The last bottle of my McAuslan care-package that I got a while back, and really a perfect beer for today, for more reasons than one. Yes, it’s true, Scotch ales are generally big and hearty ales that warm the cockles of your heart, etc, on cold blustry days like today. But it fits for another reason. Today is Opa’s funeral, my wife’s grandfather who was 91 when he passed away earlier this week. With a 8 children, a herd of grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, it’s fair to say Opa lived “to a ripe old age”. Today we will get to celebrate his life, which was incredible and, at times, unbelievable. But as you’ve probably guessed, Opa was Dutch. So why the Scotch ale? Well, because Opa and Oma lived in Holland during the Nazi occupation in WWII. And the first sound of their liberation from the Nazis, was the sound of bagpipes, as Canadian forces were piped into the city in parade, having broken the German front, and re-taken Amsterdam. So it is entirely appropriate to toast our wonderful, mischievous Dutch Opa, with a glass of Canadian-made Scotch ale.
St Ambroise Scotch Ale - McAuslan Brewing Inc
From a 341ml ISB with some sort of production stamp on the back label, St Ambroise Scotch Ale pours a deep brown with ruby red hints in the middle of the glass. Brilliantly clear, and with a thin layer of foam that drops to nothing fairly quickly. Aroma is classic, heavily malty, with notes of brown sugar and molasses. There is also a fresh slightly floral sweetness that strikes me as honey-like, and hints of earthy woody maple syrup. Anything else sweet they want to throw in there? Taste is more of the same, sweet and molassesy, with a lot more maple syrup characteristics. A hint of yeast adds a little tang on the sides of your tongue, and there is just a touch of something dry towards the back of the palate, that I’m assuming is a bit of hops. The finish, though, is more sweet maple syrup and brown sugar that just quietly lingers on without being sickly or too sweet. While many Scotch ales tend towards being heavy bodied, this is maybe just on the heavy side of medium, which keeps it from being over-bearing, and means I could easily drink more than a few, which at 7.5% could prove to be dangerous. Still, a great Scotch ale, very pleasing and complex, without being inaccessible to new comers to the world of heavy northern British beers. If I ever get to McAuslan, there is going to be some embarrassingly school-girl-esque gushing when I meet the brewers.
Proost, Opa! I know you’re hearing bagpipes now, having freedom from that aged body.
About the Brewery
McAuslan Brewing began operations in January of 1989. Located at 4850 St-Ambroise Street in Montreal’s St-Henri district, it has established itself as Quebec’s foremost micro-brewery.
The brewery launched its first beer in February 1989. St-Ambroise Pale Ale was an immediate success. Its distinctive hoppy-ness and clear reddish hue set it apart and gained it an instant following. Shortly after, McAuslan Brewing became the first micro-brewery to offer its product in bottles.
