Try This : Manitoulin Brewing Co.’s Cup And Saucer English Ale

Another perfect beer for the cottage, Manitoulin Brewing Co.’s Cup and Saucer English Ale. Yes please.

Manitoulin Brewing Co. “Cup & Saucer” English Ale, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada (5% Alcohol) LCBO $3.10 (473ml can)

Whilst I’m always on the prowl for some good beer for the cottage, I’m feeling slightly guilty that this is the second beer I have recommended that is only really available if you drive right up to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula or beyond to Manitoulin Island.

Nevertheless this English Ale from Manitoulin Island certainly deserves a mention as upon tasting it for the very first time last weekend I realised that I’d probably be drinking a fair bit of it over the summer and fall. With it being one of the brewery’s seasonals I’m not quite sure how long the Tobermory LCBO’s stocks will last for. We’ll see…

I’m a sucker for nice beer packaging (Beau’s, I’m looking at you here), and this can really caught my eye in the store.

Upon pouring this beer is a dark, hazy orangey copper colour, with a reasonable head that dissipates in short order with very little lacing to speak of. On the nose there’s a dominant malty character that I find most appealing, as well as nuances of freshly baked loaf and just-dipped-in-tea Rich Tea biscuits… although this may have something to do with the name of the beer putting words in my mouth.

On the palate the beer is medium-bodied and pretty dry with a medium-plus carbonation. The flavours of malt dominate, with just a little touch of hoppiness going on. There’s also a sense of astringency, a neat little bit of structure, in there that I’m very much enjoying. 

All in all, none of the aromatics or flavours are really too pronounced bar the maltiness, as it’s not a particularly complex beer, but what is in there is damn tasty and appeals to my Scottish malt-loving palate, making this another perfect cottage sipper/guzzler for me.

 
(Four apples out of a possible five)

Edinburgh-born/Toronto-based Sommelier, consultant, writer, judge, and educator Jamie Drummond is the Director of Programs/Editor of Good Food Revolution… And here’s to the long weekend with a few of these!