Kasper On Tap: Scotch ale with maple syrup - Baltimore Sun columnist Rob Kasper blogs about beer

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April 23, 2009

Scotch ale with maple syrup

Here's another dispatch from Rob on vacation:

It is a pairing few would have imagined, but those crafty Canadians at Brasserie Dieu du Ciel have made a Scotch ale, Equinoxe du Printemps, that is brewed with maple syrup.

I bought a 12-ounce bottle at the Wine Source the other day. It has the aroma, body and wallop of a Scotch ale, yet the maple syrup adds pleasing finishing notes of maple without cloying sweetness. The label notes said the beer "is the quintessential marriage of two great traditions: beer brewing in Scotland and maple syrup production in Quebec.”

I don’t know about that, but it is good beer.

I confess I have not been a big spring equinox celebrator. This beer could change that. Anybody else sample it? Any other ideas on how to celebrate the spring equinox?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Brew reviews

Comments

I haven't tried any beer made with maple syrup. I'm not into sweet/fruity beers.
You might want to check out the Johns Hopkins Spring Festival starting tomorrow- they have a beer garden.

Posted by: Anonymous | April 23, 2009 10:10 AM

The lable looks like it says 8.5%?

Hmm, so it does. Let me take the conflicting fact out of the post. Good catch. Kate

Posted by: yum | April 23, 2009 3:53 PM

Last Summer, while visiting family in Vermont, I found a beer brewed with maple syrup. It was very good and the sweetness was very subtle. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the brewery. It may have been a Maine company and not a Vermont company. Anyway, I recommend trying it without any preconceived notions. You may be surprised.

Posted by: Duane | April 24, 2009 8:56 PM

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About Rob Kasper

Rob Kasper, a features columnist, has been writing about beer for 20 years, and he remembers when Anchor Christmas and Noche Buena were about the only beers at a holiday tasting and Sisson’s was the only brewpub in Baltimore. A collection of his columns, "Raising Kids and Tomatoes, Amusing Tales and Appetizing Recipes," was published in 1998. He lives with his wife, Judith, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in a downtown Baltimore rowhouse. They have two grown sons, who come home from time to time and drink their father’s beer.
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