V Rock
Bancroft Brewing Company

Can: Poured a clear golden color ale with a large white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of clean cereal notes with some light herbal hops notes. Taste is also a mix of clean cereal notes with light herbal notes and a semi-sweet finish. Body is about average with good carbonation.Good enough kolsch with good drinkability.

 

Appearance: Poured with a good thumbs worth of head that offered modest lacing and retention. The body walks that line between light amber and dark gold that shows solid carbonation in the body but also quite a bit of sandy particulate.

Smell: It reminds me of Panettone with less sweetness as there is certainly is slightly sweet bready malt there but notes of mild apricot and candied orange and raisin present. It's a bit mild and needed warming to really come out and brings out a slight pepper note.

Taste: We are welcomed by a nice fruit bread malt with hints of candied orange and raisin that turn to a more grain like experience with the barest hint of mild pepper rounding us out with a mild, mellow mix of pine and earthy hops.

Mouthfeel: You wouldn't think sweet and pepper would go well together, but this beer finds a way to make that work and it shifts from those tastes exceptionally well. The carbonation is solid as well, but there is a downside. There is a slight pepper cling in the aftertaste that starts to build up a bit too much near the end of the beer.

Drinkability: Very close to being what I would call light bodied, but stops just a bit short of that. It's certainly easy to drink and a good thirst quencher with character. That said though, it's an odd spot to be in as that cling stops it from being incredibly easy to drink, but it's not so complex that I'd say this is one of those epic treats of a beer. This is something I honestly wish I could have stopped at this brewpub, had a meal and had this with it as it's just all around solid.

Final Thoughts: I had the chance to take a scenic trip from Ottawa across some of the backroads in central Ontario and ended up stopping in Bancroft instead of Orillia. Literally seeing this place at the road and deciding "Well, I'm not likely to be back in Bancroft before I'm back in Orillia, so may as well stop." If this is the norm for this brewer, I made the right choice (although I do recall not being too impressed by their Lager). They classify this as "A Kolsch inspired Vienna Ale" so apologies if I couldn't quite get the style right here, but I found this to be very agreeable stuff. If you are in Bancroft, I'd certainly recommend picking this one up.