Canadian Eh-F
Saloon Door Brewing

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours a hazy orange-brown in color, with a moderate, fairly coarse cream-colored head with good retention. Thick, patchy and sticky lacing adorns the glass wall. Clouds of fine-beaded bubbles drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: The aroma makes me think of breakfast cereal drizzled with caramel and maple syrup. There is a bit of dark roasted malt, as well.

Taste: The taste opens with caramel, maple syrup and toasted grain. As with the aroma, more than a bit like breakfast cereal drizzled with maple syrup and caramel. A mild undercurrent of light, sweet caramel runs throughout the taste. Despite the high ABV of nine percent, there is no hint of alcohol in the taste, and only a bit of warming. Hops are all but absent from the taste, with only a mild herbal bitterness at the close and a note of charred malt.

Mouth feel: Smooth and full, with a fullness comparable to whole milk. There is a slight zest of carbonation.

Drinkability/notes: Quite an unusual example, I suppose it would be an Imperial (or Double) Cream Shout. This seems to be to be a dessert beer, and as such would pair well with New York-style cheesecake, blonde brownies, golden Oreos, vanilla ice cream, or perhaps even pancakes. Decidedly different and well-made, worth a try.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce aluminum can, served in a South American-style Pilsener glass. 1799:06132021

Canadian Eh-f from Saloon Door Brewing. Purchased on 17/5/21 from Spec’s on DeZavala. On room temperature shelf at store. $ 11.82 (including tax)/6-pack of 12 oz cans ($0.164/oz) stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 18/5/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “CANNED ON 03/10/21”. Served at 45 degrees in a hand washed and dried glass coffee cup. Final temperature 52.5 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), clear.
Body – Pale Amber (SRM 9), hazy. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.7 cm, aggressive center pour), floral, medium density, average retention, diminishing to a raggedly undulating ten to seventeen mm crown and a thick complete rocky cap. Second pour produces a high density 0.4 cm head.
Lacing – Good. Irregular bands of tiny to small bubbles with large windows between the bands of lacing.
Aroma – 4 – Lightly malty and mapley. No hops or yeast.
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins lightly sweet and distinctly maple being the predominant flavor, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (9 % ABV, marked on container) taste or aroma. Gastric warming begins slowly and remains marginally noticeable. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends slightly sour.
Palate – 4 – Medium, creamy, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation 3.75 Generally a bit sweet and sticky with a decidedly artificial maple taste. Well-hidden alcohol – at 9% I neither taste nor feel it. One and done – now I’ve got to pawn the other five off.

pours an apricot gold body with off-white head that peaks at a finger height and dissipates quickly with little retention, leaving only the occasional speckle of lacing behind as it simmers to a ultra-thin halo

aroma is a mixture of maple, caramel, and vanilla tinged cream

taste is a little more complicated than the aroma, revealing shades of bready fruit cake, nutty toffee, leather, and apple

mouthfeel is mid-level carbonation and medium-thick body that feels chewy and creamy outside of occasional carbo prickles, but is ultimately somewhere more on the thinner side than you would likely think.

Poured from a can into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a clear golden-amber color with a one finger head of puffy off-white foam. The head has a decent level of retention, fading over time to leave a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is heavy of a creamy vanilla aroma mixed with a bit of a maple syrup sweetness. Along with these smells comes a rather strong showing of a caramel and grainy smell as well as a little bit of a must and herb.

Taste – The taste begins with a moderately sweet crème ale taste that is heavier of a bready and doughy taste mixed with a lighter amount of vanilla and caramel like sweetness. Along with these tastes is a little bit of a maple syrup upfront and a touch of toffee. As the taste advances the maple fades more and more, while some corn syrup sweet tastes get slightly stronger. All the while the bready tasty transitions more to a grainy flavor and are matched by some lighter notes of hay and herb. At the end a decent bit of nut comes to the tongue, leaving one with a thick, not very maply, but rather pleasant crème ale taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is rather thick and creamy with a carbonation level that is on the slightly higher side. For the crème ale nature of the brew and the more rich tastes, the higher carbonation is nice, with the thick body accentuating the vanilla crème flavors rather nicely.

Overall – While not super maple heavy overall, the brew is rather enjoyable. A fun one to try as a dessert like brew.

 

This is a great dessert beer because it has a strong maple taste without being overly sweet like darker beers, or contrived flavor beers, might be.

L: nothing special, nice light amber but still fairly clear.

S: gives a little foreshadow of the maple, and a nice amber with no bitter or hops

T: wonderful maple, but negligible sweetness. One of my favorite last beers or single beers of all time. This is a great achievement for Saloon Door. Makes me want to visit the brewery to have one and compliment them.

F: surprisingly thin for a cream ale. Maybe it shouldn’t be called a cream ale.

O: definitely not a traditional taste, but something I certainly think is enjoyable for both connoisseurs and newbies.