Searching For a Glass of Fine Beer: Alexander Keith’s India Pale Ale

It was an impulse buy.

The Canada - US Olympic Hockey final was in 45 minutes, 3 friends were popping over and I felt, to be a good host, I should have more in the fridge than 3 bottles of beer.


["15 for the price of 12? Why thank you": photos GAH]

I admit, everyone was bringing their own, but 3 beers and a bag of BBQ chips? I’d better get moving.

Because 4,000 other Londoners felt the same way and the Beer Store was pretty busy I went for the ‘15 for the price of 12’ Keith’s display inside the front door and ran for the check out. Some over zealous referee could drop the puck at anytime.


["I like the wavy lines created by my Tom Waits CDs"]

While standing in line I recalled that the first time I had Keith’s, about 8 years ago (on tap at The Wort in Old South), I sent it back because I thought it tasted off.

But it wasn’t off. It just had a slightly different flavour than other Canadian beers I’d grown used to.

I opened my first bottle of Keith’s moments before the hockey game began, and between yelling like a maniac and stuffing my face with BBQ chips, I had the following fairly lucid thoughts:

For a hockey game, Keith’s is fine.

It is sweet (like honey) and mildly hoppy on the nose.


It is cold, smooth and refreshing on the tongue, washes down BBQ chips with ease, and leaves some barely discernible flavours on the throat, like pale malts and slightly bitter hops.

(The cardboard case says, “a smooth golden ale, with a distinct taste” and I won’t argue with that, I just like many ruby red, more flavourful ales better, and there are many).

It’s nicely carbonated and at 5% alc./vol. accompanied me into the overtime period (without knocking me out) and was right beside me when Sid scored the winner.

In the Canadian Beers section of David Kenning's book 'Beers of the World', Keith's is listed, and described as follows:

The flavor is a pleasant combination of tangy and sweet, and there are additional hints of apricot, honey and butterscotch."

I sensed some of that, but I'm perhaps 10 years away from picking up hints.

Though it’s brewed across Canada, from Halifax to Edmonton, and it felt right to buy Canadian while watching the hockey game, I likely won’t buy it again until 2014, and only if Canada is in the finals again.

If it’s a Czech - Russia final, I’ll buy a Czech beer and holler, “Beat those boys in red!”

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Are you a Keith’s fan? Why?

Please click here to read about a lovely lovely IPA.

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