Sep. 10, 2008 - Issue #673: Sex in the City 2008
Great Head - Not run of the mill
Mill Street Brewery
Toronto, Ontario
$11.35 Per six pack
In recent months, a number of my friends have raved about a certain beer they’ve just discovered. I respect my friends, and so perk up my ears when they tell me about something they like.
The beer they’re going on about is Tankhouse Ale from Toronto microbrewery Mill Street. I know Mill Street to be a brewery with growing popularity and with a penchant for winning awards. They are one of a handful of small Ontario breweries who are beginning to aggressively market and distribute their beers across the country, breaking out of the regional rut. The Tankhouse Ale is their flagship brand. I remember trying it a couple years ago, and at the time I liked it but it didn’t jump out at me terribly much.
I decided to give it another try with a more focused mind to the quality of the beer. I came away more impressed than the first time.
Tankhouse Ale is a pale ale, the hoppy yet balanced traditional British style. That, in and of itself is not remarkable: most micros offer their version of a pale ale.
It pours a deep reddish copper with a decent off-white head that dissipates quickly, leaving only a thin layer on the beer. It has a rounded and floral hop aroma, mixed with some crystal and caramel malt sweetness. I also detected some esters in the smell, almost Belgian in quality. There is also a distinct whiskey note to nose.
Up front in the taste toffee and caramel sweetness dominates. After the initial sweet, bitterness moves in quickly, as well as a grassy and rounded hop flavour. The bitterness never fully takes over—the beer keeps a toffee malt character throughout. The finish is balanced, but leaning toward a lingering piney bitterness.
Tankhouse presents a very smooth beer, which both mutes the hop bitterness and softens the malt. Overall it is a drinkable, pleasant and accessible pale ale. It is not quite as hoppy or complex as other I have sampled, but it’s clearly well made. By keeping the beer smooth and balanced, they both increase the drinkability of the beer and expand their potential market for it among beer shoppers.
The lesson for me is that it pays to have friends who appreciate beer. Especially beer that is craft brewed in Canada. V
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