Bruce Trail
Tobermory Brewing Company & Grill

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From The Roundhouse Centre LCBO on Howard Ave. in nearby Windsor. Canned October 3/25. My 2nd beer from the Tobermory, Ontario brewery, and 1st for 2026. Wildly adored by Gracie the cat...

Blonde Ale from the Tobermory Brewing Company. Brewed in London, Ontario. 5.2 per cent alcohol. Beer has a thick white head that evaporates quickly. Beer is a slightly cloudy golden colour, almost light amber, with moderate tiny ascending bubbles. Smell is malty and sweet, which transfers to the taste. Beer is medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel and a wet finish. Nice glass lacing. Overall a decent beer. Grade: A.

Appearance: A thumbs worth of head that produce a good amount of lace and managed to stick around till the half way point. The body is a dark opaque golden blonde, almost approaching tan. Only the bottom of the glass shows a fine, but ample and stubborn carbonation, so find the small it seems to blend in with the particulate of the beer, making for an almost, slow fountain effect.

Smell: Cereal grain with hints of caramel, lemon, apricot and the smallest touches of flowers and grass in the far back. Potency is there from the start, but after warming up a bit the lemon starts to take centre stage.

Taste: Starts with a doughy biscuit malt, with slight more honey then caramel notes that turns to some milder fruit notes giving it a bit of a mild lemon cookie taste before grass and floral hops come forward and end with a dry snap.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation on the beer seems to focus on the middle and end of the beer, and really pushes that dry snap at the end which persists into the aftertaste, where it's a bit too dry. It detracts from that lovely lemon cookie note that seems to dominate the aftertaste. Transitioning goes along swimmingly until the hops poop the party, although not in that a violent fashion. More like a "Yeah, yeah, come one, the beer drink is over".

Drinkability: That dry note being too pronounced is the biggest detraction here, apart from that it's solid. A bit heavier then medium body and it settles down well. That said, it's got a good amount of character for a blonde ale.

Final Thoughts: This beer has me longing for the spring, and to head up north. This beer strikes me as the last beer of a spring stint, catching the last sunset knowing you will return as summer's promise comes forward. That we aren't in the heyday yet, but it is coming. I think if the hops were just a little backed off, this would be even better as I suspect they are what is producing the dryness here. Solid regardless.

 

Pours a beauty clear gold colour, darker than most blondes, with a nice 1cm head on top, which gradually fades away. The smell is not much, maybe some cereal grains. The taste is nicely malty, hoppy and full bodied. This is one of the better blondes I’ve tried in a while.
June 25 2021

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Aug 13 2020 and served barely chilled.

Pours golden-blonde with a slightly foggy complexion; situated atop is one finger of foamy, sparkling white head that disintegrates within a couple of minutes. It leaves behind many strands of sticky lace, as well as a frothy collar and thin, smooth cap - looks good to me. Hints of lemon and grassy hops on the nose, in addition to some grainy, crackery pale malts and doughy sweetness.

The taste is along the same lines - grainy, bready malts and a doughy, lightly honeyed sweetness; this is followed by a hint of lemon and some grassy, floral hop bitterness at the finish. Light in body, with moderately low carbonation levels that gently nudge against the surface of the tongue; feels smooth and a little soft on the palate. Very easy to toss back quickly.

Final Grade: 3.68, a serviceable B grade. Tobermory's Bruce Trail is a prototypical American blonde with no real weaknesses for me to gripe about. It's well balanced, with a clean malt bill countered by a grassy, understated hop presence that, when combined, result in a rather nice session ale. I wouldn't search high and low for more, but the next time I'm in the Bruce area I'd definitely consider bringing a sixer of this to the campsite.