by Mark Cochrane
I was looking forward to the Cartwright Springs (csbeer.ca) Brewery craft beer launch party on June 30th 2015 at Moose McGuires in Almonte for a couple of reasons. First, I’m really enjoying the surge of local craft breweries starting up in the Ottawa area. The imagination and skill of these brew masters at creating new styles out of traditional beers like IPAs, Pilsners, Lagers and Porters is awesome and inspiring. Personally, I have not purchased a traditional beer from the big 3 breweries in well over a year. There is so much to choose from in the Ontario craft beer market that I’m able to try new beers almost every weekend. The second reason I was looking forward to the launch was to catch up with my friend Andre Rieux who is brewing the beer at Cartwright Springs. Andre and I used to work together at Alcatel-Lucent before he started his craft brewery so I was interested to hear about how he and business partner Eduardo Guerra started the brewery.
Cartwright Springs is based in Mississippi Mills just outside Pakenham. What sets Cartwright Springs apart from most breweries is that their water source is from an Artesian spring on site. The fresh mineral rich water gives their beers a distinct flavour that most other breweries can’t match using city water.
I tried two different styles of beers being offered by Cartwright Springs.
Maple Porter
The Maple Porter brewing process starts with using maple sap instead of water as opposed to using water and then adding maple syrup during the brewing process. This is a full bodied rich beer with a hint of maple aroma and flavours of dark chocolate with some nuttiness at the end. Only slightly bitter at 30 IBU and 8.5% alcohol makes it a potent porter.
Smash Ale
The SMASH ale which stands for “single malt and single hop” is a refreshingly light citrus style summer ale great for the patio or with BBQ chicken. It has a mild hoppiness at 24 IBUs and an alcohol content of 5 %.
So if you’re in the Pakenham area you should visit Cartwright Springs Brewery and see what’s brewing. For directions, visit their website at www.csbeer.ca
Cheers!
Mark Cochrane – Certified Sommelier
Email me at markuncorked@gmail.com
Visit my website at www.markuncorked.com
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