Old Comrade
Frank Brewing Co.
- From:
- Frank Brewing Co.
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- American Amber / Red Ale
Ranked #331 - ABV:
- 4.7%
- Score:
- 84
Ranked #31,011 - Avg:
- 3.61 | pDev: 15.24%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 6
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Dec 19, 2025
- Added:
- Aug 23, 2016
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
SCORE
84
Good
84
Good
Like a good friend you can always rely on, our Old Comrade Amber Ale never disappoints. This deep red ale puts the rich flavors of Vienna front and center, backed by hints of Perle and Saphire hops. This type of beer tends to focus on the malts so expect a nicely balanced beer, with caramel and toffee character, slightly spicy finish and a mild floral aroma.
21 IBU.
21 IBU.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by talisen-crw from Canada (ON)
4/5 rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From the brewery's bottle shop. Canned February 10/25. My 10th beer from the nearby Tecumseh, Ontario brewery, and 8th for 2025. Respected and protected for me by Gracie the cat...
Nov 27, 2025
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
3.59/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.59/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
473 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for $3 CDN. Review from notes.
Appearance- Mildly hazy, dark muddy red colored beer. A finger plus of creamy looking off-white head is poured, retention is above average. Plenty of bubbles at the edges of the glass.
Smell - clean and grainy with lots of malt forward goodness and a hefty dose of earthy hops. Slight metallic aroma.
Taste - Matches closely with the nose, earthy hops, some crackery goodness and robust flavors for a 4.7% red ale. Quite nice.
Mouthfeel - A touch watery and on the thin side. Body is lacking, carbonation is about right.
Overall - A better beer than the first once I had from these guys, Old Comrade has a nice thing going with good flavor profiles, healthy malt and hop bills. Worth a try and an easy summer quaff.
May 28, 2018Appearance- Mildly hazy, dark muddy red colored beer. A finger plus of creamy looking off-white head is poured, retention is above average. Plenty of bubbles at the edges of the glass.
Smell - clean and grainy with lots of malt forward goodness and a hefty dose of earthy hops. Slight metallic aroma.
Taste - Matches closely with the nose, earthy hops, some crackery goodness and robust flavors for a 4.7% red ale. Quite nice.
Mouthfeel - A touch watery and on the thin side. Body is lacking, carbonation is about right.
Overall - A better beer than the first once I had from these guys, Old Comrade has a nice thing going with good flavor profiles, healthy malt and hop bills. Worth a try and an easy summer quaff.
Reviewed by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)
3.75/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a dark amber colour with a midsized head on top. Sweet molasses notes on the smell. The taste adds toffee and chewy candy flavours. Very smooth and velvetty mouthfeel
Aug 7 2022
Jan 20, 2018Aug 7 2022
Reviewed by TerryW from Canada (ON)
3.45/5 rDev -4.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.45/5 rDev -4.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Malty with a touch of sweetness. Some hope lurking in the background, but this is about malts. Easy drinking, nothing special or nasty going on here. Goes pretty much straight to looking like iced tea. Thin and watery.
Jan 12, 2018
Reviewed by q33jeff from New Jersey
1.98/5 rDev -45.2%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 1.75
1.98/5 rDev -45.2%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 1.75
**
08/28/17
Can to hotel water glass.
LOOK: Iced tea look, decent off white head.
AROMA :malt, sugar.
TASTE: pine like hop, but stale tasting, though canning date seems to be June 2017. Something medicinal in the finish Knicks this down too.
FEEL: light to medium body, not much in the way of liveliness.
Not impressed.
**
Aug 29, 201708/28/17
Can to hotel water glass.
LOOK: Iced tea look, decent off white head.
AROMA :malt, sugar.
TASTE: pine like hop, but stale tasting, though canning date seems to be June 2017. Something medicinal in the finish Knicks this down too.
FEEL: light to medium body, not much in the way of liveliness.
Not impressed.
**
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.63/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.63/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
473 mL can from TBS; coded "0116 16 364 1". If that's an ordinal date, it means Dec 29 2016 - but the key word there is "if", because I am kinda just assuming that it's ordinal. Served slightly chilled.
Pours a clear brick-red copper hue, capped off with one finger of frothy, light beige-coloured head that wilts within a matter of minutes. A smooth, filmy cap survives, alongside a modest-looking collar and some sparse splotches of lace. Caramel and toffee sweetness are immediately discernible on the nose, with hints of toasted malts, nuts and bread, as well as a vague suggestion of dark fruit - fig, perhaps? So far it's about what you'd expect from an Ontario amber.
Tastes like a pretty bog-standard amber ale - malt forward, without much of anything else going on. Caramel and toffee sweetness are prominent, supported by a backbone of bready, lightly toasted malts with a slightly nutty flavour. The hop flavours come through on the back end, albeit in a muted fashion - somewhat earthy and spicy, resulting in a bittersweet finish, followed by some lingering malt sweetness in the aftertaste. Light-medium in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a decent bite; as for the texture, it's crisp and satisfying. Quite sessionable; the drinkability is high, in that I could theoretically drink this all night if I really wanted to. In reality, I'd likely get bored and seek out something else after a couple of cans.
Final Grade: 3.63, a B grade. Frank Brewing's Old Comrade is a pretty basic amber ale that focuses purely on the malt bill. I won't lie - when it comes to American reds, I generally prefer the hop-forward offerings, and Old Comrade is definitely not that. It's not unnecessarily sweet, but the lack of other notable features beyond the Munich and Vienna malts makes this amber ale feel a little, well, uninspired. This is a decent beer, but it's not what I look for in my reds. If you're a fan of beers like Flying Monkeys' Amber or LoB's Spark House Red, this will be a brew worth looking into.
Feb 07, 2017Pours a clear brick-red copper hue, capped off with one finger of frothy, light beige-coloured head that wilts within a matter of minutes. A smooth, filmy cap survives, alongside a modest-looking collar and some sparse splotches of lace. Caramel and toffee sweetness are immediately discernible on the nose, with hints of toasted malts, nuts and bread, as well as a vague suggestion of dark fruit - fig, perhaps? So far it's about what you'd expect from an Ontario amber.
Tastes like a pretty bog-standard amber ale - malt forward, without much of anything else going on. Caramel and toffee sweetness are prominent, supported by a backbone of bready, lightly toasted malts with a slightly nutty flavour. The hop flavours come through on the back end, albeit in a muted fashion - somewhat earthy and spicy, resulting in a bittersweet finish, followed by some lingering malt sweetness in the aftertaste. Light-medium in body, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a decent bite; as for the texture, it's crisp and satisfying. Quite sessionable; the drinkability is high, in that I could theoretically drink this all night if I really wanted to. In reality, I'd likely get bored and seek out something else after a couple of cans.
Final Grade: 3.63, a B grade. Frank Brewing's Old Comrade is a pretty basic amber ale that focuses purely on the malt bill. I won't lie - when it comes to American reds, I generally prefer the hop-forward offerings, and Old Comrade is definitely not that. It's not unnecessarily sweet, but the lack of other notable features beyond the Munich and Vienna malts makes this amber ale feel a little, well, uninspired. This is a decent beer, but it's not what I look for in my reds. If you're a fan of beers like Flying Monkeys' Amber or LoB's Spark House Red, this will be a brew worth looking into.
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!