Ah, Canada. Nothing like having to travel the 25 miles south from the Thousand Island Bridge border crossing to get your hands on a bottle of beer from the next province to my east. But the bit of the province to the east that is about 400 km due north of here. You see this all the time. Canada being disfuntional, that is. Not semi-Arctic Quebec dubbels being in small town America.

The beer pours a gorgeous deep chestnut under a mocha cream head. On the snort, a good level of sticky sweet malt, bready with a little nutmeg. On the swally, a very rich beer. A balance between sweetness and the drying attic lick effect of the hops. Slightly smokey. Not as complex in spice as I might like but on the richer side of Ommegang which is where I like to find myself. A beer that could age nicely given its 8% with the hope of a touch more acidic bite.

But that is not a fault. It's age. But at this point in its young life its a bit like a sweeter big Scots ale. But for the mineral note. The brewery - or at least its US distributor - praises the water of "the Northwestern Quebec, where the Abitibi esker is located" and where the beer is made. The brewer is an expat Belgian in now located in the mid-north of this Great White North.

One lone BAer has posted a review. And likes it like me.