Clean Branding, Consistently Well Brewed - Anderson Craft Ales
Anderson Craft Ales are a family owned brewery in London, ON, recognizable for their exceptionally clean, simple branding and straight-forward style naming of their beers. I got to visit back in Summer 2017 on a trip to London with a friend when I had my first taste, and was very impressed to find that their beers are as on point as their branding. At the time their lineup included the IPA, the Cream Ale, the Brown, the Amber, and the appropriately named seasonals Spring (a dark lager) and Summer (a session IPA at the time). Since then their seasonal offerings have expanded but their year round core lineup still includes the IPA, Cream Ale, Brown, Amber, and now a Stout. Their LCBO reach has been slowly expanding as well. Since they’re a good 6+ hour drive from me, that visit back in 2017 was the last time I’d been able to enjoy anything from Anderson until this very Summer when I noticed that they were being stocked in an Ottawa LCBO! It was perfect timing too because this year’s Summer (now a German pils) was one of my favourite crushers this year! This fall I was very lucky to meet up with Anderson’s Ottawa sales rep Scott, who kindly linked me with the core lineup to revisit along with a host of this year’s Fall seasonal releases. My impression of Anderson for a while has been that of a brewery that brews consistently and exceptionally to style. To their credit, they are not a hype brewery, but you can be pretty well assured that almost any style they choose to brew, they will nail it. To that end, for my money they’re one of the best underrated breweries in the province.
IPA
6.5%¹
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
From what I can tell, Anderson’s core IPA has not changed since I first tasted it. If you were to ask me for a quintessential example of a dank Ontario IPA, this is it. It’s got a slightly cloudy pour with full on aroma of weed and wet pine needles. Flavour-wise there’s stone fruit and melon, a zip of grapefruit and orange zest and delicious sticky resinous pine with an appropriately bitter finish. It’s a damn good IPA. For those of you that are tired of the haze craze and are clambering for a great dank and bitter IPA, you should be seeking this out. Check your LCBO, and ask them to get it if they don’t have it.
Stout
6.2%
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
This was a new addition to the core lineup for me, and for a 6.2% stout this little can packed more of a punch than I was expecting. Brewed with cacao nibs and coffee beans, it’s got an aroma that is as rich as that of a barrel aged imperial, and the flavours are just as robust. There’s an insane amount of bold roasty coffee, bitter dark chocolate, some milk chocolatey sweetness with a nice toasty malt backbone. The body is on the thinner side which is more in line with the ABV, and is actually a bit of a surprising contrast with the rich flavour. I’m genuinely amazed at the intensity of flavour for a mid-alcohol range stout. It’s a slow sipper on flavour alone.
Autumn
5.5%¹
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
I love Fall beers, and while I make a lot of noise for pumpkin beers and wet hop ales, I also love a good märzen, the traditional Bavarian Oktoberfest beer. Naturally, that’s the style Anderson brewed for their aptly named seasonal, Autumn. I enjoyed this beer on a gorgeous fall day here in Ottawa, and it’s copper colour was shining bright orange in the sunlight. It has an incredibly smooth malt profile with a minimal caramel sweetness and a soft, fluffy mouthfeel. It’s clean and crisp with barely a hint of bitterness. It tasted like Fall in a glass.
Brut IPA
6.3%²
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
There are not many Brut IPAs left! The style saw a very brief period in the spotlight but for the most part have all but fizzled out. However this is one of the few still out there, and it was even on LCBO shelves as far out as here in Ottawa. Straight away this is bright with orange and grapefruit peel on the nose. True to style as always, it’s dry and notably effervescent with a vinous white grape flavour and a lemon/lime zip. There’s more orange peel on the palate along with tropical fruit leading to a tangy bitter finish. It drinks very light and refreshing.
Hazy IPA
6.2%¹
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
I was surprised and intrigued when I first saw that Anderson was brewing a Hazy IPA. Even though I love my haze, their lineup including their core IPA is so good and expertly brewed that I was not at all feeling like there was something missing. Seeing as they did brew one however, I was extra excited to try it. It pours with perfectly clean haze and a bright fresh hop aroma of peach and mango. The palate has an East Coast yeast feel. It’s super creamy and has a fuzzy peach texture which makes me think there’s got to be Mosaic in there. It’s bursting with tropical juiciness, very low in bitterness and has a soft, smooth body. Even though it’s a bit outside their core style, you had to know if they brewed some haze they were going to do it right, and I am glad they did.
Saison
5.0%³
Photo by Nathan Does Beer.
Their lineup has really expanded to a wide range of styles since my visit a couple of years ago. Their saison pours crystal clear with a straw colour and a big foamy head. The aroma gives away next to nothing, in fact it almost smells like a clean lager. That aroma will fool you though, because the flavour is huge! It’s got a big Belgian saison yeast vibe with some bubblegum notes and a bit of peppery spice. All this big flavour leads to an exceptionally dry finish. I appreciate saisons even though I don’t personally go wild for them often. This beer, like I’ve come to expect from Anderson, is very well made.
Anderson’s style lineup definitely leans traditional but that by no means implies boring. They are one of a handful of breweries in Ontario that I would put in a class of their own for consistency and style execution. For the Ontario craft beer drinker looking for very well brewed traditional styles, look no further, and guess what, they certainly nail their haze too. I’m amped that I can now get some Anderson in one of my local Ottawa LCBOs because I could drink that dank, piney IPA all year long. Check Anderson out! The brewery in London is a great hangout, and their LCBO availability is growing. If you haven’t tried them yet, you need to get on it.
Availability at the time of writing:
¹ - Brewery and LCBO
² - LCBO
³ - Brewery
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.