Boston Pizza Golden Anniversary Pale Ale | Molson Coors Canada

3.39/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

18oz tall glass at the Century Park BP's.

This beer appears a clear, medium copper amber colour, with one finger of weakly foamy and wispy dirty white head, which leaves a few minor instances of sea plume lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of semi-sweet bready pale malt, a bit of cold apple-pear puree, a hint of corn grits, and mild earthy, floral hops. The taste is grainy pale malt, a certain metallic stoniness, red apple skin, underripe pithy Bartlett pears, corny breakfast cereal, and leafy, weedy, and strangely fruity hops.

The carbonation is fairly tight throughout with its strong frothy hand, the body just on the shy side of medium weight, and very plainly smooth, that hard water flinty character holding too much sway here. It finishes pretty darned dry for a macro ale (and their target market, one would assume), the mixed malt watching the Labour Day Classic, or something.

Not a particularly bad offering for this western Canadian restaurant chain's 50th anniversary - much more challenging than Molson's flagship lager, or any of its retarded fruity offspring this summer. I was expecting little more than a Rickard's Red knockoff, but this is more approachable and drying on the palate, which would finally make for a go-to suds choice, were I to opt to ever eat at this establishment again.

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3.5/5  rDev +11.1%

2.19/5  rDev -30.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

pint at BP, square one, mississauga, ontario, july 1 2014. from memory. transparent copper-amber with off-white head. nose of cheap cardboard-y grains and a very mild citrus presence. the taste follows -- cheap lager-like grains, metallic notes, and, uh, no hop presence. decent medium-minus mouthfeel with fizzy carbonation. i don't expect all pale ales to be exploding with juicy citra hop flavours, but this one had zero hop flavour

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3.5/5  rDev +11.1%