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Ashton Brewing Co.
113 Old Mill Rd. | Ashton, ON | Established: 2012
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Blueberry Wheat - Great
ABV: unavailable I IBU'S: unavailable I Style: Wheat ale
Ashton's Blueberry Wheat is hands down one of the most enjoyable beers I've had this summer. I almost never give a beer a "great" rating because I almost never feel like I'm drinking a great beer. Style and technical beer mumbo-jumbo aside, I gave Blueberry Wheat a "great" rating because it just tastes really, really, ridiculously fucking good, and it's very easy to drink. Blueberry Wheat is just as refreshing as Beyond The Pale's fabled Pink Fuzz, but more subtle and less bitter, making it more enjoyable in my books, and this is coming from a guy who really really likes Pink Fuzz.
Don't be put off by the word "blueberry" in the title. This is no flavour gimmick, and there's no cloying sweet fruit juice added here (as far as I know). If someone handed you this beer without telling you what it's called, you probably wouldn't even detect any blueberry flavouring at all. It's very subtle, buried deep under a soft and velvety wheat beer body, and something that probably only a cicerone would list in their tasting notes. It does provide a fruity element to the flavour profile, but it's hard to detect specifically as blueberry. This is just a straight-up refreshing and subtle wheat ale which makes it a perfect summer beer, but it could also be enjoyed year round simply because of it's extraordinary texture and mouth-feel. Blueberry Wheat is just an absolute pleasure to drink, with no hop bitterness, no booziness to detect, no aftertaste whatsoever, and a soft flavour that begs you to take another sip. There's really nothing more I can say about this beer other than that it's an absolute must try.
Don't be put off by the word "blueberry" in the title. This is no flavour gimmick, and there's no cloying sweet fruit juice added here (as far as I know). If someone handed you this beer without telling you what it's called, you probably wouldn't even detect any blueberry flavouring at all. It's very subtle, buried deep under a soft and velvety wheat beer body, and something that probably only a cicerone would list in their tasting notes. It does provide a fruity element to the flavour profile, but it's hard to detect specifically as blueberry. This is just a straight-up refreshing and subtle wheat ale which makes it a perfect summer beer, but it could also be enjoyed year round simply because of it's extraordinary texture and mouth-feel. Blueberry Wheat is just an absolute pleasure to drink, with no hop bitterness, no booziness to detect, no aftertaste whatsoever, and a soft flavour that begs you to take another sip. There's really nothing more I can say about this beer other than that it's an absolute must try.
Mai Bock - Good
ABV: 6.0% I IBU'S: unavailable I Style: Bock
Pleasantly suprised by this one. Ashton tends to get a bit wild and crazy with their seasonal and select brews so I feared that this one might be a little over-the-top as well. Thankfully this was not the case, and I can easily recommend Mai Bock to any fan of the bock style, or anyone looking for a robust and adventurous brew.
It looks like a bock, smells like a bock, and tastes like a bock. Maybe just not a maibock. It's very dark and very sweet, and seems to be closer in style to a traditional or doppel bock than a maibock, which is typically lighter in colour with a bit more hop presence. The hop presence in this beer is very subdued, and exists mostly to try and tame the incredibly rich and sweet flavours that dominate from start to finish. You can sense this sweetness before your lips even hit the glass, as you'll get some big sweet and boozy aromas, with faint hints of roasted malt. The flavour follows the same lines, with a huge blasts of red-berries, sweet syrup, and dark fruit with some hints of clove and spices in the background. Since Ashton's website doesn't provide any information on their seasonal or select beers, I have no clue how many IBU's Mai Bock is rocking, but it doesn't really matter as there isn't much of a hop presence in the flavour profile. This isn't a bad thing though, as this lets the true character of a bock shine through. The mouth-feel is a perfect compliment to the flavour, big and rich with a nice low carbonation level that adds to Mai Bock's smoothness. An interesting side note to this beer is the crazy sweet but delicious syrupy residue that you can taste if you lick your lips between sips.
This is a big, flavourful, and enjoyable beer, but it's also quite heavy, perilously close to being cloying, and even though the ABV is relatively low for a bock, it's got a boozy feel to it. For these reasons Mai Bock is a long way from sessionable, a trait that everyone seems to have a boner for these days, and having more than two pints would require a glass of water and some intestinal fortitude. Otherwise, a very solid beer that's definitely worth a try if you can get ahold of some.
It looks like a bock, smells like a bock, and tastes like a bock. Maybe just not a maibock. It's very dark and very sweet, and seems to be closer in style to a traditional or doppel bock than a maibock, which is typically lighter in colour with a bit more hop presence. The hop presence in this beer is very subdued, and exists mostly to try and tame the incredibly rich and sweet flavours that dominate from start to finish. You can sense this sweetness before your lips even hit the glass, as you'll get some big sweet and boozy aromas, with faint hints of roasted malt. The flavour follows the same lines, with a huge blasts of red-berries, sweet syrup, and dark fruit with some hints of clove and spices in the background. Since Ashton's website doesn't provide any information on their seasonal or select beers, I have no clue how many IBU's Mai Bock is rocking, but it doesn't really matter as there isn't much of a hop presence in the flavour profile. This isn't a bad thing though, as this lets the true character of a bock shine through. The mouth-feel is a perfect compliment to the flavour, big and rich with a nice low carbonation level that adds to Mai Bock's smoothness. An interesting side note to this beer is the crazy sweet but delicious syrupy residue that you can taste if you lick your lips between sips.
This is a big, flavourful, and enjoyable beer, but it's also quite heavy, perilously close to being cloying, and even though the ABV is relatively low for a bock, it's got a boozy feel to it. For these reasons Mai Bock is a long way from sessionable, a trait that everyone seems to have a boner for these days, and having more than two pints would require a glass of water and some intestinal fortitude. Otherwise, a very solid beer that's definitely worth a try if you can get ahold of some.
Coffee Porter - Meh
ABV: 5.0% I IBU'S: unavailable I Style: Flavoured porter
The more of these that I try, the harder it's getting to tell all of these coffee and vanilla flavoured stouts and porters apart from one another. It also makes it harder and harder for any of these beers to stand out above the pack. Unfortunately, Ashton Coffee Porter is just one of many that blend in with the background.
Pours black with tan head, but blink and you'll miss it, as it melts away quickly. The nose is sweet with coffee and chocolate hints, but for me the dominating aroma was salty soya sauce. I had to pass my pint around to get confirmation of this because I was worried that maybe my nose was a bit fucky. Thankfully, there was no soya sauce on the palette. There was however, plenty of sweetness to go around. Probably a little too much though, as this tasted more sweet than coffee like. The coffee is there, but it doesn't taste very real, but rather more like artificial flavouring. The rest of the beer is not bad though. I like sweet beer so I didn't mind the generous chocolate, vanilla and caramel malt flavours. There was also a nice roasty flavour all the way through which is my favourite characteristic of a good porter. This beer finishes a bit metallic which wasn't awesome, but the aftertaste is farily pleasant. The mouth-feel isn't exceptionally smooth, as there is a high amount of carbonation, but it smooths out as it warms up so I would definitely let that happen before drinking another pint.
All in all, Ashton Coffee Porter is a fairly flavourful beer, but the flavours aren't very subtle or refined, and the mouth-feel isn't amazing.
Pours black with tan head, but blink and you'll miss it, as it melts away quickly. The nose is sweet with coffee and chocolate hints, but for me the dominating aroma was salty soya sauce. I had to pass my pint around to get confirmation of this because I was worried that maybe my nose was a bit fucky. Thankfully, there was no soya sauce on the palette. There was however, plenty of sweetness to go around. Probably a little too much though, as this tasted more sweet than coffee like. The coffee is there, but it doesn't taste very real, but rather more like artificial flavouring. The rest of the beer is not bad though. I like sweet beer so I didn't mind the generous chocolate, vanilla and caramel malt flavours. There was also a nice roasty flavour all the way through which is my favourite characteristic of a good porter. This beer finishes a bit metallic which wasn't awesome, but the aftertaste is farily pleasant. The mouth-feel isn't exceptionally smooth, as there is a high amount of carbonation, but it smooths out as it warms up so I would definitely let that happen before drinking another pint.
All in all, Ashton Coffee Porter is a fairly flavourful beer, but the flavours aren't very subtle or refined, and the mouth-feel isn't amazing.
Vanilla Stout - Good
ABV: 5.5% I IBU'S: 70 I Style: Flavoured stout
Another day, another stout. And another local beer that presents a hard decision for a reviewer, as it just seems to find the dead space between a "meh" beer and a "good" beer. In the end I'lll give this one a "good" rating because it's definitely better than a bunch of the other stouts I've had in the past year.
So this mug of beer came at me and the first thing I noticed is that it wasn't black. It was more of a ruby colour, maybe one of the least black looking stouts I've seen in a long while. Who gives a shit though, I just thought I'd mention it. That little bit of head that you see in the picture there lasted almost until the end of the pint, and it was very thick and creamy. It was definitely a foreshadowing to this beers rich, creamy and smooth mouth-feel. Aston Vanilla Stout has an impressive mouth-feel, very similar to Guinness, the big daddy of commercial stouts, in that it has that nitrogen injected feel to it rather than the usual bubbly CO2 feel. This beer's aroma was nothing to write home about though, and if I was blindfolded I would have had trouble discerning it from a lager. As for the flavour profile, it's more of a roller coaster ride than a cruise. The beer starts out with a little hint of sweet vanilla, then transitions into a hoppy, roasty middle, and finishes on the extremely toasty side. I really like how Ashton has made the vanilla aspect of this beer extremely subtle, as they've infused just the right amount to give the beer a nice sweetness but not so much to distract you. Conspicuously absent is any hint of chocolate, which is usually noticeable with stout malts, but there was some huge flavour on the back end. The flavour is kind of hard to pinpoint, but I would best describe this beer's finish as tasting like the bottom of a burnt cookie, or the burnt coffee in the bottom of a decanter. Even though that doesn't sound that great, I really enjoyed it and it added an element of uniqueness to this beer. Overall a fairly solid stout, I found it a bit thin in the middle, and it left a lingering aftertaste that lasted long after I left the bar, but I would order this beer again in a pinch.
So this mug of beer came at me and the first thing I noticed is that it wasn't black. It was more of a ruby colour, maybe one of the least black looking stouts I've seen in a long while. Who gives a shit though, I just thought I'd mention it. That little bit of head that you see in the picture there lasted almost until the end of the pint, and it was very thick and creamy. It was definitely a foreshadowing to this beers rich, creamy and smooth mouth-feel. Aston Vanilla Stout has an impressive mouth-feel, very similar to Guinness, the big daddy of commercial stouts, in that it has that nitrogen injected feel to it rather than the usual bubbly CO2 feel. This beer's aroma was nothing to write home about though, and if I was blindfolded I would have had trouble discerning it from a lager. As for the flavour profile, it's more of a roller coaster ride than a cruise. The beer starts out with a little hint of sweet vanilla, then transitions into a hoppy, roasty middle, and finishes on the extremely toasty side. I really like how Ashton has made the vanilla aspect of this beer extremely subtle, as they've infused just the right amount to give the beer a nice sweetness but not so much to distract you. Conspicuously absent is any hint of chocolate, which is usually noticeable with stout malts, but there was some huge flavour on the back end. The flavour is kind of hard to pinpoint, but I would best describe this beer's finish as tasting like the bottom of a burnt cookie, or the burnt coffee in the bottom of a decanter. Even though that doesn't sound that great, I really enjoyed it and it added an element of uniqueness to this beer. Overall a fairly solid stout, I found it a bit thin in the middle, and it left a lingering aftertaste that lasted long after I left the bar, but I would order this beer again in a pinch.
