Oh, hello there, it seems we have met again. Fancy that. I suppose it is time once more to engage in the time honoured tradition of drinking a beer followed by stern judgement. Note: this judgment may not always be good, as beer rarely leads to good judgement. Drink responsibly, or not, you’re an adult.
This week, I had a new adventure in beer drinking in that I drank a beer that I had never had before. This is a somewhat regular occurrence, so maybe adventure was a little much, but it was an adventure nonetheless. For this week, I tried a fine brew called Pugnacious from the Grand River Brewery.
Grand River Brewery is set up in Cambridge, close to our lovely friends in Architecture, producing fine craft beers year-round as well as a few seasonal beers such as Curmudgeon IPA and their Highballer Pumpkin Ale. Their beers are often on the lighter side (less than 5% alcohol by volume) but are generally quite flavourful. Pugnacious is a pale ale brewed by Grand River and is also the only beer on their website without an info page…like really there’s nothing, just a picture of the bottle.
The word Pugnacious itself is defined as “inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative. So, if you drink too much Pugnacious you will become pugnacious. Though the beer is only 4.5% so you’ll have to commit volumetrically to achieve pugnaciousness.
Speaking of the word pugnacious, that is what first drew my attention to this lovely ale as it was on tap at Kickoff’s and decided, based solely on the name, that I should probably inquire further. I have found that the interesting-sounding-named beers are almost always worth at least inquiring about. For instance, Flying Monkey brewery has some of the most creatively named and also delicious selections (all of which are worth a try).
Now, having seen the name “Pugnacious” on the chalkboard at Kickoff’s I was decidedly intrigued and, as such, made the decision to find out more about it. While blind tasting can sometimes be fun, it can also sometimes not be, so it’s always a good idea to find out a bit about the beer before drinking it of which Bill’s recommendations are almost always spot on.
Upon inquiry, I was informed that Pugnacious was “a pale ale from Grand River”, and let me tell you, I was sold.
On delivery, the beer was a clear amber in colour with a light bubbly head that went down rather quickly. It smelt very sweet with nice hints of hoppy deliciousness I like so much in a good pale ale. This beer is definitely on the lighter side of some of the IPA’s I enjoy and had a bit less bite to it than something like Mad Tom or Dead Elephant. The beer was sweet and crisp with a nice balance of hops in the aftertaste. Being on the lighter side, Pugnacious drinks very smoothly but is also quite flavourful and very malty and manages to be nice and light without losing any flavour.
On the whole, this beer was quite enjoyable and, while losing points for being a bit on the light side, was an all-around good, full-flavoured beer with a nice finish and a can-do attitude that really attracts the ladies. Overall, I give this beer…(DRUMROLLLLLL)…3.75 Surly Bartenders out of 5 Surly Bartenders, or, on the thumbs up equivalency scale, 1.4 thumbs up. This is a great beer to enjoy after a long day of hard work, or a short day of not having done any work at all. For those who like sweeter and slightly bitter beers, this is a great summer drink.
And with that, we wrap up the term. Thank you all for reading our articles and we look forward to taking up the challenge of drinking and talking again next term.
Cheers,
Eric & Graeme
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