Stratford Pilsner from the Stratford Brewing Company

I've been down in Southwestern Ontario for a bit of a vacation (is it technically a vacation if you stay in your parents' guest room?) and my dad had the beer fridge well stocked with Beau's Lug Tread, Sleeman Original Draft and a big bottle of Innis & Gun Original. I also partook in my fair share of ice cold Bud Light from a cooler on my aunt & uncle's deck on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

But it only seemed right that my official attempt at tasting should be a homegrown brew: Stratford Pilsner, from the Stratford Brewing Company. It's their signature (and generally only) offering, an all natural, traditionally brewed Czech-style pilsner. I absolutely must quote their website, which claims the beer "is as smooth and graceful as the swans floating down the Avon River."

I was just going to add a standard tourist bureau shot of Stratford swans floating down the Avon,
smooth and graceful as beer, but then Google showed me this. Undercover Swan for the win! 

The first six pack disappeared before I had a chance to sit down for a proper tasting, so right off the bat I can tell you it goes down easy while reading or watching someone else barbecue.

It's totally at home outdoors, right?

After a second trip to the liquor store, I sat down for what I explained to my mother was a Work Beer, as opposed to earlier recreational beers. This is serious business.

Stratford Pilsner is a lovely golden colour, with malt dominating its aroma. It's crisp and heavily carbonated; I think I tasted lemon and floral undertones, but that may be because I read a review that pointed them out beforehand. There's a rather grassy-tasting hop finish. Overall? Pretty good.

I promise to improve these reviews. I'll get a beer tasting book out of the library, okay?

Right now, I'm on the hunt for Sunny & Share, a saison from Creemore - we got a sample at the Boar's Head one night. If you like Muskoka's Oddity, you'll like this, too. If you're the three people I was with Monday night, you won't.




The freebies have already started rolling in: after my friends told her
about my blog, the waitress let me keep this empty bottle. Score!

 

It isn't even on Creemore's website! The LCBO doesn't seem to carry it, but the Beer Store's fickle site seems to indicate that it does? Once I find it, y'all will be the first to know.

Cheers!
Emily


Stratford Pilsner
Stratford Brewing Company in Stratford, Ontario
Available year-round in Ontario at select LCBO stores
4.9% alc./vol.
341 ml bottles
6 bottles $11.75