Mackinnon Brothers Crosscut Canadian Ale (5.2%)

The Mackinnon Brothers Brewing Company was first brought to my attention by that sage of Ontario brewing, Jordan St. John, who spoke highly of not only their beer, but also their grown-on-the-farm malted barley. Further investigation revealed that he was quite right, with the 100% Mackinnon farm malt Harvest Ale making a very good first impression, and the follow-up Philomena Pilsner and 8 Man English Pale Ale faring well, too.

So it was with that in mind that I came across what might well be the brewery’s flagship, Crosscut Canadian Ale, which I found for the very first time at my local LCBO a week of so ago.

While I am rather notoriously a proponent of the development of a uniquely Canadian style of beer, the fact is such a style has existed for many decades – it’s just not something very many breweries bother with these days. Said style is, of course, the Canadian Ale, a more malty, less hoppy sort of pale ale that one might say sits somewhere in the gulf between Belgian Blonde, English Golden, and American Pale. During the 1990s, it was sufficiently popular that Michael Jackson mentioned it in his books and it was judged as a style at several editions of the Great American Beer Festival.  

(It’s also the style I was aiming for when I helped Henderson Brewing develop their Rush Canadian Ale, albeit with a punch of rye to take it a bit outside of the norm.)

Ideally, for me, a Canadian Ale has a firm but not sweet malt backbone and sufficient hoppiness to keep it dry without making it overtly bitter. And if that sounds boring to you, well, it sounds a bit that way to me, as well. But there is something intangible about a really well-crafted Canadian Ale, a certain something that is difficult to describe but delightful to discover.

Crosscut has it.

Pouring a rich golden colour, veering towards amber without quite getting there, the beer has a slight haziness that is almost certainly the work of protein-derived chill haze. On the nose, there is a lovely rich malt character, more toffee than caramel and lightly floral and orangey. Beneath that there lies a slight vegetal character, perhaps the work of the farm’s own hops, but in no way detracting from the pleasure of the aroma.

The palate entry is sweet toffee accompanied by some light herbal notes – again, perhaps the home-grown hops at work. This segues nicely into a more fruity caramel mid-palate that carries with it notes of tangerine and red apple alongside a slight grassiness. The hops rise in the second half of the taste, drying and adding a minor tannic quality to the experience, finally contributing a touch of herbaceous bitterness to the finish.

Overall, this is an archetypal Canadian Ale, albeit one that I do wish drank a touch more cleanly. That, however, is a minor quibble, since a beer born and brewed on the far should taste that way, and this Crosscut most definitely does.

88 ($3.65/473 ml)