Terrible Ted Red: Ted Lindsay Red Saison
Lake of Bays Brewing Company

750ml bottle, the latest in the NHL Alumni Signature Series from this brewery.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium red-brick amber colour, with one chubby finger of puffy, loosely foamy, and fizzy tan head, which leaves a bit of almost melted iceberg profile lace around the glass as it evenly sinks away. Sure looks the part of a 'red' saison.

It smells of bready, grainy pale and caramel malt, zesty yeast, a twinge of banana chip fruitiness, tart apple turnovers, mild savoury spice notes, and a tame earthy, leafy, and floral hoppiness. The taste is more bready, doughy, and lightly crackery pale malt, an additional caramel/toffee sweetness, banana cream, sedate, yet slightly phenolic yeast, red apple skins, ethereal white pepper dust, and plain weedy, leafy, and floral hops.

The bubbles are adequate in their wholesome and frothy coddling, the body a sturdy middleweight, and generally smooth, the testy yeast apparently not all that testy. It finishes on the sweet side, the biggish caramel malt starting to absorb, blob-like, the remains of other lingering essences' days.

Overall, this is a simple, but well-rendered Saison, the malt amped up in a manner typically reserved for hops of late. Conversely, this could be depicted as giving a very malty red ale the Belgian yeast treatment. Whatever, it's good, not great, but agreeable enough to put back, despite its kind of dear shelf tag.

750 mL bottle from the LCBO; packaged Feb 9 2015 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a translucent ruby-amber colour; highly effervescent, and capped off with one finger of compact, creamy off-white head. It fades away over the next two or three minutes, depositing a modest curtain of lace as it does so, while a foamy cap and collar survive through to the end. There is a nice, mild blend of malty, fruity and yeasty notes on the nose - a bit bready and wheaty, with caramel, ripe red apple, apricot and banana aromas being the most noticeable. There are also light hints of clove spice and candied citrus fruit.

A passable Belgian-style ale. Bready, lightly toasted wheaty malts form a suitable backdrop, while caramel and molasses sweetness get things started off on a saccharine note. Orchard fruit flavours are up next - red apple, apricot and banana take the lead roles here, with hints of cherry, and perhaps some sour citrusy notes. Finishes with some yeasty clove spice, grassy bitterness and a nutty malt sweetness. Somewhat metallic in the aftertaste; a facet which I could do without. Medium-bodied, with lively carbonation levels that give this saison a prickly, crisp feel on the palate. Very easy to drink and surprisingly refreshing.

Final Grade: 3.65, a manageable B grade. Lake of Bays' Terrible Ted Red is not a remarkable beer, but it's still a fairly well-made brew that I will have no trouble finishing off. This is really more of a blurred mixture of a Belgian pale ale, a dubbel and a saison than anything else - sort of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none situation going on here. This would make a good introductory Belgian beer, I guess - not overly spicy, fruity, sweet or boozy - but still approachable enough. I wouldn't buy it again, or recommend it to others at the current price point, though. There will be plenty of Ontario-made saisons coming out over the next few months, so I'd just save your wallet the trouble and wait it out a bit longer.

 

 

 

 

Short head that settles to a partial film, some lace. Clear tea red. Malty nose, sweet, some molasses, a hint of spice. Not so tasty, however. Very washed out, brittle. Nothing distinctive happening. Slightly metallic. What's in the nose just barely comes through to taste. Very light, thin-bodied. Bit of a dud to me.

 

750 ml bottle served fairly cold into a glass. Purchased for $12 CDN. I've enjoyed a number of these NHL alumni beers but the price tag is pretty steep.

Appearance - clear and ruby red, small half finger of tan head is poured with modest retention. Some carbonation is visible. As far as a saison, this looks interesting as it looks more like a red amber ale. Bonus points for awesome red color, otherwise not impressive for a saison.

Smell - interesting blend, starts with a bready and biscuity nose then transitions to some candied sugar and brown sugar blend, before a hint of a funky yeast makes itself known. A bit of an apricot aroma upon repeated aromas.

Taste - again some bready notes then the Belgian yeasts make themselves known a bit more. Some candied sugar and then some apricot and plum blend. A bit too sweet for my tastes and lacking the balance that the great saisons have.

Mouthfeel - smooth but spritzy, light bodied but satisfactorily full mouthfeel. Pretty decent overall.

Overall - I'm not quite sure what to make of this. To me it tastes like a red lager crossed with some Belgian yeast and a little bit of fruit added to give it more saison-like characteristics. I like it it but it's more of a cross-breed than a saison through and through. Worth a shot if you can stomach the price tag, but I don't think anyone looking for a mind blowing new experience will be blown away by this. But still... Cheers to Terrible Ted.