Farmhouse Ale - Bridge Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 7.5%

Farmhouse Ale - Bridge Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 7.5%

This ale pours a cloudy amber colour in a glass with a big frothy head that leaves lovely lacing. The nose is led by Belgian yeast aromas: floral and herbal tones as well as sweetness. Bridge Brewing describes the aroma as candied fruit and I have to say I agree, a little bit of something gingery in there too. There is a lot of stuff going on in the aroma (I expect everybody will get something a little bit different) and it is really quite nice.

The yeast notes continue in the taste, herbal, nectar, maybe a hint of banana and something like not-quite-ripe mango, but rounded out by a sweet and roasty malt body. There is a bit of pine tasting hops, a bitter bite to the finish as well as a tart touch from the mix of yeast flavours. Also, the aftertaste has a bit of a resiny hops taste to it. You can feel the alcohol warming your chest and as a tingling in your mouth but it barely comes through in the flavour except to accentuate the bitterness. As regular readers of the blog can probably guess I like this ale even more as it warms: the roasty flavours come out more and also the tart yeast flavours, the bitterness as well as the alcohol all blend better in my opinion.

For those of you not aware, Bridge Brewing is an interesting new brewery and project based out of Halifax, their website and this copy printed on the back of their reusable 750 ml ceramic bottles tell their story.