Friday, September 21, 2012

Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager (Canada)

Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager (Canada) 5.5%

First off, the name, label and even the bottle cap are awesomely hilarious. And it's fitting (har, har. Get it? It's a sweater!) too: the spice mix really does make this comfort food in the form of beer.

An orange hued gold in a glass. The aroma is of cinnamon, all-spice and cloves with just a touch of malt in there also. Some of the underlying sweetness is likely due to the added brown sugar but I didn't get any more sweetness than could be credited to the malt.

The taste is very spicy with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, some brown sugar and cloves. A bitter finish reminds me that this is in fact a beer as well as a collection of flavours reminiscent of pumpkin pie and that reminds me of everything nice about Autumn. And it's a beer that I enjoy very much at that; I can feel the leaves turning with every sip. You absolutely must serve Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager quite a bit warmer than typical refrigerator temperature otherwise the spices are understated and the bitterness comes out much too clearly.

The food pairings suggested on the box are quite apt and I think they would work quite well: braised ribs, sweet potato fries or turkey. Overall a nicely spiced lager perfect for this time of year, so unless you hate pumpkin pie or flavoured beers in general you should give Rickard's Cardigan Autumn Spiced Lager a try.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Dave - just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to both try and review Cardigan. I hope you do get the opportunity to try it with some of the food pairings. my family enjoyed it with our thanksgiving dinner, and it was the perfect compliment to not only the turkey, but our savory/mushroom stuffing as well.

    best regards,
    Forest

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    Replies
    1. My pleasure, I always enjoy getting the word out by reviewing new seasonals and limited editions.

      Cheers!

      Dave

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  2. I want the bottle and cap is possible?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I want the bottle and cap is possible

    ReplyDelete