May 31, 2005 -- The launch of the new Ontario Craft Brewers group brought to my door a promotional selection of beers from a handful of member breweries. Although I was well familiar with every one, it had been some time since I last tasted a number of them, so I felt an Ontario tasting was in order. Here’s what came of it.

First up were a trio of lagers formed by Golden Horseshoe Premium Lager from Toronto’s Great Lakes Brewery; Wolfgang’s German Style Beer, which the label states is “brewed for Skeena Brands” in Stoney Creek, a town which does not, to my knowledge, boast a commercial brewery; and a Vienna-style lager called Saint Andre, contract brewed for the one-man Saint Andre Brewing Company by Cool Beer of Brampton.

The 5% ABV Golden Horseshoe struck me immediately as one of the all-too-many mainstream-style lagers brewed by my home province’s craft brewers, with a not unpleasant, but one dimensional sweet, grainy aroma and cereally, cotton candy-like sweet body. Wolfgang’s was a small step up, with a light copper colour, 0.9% more alcohol and a chewier, maltier body, but still constituted pretty much more of the same.

It wasn’t until the Saint Andre that my palate was forced to get busy, with its reddish hue, toasty aroma and nicely balanced body carrying notes of toasty, almost biscuity malt, gentle caramelly sweetness and drying, modestly bitter hops. By far the most characterful of the three beers, Saint Andre is also the lightest, at a mere 4.6% alcohol by volume.

Next, as a sort of intermezzo, I popped the cap on a bottle of Sleeman Original Draught, the 5% ABV lager that the Canadian regional brewer has been promoting heavily of late. Rich copper in colour, it has an interesting aroma, not exactly sweet, but neither dry nor hoppy, and with slight though notable vegetal and overripe peach notes. The taste begins with a very light sweetness, leading into a body that ventures from lightly sweet to just off-dry, offering slightly toffee-ish malt and some light, floral hop along the way. Perhaps this isn’t thrilling me because I’m not drinking it, as the company press release suggests, “icy cold,” but I find this to be just another more-or-less forgettable brew on the mainstream landscape.

The tasting was rounded out by Walkerville Lager, from the Windsor brewery of the same name; Northumberland Ale from Campbellford’s Church Key Brewing; and King Brewery Dark Lager from Nobleton, just north of Toronto.

As always, the first reminded me of Creemore Springs Premium Lager, the iconic Ontario craft-brewed lager recently purchased by Molson, and may have actually surpassed its apparent model in character, with a rich maltiness, drying hop finish and little to none of the fruitiness that seems to define its better-known predecessor. Speaking of fruitness, the Northumberland boasts plenty, with fragrant peach in the nose and a muddle of soft fleshed fruits in the body. Having noted that, however, the lone ale in this tasting never gets too sweet or becomes cloying, with enough hop added to keep it resolutely in the traditional Canadian ale style. The final beer of the day, King Dark, demonstrates again that brewer Phil DiFonzo knows his stuff, with a Munchner dunkel character defined by a roasty, earthy, chocolaty nose and off-dry, cocoa-ish and just faintly burnt tasting body. Like DiFonzo’s terrific King Brewery Pilsner before it, this is a beer that has progressed tremendously in flavour since its introduction.

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