What's MMNTech drinking, and reviewing tonight? We've got some Garrison Spruce Beer on tap today to celebrate my Saturday. That's Wednesday night for the rest of you folks.
This brew comes from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I've mentioned the brewery before in my past review. I got a chance to visit the place last spring. The Hipster fellow manning the shop told me a lot about the brewery, and how difficult it was to get sold out of province. Garrison became available in Ontario last summer.
I had a fun day at the liquor store today. They're bringing specialty brews from Garrison out. Unfortunately, they're not stocking most of their regular brews yet. For winter 2012, we've got Pils (a Czech/German style pilsner), Grand Baltic Porter, Winter Warmer (a heavy ale), Black IPA, and Spruce Beer. They all come in large 500ml pint bottles, as opposed to the standard 355ml.
Their Spruce Beer has been the talk of the papers lately across the country. It's a unique way to flavour it. According to Garrison, the first beers brewed for troops garrisoned at Halifax were brewed this way. Since domestic hops wasn't available, they used pine to flavour their beer. It was supposedly quite popular with sailors. That makes it one of the oldest beer styles in North America.
The Spruce Beer is brewed with fir and spruce tips, blackstrap molasses (giving it a rich dark brown colour) and dates. It has a pleasant pine scent to it, though the molasses is also evident on the nose.
I can really taste the dates in this beer. The molasses also gives it a slight bitterness. There's a slight pine aftertaste too it. It feels warm in my belly, likely owing to its rather high alcohol content for beer. However, it's 7.5% ABV isn't too strong.
It's interesting, complex. Quite heavy, yet also smooth. I think this is going to be something people either love or hate. I enjoyed it, but you definitely have to be a fan of heavy ales to appreciate it. I'd suggest serving it with hearty foods, especially traditional Quebec cuisine.
One drawback of this beer is the price, as it is a limited run. It's about $5.20 per bottle, which is double what most beers of its size tend to sell for.
Sorry for the large image. I left it so you guys could read the label.