Collingwood Brewery: Vintage Ale – An Old Fashioned Review

I won’t go into detail here about The Collingwood Brewery: I already reviewed their Fireside Extra Special Bitter. Much like Collingwood Brewery’s ESB, their Vintage Ale is an award-winning Ontarian brew. Vintage Ale won Silver in the Honey Beer category at the 2016 Ontario Brewing Awards, behind Sleeman Honey Brown Lager.

Collingwood Brewery: Vintage Ale – First Sip

Collingwood Brewery’s Vintage Ale pours a cloudy golden colour. It has a good inch of foam at the top of the stemmed tulip glass that its can instructed me to drink this beer from. Specifically, I’m drinking this award-winning brew from an Éphémère glass that I haven’t had the opportunity to use for a long time.

Vintage Ale has a sweet smell that complements its malty, almost fruity taste. The bitterness of Vintage Ale’s Meaford-grown hops is understated. But, it’s still there, presenting more during the finish than it does upfront.


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Vintage Ale’s moderate carbonation level and low viscosity level give it a mouthfeel that makes it surprisingly drinkable. Harvest ales and other seasonal brews often have thick mouthfeels, which this surprisingly strong 6.6% ABV brew avoids.

Collingwood Brewery: Vintage Ale – Last Sip

As with so many others, I entreat you to drink this beer from a glass, preferably the glass specified on the can. Its subtle aroma and thick layer of foam are best enjoyed this way. If you don’t have a stemmed tulip glass, try a flute rather than a standard pint glass. A pint glass will let the foam and aroma dissipate, whereas the tulip glass or flute will concentrate it.

Because of this brew’s malty taste, I suggest enjoying this beer with a savoury meal, like a steak and/or grilled vegetables. In terms of alcohol content, this is a beer that creeps up on you. With its surprisingly smooth taste and high alcohol content, it’s important to keep track of how many you’ve had.

Michael Bedford
Michael Bedford
Under intense scrutiny by the Temporal Authorities, I was coerced into actualizing my capsule in this causality loop. Through no fault of my own, I am marooned on this dangerous yet lovely level-four civilization. Stranded here, I have spent most of my time learning what I can of the social norms and oddities of the Terran species, including how to properly use the term "Hipster" and how to perform a "perfect pour." Under the assumed name of "Michael Bedford," I have completed BA's with specialized honours in both theatre studies and philosophy, and am currently saving up for enough galactic credits to buy a new--or suitably used--temporal contextualizer ... for a friend.