Golden Gaetz
Troubled Monk Brewery

I've been drinking this stuff for years, I can't believe I haven't reviewed it. 355ml can poured into tulip.

Pours a clear golden yellow with one finger of white head that leaves some uneven sawtooth lace as it recedes.

Smells of grainy biscuits, some indistinct pomme fruit, faint pepper dust and freshly cut grass.

Tastes of more breakfast biscuit, unsweetened cereal, apple, more peppery yeast and grassy hops.

Feels soft and smooth. Light bodied with frothy carbonation. Finishes off-sweet.

Verdict: Recommended. Locally brewed, easy to crush and not too expensive, it's been my go-to for a long while.

Golden Gaetz from Troubled Monk is pale amber and crystal clear. Pinpoint CO2 supports an off white head with good retention.
At first blush, Golden Gaetz' nose is mellow, and lightly floral in nature. On closer examination, I find the dryish aroma of crackers and biscuit malt taking the lead. Fruit esters come in second, giving the impression of pear, hints of damp earth and peppery notes giving the nose an interesting through note. All these aromas come together to form a whole that is delicate, subdued, and pleasantly fragrant.
On the tongue, Golden Gaetz is smooth, crisp, medium bodied, and rounded up front. The flavor starts out delicately malty in nature, giving me dry flavors of soda crackers. As with the nose, flavors of apple and pear are supported by hints of damp earth. Unlike the nose however, I get the flavor of something leafy and a little more herbal. Flavors combine well together, with a mouthfeel that is overall rounded and slick.
Golden Gaetz is a very smooth, well balanced beer. As much as it is balanced, refreshing, and decent tasting, it doesn't completely jump out and grab my palate's attention. In short, a good golden ale that I would recommend to anyone. Yet I suspect I could find more characterful examples of the style.

 

 

355ml can poured into tulip 22/5/16

A almost clear straw yellow, a couple streams of slow bubbles pump out a finger of soapy foam that leaves one big ring

S lots of grainy notes, dry cereal, hard to place fruit with some earthy, grassy hops, pretty basic so is the style

T bready and still lots of sweet grains, grassy and herbal, again not a whole lot going on but whats there's tastes fine

M more weight then the light color would suggest, fluffs up and flattens out, a little slick, finishes with faint dry cereal

O nothings wrong with it but would get boring fairly fast and compared to Pesky Pig its flavorless

I'm hoping this ones just a safe brew for the masses and these guys are making some more interesting styles. Its tame and a wide range of people would like it but for me it would be more of a lawnmower beer.

 

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - once again, it saves me the oh so tempting trip, to 90 minutes south of here.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well bubbly bone-white head, which leaves a bit of randomly splattered sudsy lace around the glass as things quickly blow off.

It smells of bready, doughy, and slightly biscuity pale malt, a touch of underripe apple and pear fruitiness, faint indistinct earthy spice, and some decent leafy, weedy, and grassy hop bitters. The taste is gritty and crackery pale malt, a hint of biscuity and wheaten breakfast cereal, some ethereal Pils-like gasohol astringency, a suggestion of white pepper dust, and more zingy leafy, herbal, and wet grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation is good and active in its teasing and well-structured frothiness, the body on the light side of yer typical middleweight, and mostly smooth, just a general edginess extracting a minor tithe, as such. It finishes trending dry, the biscuity and crackery nature of the malt playing off of the lingering verdant hops.

Another winner from this central Alberta brewery, in the sense of smartening up a normally wan and under-served style. This one won't make any big beer fans overly happy, but for the rest of us who can appreciate a regular strength brew with a lot more character than the average bear [sic], it very much works.

L: golden yellow color. Clear. Small white head.

S: mild malt, light bready smell to it.

T: Light malt profile to it with a nice amount of hops.

F: Full body mouth feel with a nice amount of carbination.

O: actually quite a good beer even though it comes from red deer.

 

You can tell Troubled Monk brewed this one to appeal to the Molson-Labatt-Bud-Coors palates of many small-town Central Albertans, and that's not necessarily a bad thing--it seems to be their offering that's getting the most local traction for that very reason (found it, honest-to-god, in a national chain restaurant on special). And while it's not setting the world on fire (unlike the near-transcendent-when-fresh Pesky Pig or the surprisingly great Saison), it's a respectable little beer that takes what people like about the big names and does something nice with it: taming the carbonation a bit, creamier texture, nice crackery pale malt base, some ale-y esters.

This one grows on you.

This is an extremely exciting first effort from my home town's newest brewery. Golden Gaetz is delicious. It pours beautifully, bright and gold, with about an inch of white foam. The carbonation is lively, even after a couple of days in a growler, and it is nicely crafted beer. The taste is reminiscent of many of the other Alberta micro lagers and ales I enjoy. The local malt has a fresh, crackery brightness that gives it a very pleasant flavour. It's like drinking a glass of fresh wheat, blue sky, and sunshine.