For the past year or so, Saturday has been a board games night. And beer obviously pairs well with that activity!
I have the privilege of living in Ontario, Canada. Over the past few years, the independent craft beer scene has exploded. Lots of choice, lots of innovation, lots of limited batches! Here's a deeper history for those interested.
The Mill Street Winter's Ale
Mill Street is something of a institution. No longer a truly independent brewery (it was bought by Labatt / AB InBev in 2015), its beer nonetheless has been a consistent and wonderful experience throughout my craft-consuming career.
Winter's Ale has been in regular rotation since 2012, popping up in limited batches during the colder months. It's a crisp, spiced ale that reminds you of the holiday season. A welcome and warm feeling as I drank it down on a chilly, gray, late January evening.
🎄 🍯 🍪 🍺 Tasting notes from the official site:
A Winter’s Ale is a spiced Christmas Ale first brewed at our Ottawa pub brewery in 2012. The biscuit malt flavours and the aromatics of German hops and traditional Christmas baking spices come together with locally produced honey to make a truly remarkable seasonal beer.
The can design has changed over the years. You can see older versions of it on its thread in Untappd. In 2022 they've gone with minimalism: red background with flat, charming cartoon art in green.
Board game pairing?
I may has mistimed this one a little, as the game we were playing was based on a tropical island. A light lager or a more fruit forward beer may have been more thematic. Earlier in the night we were playing a game based on dwarven industry (I even had a beer room!)—this spicy ale probably would've matched that vibe better.
Either way, Winter's Ale made placing meeples and building my deck that much more fun, and there was snow on the ground outside, so I call that a win. 😉
Thanks for reading!