Grand River Town Hall Lager

Brewed by Grand River Brewing
Style: Premium Lager
Cambridge, Canada

Good natural bitterness for a lager without hopping, above average mouthfeel. Most smooth and drinkable

Malty nose, dark amber, almost no head. Taste is candied malt, sweet, toasty, good.

Golden coloured, thin white coloured head, very light to non-existent lacing. The aroma is light, some grass, flowers, pale malts, lightly sweet. The flavour is a little bland, some caramel sweetness, light grassy hops. Light nearing watery mouthfeel, light body, mild carbonation. Finishes lightly hopped, very mild. A tasty lager, a revisit is in the future.

Growler from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/ontario/ target=blank>Grand River Brewing in Cambridge, Ontario.
Opened on November 16, 2007.
Bottled October 30, 2007.

At the brewery-Deep orange/amber body, pours a frothed rocky bleached white cap. The lacing and retention are excellent. Fresh fruity aroma, green apples, green leafy hops, lots of sugary malts leading to a touch of orange peel. There’s quite the balance in the flavour of subtle, off-dry malts, some fruit (pear, apple), some biscuit, with hearty doses of basil and leafy hops. Very refreshing, assertive, while at the same time being respectively "light". Another gem from this brewery!

From a growler. (Thanks radiomgb). Copper orange with just a film of head. (Perhaps due to time spent in the growler). The aroma is of stale apple and fresh cut grass. The flavour is more malt than hops - the malt profile actually becomes quite nice as the beer warms. Nice bitter finish. As full-bodied a light lager as you’ll find. Very tasty and drinkable. Why don’t they bottle this stuff?

Growler from the brewery - pours a shocking rusty copper hue with a medium white head. Beautiful, fresh aroma filled with bread dough, sweet malts and a good amount of hops. Nice yeastiness in there too. Flavour is brilliant - an expert mingling of hops and malt, with the malt providing a good body and the hops adding a nice refreshing bitter finish. Jesus, this is 3.9%?! You’d never know it to look, smell or taste, and really puts to rest the notion that "light beer" has to be light in colour, aroma and flavour. This blows all of them out of the water. I prefer the Galt Knife Old Style ever so slightly, but the two combined are without a doubt the best two lagers in Ontario, hands down. Terrific stuff.

This was the second beer I tried from this place and it seems to be the same as the plowmans but a notch down on the bitter scale. More drinkable than the plowmans but still way over-hopped. Not as an acidic of a beer either as the Plowmans.

Shared growler from brewery, served cold in a Stella chalice. NOV17/07.

App.: Clear golden, small white head. Aroma: Green peas and canned corn; non-descript sweetness. Palate: Medium body and soft carbonation. Flav.: Biscuity malts, light mash, vague fruitness, a bit sweet, some canned corn and peas.

Something’s wrong. I’ll grab another jug next time I’m there and re-rate.