Signature Ale
C'est What Durham Brewing Company

Signature AleSignature Ale
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From:
C'est What Durham Brewing Company
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
English Pale Ale
ABV:
5%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 10.47%
Reviews:
34
Ratings:
51
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 11, 2017
Added:
Dec 17, 2002
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of Hodgson
Reviewed by Hodgson from Canada (ON)

4.46/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
This beer has evolved over time. Initially it was a kind of APA. Now it's a British bitter. Very true to the older style of English bitter ale before Punk IPA and U.S. hop flavoring.

It's very similar to the great English bitters of a past era like Flowers, or Truman (now back again), Courage, ESB etc.

A great way to taste what made English beer great, in Canada. Never had an English beer style here as good except for some Imperial stout and porter.

Not to be missed.
Dec 11, 2017
 
Rated: 3.77 by ConnorG from Canada (ON)

Sep 01, 2017
Photo of JPNesker
Reviewed by JPNesker from Canada (ON)

4.59/5  rDev +26.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Was one of my early gateway beers into the "world of Flavour" ... nice to see it has aged well. A very good Canadian take on a British bitter. malt forward. Sessionable
Apr 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.59 by Electros from Canada (ON)

Jan 01, 2017
Photo of Tilly
Rated by Tilly from Kentucky

3.98/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Nice crisp, clean, orange zest, malts, hops. A great British Style Ale from county Durham!
Mar 25, 2016
Photo of akdo
Reviewed by akdo from Canada (ON)

3.86/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Look: The beer is transparent, has an amber body and a white two-finger head supported by little carbonation. The head ends up receding to a crown ring, which is acceptable for this style according to the Beer Judge Certification Program. The beer also laces the glass.

Smell: There is a small hint of hops on the nose. Other than that, the beer foreshadows that it will taste like caramel.

Taste: The flavour is mostly earthy. There is a moderate note of caramel and nuts.Other than that, the dominant flavour was wheat and cereal. The flavour of the hops was moderate as there was a residual sweetness.

Feel: The low carbonation at the very front-end gives the beer its earthy taste. The beer is light-bodied, which makes it a typical pub fare. There is no warmth from alcohol and the beer feels a little bit like a syrup.

Overall: Although English bitters are not my cup of tea, this Canadian beer is a good interpretation of the style. It fulfills its main objective, which is to be drinkable. However, I would personally love to see a better head retention.
Feb 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.25 by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)

Apr 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by CRObighit2 from Canada (ON)

Sep 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by bigox420 from Canada (ON)

Jul 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by spinrsx from Canada (ON)

Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Magibeg from Canada (ON)

May 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by WeissBoy from Canada (ON)

May 12, 2014
Photo of mick303
Reviewed by mick303 from Canada (ON)

3.58/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle into a shaker pint. Colour is a coppery brown, decent head and lacing. Clarity is strong, with lots of visible carb.

S - bready caramel malts, earthy UK hops, floral, some rich fruitcake aromas, quite a typical profile for the style.

T - balanced with nice yeasty profile to start then diving into the bready caramel malts, lemon and grapefruit appear, then it gets a bit more floral and dry. It has some aged fruity florals and restrained earthy bitterness. Does a fairly good job of mimicking the ESB and PAs from the UK, and I think it offers a good session beer in its own right, just a bit too much of the lemon astringency maybe.

M - pleasantly sessionable with a bit of a bite and a smooth refreshing carbonation. Easy body with a full malty mouthfeel, a bit sweet, could maybe have used some more bitterness to flesh it out, finish was longer than most british versions.

A decent session PA, very UK inspired and one of the better examples of the style around locally, a bit overly dry I thought and complexity wise its nothing outstanding, but one that would be a flavourful session beer. Some tweeking maybe would be good, but overal a fairly good representation.
Apr 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by RedAleMan from Canada (ON)

Mar 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Bf_89 from Canada (ON)

Feb 22, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by Molson2000 from Canada (ON)

Feb 10, 2014
Photo of taxandbeerguy
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)

3.6/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
500 ml bottle (looks cool) received as a birthday gift. Purchased from LCBO and price is in the $4-5 CDN range.

Served well-chilled into a pint glass.

Appearance - Hazy, honey brown color. 1.5 fingers of off-white head and nice retention, leaving a soapy collar on top.

Smell - Floral, slight citrus notes and also some faint sweetness akin to candied sugar.

Taste - Floral and some tart fruit transitioning to some more bitterness but the in quickly relinquishes its grasp. A little malty in there too put I can't seem to peg what exactly it is. Pretty tasty.

Mouthfeel - Smooth, but not thick, a touch lacking in viscosity. However, impressively smooth with a medium-light body and medium carbonation.

Overall - An enjoyable ale, but other than the tartness us front, there's nothing to separate this. However definitely solid and wouldn't turn down another.
Feb 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by jmkoscie from Canada (ON)

Jan 02, 2014
Photo of polloenfuego
Reviewed by polloenfuego from Canada (NB)

3.67/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
From a 500 ml bottle to a pint glass.

This beer pours a copper/amber color with a small one or two finger head that breaks incredibly fast leaving just the tiniest bit of lacing. The smell is mostly malts and hops, not unlike other offerings in this style.

Taste is just about par for a British style pale ale. I get hops and Malta with a slight bitter aftertaste. Mouth feel is decent, medium to higher carbonation and medium body.

Overall, I would say this is pretty good, but perhaps too familiar for my liking. If there are those out there who have had the opportunity to try both this offering from Durham County and any of the Picaroons offerings out of NB, you will likely notice a similarity as I did. A nice take on a British session ale.
Dec 25, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

Dec 21, 2013
Signature Ale from C'est What Durham Brewing Company
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 51 ratings