Canterbury AleWorks ReVisited

After discovering Canterbury Aleworks last year during Bike Week, we made a point of heading back there this year.

Unfortunately, the Ale Man himself wasn't there. One of his lovely daughters was 'manning' the tap room and dispensing not only yummy beers but discussing the past, present, and future of the brewery.

There were several changes to the tasting room since last year. The place looks cozy, comfortable, and inviting.

I'd already had many of the beers on tap. But there were new-to-me brews available, too. Of course, I tried them all anyway.












Snappy Wit (5.1% ABV) is a Belgian WitBier
brewed with orange peel and coriander seed.

The aroma is grainy and spicy with orangy overtones.

The taste has a solid wheat beer profile with juicy orange notes and spicy coriander. The fresh flavors really come through. This is a delicious, well-crafted brew.

Overall: very good




Bright Idea (5.4% ABV) is a German Helles-Kolsch Hybrid

This brews is so flippin' good. It has all the crisp, freshness of a Kolsh with the gentle malty goodness of a Helles lager. This brew is light, bright, and super refreshing. Truly a bright idea from the Aleman.

Overall: very good

Chance (5.2% ABV) is a Single Malt And Single Hop brew.  Brewers often make this style of beer to break down what a specific malt and hop characteristics are. All of the Chance brews will have a different single hop for each batch!

In this case, the Aleman used  Columbus hops; a citrussy, earthy, somewhat spicy hop.

That pretty much describes this brew. Bright and citrussy with floral notes and resinous undertones. Mild and flavorful. Medium mouthfeel.

Overall: good.





Smoke House Porter (5.8% ABV) is made with malt smoked at nearby Fox Country Smoke House.

A solid porter that is big on malt and gently smoky. Roasty coffee and dark chocolate flavors come forward to compliment the mildly sweet smoky malt. There is a subtle bitterness in the background to balance all the flavors out.

Overall: good.

Rogue Single Malt Ale

Rogue is one of my favorite micro breweries.  They have variety of interesting beers with fun labels.  There's not a beer created by the brewmasters at Rogue that has disappointed me. There are, of course, one or two that I like less than others but that's not so unreasonable.


So it was with high hopes and great anticipation that I popped open a Chatoe Rogue First Growth Single Malt Ale bomber.  This ale is brewed with Dare malt, Revolution hops and Pacman yeast . . . pacman, I say! Waka waka waka


This ale is from Rogue's Chatoe series.  The beers in this group are labelled “GYO”, as in Grow Your Own.  The ingredients that go into these beers are grown by Rogue and contain one of each ingredient . . . one type of malt,  one variety of hops, and one strain of yeast.  Plus something they call "free range" water . 





I digress . . . Single Malt Ale is a fairly sessionable beer at 5.3% ABV.  It's a fairly light blonde ale that pours a cloudy amber gold with a nice creamy head.  It has a bready aroma that transitions nicely from nose to palate.   Citrus, fruit and bitter hops compliment the malt creating a smooth medium bodied beer . . . delicious.


I would recommend you grab one and give it a go.  This is a pretty darn good beer!


Make sure to visit Rogue's website and visit them on Facebook!