Augusta Ale - Kensington Brewing Company

Opiate42

Ontario (Canada)

4.88/5  rDev +34.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

It mixes the hops of a nice IPA with the smooth feel of a red ale. Colour is a nice reddish brown and the aroma is fresh and hoppy. The ingredients used must be top notch as I can drink quite a few without getting any form of headache (cheaply made beer gives me migraines).

Serving type: can

04-19-2013 18:01:40 | More by Opiate42

Top_Jimmy

Ontario (Canada)

4.2/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.5

Kensington Brewery is a small Ontario Craft Brewery that currently brewed at Wellington Brewery in Guelph Ontario. The company is so small they only currently have 2 full time employees.

This has become one of my new favourite craft beers from Ontario.

Apperance - This beer pours an amber colour from the can leaving a small head that does not remain while some lacing does remain for a short period.

Smell - Nice amount of hops, bready with a slight malt, slight citrus background

Taste - Forefront of hops, a nice bitter IPA, citrus

Mouthfeel - This beer has some body and a nice mouthfeel. It has a great amount of carbonation and finishes with a hoppy, bitter aftertaste

Overall - This has become one of my current favourite Ontario Craft Brews. It is a nice IPA that is good to start with and not as hoppy and bitter as other local beers susch as Hops and Robbers, which I also enjoy but others may not.

Serving type: can

02-08-2013 02:34:45 | More by Top_Jimmy

Kremlock

Ontario (Canada)

3.8/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: Pours a beautiful frothy white head. It then falls to a thin film but keeps some nice lacing. Deep straw colour with hues of orange. Slight haze but you can still see fairly well through the glass.

S: Thick bread/biscuit, toffee, grainy with herbal/pine hops

T: The bread and biscuits come trough followed by pine, grassy and a hint of lemon hop flavours.

M: Low to medium body, good carbonation. Bitterness is on the lower side. It allows the flavours of the malt and the hops to shine.

O: A good Pale Ale by any standards. The flavours come through well, the carbonation is on par, and the finish is dry with a short sweet burst.

Serving type: can

01-16-2013 02:51:45 | More by Kremlock

EgadBananas

Louisiana

3.6/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This is a great looking beer. Translucent, sunny and medium orange in colour, with a light tan coloured head of two fingers. Nice retention and lace. Aroma has some herbal hop notes, some citrus and nutty malts. Mild bitterness, with a nutty, grainy malts, notes of sweet citrus. Feel is nice and creamy, with a good carbonation and upper light body. Nice enjoyable pale ale.

Serving type: can

12-19-2012 02:47:34 | More by EgadBananas

BGDrock

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: amber gold; head is fairly weak and sparse, fades quickly to a film; clear

Aroma: bready malt, caramel; herbal, spicy, and light citrus hops, all mingling well

Taste & Mouthfeel: moderate level of woody, rustic hops at a strength right for the style; malt notes hover in the background the whole way through, of toffee and sap; clean, crisp mouthfeel

Overall: well balanced and sessionable, but nothing really to make it stand out from others in the category

Serving type: can

10-25-2012 01:50:25 | More by BGDrock

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Augusta Ale glows a lightly coppered golden tone, clear but not without distortion, and minimal head (despite all that generated from the pour). It is a basic looking ale, but one that strikes me as though it belongs in no less than a pint-sized serving. Webs of lacing do stick here and there on the glass even while its bubbles are lethargic.

Augusta Ale welcomes you with aromas of tree resin, citrus rinds, and bitter herbals. In other words, I hope you like hops. While a big backdrop of biscuity, caramel malt disqualifies this from (especially American) "IPA" discussions, there is nonetheless a notable, distinct hop bouquet that leaves little to be desired for a pale ale.

The entire flavour profile is outlined and shaded in green. Like a comic book illustrator, the brewer has traced each separate panel (flavour) with a bold, hoppy contour. Whether it's the biscuity, bready cookie-like start or the sweet, toasted nut finish, each individual scene is accentuated by hops, be it via pine or grapefruit or weedy, grassy herbals.

The slight citrusy character notwithstanding, this beer has a bitter, leafy quality not unlike spinach. What makes it infinitely more pleasant, however, is a maltiness that tastes like toasted nuts drizzled in caramel. This bready, biscuity profile almost tastes like a Greek pastry (think nuts, honey and phyllo). It is a gratifying ale, but a pint won't last long at all.

Just as there's nothing creative about the name 'Augusta Ale' (the street where this is brewed) so too is there little distinguished about the beer itself. But that doesn't imply there's anything wrong with it. On the contrary, I wouldn't change a thing. Insofar as sessionable, hoppy pale ales go, this is a winner. And a definite re-buy, too.

Serving type: can

08-20-2012 17:55:58 | More by biegaman

hopsolutely

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

First time I've enjoyed this beer since brewing moved from Black Oak to Wellington's facilities. I can't tell the difference and the can is similar to earlier draught.

This is a very well brewed and easy drinking ale, but personally I wouldn't have classified it as "American" in style, as it is grain-forward and lacking any "west coast" or "c" hops. Pours a clear, dark golden colour with impressive white head and lacing. Aroma of bready and green grains with caramelized malts. Taste of sweet caramelized malts transitions into a nicely bitter finish, which lingers for an impressively long time. If there were a hint of pine, citrus or tropical fruits in those hops, it could easily become a “regular” for me.

Serving type: can

08-19-2012 23:14:17 | More by hopsolutely

Digimaika2

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

(4.0) A: Clear amber with a tall creamy foam head. Commendable retention and healthy lacing.

(3.5) S: Pine, grains, grasses, subdued buttered bread, bit of floral and citrus after some digging. Mellow, smooth, and quite inviting.

(3.5) T: Grassy, grainy, faint barley malt, hardy herbal (stem-like) qualities, and probing citrus provides a bit of a spark. Well balanced with an intriguing equal parts oily-dry character. Herbal bitterness lingers nicely on the backend.

(3.5) M: Medium bodied with a lower carbonation. Slight chewy texture comes across from that hardy grainy flavour.

(4.0) D: Nice to see this in the LCBO, and as a result, finally got around to trying it. Easy drinkability and well balanced makes this one stand out.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2012 23:49:57 | More by Digimaika2

mick303

Ontario (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a light frothy head of white foam, light carbonation and crisp medium copper gold colour. Leaves some good curtain lacing.

On the nose there is a good hop note, with some fresh baked aromas. Quite well integrated, malt and hops interplay nicely, maybe slightly restrained.

Taste is malty before hops come through strongly. Also a strong fruitiness (apples, pears, berries) comes through lending to a nice rich flavour profile. Solid bitterness and good flavour intensity. Finish is crisp, fairly short though.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but very rich mouthfeel in consideration. Very smooth and balanced. Flavours are rich on the palate, carbonation is light, maybe a touch on the metallic side.

This is a very nice beer and a pleasure to drink. No flavour dominates the others. Hops are a solid character. I find the beer well put together, with no obvious flaws. Worth trying out.

Serving type: can

08-09-2012 01:45:11 | More by mick303

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Tallboy can from the LCBO; no packaging date. Nice to see more of these quasi-startup microbreweries (Double Trouble, Spearhead, and these guys) finally getting their stuff packaged and accessible in stores. I haven't heard much about this particular APA, but as a fan of the style I figured it was definitely worth a try. Listed at 5.5% abv, and poured close to fridge temperature.

Pours a lovely orange-amber colour, slightly foggy, and topped with one finger of foamy, even, off white-coloured head. It survives for a few minutes before wilting into a thin film, with a surprisingly thick collar of froth around the edge of the glass. Mild aroma with nothing unusual for the style - pale malts, some light caramel sweetness accompanied with citric hops. Enjoyable, but too faint to be much of a consideration.

The aroma is a good indicator of what to expect from the flavour, with more of the same grainy pale malts and a healthy dose of bitter, pithy grapefruit-and-lemon citrus hoppiness. Not getting nearly as much malt sweetness as I expected from the aroma; maybe a light twinge of brown sugar and biscuits that intensifies slightly as the beer warms (while the bitterness weakens a comparable amount). Dry, pithy finish that lingers on. On the light side of medium-bodied, with appropriate (restrained) carbonation levels.

Fairly tasty stuff with a prominent hop bite, but nothing especially notable. Maybe the weird taste of the gluten-free beer I had before this ruined my palate, but this seems fairly hoppy and astringent for an APA. More malt kick would be appreciated, but this is certainly more than serviceable as-is.

Final Grade: 3.53, a respectable B grade. Augusta Ale is a well-made APA, but the category works against it because there's some stiff competition to consider. This stuff just doesn't really do enough for me to want to drink it regularly. It's not like I'd refuse one, and wouldn't discourage others from trying it - but I'd just as soon stick with Tankhouse, Hoptical Illusion, or Crazy Canuck. A solid brew, just not one that distinguishes itself from the crowd.

Serving type: can

08-01-2012 06:16:47 | More by thehyperduck

korguy123

Ontario (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

16oz can into tumbler. First canning so only a month old or so.

A- Crystal clear light orange pour with a two finger soapy, short lived off white head. Lacing is excellent.

S- Sweet bread, peaches, short bread cookies, slight floral hops. Very balanced and simple.

T- Sweet malts, short bread, bitter floral notes and a touch of pine. There is a touch of juicy citrus but again very balanced.

M- Light bodied, good carbonation and a little bit of chew in the finish.

Serving type: can

07-27-2012 23:07:00 | More by korguy123

bryehn

Ontario (Canada)

3.73/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a slightly hazy golden-amber colour with a large and frothy white head that is slow to burn off, leaving a large collar in its wake, but very little lace.

Smells of toasted malts, caramel and freshly cut grains. A nice floral tone appears after warming.

Taste is very much in line with the smell. It’s toasty and malty with a sweet caramel tone. There is a really solid bitter bite that carries a subtle grapefruit rind citrus character. The finish is dry and bitter.

Medium-bodied with a light carbonation level. Hearty bread-like sensation on the tongue with a mild oiliness. The aftertaste is grainy with a hint of chocolate.

Solid, refreshing session-style ale that has a lot of amber-like qualities. Great with fried foods, potato chips, grilled meats and veggies.

Serving type: can

07-24-2012 20:40:16 | More by bryehn

decimator

Ontario (Canada)

3.4/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

473ml can poured into a pint glass. ABV 5.5%.

A - Poured a golden yellow-orange with a 1 cm head. Head reduce to some bubbles. Good lacing.

S - Grains, citrus, hint of spice. Overall the aroma is light.

T - More flavourful than the aroma let on. Sweet malts, caramel, citrus, grapefruit, pine.

M - medium-full body, medium-light carbonation, some tanginess, some creaminess, dry bitter finish.

O - Not bad. I wasn't expecting much after the aroma but I was pleasantly surprised with the flavourful hoppiness of this brew.

Serving type: can

07-21-2012 01:44:25 | More by decimator

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear Pils gold color. A smallish rocky head leaves chunks of foam on the glass. Fresh bread and light, citrusy hops compete for attention in the nose. The taste is wonderfully balanced between honeyish malts and citrusy hops. Lemon drops and eucalyptus get more prominent with warmth, adding tremendous complexity to the hop profile. The finish is lightly bitter but lasts a long time.

A very enjoyable Pale Ale. Lots of hops relative to the standard in this area. Great stuff from the Market.

Serving type: can

07-17-2012 00:45:28 | More by CAMRAhardliner

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.45/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Can from the LCBO, 473ml into a tulip. Best before November 23 of this year.

Golden orange, unfiltered. Loose soapy white head with a whole bunch of sticky lacing and some good retention. Nose has some orange freezie, pine and some citrus wood cleaner. Some bready/biscuity character but it's fairly weak and not all that pleasant. Taste has some mild citrus and fruity hopping, light bitterness and a mild sweet malt character. Medium body, low carbonation. Not a bad beer, but nothing really about this stands out in the can. I feel like I've enjoyed this much more when I've had this on draught.

Serving type: can

07-15-2012 22:45:54 | More by liamt07

JohnnyBarman

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

473mL can from the Uptown LCBO. New brewery from the Kensington Market area of Toronto, worth a try.

Poured into a nonic. Deep amber golden, about an inch of frothy head, sticky patches of lace. Nice retention on this brew.

Nose is pretty faint: grain, pale malt, a bit of citrus.

Not a bad brew by any stretch. A pale ale with a touch of grain, decent bitterness and a touch of citrus. Finish is clean, some lingering bitterness.

Slightly creamy, carbonation hits at about the right level.

Solid beer, certainly goes down well. Nothing special, mind, but it has enough flavor to keep me occupied. Now if only they could redesign the can...

Serving type: can

07-15-2012 00:46:49 | More by JohnnyBarman

spinrsx

Ontario (Canada)

3.33/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

473ml Can from the Ottawa LCBO for 2.50$

Appearance - Clear dark amber colour with an average size fizzy off-white coloured head. There is a low amount of carbonation and there is some faint lacing. The head lasted for 3 or 4 minutes.

Smell - Malts, caramel, hops, grains

Taste & Mouth - There is a below average amount of carbonation and I can taste piney hops, malts, and caramel. There is also some hay/straw flavour and a bit of a grassiness. It ends with a slightly bitter malty/grainy aftertaste.

Overall - Not an APA by any stretch.. basically just a amber/esb type beer.. It's okay I guess, but definitely nothing I would buy again. It reminded me a bit of a 'hops and robbers' beer I had the other day, but without any trace of a fruitiness.

Serving type: can

07-13-2012 00:04:28 | More by spinrsx

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.18/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

On tap at Volo.

A - Poured a pale, slightly cloudy orange/yellow colour with a small amount of white head.

S - Citrus, pine and a strong caramel malt backbone.

T - Very balanced. Good bitterness with pine, grass and citrus notes. A very significant sweet caramel malt backbone is present as well that becomes more and more dominant as the beer warms up and becomes a little overpowering at times.

M - Light to medium body. Moderate carbonation.

Serving type: on-tap

09-30-2011 22:34:55 | More by TheSevenDuffs

3.85/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at Gambrinus in Lonon, Ontario.

Appearance - Deep golden with a nice, long-lasting head. Leaves patchy lacing as it recedes.

Smell - Bread, caramel, and some light citrus hops.

Taste - Bread and biscuits with a little citrus and moderately assertive bitterness. As I drank this the biscuit and carmel flavours really came to the fore, which was a perfect counterpoint to the bitterness.

This is one of best, if not the best, Ontario Pale Ales I've tasted.

Serving type: on-tap

08-16-2011 23:58:28 | More by

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Lightly hazy golden amber colour, decent white head, nice lace. Smell is fairly malty, light hops, dry and slightly grassy. Taste is dry initially, hops, grassy notes, lots of malt, biscuit like in the finish. Mouthfeel is not bad, carbonation a little high, quite dry making it feel more effervescent than it is. Good pale ale, went well with the Burger Bar burger, would revisit this for sure.

Serving type: on-tap

07-03-2011 00:31:17 | More by peensteen

cyrenaica

Ontario (Canada)

3.45/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

550ml draught
5.0% ABV
I tried this beer on tap on April 29, 2011 at 'C'est What" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The beer poured a translucent golden copper colour with a thin white head that laced well. The aroma was citrus hops, caramel malt, and alittle spice. The mouthfeel was medium bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour slightly sweet with grapefruity hops. Refreshing and enjoyable.

Serving type: on-tap

06-29-2011 23:18:24 | More by cyrenaica

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Finally got to try this at Burger Bar. Pours a pale orange colour with thick head. Nice lacing down the glass. Smells of grapefuity hops with some bready malt. Bitterness is quite forward for an APA, still well balanced. I could easily drink many of these over a night. Nice medium bodied carbonation level. I think this may be my favourite pale ale from Ontario. I am certainly going to have this again.

Serving type: on-tap

04-17-2011 22:19:43 | More by kwjd

ritzkiss

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +11%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pint of this new offering at The Only in an oddly snowy April Sunday. Pours a clear burnished orange with an attractive foamy head that leaves patches of lacing down the glass.

Nose reveals some nice citrus hopping, light caramel and bread, clean but light in the aroma, a little malt forward to me.

Clean malt profile, orange rind and grapefruit pith hopping, light pine, slightly oily at times (a good thing). Very balanced and drinkable but no IPA (as it is originally entered as), definitely more of an American Pale Ale - not enough hop presence or bitterness to be otherwise, even by Ontario's standards. As an APA (which I am rating it as), very approachable and fresh, just enough moderate bite and dryness in the finish to keep you coming back for more. Much more American styled malt profile than most in Ontario, no red malty mess here.

This is a great pale ale (perhaps one of the best in the province), very drinkable and fresh, certainly a nice addition to the Ontario scene. In fact, as I drink I am prone to want to rate this up a little - Will gladly come back to this. Love to see this venture succeed and put out more adventurous offerings.

Serving type: on-tap

04-17-2011 17:01:03 | More by ritzkiss

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hits the mark.

This was really foamy, a problem with the lines on tap at the Burger Bar. Mild hop aromas. Light orange colour. The foam was removed by spoon by the bartenderess. A nice citrus, hoppy ale, without an assault on the palate. Above average palate.

Serving type: on-tap

04-13-2011 20:44:45 | More by northyorksammy