Beer column: If you love winter ales and you love coffee, run to find this beer

It’s the final Saturday of winter and I would imagine most people are pretty excited about it.

I have exciting plans for next weekend’s beer column, as it will feature the first spring and summer releases from one of the province’s most popular breweries.

So this weekend I’ll be taking the opportunity to highlight a tasty beer that you’d probably associate more with winter, although I truly believe you could happily enjoy this one at any time of year.

It’s the Caledonia Cold Brew Coffee Ale from the talented team at Trench Brewing & Distilling in Prince George.

As I mentioned in the headline, anyone who loves winter ales and loves coffee needs to run, not walk, to find this beer.

“This copper-coloured mild ale was brewed with a crystal halt and a high percentage of flaked oats to provide a rich, silky mouthfeel and delicate biscuit and toffee flavours,” the brewery explains.

The Trench crew sourced more than 140 pounds of fresh roasted coffee from their friends at Mercedes Beans, which is around 450 kilometres west along Hwy 16 in Hazelton.

Those beans were added to the beer in the fermentation vessel, which gives it a full-bodied and balanced coffee flavour and aroma.

Caledonia has the smooth, easy-drinking taste of a winter ale before the coffee kicks in and comes through in a wonderful complimentary way.

It comes in at 6% ABV (alcohol by volume) and 18 IBU (international bitterness unit).

I’ve written about Trench before and the northern BC brewery is truly one of the province’s best hidden brewery gems.

I found Caledonia at Urban Liquor in Kelowna and the Trench website has a handy 'Where To Find Us' list so you can track down their beer wherever you may be in BC.

Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at [email protected]. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.