Anniversary Ale
Moosehead Breweries Ltd.

 

 

 

Copper filtered with a little carbonation, and 3 fingers of fluffy, white head. Leaves a nice lacing.

Smells of toasted malts, caramelised veg, and slightly fruity like oranges.

The taste follows the nose and finishes with a moderate but long, dull bitterness.

Medium body, with little carbonation.

Decent English pale ale. Enjoyed it a little more that others by Moosehead. Drinking on the shores of Lake Muskoka, Jan 25th, 2018.

473ml can - I never really noticed this one until I was bored waiting for a growler fill at my 'local' chain liquor store. Made with all Canadian ingredients, a claim which I actually believe.

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, rocky, and mildly bubbly off-white head, which leaves some stellar dense tree copse lace around the glass as it lazily sinks out of sight.

It smells of bready and biscuity pale malt, some prominent hard water flintiness, muddled domestic citrus rind, further pome fruity notes, and some edgy leafy, weedy, and musky floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, wet saltine crackers, still hard to pin down citrus pith, an equally mixed stone fruitiness, and more earthy, leafy, and estery floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its palate-prodding frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and generally smooth, with nothing really causing any concern, as such, here. It finishes trending dry, the biscuity malt and robust hoppiness seeing to that.

Overall - holy shit, this is by far the best brew that I have ever had from Moosehead. Nice and hoppy, in a typically craft brewing sense, which just feels weird to be typing right now. Very ESB-like in nature, which is always all right by me. Good job, guys, and maybe from now on don't limit this quality to just your anniversary offerings, eh?

 

Serving Type: 473 mL Can

L- Pours a a clear, copper-yellow topped by a frothy 1 1/2 finger head. Surprisingly great retention and lots of sticky lacing.

S- Biscuity malt and caramel backed by a beautiful floral hoppiness. Nothing overly complex, just simple and good.

T- The aroma is echoed perfectly: Bready/biscuity malt which is shadowed by a light florality the entire time. By far malt forward, but a well balanced taste.

F- Medium body with light carbonation. Exactly how an English Pale Ale should be, in my opinion.

O- I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised by how great Anniversary Ale is. Moosehead does make good beers, but they are typically something I would compare to BMC adjunct brews; this beer is different. It's a flavourful, well made English Pale Ale that could run with EPA's from some of the top Craft brewery's out there. Well Done, Moosehead. Happy Anniversary!

Hazy orange with a good head. Light citrus and malt on the nose. Medium malty body with a surprisingly hoppy, crisp finish. Craft-worthy brew!

Pours bright orangey bronze with a huge pillowy head that lasts forever. The aroma is of light, toasty chocolate malts, caramel and some herbal hops in the back. The taste is malt forward with bready and wet barley grains mixed with woody, herbal hops and butterscotch yeast esters. Medium bodied with a light carbonation. Light bitterness and lingering maltiness in the finish.

A nice English Pale Ale with great malt flavors and good balance. worth a try.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; canned Mar 24 2017 and served well chilled. I've had a few cans of this over the past few weeks, and I've concluded that this is just one of those brews that's hard to classify - there are definite English influences, but the hop bill consists entirely of North American strains (Galena, Columbus, Chinook and Cascade).

Pours a foggy golden-amber hue, supporting an inch of puffy, bone white-coloured head that displays fantastic retention, lasting beyond the ten minute mark. By then, it has been reduced to a thick, lumpy cap of foam about a finger high, accompanied by a few scattered splotches of delicate lace. Looks great to me. I'm getting a lot of citrusy grapefruit and orange on the nose, as well as pine resin, pineapple juice, bready malts, caramelized sugars and notes of floral, leafy, spicy hops.

A decent moderately strong ale; flavours of bready pale malt and caramel/toffee sweetness are punctuated with notes of orange, pear, apricot and grapefruit. These are followed up with a mixture of mildly bitter pine resin, earthiness and spicy hops, all of which persist through to the finish; hints of lingering malt sweetness, stone fruit and resiny hops gradually fade out in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is a solid medium-weight, with moderately low carbonation levels that impart a smooth, soft, creamy texture. An easy-going tipple, but not necessarily a memorable one.

Final Grade: 3.65, a B grade. I have no serious complaints concerning Moosehead's Anniversary Ale - it makes for a balanced, relaxed quaff that won't tire your taste buds. I will add that it reminds me of that Boundary Ale that they (apparently) took off the market recently - not only in terms of the flavour profile, but also based upon the fact that it's better than their mainline stuff, yet still a step or two behind most locally-brewed craft pale ales. A strong effort for a macro outfit - but realistically speaking, it's not that hard to find something better these days. Worth a try.

Appearance - Pours a deep gold with two fingers of frothy white head.

Smell - hint of earthy and leafy hops, bready malts, toffee, and apple and other fruity aromas.

Taste - Very malt dominated with the bready malts and toffee at the forefront. The earthy and leafy hops are nowhere to be seen. The apple and other fruity notes are lost in translation.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a lingering sweetness from the malts.

Overall - A English Pale Ale that demonstrates the malts to a tee, however, the hops are non-existent. I admire the patriotic label but the brew itself is lackluster.

L- Pours a hazy burnt orange with a big, frothy, white head that dissipates quickly.
S- Very grainy, malt and slight hop.
T- Grainy taste accompanied by a bit of hops. Slight resin finish From bitterness. Not bad.
F- Pretty smooth transitions with a good bitter finish.
O- Tastes kind of like Pabst Old Tankard, but more soothing transition in tastes.

 

 

 

Can from the LCBO for around $3.

Pours a slightly hazy copper body with plenty of well-retained, lace producing head. Aromas of toast, toffee, and earthy/spicy hops dominate in a surprisingly prominent profile. The taste is quite nice, with flavors of toffee, bread, some nearly piney bitterness, and a long lasting finish that leaves the palate quite satisfied. Creamy in texture, the beer is evidently smooth, with some chocolate coming on the finish. Really pleasant beer.