Vermont Blonde Ale
Burdock - Kensington Market

355 mL can from the LCBO; dated Sep 28 2023 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a foggy, pale straw-yellow colour with lazy bubbles that slowly wander their way to the surface. It's topped with less than a finger of loose, frothy white head that collapses within a minute or so, quickly reduced to a tight collar and wispy-thin cap; modest lace generation after a couple swirls of the glass. Mildly fruity aromas of grapefruit and melon are apparent, supported with hints of grain husk, soda crackers and bready malts.

Light, fruity flavour profile - grapefruit is the main fixture, but there are also hints of orange zest and lemon, with just a hint of something tropical. These notes are backed by a grainy, crackery pale malt/wheaty sweetness throughout the sip; finishes with fading citrus and a hint of cantaloupe before a dry aftertaste. Light in body, with moderately assertive carbonation that adds a crisp, refreshing texture to this smooth-drinking blonde ale. Highly crushable - 355 mL hardly seems like enough!

Final Grade: 3.94, a B+. Burdock's Vermont Blonde is pretty darn good, at least for a blonde ale. The Citra hops provide just enough 'pop' to successfully differentiate this light ale from the glut of other Ontario-made blondes - which, generally speaking, I have found to be largely interchangeable. I think I'd also take this over your average session IPA, as this blonde's malt scaffolding is sturdier, making for a more balanced and complete experience. It's pricier than the alternatives, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better example of the style at the LCBO.

Can purchased and drank at Oddbird in St. Catharine’s, Ontario.

This one pours a fairly hazy golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells quite grapefruity and pretty dry, with some other general citrus, orange-y type aromas.

This seems to be built for maximum drinkability on a dry but juicy frame. That sort of thing works pretty well for me, overall. This has a wonderfully dry and clean finish, with some wheatiness, a touch of clove, and lots of orange and grapefruit.

This is light bodied, slightly creamy, and very crisp on the finish.

I really like this one and wish I lived somewhere where I could have this for hot days.

March 23 2023

I bought a couple of cans from the brewery 355ml at 4.5%abv.
Poured into glass with a 1 to 2 finger head.
Sweet and tasty smells like tropical fruit flavours.
Overall it's an easy drinking crisp and zesty with some fruits .
Medium bitterness level.
Cheers

 

sampled in toronto on draught. Like yellow opaque with some collar. Decent grapefruit nose with decent tart taste that offered a well rounded experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pale, only slightly hazed golden colour, 1.5 fingers of white head and some lace. Smell is grainy and malty with an under-ripe citrus and tropical fruit, fairly zesty fruit profile with more crisp cracker like malt. The taste leans a bit more on malt upfront, before giving way to tropical fruit, lime and grapefruit, quite balanced with a minimal lingering bitterness, medium bodied sweetness finishes dry, hoppy aftertaste. Medium carbonation, lighter-medium body, dry and crisp. This is an incredibly quick drinking, flavourful session ale without the disapointing watery charachteristics that plague most "session ales", very well done.