Dark Ale
Fort Garry Brewing Company Ltd.

A - Pours a largely opaque dark brown-black body, with some ruby highlights with partial transparence at the edges. Minimal light tan head, a line surviving around one side of the glass, no lacing to speak of.

S - Strong hit of bread malts, roasted aspect with caramel and toast, and a grassy hop note.

T - Malt sweetness, toast and honey, a touch of molasses, a soft coffee acidity, and a dry smokiness in the finish.

M - Moderate weight, strong carbonation, and a bit of sharpness in the finish. Quite drinkable, but I think of Milds as something I could drink all day like water, and this is a bit bigger and fuller than that.

O - A lovely, balanced, highly drinkable brew. Yes, it feels a bit more like a fairly restrained Porter than a Mild, but I like it nevertheless and would buy it again.

Deep brown color; light passes easily. Moderate but lasting head. Some minor spots for lacing.

The smell is mildly off. Behind the darker malt with a touch caramel sweetness. It’s hard to describe the offness—it’s mostly vegetal.

Decent body with a lower carbonation. The malt is fairly one dimensional with a brown bread flavor. The finish becomes more bitter but more from toasted malls than any hop.

First of my beers from my notes from the Peg.

Appearance: My notes say Lace! which I recall this beer leaving quite a bit behind and producing two fingers of head on the pour. Body is black but shows more of an opaque brown as it is held to the light.

Smell: Toffee Malt, and that's about it. Warming didn't really help it and the potency needs to be better. Still nothing bad, just weak, especially for a darker beer.

Taste: Toffee and Smoke starts us off and it doesn't really stop. It instead seems to weaken into a nice gully and come back and hit you again with it before a slight earth hint walks us off. It's not too often that I find a beer is done well and delivers on an identical double note of the exact same.

Mouthfeel: The aftertaste is again, toffee and smoke which is nice given that's what they are going for here. The beer's carbonation isn't quite right, it's got more of that sudsy cleaning feeling that doesn't do the aftertaste credit and it seems a bit low. Transitioning is short, if you can all it that. I mean, the beer doesn't really shift at all.

Drinkability: Surprisingly refreshing and walks a good line there, especially given the medium-heavy body. Settles down well enough, and really nothing to complain about here.

Final Thoughts: I get the impression that this is the Macro beer heir apparent in Winnipeg. Everyone seemed to have it on tap or in cans. That brewery that's large enough to be a big guy in town, but doesn't quite have the reach to be a Sam Adams or Collective Arts. Either way, no objections here, as this I found to be solid.

 

 

 

Poured from fridge temp. Jet black with little carbonation. Smell was toasted malts and dark fruit. Taste was surprisingly good. Robust roasted malts, smoky, dark fruits. I rather liked it.

 

 

Picked up on Canada roadtrip, drank with dinner at a roadside rest area. Tasted 2 May 2015, reviewed from just-found notes.

Pours medium clear amber-brown.

Smell is toasty like a marzen.

Pretty flavorful. Malty with a slight hop tilt. Finishes with balancing bitter herbal hops.

Plenty tasty. Clean and well balanced.

 

 

Very sweet and with a bit of balsamic

This is probably my favorite FGB offering. It looks nice - reminiscent of root beer. The aroma is malt, with a hint of milk chocolate. It has a very solid flavor- roasted malt, a bit of coffee, and a mild hop finish. Overall, a very solid ale.

 

 

 

 

Positive:
No lingering bitter aftertaste

Negative:
Head dissipates quickly
Weak flavor
Too thin