Zizanie - Tête d’Allumette (Canada - Quebec - St-André de Kamouraska)

Zizanie - Tête d’Allumette (Canada - Quebec - St-André de Kamouraska) 3.9%

A barely cloudy gold in a glass without much of a head. The aroma is sweet, light, with white fleshed fruits tones like pear or white grape juice. The flavour is light but not as light as you might expect from the low alcohol content,  a delicious mix of mild crusty roll or giant pretzel tones from the malt, floral tones that bring to mind wide fields in August and a light hop bitterness with an umami finish that means the glass spends as much time at my lips as it does resting on the bar. Yum!

A quick note about the venue where I came across this rare beauty. Gainsbourg is a fine brewpub in its own right (reviews of their beers upcoming) but they also serve a great selection of Quebecois beers including this one.

Bob LeBoeuf - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston)

Bob LeBoeuf - Petit Sault Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Edmundston) 5.2%

Full gold in a glass without much of a head of foam. The malt flavour is somewhat toasted and sweet but with a herbal touch from the yeast that is well suited to the style and very pleasant. It has a somewhat thicker mouthfeel than some other beers but again this is suitable for the style. All in all, a nicely drinkable Belgian Style Blonde Ale.

La Blonde de l'Anse - Pit Caribou (Canada - Quebec - Percé)

La Blonde de l'Anse - Pit Caribou (Canada - Quebec - Percé) 5.0%

La Blonde de l'Anse is gold and slightly cloudy in a glass with resilient white head. The aroma has grain, honeyed sweetness with some spiciness. The taste is more bitter than expected. La Blonde de l'Anse has a white bread, grain flavour along with a light green flavour like Timothy-grass or when you pluck and suck on wild clover. A bit of a nutty or maybe umami aftertaste. Quite refreshing.

Blonde Du Quai - Shiretown (Canada - New Brunswick - Dalhousie)

Blonde Du Quai - Shiretown (Canada - New Brunswick - Dalhousie) 4.5%

Very hoppy and floral with a sweet and malty flavour capped with a punch of grain flavour. The flavour makes it quite bitter but it doesn't dominate as there is a lot of nice things going on here. A very nice blonde ale.

As far as where to get your hands on it, well, it is available in growler for from the brewery in Dalhousie, N.B., on tap in a few fine beer bars in New Brunswick (Marky's Laundromat Espresso Bar and the Garrison District Ale House) and Shiretown has recently announced they are going begin bottling and selling their beer through NB Liquor so look forward to that.

A Boréale Pair from Les Brasseurs du Nord (Canada - Quebec - Blainville)

Boréale Dorée 4.8%

A darkish bronze colour in a glass. Roasty, quite sweet and tones of grains, not bitter. A little musty - likely due to hardship experienced by the beer during travel from Quebec to New Brunswick. A slick looking label and cool bottle cap also.

Boréale Blanche 4.2%

Aroma is punchy and floral. Tastes like apricots and also spicy and a little bitter; not overly sweet. Quite a nice white, not very cloudy more of a pale gold in a glass.