Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale



         Alexander Keith's has released two limited brews for the fall season the first being Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale. This beer is a brown ale crafted in the traditional fashion. Here is what Keith's had to say about their beverage.

      "We're proud to share with you our Brewmaster's limited release of Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale. It has been Carefully crafted with a blend of speciality malts and select North American hops. This rich brown ale delivers a unique taste with hints of caramel and roasted malt."


Product:          Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale
Style:              Brown Ale
Alcohol:          5.3% apv
Price:             $3.95 for a 473ml can




Aroma: 
Thankfully I could really get a good smell of the hops in this brew.Very mild aroma, just a hint of the hops and roasted malts. I didn't find the caramel to come but the aroma hops certainly come through.


Appearance: 
Keith's Harvest Ale has a very dark brown colour and had a beautiful white head for the first 15 seconds after its pour but like the other Keith's I've tried the head dissipated quite quickly. I think that this beer would retain its head if it were kegged.


Taste: 
You definitely taste the roast malts and hops right a way. The caramel doesn't stand out as much as they claim you can get a hint of it but the hops over power the subtleties of the roast caramel. Overall the taste is balanced quite well, the extra hops really gives it the extra bitterness that should be expected in a fall brown ale and helps balance out the taste of the slightly higher alcohol content. The hops give it a slightly bitter after-taste as well.


Mouthfeel: 
This beer was similar to other brown ales that I've had before. It had more carbonation than I would prefer but it wasn't too bad. Overall I thought it was suitable.


Drinkability: 
I can definitely see myself drinking through a case of this with a few friends in a evening. Very drinkable. Because of the lower carbonation than most beers it sits fairly well. Because the taste is rich yet still mild i think that most people could enjoy this beer.


      Overall I thought that it was a  good beer. I Found that it reminded me a lot of Newcastle Brown. Its a beer full of flavour but not so much flavour that it would discourage me from sharing it with friends.

 Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale

3.5 / 5

Alexander Keith's Dark Ale

      Alexander Keith's has been pumping out a lot of new products over the past few years. First came their traditional IPA, then their light ale, then their red, and finally came their dark ale. Keith's were producing a stout which they only sold on tap in a few Nova Scotian bars. They later decided to release Keiths dark onto the market. the beer poured well and initially formed quite a nice head, which later disappeared.


Beer: Alexander Keith's Dark Ale
Type: Dark Ale
Alcohol: 4.1% apv
Price: $3.95 for a 473ml can


Aroma: The first note that hits you is that chocolate malt. Its a very rich smell and has this almost woodsy smell to it. You can pick up a bit of coffee smell from it too.


Appearance: The beer is black with a hint of reddish brown. The head that formed consisted of very large bubbles with a a dirty brown colour.


Taste: Keiths rendition is weaker in flavour then a lot of import beers. You still get the fruitiness of the ale yeasts but more importantly you get that coffee/chocolate/caramel flavour combination that you can only find in dark ales. The hop presence is weak and its not as bitter as I might have expected it to be. It reminds me a lot of the Rickards Dark, but it doesn't quite live up to the dark ales of Europe.


Mouthfeel:  I'm usually disappointed with the mouthfeel that you get from domestic breweries. This was no exception. While the beer tastes good, smells good and looks good, the mouthfeel is quite watery. This was also apparent with how quickly the head dissipated. The beer was a little more carbonated than I would have liked and I felt bloated not long after drinking it. Overall I found the mouthfeel to be week.  but it is a little on the bubbly side. The mouthfeel would have been a lot better if the beer had a creamier body.


Drinkability: Overall it is very drinkable. It has quite a bit more carbonation than a lot of its European counterparts which make it a little harder drink a lot but because of the lighter density and low alcohol (4.1%).
This would make a good beer to have when drinking with friends. I love stouts but lets face it, any more than 2 glasses and you feel full. I can see drinking this rather than stout if you were planning on having more than a few.


Overall this a good beer.This is also a good beer for those who may not have the experience of drinking heavier bodied more flavourful beers.

Alexander Keith's Dark Ale

3.5 / 5 

Alexander Keith's Premium White

       Alexander Keith's Premium White is made by Labatts and is most similar to Rickard's White and Hoegaarden. I found that it was a mediocre.


Beer:          Alexander Keith's Premium White
Beer Type:  Unfiltered Wheat Ale
Alcohol:      5% apv
Price:         $3.95 for a 473ml can


Aroma: The only aroma I could get from this was of a very fragrant floral and fruit esters. Very citrus, green apple smell. The hops I couldn't smell at all and the any spices weren't noticeable.


Appearance: Cloudy, light in colour. It's cloudy in appearance however if you linger in drinking your beer it will actually settle at the bottom, I would suggest drinking this up quickly. the head dissipated very quickly after pouring


Taste: Keith's White has mild citrus flavour. If you really look for it you can detect some spices such for flavour but they are also quite mild. It is a very clean tasting beer and very refreshing, very good on a hot summer day.


Mouthfeel: Light and watery, similar to a lot of other light beers. There was no discernible after-taste. Texturally there is no difference in this and other light beers despite it not being filtered.


Drinkability: Very easy drinking. Maybe a little too easy. Because of its mild flavour and lack of hop profile you might forget that its a 5% beer rather than a light beer, it  can sneak up on you very quickly.


      Overall the I found the beer to be very light and mild. There wasn't really enough flavour for me. There are other beers that are more flavourful that have a light crisp finish and other beers that closer reflect a traditional wheat ale. A fruity ale that takes it origins from belgian wheat and lambic ales. It isn't as flavourful as some other wheat beers but it is one that I would recommend as an introductory beer to wheat and belgian style beers, or as a good BBQ beer.

Alexander Keith's Premium White

3 / 5