Grand River Brewing – Cambridge, Ontario

Based in Cambridge, Ontario and operating out of the re-purposed 100 year old historical site of the Galt Knife Company, Grand River Brewing is dedicated to bringing full flavored beers to craft beer lovers. While all their beers contain 5% or less APV, there is no denying that Grand River knows how to brew full bodied, powerful beer.

About The Beer!

1913 Traditional

The 1913 Traditional is an golden colored, all-malt pale ale with subtle aroma and a mild, crisp, clean finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Galt Knife Old Style

This deep gold lager is brewed in the style reminiscent of pre-prohibition beers that were brewed with full bodied malts yet retained a strong hop character in the finish. The pale malt forward beer presents a full bodied creamy taste at the beginning and finish with a complex and enjoyable hop bite. You will notice a strong, pronounced head on the beer after pouring it into your glass. The foam allows the beer to retain its freshness in the glass and provide a great amount of mouth feel that adds to the overall enjoyment and provides an added benefit to the beer you’re enjoying after a hard day’s work.

 

 

Hannenberg Pils

Brewed in the traditional German Pilsner Style, Hannenberg Pils has a clear pale golden blonde body, almost fruity malts and pointly refined hops. Balanced and very drinkable Pils with great flavor. Light biscuit malt body, mild clean crisp, hopping with minimal aftertaste.

 

 

 

Mill Race Mild

Darkly coloured and rich in appearance, this mild ale is brewed in the traditional style of British mild beers that are disappearing even from the pubs of London, England. Grand River Brewing has revived this traditional style of beer that is deep in colour but doesn’t possess the harsh bitterness that many people associate with a darker beer. The pronounced creamy head welcomes you and is followed with a beautiful roasted barley flavour and a smooth creamy taste. This is a beer that just makes you want to have another and with being a mild, go right ahead. 3.5% ABV.

 

 

Plowman’s Ale

This is a big, bold beer that is loaded with five types of hops but also backed up with a hearty grain that establishes balance and body. This deep copper coloured beer has beautiful spicy and a slight citrus hops note right from the start with a rounded malt finish accompanying the hop bitterness.

Immediately after pouring the beer, you will notice a full, rocky head form at the top of your glass that preserves all the flavour and allows the slow release of the hop focused aroma. As you drink and enjoy your beer you will notice the head take on a thick and rocky appearance as it creates some wonderful lacing down the side of your glass. All signs of a well made traditional style beer. 4.7% ABV

 

Seasonal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review

Joe and I had the opportunity to sample 3 Grand River Brewery offerings this past winter and we have to say, all around we’re very impressed! From a format, vision and marketing perspective, I have to give Grand River 5 stars. I love that they use a classic brown 500ml bottle, which is as close to a “real pint” as you’ll find in the market. I think their branding and minimalist labels successfully marries their traditional approach to brewing and local pub charm while catering to a modern craft beer market (Curmudgeon?). Finally, the fact that they manage to brew some flavorful beers while toning down the APV, aside from the Russian Gun with a 9% APV, makes all of the beers we’ve tried very enjoyable without being overpowering .

We sampled the Mill Race Mild, Plowman’s Ale and Russian Gun Imperial Stout.

Of the 3, my personal favorite was the Russian Gun. It was a very robust and flavorful beer. Dark brown in color with a blend of chocolate, burnt caramel and coffee aromas, it brought a lot to the table. Of course, it being so rich, I would say it is more of a sipping beer than a slammer. I spent my time rolling it in my mouth in an effort to detect all the notes and undertones as none stood out over the others. It is an extremely well balanced beer. The finish lingers a bit. The high alcohol was reigned in.

The Mill Race Mild was Joe’s pick and my second. A deceivingly dark chestnut ale, it possessed all of the flavor of a traditional English ale without the bitterness. A smooth, creamy, refreshing quaff – I could easily see myself having more than a few in a single sitting.

Plowman’s Ale is a very bold beer. With 5 types of hops, it is a rather bitter beer but not overly so. The malt and mild citrus and spice notes round out the taste and offset the bitterness. While it is a tad more hoppy than I prefer, and I’m not a fan of citrus, GRB managed, as they have in the other beers we’ve sampled, to strike a good balance and tone that I was able to enjoy. Again, there is a lot going on in this beer but somehow, the brewers managed to keep any one thing from becoming a distraction – unlike Muskoka Mad Tom IPA where the citrus note was simply too pervasive.

You can find Grand River Brewing here!