells I'd expect to find in a cream ale, but I'm not complaining, as they add a pleasant tart note to the aroma. Beyond that, I'm only getting suggestions of crackery wheat and grainy barley malts, with a touch of Granny Smith apple flesh.

A nice little summer quaffer - too bad I waited until autumn to finally open it, but at least it's still drinking fine. Hints of melon and pineapple come through alongside light lemony citrus flavours; these are underlain by a mild, unassuming backdrop of grainy malts, crackery wheat and faint corn sugar sweetness. The profile ties itself up well, with faint hints of citric lemon pith and herbal, weakly floral hops fading into a relatively dry aftertaste. Light in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a bit of spritziness to the mouthfeel, which is otherwise fairly smooth. Tossing this one back was an effortless task.

Final Grade: 3.92, a well-deserved B+. I never expect much from cream ales, which may be why my main reaction to YellowBelly's Me Ol' Trout was 'pleasantly surprised'. The hops provide a lovely fruitiness to the flavour, while not actually imparting all that much bitterness - and the end result is a very quaffable ale. This is actually one of the best cream ales I've had in recent memory, one that I'd place on par with old staples like Muskoka Cream Ale (which I still consider to be one of the better so-called cream ales sold in this region), but fans of ISAs are also likely to appreciate this. I'd drink it again.

 

Collaboration YellowBelly Brewery, canned: Bright dark straw color, slightly active. Light foamy 2 finger head, lasting around 2 minutes, average lacing and swirl reaction. Flavors of wheat, corn, sweet barley, light caramel and grapefruits, wild yeast, and floral hops. Slick and smooth medium body with fluffy crispy carbonation. Light strength finish, mostly grainy and bready, subtle fruits, balanced with dry hops and citrusy yeast. Extra fresh and tender, good attenuation and lots of satisfaction. Perfect summer beer. Cross Cream Ale and Saison. Highly accessible yet the overall quality and balance is really high.

Clear pale gold with a moderate head. A little malt and light citrus on the nose. Light body but quite hoppy for the style. Good crispness.

Can - pours a clear gold with a small white cap.....demure aroma with hints of fruit and floral notes, subdued toasty malt tone. Taste is rather 2 dimensional malty and balanced bittering with pleasant sparkling dryness in the finish where it thins out...definitely a summer quencher

 

 

 

Pours a clear yellow body with only a touch of head, but plenty of effervescent bubbles. The aroma is bold and pungent with herbaceous and spice, and some very light mango and pineapple fruit notes. The palette has much of the same herbaceousness, with fruity hops echoing out. Fairly clean beer with a nice finish. Really good beer!

 

The easternmost contribution to this year's Across the Nation pack is a well made cream ale. Bright yellow, just enough white head to hang around, with a muted biscuit nose. The taste follows the nose - malt with hints of citrus. Nothing extravagant, but definitely nothing wrong with this beer, either. It has a nice solid mouthfeel - I could easily see myself knocking back several of these on a nice day of chasing me ol' trout in the west country.

355ml can, part of the 2018 Across the Nation collaboration pack with 12 different Canadian breweries, one from each province and territory. This one involves Newfoundland's YellowBelly Brewery, and is an East Coast Cream Ale.

This beer pours a clear, bright pale golden straw colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, rocky, and somewhat creamy bone-white head, which leaves some decent spattered lace around the glass as things quickly sink away.

It smells of bready and doughy cereal malt, some indistinct melon fruitiness, a hint of earthy yeast, and some very tame leafy, herbal, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, some apple and still muddled melon fruitiness, sort of estery yeast, and more well-understated earthy, musty, and dead grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its palate-baiting frothiness, the body an adequate medium weight, and mostly smooth, with just a touch of generic bitterness maybe taking a bit off of the top here. It finishes off-dry, the malt and yeast notes holding court.

Overall - this comes across as a basic cable version of the style, with a wee nudge of exotic hops that do little to elevate the experience. Plain, serviceable, and easy enough to drink, if you don't think too hard about it, which I suppose is the point, eh, b'y?