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| Sitting poolside with my Curmudgeon |
I was looking back at the Year in Beer 2015 and when trying to decide my personal Top Ten I was drawn to two distinct divisions of beers. Those I had tried once or twice due to availability or seasonality and my everyday or "Fridge Beers". Curmudgeon IPA somehow falls into both categories and for most of the spring and early summer it was always in my brown bag as I left the LCBO.
Cambridge, Ontario's Grand River Brewing Company makes this beauty as a seasonal brew from late winter to fall and defines a curmudgeon as:
1. A bad-tempered or surly person
2. An ill-tempered (and frequently old) person full of stubborn ideas or opinions.
I was both of those things a lot of the time and this beer spoke to me in both its lovely grumpy faced label and the brew contained therein. They change and tweak the recipe every year and I was very pleased to have found it in the year that it was brewed as an English IPA. If you have been following along at home, you know that I have grown to love this style of beer on my journey as I described in my post How I came to Love IPAs.
I chose Curmudgeon to be on the list for a simple reason. It was the first beer this year that wormed its way into my heart. I really fell in love with it as the spring turned to summer and it was the one thing I counted on when my day at work was done. I had not yet made my transition to Quality Beers and still over consumed on a regular basis. But when I grabbed this stubby brown bottle out of the fridge, I slowed down a bit.
It pours a copper colour with a lovely white head. Smelling of biscuits and toasted malts. When I took a sip, it stopped the clock for a minute. Nutty with a nicely malted body. The hops bitterness builds as you drink this beer. Not a crazy bitter beer, but one that leads you gently into the land of English Pale Ales and all they have to offer.
I think this is a good place to start. Great beer makes everything seem a little better and this one was the first time I added a Craft Beer to my regular rotation as opposed to just trying it once and moving on.
I look forward to what Grand River does with Curmudgeon this year. Who knows, maybe I'll like it even better when I finally get to crack one open in the new year. But for now, I raise a glass and salute this beer and applaud the first Polkie award of 2015.
Curmudgeon on Untappd
Cambridge, Ontario's Grand River Brewing Company makes this beauty as a seasonal brew from late winter to fall and defines a curmudgeon as:
1. A bad-tempered or surly person
2. An ill-tempered (and frequently old) person full of stubborn ideas or opinions.
I was both of those things a lot of the time and this beer spoke to me in both its lovely grumpy faced label and the brew contained therein. They change and tweak the recipe every year and I was very pleased to have found it in the year that it was brewed as an English IPA. If you have been following along at home, you know that I have grown to love this style of beer on my journey as I described in my post How I came to Love IPAs.
I chose Curmudgeon to be on the list for a simple reason. It was the first beer this year that wormed its way into my heart. I really fell in love with it as the spring turned to summer and it was the one thing I counted on when my day at work was done. I had not yet made my transition to Quality Beers and still over consumed on a regular basis. But when I grabbed this stubby brown bottle out of the fridge, I slowed down a bit.
It pours a copper colour with a lovely white head. Smelling of biscuits and toasted malts. When I took a sip, it stopped the clock for a minute. Nutty with a nicely malted body. The hops bitterness builds as you drink this beer. Not a crazy bitter beer, but one that leads you gently into the land of English Pale Ales and all they have to offer.
I think this is a good place to start. Great beer makes everything seem a little better and this one was the first time I added a Craft Beer to my regular rotation as opposed to just trying it once and moving on.
I look forward to what Grand River does with Curmudgeon this year. Who knows, maybe I'll like it even better when I finally get to crack one open in the new year. But for now, I raise a glass and salute this beer and applaud the first Polkie award of 2015.
Curmudgeon on Untappd
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