Have you ever been to Canada? Things a re a little different there, mainly in terms of the terminology. I’ve been to St. John, Halifax and Toronto in my journeys and I learned a few things. First, you are not “from America” nor are you “an American”; you are “from the states”. If you tell a Canadian that you’re an American, the response is likely to be “Me too!” They call their dollar coins Loonies because of the bird on them and the two dollar coin is a Toonie. Once you have the hang of it, you can go from looking like a total tourist to just a mostly tourist look. But if there is one thing that our friends North take seriously its their beer. Having been involved in the sport of Curling for several years now, I’ve had the opportunity to play with and against many Canadians and they are very serious about their beer. I’ve heard both sides of the Canadian (Molson) vs. Blue (Labatt’s) argument but I think it may soon be time to consider adding the much less known Collective Arts to the discussion.
Collective Arts is based up in Hamilton but its spreading quickly. They are not just brewing beer to drink, they are creating experiences that link beer to the arts. Their cans feature creative art displays and they endorse and help promote local musicians As their site says, “Our brewery is dedicated to promoting artists and raising creative consciousness through the sociability of craft beer.” and thats fine by me.
So I wanted to try something that was unique to their brewery, I’d had their collaboration with Two Roads already, and I was fortunate to find their stuff locally and purchased Saint of Circumstance. Its a blonde ale with orange and lemon peels brewed in. I’m not normally a blonde ale person but this was very good. Starts off light and finishes strong and man is it smooth, another ale that I’d recommend for out on the beach or water. The oranges and lemon were present but not overwhelming and thats important too. I didn’t want a Shandy, I wanted an ale with hints of clean crisp fruit and thats what I got. If I were an ale person, I’d probably be in love right now, but as an IPA guy what this really instilled in me is a desire to go and try to find Ransack the Universe, a highly rated Double IPA they make. So the hunt is on for that one. In the meantime, I’ve got an excellent ale by a group whose desire to promote not only their own brand but emerging artists as well and that is a great start. I gave Saint of Circumstance a 3.75 on Untappd.
Cheers! – B
Fignuts DFS Podcast and Beer Reviews 