Mad & Noisy Orange Pale Ale
Creemore Springs Brewery Limited

Can - pours a lightly hazed amber-orange with a puffy 2 finger cap that lasts.....aroma is sweet malts over citrus with some bright spiciness....Flavor is rounded ad well conditioned soft yet bright an citrusy with a good sweetish malt spine....clean wet finish with a hop bite....very pleasant patio ale for the summer when you want a couple of beers well crafted and surprisingly good.

Pours brass with a creamy, frothy head that lasts forever. The aroma is of citrusy hops, doughy malts, caramel and English yeast esters. The taste is maltier with more fruity yeast than I was expecting. Caramel. Very much like an ESB or Best Bitter, not like an American Pale Ale. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a creamy carbonation. Light bitterness and lingering caramel sweetness in the finish.

A nice beer, not too orangey, but malty and balanced. Worth a try, especially if you like English styles.

 

Tallboy from the LCBO; dated May 17 2018 and served barely chilled.

Pours an orange-amber colour; mostly clear, with a slight amount of fine suspended sediment-derived haziness, as well as nearly two fingers of resilient, off white-tinged head. It settles off at a painfully slow pace, eventually reduced to a creamy collar and a spotty cap framed by a lovely coat of lacing. Creemore's mineral-ly house character is immediately noticeable on the nose, as are notes of bready, caramelized malts and lightly toasted grains. There's also an earthy, resinous hop presence in there; oddly enough, I find the orange peel to be the most subtle aspect of the aroma, being largely overshadowed by the malts and hops.

Tastes just fine - the malt backbone is fairly robust, with a fair amount of toasted grains carrying the load alongside lightly sweet hints of caramel and biscuit. Touches of citrusy orange oil occasionally crop up by mid-sip, quickly being drowned out by the earthy, resiny hop bitterness that comes on more strongly towards the tail end. On the lighter side of light-medium body, with low carbonation levels that weakly nudge the palate; it feels smooth and wet on the tongue. A well-constructed pale ale that manages to entirely avoid being either interesting or memorable.

Final Grade: 3.76, barely eking out a B+. Mad & Noisy Orange Pale Ale looked superb in the glass, but unfortunately the visuals turned out to be the high point of this beer. Its flavours are clean and approachable, and there aren't any real flaws to complain about - the problem is that this type of beer is a dime a dozen these days. This also happens to be the third can of it I've cracked in the last week or two, so it's not as if I haven't given this beer a sporting chance... it's just not up my alley. A serviceable brew, but it's still probably my least favourite Mad & Noisy product to date - give it a shot if you've enjoyed Creemore's beers in the past, but don't expect too much.

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $3 CDN.

Appearance - Rich orange and gold colored brew, slightly hazy with a finger plus of dense white head. Great staying power but minimal lacing.

Smell - Not much of a nose; some general coarse grains, slight bit of sweetness and hints of orange if you smell hard enough.

Taste - Pretty close to the nose as well, although the roasted graininess is a little more well developed, mildly bitter and again finishes with a bit of orange.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, slightly sticky and with reasonable carbonation.

Overall - A little less hoppy than I was expecting given some o the hops levels in previous Mad & Noisy brews. The orange works nicely with the flavor profile, but nothing terribly complex here. Easy to drink, but nothing spectacular. A respectable summer beer.