Fortunately for our beer packs, Glazen Toren have started putting some of their beers into 330ml bottles, and this beer is the latest to join that group.
Canaster is the winter seasonal offering from Glazen Toren, and while it is labelled as a Scotch Ale, this style of beer was typical for the region of Aalst going back centuries to the time of the Carmelite Monks.
Brewed with dark barley and wheat malts, as well as dark Belgian candi sugar (the sugar crystals they get from the numerous sugar beet farms around Belgium), and hopped with the local Hallertau hops, this beer is an ode to the area.
Pouring a dark brown colour with a thick foam that quickly collapses in on itself, the aroma is full of roasted malts, caramel and dark dried fruits.
In the flavour those roasted malts take centre stage. Caramel, dark chocolate and brown sugar combine with the fruit flavours of raisins and dates. The beer is smooth though there are the sharp flavours of roasted malt the show. It finishes reasonably dry, with the pleasant spicy aftertaste.