Granite Brewery Ringwood Blonde (5.2%)

Okay, I bought this by mistake.

I was on a beer buying mission at my local LCBO and spied cans of the Granite Ringwood Blonde in the fridge, except that rather than read its proper name, my brain somehow transformed Ringwood into Peculiar and so I bought a few cans thinking it was the Toronto brewery’s old ale-style flagship. Even while stocking the beer in my fridge I didn’t realize my mistake, only discovering that I had in my possession a beer entirely new to me when I went to drink it.

On the label, the brewery describes this as “crisp, refreshing, easy-drinking,” the last being a beer term I despise. (You know what’s really easy to drink? Coors Light. You know what I don’t want to drink? Coors Light.) Still, I won’t hold that against them, as I understand the need to differentiate a blonde and presumably rather light-bodied ale from their more typical English-style standards.  

Pouring bright gold with only the faintest hint of haze and a lovely ring of white foam, this offers a nose of fresh, perfumey grain – malty but not at all cereally – with floral notes of carnation and daffodil, plus a bit of canned peach fruitiness. As it warms, the Ringwood yeast-derived fruitiness becomes more apparent, but to me never overshadows the lovely malt and floral notes.

On the front end, this is soft and flowery with flavour notes that evoke the olfactory sensation of a spring walk in a meadow. Again, as in the aroma, the malt character is centre stage here, but soon joined by a robust fruitiness that is round and moderately full, with notes of canned peaches and mandarin orange segments, plus plenty of honey-ish malted barley influence, and a touch of citrusy hoppiness. The finish is dry, moderately tannic, just a bit bitter, and wonderfully more-ish, which I suppose is what the Granite is getting at with the “easy-drinking” reference.

Overall, I find that this is exactly what a North American blonde ale should be – clean, rewarding without being challenging, refreshing without overt bitterness. In short, a quaffer par excellence.

89 ($3.40)