The Broadhead Brewing Company business plan is simple:
1. Build a small brewery
2. Brew tasty beer
3. Sell some, drink some
4. Grow large beards
5. Quit our days jobs
6. Hire all of our friends
7. Make a rap video
Now, unless I haven’t been digging deep enough into the seedy back pages of the internet, I have not discovered this rap video yet, but I will keep my fingers crossed in anticipation.
As far as the beer is concerned, I picked up a tall can of their Grind Stone Amber Ale at my local LCBO and thought I’d give it a try! Usually I tend to pass over amber/red/brown ales in the winter months in place for something a little more robust to warm me up. However, upon giving this Ottawa craft brew a chance, I was not upset at all to discover all of my inhibitions have been wrong – what a robust yet sessionable ale!
Broadhead proudly proclaims on their website that Grind Stone Amber Ale “is not for the laid-back beer drinker.” I think I would tend to agree with them if we were to assume the “laid-back” beer drinker is a Budweiser fanatic and the polar opposite would be everyone else who values flavour. (It’s finally my turn to throw some mud in Budweiser’s direction). Moving on.
Broadhead Grind Stone Amber ale has an ABV of 4.8% (according to their website, tall can says 5%) and is available at the LCBO, their brewery, or look out for it at your local watering hole.
Appearance: A really nice medium amber colour, light head that dissipates, and nice effervescence.
Aroma: slight copper ale, clean caramel malt, and just a hint of floral
Taste: a nice smooth caramel with an almost toasty note. Bitter sweet with a smooth mouthfeel.
Aftertaste: Bitter/sweet with a slight piquant bite.
Overall: For the craft beer drinkers out there, this is a unique experience in the world of Amber Ales, slightly more bold than what a lot of ales are bringing to the table. Nice overall profile. Enjoyable.
As for the laid-back beer drinkers; this…feels…awkward…
Cheers!
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