Sunday, January 03, 2010

Past due #2: Clancy's Amber Ale (Dec 19, 2009)

Had a 12 ounce mug of Clancy's Amber Ale at The Maxwell's Plum in Halifax, NS.

Ugh, this wasn't pretty from the start. Attracted by the advertised 60 beers on tap, Alyce and I stumbled into The Maxwell's Plum to escape the cold and wind after checking out the Christmas tree in the Grand Parade downtown. Immediately after opening the door, my visions of an authentic English pub were shattered. It appears that although this place would like to call itself an authentic pub, it is more accurately described as a dimly lit, poorly decorated sports bar. The carpets reeked of stale beer, TVs adorned many of the walls and a brewtender sat upon nearly every table. Throw in a bunch of middle-aged men yelling across the tables at each other and you've basically got the scene.

Alright, now back to those brewtenders for a second (I'm only linking to that stupid site once). I'm willing to believe that serving beer in different types of glasses can affect the experience, and am confident that temperature is important for properly serving beer, but brewtenders are stupid. A tube full of ice with a tap on the bottom offers nothing. Does your pitcher of beer really get that warm sitting there? Do you feel like pouring your lager out of a pitcher just doesn't give you the same taste that the brewtender can impart? Is the pitcher too heavy? Are Canadians lazier than Americans? If you want draft beer, just get a pint from the bar and skip the $80 ice tube.

OK, now on to the beer (it doesn't get better, sorry), again with a link to the ratebeer review.
  • Clancy's Amber Ale - Struck me as a typical Canadian beer, and that's not good. Very smooth, but bland. Basically it tasted like a watered down amber. Come to find out, Clancy's is the Moosehead "craft beer" line. Nice try, jerks. (3/10)

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