Elora Grand Lager

Continuing on my Canadian vacation from mid March, Elora Grand Lager.

Brewed by Trafalgar Brewing Company
Ontario, Canada
Pale Lager
5%

Purchased from an LCBO in Scarborough.

(I have no idea why Blogger is doing this to my photos...)

"Dry-Hopped" and "Craft Brewed" Oh really...? We'll have to see about that.

Look: The Elora Grand Lager pours A very bright, golden color. It looks sort of like light orange juice.  The head barely existent, forms about a quarter of an inch of just pure foam. This does not look very appetizing at all.

Smell: A bit of bathroom cleaner. Seriously. It smells like lemon pledge. Maybe A bit of corn, faintest trace of some barley malt as well. The smell was pretty hard to pick up because of the solvent hints it gives off.  I really hope the taste does not follow.

Taste: Ok, here we go. The first thing I notice right up front is A hoppy twang. Not so much A good, quality hoppy twang. Maybe A cheaper, hop oil twang. It really hits you on the tongue. It's pretty sour and A bit solvent...like I imagine lemon pledge would be. After you dig your way through that, you can finally pick up A bit of sweetness that flickers throughout the middle but then gets buried again by that lemon twang.  I guess it's not awful. It could be really refreshing if I just got done mowing a couple acres worth of grass with push mower and needed to drink something to quench my dying thirst. Meh...

Mouthfeel:  The mouthfeel is pretty slick. Not really drying at all. Carbonation is pretty moderate with this one.

Overall: It's not too bad. I don't think I would really ever buy it again. It was pretty cheap and at least it was drinkable. I'd rate it higher than most Macro brews too but for me, it just doesn't hit the spot.

Elora Grand Lager gets A 2/5.

Sleeman Clear

I spent A few days in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last month. Specifically March 13-15. What did I do? Well, I drank beer. Lots of it actually.  Well I guess that's not all I did. I made A few great friends too. Yeah, that actually never happens. It did though, I swear... Anyways, over the next many posts I plan on reviewing all of the my libations.

Lets get started.

Sleeman Clear
Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company
Guelph, Ontario
"Light Lager"
4% ABV

Look: Right off the bat you can see the beer.  It comes in A clear bottle, it's impossible not to be able to. It's A very light, "corny" yellow color.  Poured almost no head at all. What did form was about an inch and A half of a rocky, bubbly head.  A sad looking beer.

Smell: Very grainy.  Before I even got close to it, I could smell fresh cut grains and heaps of corn.  Underlying all of that is A musty hint of some old apples and maybe some rusting metal.  I am not detecting anything too discernible except for maybe the corn and the metal.

Borrowed photo from Libres-Penseurs. I neglected to take A photo for some reason.

Taste: Yep, it's A light beer. The first taste I get is actually the non-existent taste. A crisp, watery, drink.  Some light hints of corn and sweet apple linger throughout the entirety. Maybe the faintest taste of some hops.  Surprisingly the beer wasn't skunked because of the clear bottle. I guess you need to actually have hops in the beer for it to skunk though. All in all, it doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't really taste like anything.  It sort of reminds me of Coors light with that hint of fruity banana or apple flavor.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation doesn't sting as much as I thought it may have for A beer like this.  Medium carbonation. Very smooth and easy to put down, especially on A hot day.

Overall:  It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's also not the best.  It's A light beer.  Primarily water.  I can't say that it didn't go down really good after walking around Toronto all day. I'll give it that.

Sleeman Clear gets A 2/5 from me.  I'd drink it again if the circumstance are right.