Coffee Cream Ale
Wellington Brewery

Appearance: Poured with a thumbs worth of head that did not lace or retain head at all. The body is a clear orange amber with lots of thin, slow moving carbonation.

Smell: I'm catch minor dry coffee beans and a hint of straw on the nose. The potency leaves much to be desired as the even with ample warming it doesn't really come out as much as I would expect.

Taste: Starts with mild straw malt, that turns to dry coffee with a slight earthy hint. I really was expecting the coffee to be a rock star here but honestly it's just kind of there, attached to a cream ale, which you would think given the color would be a bit more caramel like. There's nothing bad here, and it is as advertised, it's just...cream ale with a cup of coffee attached.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation was good initially but it started to peter our around the 3/4 mark. That said, it has a great creaminess that works almost too well with the beer which has me wishing the coffee had a stronger presence. The aftertaste is a mild malt, milk and coffee note which given I don't think this beer has lactose, is something unique.

Drinkability: Light bodied, which is good if you wanted to be caffeinated in a hurry. Settles down well, no issues with gas and very easy to put back. This strikes me as a summer drinker if you want coffee.

Final Thoughts: A perfectly serviceable for when you are drinking in the summer but want a bit of a pick me up. Other then that though, it just tastes too plain. It's generic Cream Ale with coffee attached to it, which you would think said Coffee would overpower things here, but in this case it doesn't happen. Not a bad beer by any stretch but a bit too plain for a brewed once kind of offering.

473 mL can from the LCBO, one of four new collaborative efforts in their "Rising Tide" mixed pack. Packaged Aug 7 2020 and served barely chilled.

Pours relatively clear, with a golden amber-hued body that is briefly graced with one finger of foamy white head. It falls apart within the next couple of minutes, leaving behind a frothy collar and some scant, patchy lace - looks like your average pale ale to me. It smells of coffee grounds and doughy malt sweetness, with hints of earthy, skunky hops and faint suggestions of vanilla & caramel. Pretty straightforward, which I suppose puts it on par with most cream ale aromas.

It tastes of grainy pale malts, doughy sweetness and lightly caramelized sugars, backed by a modest coffee presence that crescendos nearer the finish. There's also hints of earthy, floral hops and a touch of citrus, but the coffee kind of obscures any details that may be present - this is particularly true with the aftertaste, which consists mostly of coffee grounds with a lingering touch of honeyed sweetness. Medium-light in body, with light carbonation that gently prickles the palate, giving it a smooth mouthfeel. Fantastic drinkability - I could easily knock back a few of these in a row, which is 80-90% of what I want out of a cream ale.

Final Grade: 3.74, a B grade. Wellington & Muskoka's Coffee Cream Ale is a solid example of its style, but as a coffee addict it pains me to admit that the addition of coffee doesn't really amount to all that much here. Yeah, it's there, but it doesn't integrate all that well with the base beer's flavour profile. Would I pick this over Muskoka's standard Cream Ale? Maybe, maybe not - I certainly wouldn't say it's much better (or worse), though it does serve as a nice change of pace, I guess.

Pours gold colour with a midsize head. The smell reminds me of a morning at work, coffee and an ashtray. The taste is the same, the coffee grounds takes over all the other flavours of the beer. Not for me.
Oct 10 2020

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Canned August 7, 2020 and cost was $3.50 from the latest Wellington COllab Box.

Appearance - Hazy honey brown colored brew with two plus fingers of dense fluffy white head. Loads of bubbles and lots of spotty lacing at the edges of the glass.

Smell - Coffee, wet coffee grounds. Slightest hint of vanilla. Surprisingly pungent aroma.

Taste - Some honey, generally graininess and a bit of coffee right at the end. More sweet with honey than anything else.

Mouthfeel - Medium-light bodied, modest carbonation and pretty easy drinking. Finish is off dry.

Overall - Decent little cream ale that I wish had more coffee flavor, although the wet coffee ground flavor isn't exactly as good as a full bodied coffee stout either. Interesting enough and worthy of a slot in a mixed pack, even if it's not something I'd buy on the regular.