“The” Record Store
I remember the record store downtown, House of Sounds. Rows and rows of albums. Boxing day was when all the big sales were on. I would have my paper route money and any money I got from Christmas and head down to buy as many albums as I could. Sometimes an album that normally cost $5 you could get for $2.
But not this album. The White Album* came out in November of 1968 and that boxing day it was still selling for $13. No deals that year. I can’t remember when I bought it but 55 years later it still spins and delivers. It isn’t actually “The White Album”, the name of the album is “The Beatles”. And even though the name of this beer is Kensington White Stout, they tells us it isn’t actually a white stout, its “a golden ale with dreams of something bigger and bolder.” An enigmatic and ambiguous ale with aspirations.
It turns out there is really no such thing as a white stout. Like this beer, they tend to be golden or blonde ales with stout flavourings. Not my first white stout, but after my first white stout I was not enamored to the genre to say the least. Will I be saying never again again?
It pours a golden approaching amber, the only thing white about this brew is it’s sliver of a head. Aroma of a honey lager, sweet. I am starting to get déjà vu all over again. The taste is of a coffee cocoa ale? A touch of coffee gives it that stout taste, and the cocoa gives it a sweet flavour, but it has a body like an ale. Any malt in there is hidden by the stout flavourings so unlike a stout it doesn’t have that roasted malt barley backbone. Once you get past the different combo that this brew is, it starts to settle in.
Despite lofty aspirations it’s definitely not for everyone. I found the unique combination went from surprising, to interesting, to enjoyable, to tiring, all in one glass. I am not saying never again, how about not for a while.
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