Clock Tower Brew Pub

Not a great photo - sorry it's blurry.

Over Canada Day weekend, we went to Ottawa. It was the first time celebrating Canada Day in the nation’s capital for both of us. Neither of us was ready for the crowds. But as is tradition on our travels, we made time to visit some brew pubs. 

The first one we went to was the Clock Tower Brew Pub - we stopped by the Byward Market location. Here's Jeff's take on the place.

Kate and I both went for the sampler of five beers: Raspberry Wheat, Kolsch, Wishart’s Bitter, Clocktower Red and Bytown Brown.

The raspberry wheat was served with a wedge of lemon. There was some head and strong carbonation. My first sip tasted like raspberry jam - that did not work for me as a beer. So I added a squeeze from the lemon; that worked nicely to brighten up the flavour. It was a refreshing beer... but I likely wouldn’t order it again.

The kolsch was the colour of apple juice and very clear. My glass had next to no carbonation while Kate’s had tons.The taste is inoffensive and a little bland: It is definitely light and the hops are VERY subtle (read: non-existent). Switching my glass with Kate’s, the beer tasted significantly better and the finish was a lot drier. Did I get a glass that was left out or something? (Wifey note: Aren't I nice for giving him my glass? I wasn't a huge fan of this beer anyway ...)

Wishart’s bitter was a caramel gold colour and had a malty biscuit nose. It had a good bitter finish, although not much in flavouring hops from what I can tell.

Clocktower Red had a nice ruby/brown colour. There was some pine and floral notes in the nose - finally some finishing hops. It had caramel malt flavour with some pine hops and finished bitter. This was my favourite beer so far ... Kate hated it. (Wifey note: It's true, I was not a fan.)

The Bytown brown was a deep brown colour as the name would suggest. The aroma and taste were pretty much the same: sweet and nutty. The finish was a little bitter to help offset the initial sweetness. This turned out to be Kate’s favourite - although I think she would characterize it as “least worst.” I didn’t think it was bad, although I wish they had been more aggressive with the flavour.

All in all, the beer was pretty forgettable. I’m not sure if it was a location thing (I don’t believe they actually brew the beer at this location) or if it was timing thing (maybe they were stock piling beer in preparation for the long weekend and we just got some old product) or what, but I was expecting better offerings.