Ruff Draught Tropical Blonde Ale
Muskoka Brewery

Serving Type: 473 mL Can

L- Pours an ever so slightly hazy golden with a 1/4 finger white head. Fair retention and light lacing. Fine carbonation visible.

S- As the name might suggest, the aroma is clearly tropical fruit influenced. Mango, passion fruit, and pineapple is what I'm gathering.

T- Doughy malt finished off by a nice citrus hop punch. Hardly bitter at all as the 25 IBU label suggests, just enough hop action to impart some great flavour.

F- Light Body with moderate carbonation. This brew was made to be easy drinking and the body certainly captures that desire.

O- A great tasting, easy drinking Blonde Ale. It definitely straddles the border between blonde ale and IPA but whatever it is, it's worth a try!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a pale gold with almost no head. Surprisingly there is some lacing. The smell is interesting. Grainy malts and something I cannot put my finger on (my wife said it was a cat poo smell). Taste is bready and grainy malts, and there are some fruity hops in there. Not much mind you, but some. The feel is light, I would go so far as to say watery. The carbonation is medium.

Well, they can't all be winners. This is one I took a flier on, and it did not pay off. I finished it, but barely.

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; best before Sept 19 2017 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a lightly hazed golden-blonde hue, supporting one finger of bubbly white head that soon diminishes to a thick, foamy collar and thin cap. A messy curtain of lace is left behind, clinging to the interior of the glass. This blonde ale's aroma is fairly mild in intensity, with accents of lemon peel, lime zest, white grapes and orange resting on top of a bready, grainy pale malt backbone. The hops mostly come off as fruity, but there are also some faintly floral notes.

An approachable session-minded ale. Clean pale malts provide a bready, doughy background sweetness, with fruity notes of pineapple, lemon and orange citrus coming through clearly; hints of white grape and apricot are somewhat less distinct. Lightly bitter on the back end - notes of pine resin and floral hops join in alongside the fruity/citrusy notes, which weaken towards the finish. Quite light in body, with relatively restrained carbonation that limply nudges the surface of the palate, giving this beer a smooth, wet, soft-ish mouthfeel. Well balanced and highly drinkable.

Final Grade: 3.85, a B+. Muskoka's Ruff Draught is a refreshing, perfectly serviceable light ale. It's more hoppy than your typical blonde, but less bitter than most APAs, which is part of what makes it so sessionable. A good beer, but not an amazing one. True; it's far less mundane than blonde ales as a collective group tend to be (which is reflected by my rather high rating) - but at the end of the day, I'd still pick a pale ale (e.g. Mad Tom) over this 9 times out of 10. Good for what it is, and worth sampling if you have the opportunity... but I doubt I'll rush out for more.