Boundary Ale
Country: Canada
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: 39
Style: Amber ale
Colour: The colour of borderline copyright infringement
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: 39
Style: Amber ale
Colour: The colour of borderline copyright infringement
For those who didn't know, Boundary Ale is an attempted foray into craft brewing by longtime Canadian independent, Moosehead Brewery. Who, by the way, should be downright ashamed by their recent actions, most notably the suing of a small independant soda company in the States because they were so bold as to put a moose on their bottle. Really Moosehead? C'mon man. Anyways, apparently Moosehead is trying to cash in on the craft beer game by trying to brew something "crafty." While it seems like a lot of people are slagging this beer pretty hard, I gotta say that I didn't mind it. I certainly wouldn't choose it over the myriad of ales that I've come to know and love during my time as a beer snob, but it certainly isn't the piece of shit that I expected it to be, and it certainly isn't as bad as I've seen it described on the good ole' user review beer sites.
Boundary Ale poured a much lighter colour than I would have expected, but it had a ballin' amount of consistent foamy head so it looked pretty nice overall. I found the aromas pretty damn spectacular, as they were quite different from any beer that I've smelled in a long time. It's an extremely earthy aroma that almost smells like dried plants and dirt, but in a fresh and appetizing way, if you can picture it. The taste is quite subtle, but there's a lot going on, probably because they used an unnecessarily high amount of malt and hop varieties (7 and 4 respectively). It starts off pretty sweet, dominated by some light but tasty malt character, and then transitions mid-sip into a more hop dominated profile. I really liked the flavour profile of the hops, as it had a very earthy and floral taste rather than the usual American citrus dominated flavours, but it seems a bit too bitter for the style and it really lingers in the aftertaste. Good if you like hops, but not good if you wanted to ponder all those malt flavours between sips. This lingering bitterness upsets the beer's balance a little bit but it' still an enjoyable pint. The mouth-feel is surprisingly impressive, as it starts and finishes rich and full, and goes down smooth.
This is a very easy beer to drink, and delivers some decent malt and hop action. It's not going to win any awards, but if you're looking for an easy drinking and light ale that can still deliver some flavour, you could do a lot worse than Boundary Ale.
Boundary Ale poured a much lighter colour than I would have expected, but it had a ballin' amount of consistent foamy head so it looked pretty nice overall. I found the aromas pretty damn spectacular, as they were quite different from any beer that I've smelled in a long time. It's an extremely earthy aroma that almost smells like dried plants and dirt, but in a fresh and appetizing way, if you can picture it. The taste is quite subtle, but there's a lot going on, probably because they used an unnecessarily high amount of malt and hop varieties (7 and 4 respectively). It starts off pretty sweet, dominated by some light but tasty malt character, and then transitions mid-sip into a more hop dominated profile. I really liked the flavour profile of the hops, as it had a very earthy and floral taste rather than the usual American citrus dominated flavours, but it seems a bit too bitter for the style and it really lingers in the aftertaste. Good if you like hops, but not good if you wanted to ponder all those malt flavours between sips. This lingering bitterness upsets the beer's balance a little bit but it' still an enjoyable pint. The mouth-feel is surprisingly impressive, as it starts and finishes rich and full, and goes down smooth.
This is a very easy beer to drink, and delivers some decent malt and hop action. It's not going to win any awards, but if you're looking for an easy drinking and light ale that can still deliver some flavour, you could do a lot worse than Boundary Ale.
