Beau’s and Red Racer beer release Upper Reaches pale ale for Canada Day
The old cliché “great minds think alike” is appropriate when describing Upper Reaches, the new pale ale conceived and brewed collaboratively by Beau’s Brewing Company and Red Racer beer.
Here’s why: last year, while Beau’s was in Eastern Ontario plotting out its Ottawa 2017 collaboration series that honours the nation’s capital’s official celebration of Canada’s 150th — with an eye on Red Racer as a potential collaborator — the team at Red Racer were in BC planning to ask Beau’s to partake in their own collaborative beer series.
A plan was hatched to brew a pale ale with spruce tips as a nod to Ontario, and peaches to represent BC. First up, Beau’s co-founder Steve Beauchesne and brewer Kevin James joined the team at Central City in Surrey, BC (home of Red Racer), to brew a version of Upper Reaches for the Red Racer Across the Nation Collaboration Mix Pack; and in turn Red Racer brewmaster Gary Lohin visited Vankleek Hill to brew an organic version of Upper Reaches as the July edition of Beau’s Ottawa 2017 series.
The resulting 6% ABV pale ale is indeed both peachy and sprucey, with an aroma that offers big stone fruit notes contrasted by spruce and pepper. The flavour imparts juicy peach that is balanced out by resin inflections, and its finish is dry and slightly tannic.
As the official brewery partner of Ottawa 2017, Beau’s is releasing one new collaborative beer each month of the year with a different partner from across Canada — Upper Reaches is the seventh in that series. Past partnerships include fellow brewing companies like Side Launch from Collingwood, Ont., and Ottawa’s Tooth and Nail; as well as organizations like Newfoundland’s Fogo Island Inn and most recently the David Suzuki Foundation.
Upper Reaches is extra-special in that it’s been timed to be Beau’s release for Canada Day. This peachy pale ale also serves as the centrepiece for Beau’s July 1celebrations at the brewery in Vankleek Hill, where the Red Racer gang will be joining in the festivities. The party is open to the public with food for purchase on the patio, fun activities like the famous stein hold competition, and music courtesy of DJ Law.
A portion of proceeds from sales of Upper Reaches will go to the Trans Canada Trail Foundation’s The Great Trail, which helps develop recreational trails in every province and territory. Now is a great time to support The Great Trail, as there is funding to add 50 cents to every dollar donated until August 30. Donors of $1,000 or more will get their name engraved on a celebratory pavilion near Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Visit thegreattrail.ca for more details.
A limited supply of Upper Reaches will be available for purchase over the Canada Day weekend at Beau’s taproom in Vankleek Hill, and online at BYBO.ca. It will also be pouring at LCBO growler stations in Ottawa and Toronto, and at a handful of Ontario restaurants, pubs, and events in Ontario this summer, including the Toronto Festival of Beer. Upper Reaches will also be available by the bottle in limited supply in British Columbia.