United Nations of Beer

Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale

by Ashley Cotter-Cairns
(UNOB HQ)

Alexander Keith's Harvest Ale (5.3% ABV)
Alexander Keith, NS, Canada
Visit the UNOB's Nova Scotia beer guide

Keith's went to a lot of trouble to get me this beer to review. It was sent by courier (to two different addresses in the end) in a locked wooden box (which didn't survive the trip), surrounded by straw and with a combination lock on it! Quite a lot of effort for a single bottle (send a crate next time, folks...). The first I heard of it was the email sending me the combination for the lock... Put the cart before the horse!

This beer, then, has intrigued me for days, so it was with some anticipation that I opened the bottle. It poured rather like a "Scotch" style ale, with virtually no head, a deep brown body and very sweet, malty nose.

I don't know what I was expecting really: something more seasonally significant than this. This tastes too sweet; it's like a soft drink that happens to be alcoholic. A few minutes after you swallow you get the most interesting taste to be had here; a lingering malty nuttiness.

There's just not enough variety in the flavor to make this worthy of real note. Great marketing, though.