Monty's Golden Ryed Ale
Tomorrow Brew Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously inspired by innis and gunn, which is very popular in toronto. Decent if unsurprisingly. That being said. Chuffed to see local Brewers get mad creative. Also, rye barrels do add a certain je ne sais quois:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice golden amber colour, thin layer of head with little retention or lacing. Nose is heavy caramel with hints of honey and oak. Flavours are caramel and leafy green hops with peppery spice and a solid dose of oak and subtle hints of whisky and vanilla. A surprisingly solid brew that is reminiscent of Innis & Gunn but a bit more bitter and spicy. I would definitely buy this again.

 

P: Nice clear golden with a long lasting foamy white head. Great lacing on the glass and on the top of the beer.
A: Caramel, sweet cake.
T: Huge caramel to start, sweet cake, vanilla, mild fall spice, distinctive butterscotch finish.
M: Sweet, light body, whiskey rye notes, light/medium carbonation.
O: Tritely complicated blend of taters and mouth feels. Not being a fan of The asked so much, this is a very good ale from a pretty darned good Canadian brewery!

660 mL bottle from the LCBO; bottled Nov 18 2015, listed at 5.5% and served well-chilled.

Pours a foggy golden-amber colour, fitted with a one-inch crown of puffy, off white-tinged foam which displays a high degree of resilience. It is slowly reduced to a dense, creamier cap and wide collar, laying down a nice curtain of lace during this ten minute period. Vanilla, woody oak and butterscotch come through loud and clear on the nose, with bready malts, whisky and some rye notes playing a secondary role. A tad fruity, too, but I'm having trouble pinpointing which esters exactly I'm sniffing - maybe pear and date?

It's unique, I'll say that - there's a lot of flavours jumbled up in here, but not all of them are complementary. Bready malts, along with butterscotch and caramel sweetness, pick up a lot of the slack, with suggestions of orchard fruit and vanilla. Spicy rye and Canadian whisky flavours begin to show up during the latter half of the sip; the oak tannins are joined by subtle hints of pine resin, citrus and leafy hops in time for the finish. Oak, vanilla and rye flavour fade into the aftertaste. On the heftier side of light-bodied, with middling carbonation levels that produce a somewhat crisp feel on the palate. Goes down smoothly, though it's a bit sweeter than I'd prefer.

Final Grade: 3.79, a B+. Monty's Golden Ryed Ale is enjoyable enough, but it doesn't come together as well as I'd hoped. I believe their Canadian Pale Ale was used as the base beer for this, but in all honesty, I'd rather just drink the unaltered CPA over this - and that's without taking this one's (comparatively) premium price point into account. Recommended to fans of the Innis & Gunn line-up, but if you don't fall into that category then you should probably temper your expectations.