St-Ambroise Oak Aged
McAuslan Brewing

 

 

Dark amber with a hint of haze, and little carbonation. Topped with 2 fingers of off white head.

Smells of malt, a hint of scotch, a hint of oak.

Tastes of sweet malt, oak, a fair toasted quality, and wood.

Slightly syrupy body, light, foamy carbonation.

Got today in Waterloo, drinking it at Kitchener Motel, Oct 19th, 2016. Surprising oak quality which is impressive. Still its quite drinkable. Having it with an Octoberfest Sausage.

 

 

341 ml bottle served at cellar temperature into a Guinness tulip-esque glass. Purchased a 6 pack from the LCBO for $13.70 so cost is about $2.30 CDN for a bottle.

Appearance - Bright copper colored beer, some haziness and capped with close to a finger of ivory head. Some carbonation show sup through the glass and some streaks of lacing left behind.

Smell - Some of the signature Pale Ale aroma, with some light hoppy notes and plenty of caramel, toffee and molasses malt smells. There's also definitely some oak-aged notes and vanilla, making it reminiscent of Innis & Gunn, yet distinctly different.

Taste - Bright hoppy and earthy notes of front with medium bitterness. Signature caramel and faint molasses flavor of the original. Definitely some oak-aged notes imparted here as well and faint traces of vanilla.

Mouthfeel - Smooth and silky, good body and respectable carbonation. Drinks like a big brother of the original.

Overall - Impressive stuff for the anniversary edition, it's hard to say whether it's an improvement or not, given that the base pale ale is very good already, but the added oak-aged touches with vanilla, make for a different yet satisfying quaff of it's own. Certainly worth a try while available.

 

 

Tasty winter warmer variant from St Ambroise. Maintains elements from the pale ale variant while adding the oak barrel component. Not overbearing and definitely worth the try. Bottled from LCBO.

341 mL bottle from a six-pack picked up at the LCBO; no best before date. Served at cellar temperature.

Pours a hazy golden-orange hue, displacing about one finger's worth of frothy, off-white tinged head. It recedes continuously over the next couple of minutes, depositing a few patches of lace as it is reduced to a modest-sized collar. I'm getting butterscotch toffee, woody oak and vanilla on the nose, with mild suggestions of apricot, floral hops and citrus. It's hard to dismiss the Innis & Gunn vibe I'm getting from this one.

The flavour profile follows the nose to a tee. Caramelized sugar, bready, biscuity malts and stone fruit flavours interact pleasantly with the woody oak and vanillin imparted by the ageing treatment. The hops, although not dominant, become a noticeable presence toward the finish - leafy and earthy, with hints of citrus and resin. Lingering oak/vanilla and caramel sweetness in the aftertaste, but it fades rapidly. Good mouthfeel; approaching medium in body, with a soft, almost creamy texture and gentle carbonation that produces a film of tiny, prickly bubbles on the tongue. Easy-drinking; you can tell that this is a strong beer as you sip it, but it's a strong beer that I could drink one after another without issue.

Final Grade: 3.82, a respectable B+. St-Ambroise Oak Aged is a good pale ale that will definitely appeal to the I&G set - but for a 25th anniversary beer, it does seem a little underwhelming, and falls marginally short of the (admittedly high) standards set by most of the other brews in their portfolio. Personally I'd prefer their regular pale ale over this one, but different strokes and such - this is still a very well made oaked beer. It's just not what I'd call a memorable one, or something that I'd return to regularly.

Purchased as a 6pk at the LCBO for just under $13.00. 341ml bottle served at 4deg C in a draught glass

A- Opens well and pours a 1" high white head that lasts for nearly 5mins before film out. Very dark gold colour and filtered clear.

S- Nice malty base with hops. The oak is not really there though.

T- Very malty. Low on the hops. The oak is there but not a lot of it. Not too bad but not great. Definitely could use more hops.

M- Pretty creamy.

O- Not bad but not great. Can take it or leave it but will not buy again.

Food Pairing

This ok brew went ok with...... Meatball poppers. Put a nice dipping sauce on the side

Enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

St-Ambroise Oak Aged from McAuslan Brewing. Bought a 6 packs for 8,99 here in Montreal.

So the look of it: Orange and brown with a finger of white head. Medium carbonations.

The smell of it: Orange roasted, with some malt and a touch of vanilla on the background.

The taste of it: Light, sweet and orange with a touch of vanilla and cherry on the aftertaste. It's smooth but the aftertaste is much better than the taste and the swallow.

So overall would I recommend it? Sure but not for a 6 packs, bought individual because you will get quickly get tired of it

 

 

 

 

Bottle pulled from a mix-six sampler six-pack. Best before date of Dec. 31/2015.

The beer pours beautifully, a hazy almost ruby red, with hints of copper around the edges of the glass, topped by three fingers of firm head that recede to a finger after a few minutes, but leave a lot of lacing.

Smell is buttery vanilla, wood, nice toffee, caramel, roasted malt, a hint of chocolate, caramelized sugars. Bit of a gentle, tropical fruitiness, vague piney, grassiness vying for attention beneath the layers of "oak aging".

Tastes like . . . a swimming pool? Weird, but my first reaction. And yet I don't mean it in a totally negative way (which is weird). You get a bit more of the tropical fruitiness, a bit of a gentle sour-bitterness, some leafy greens. But the malt and the buttery oak are definitely in the lead here, with caramelized sugars, toffee, roasted malt, vanilla bean. Carbonation is on the high side of moderate, body is decent.

I'm torn on this one. The smell really does it for me, but the taste is a bit of a mixed bag, and there's not a tremendous amount of balance here between the malt, the hops, and the oak. I think McAuslin/St. Ambroise is onto something with this beer (it hits aspects of the Innis & Gunn profile much better than Innis & Gunn does, whatever that's worth), but needs to go back to the drawing board maybe one last time to perfect it or balance out the recipe better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

341ml bottle - 'aged with oak', not a promising turn of the phrase.

This beer pours a mostly clear, medium copper amber hue, with a fistful of puffy, densely foamy, and mildly bubbly ecru head, which leaves some stellar advancing alien warship armada lace around the glass as it slowly sinks away. Dead sexy.

It smells of bready, grainy caramel malt, vanilla-heavy wood, muddled citrus pith, cold butter, and leafy, weedy, and well perfumed hops. The taste is buttery caramel malt - way too much so - a muted plain grainy woodiness, stunted citrus and pine hops, thin dark sugar, and an equally bitter and boozy green floral leafiness.

The carbonation is quite engaging in its flourishing frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and smooth, yeah, but with a clammy, smarmy side that makes me want to smack it upside the head. It finishes on the sweet side, as the vanilla, caramel, butter, and understated wood kind of stand side-by-side, not really wanting to get into each others' bidness.

Yeah, not a particularly engaging or interesting wood-aged brew - the purported cross-Atlantic hops duly obfuscated by the overuse of oak chips/spirals/dust - something obvious to any home brewer or vintner. This makes everything seem tacked on, rather than pleasantly integrated, which kind of renders this one an also-ran, I'm afraid.

 

 

 

 

Its polished copper tone has an almost perfect clarity to it. Two fingers of frothy white head has good retention. A thick ring of lace coats the glass over time. A nice looking pale ale.

Caramel and a bit toasty. Its underlying oak quality has a hint of sweet solvent. The hop character is faint; a dash of grapefruit. There seems to be a touch of diacetyl as well. Warm biscuit comes through as it warms.

The oak character becomes more pronounced in the taste. Its soft, round, toasty, and a bit sweet. Leafy hops come right near the end with an unrefined and subtle bitterness. Sweet alcohol lingers as well.

Medium bodied and sticky. Its level of carbonation is spot on. It's got a nice drinkability to it despite its boozy edge.

A decent amber with the unique twist of the oak. Have their RIS before you judge the brewery.

Copper in color capped and with white head. Very clear. On the nose I get the slightest touch of some toasted oak along with even bigger notes of caramel and toffee. Maybe a bit of some floral hops on the nose as well. On the palate the malts really come through. Toffee is super present and is the leading flavor. Its slightly buttery, i would believe from the oak but in a nice way. Super drinkable with a moderately thick body and perfect carbonation. A pretty good beer overall, and if the price was right I would consider stocking this in the fridge.

Note: Week old memories.