So, my latest Vue Weekly column is on news stands now, and it is a bit out of the ordinary. I decided to take a look at a beer that most beer folks in town take for granted. Alley Kat’s Charlie Flint’s Lager has been their pale lager mainstay for years. It has always been well-brewed and I would never turn it down when offered one, but I admit that when given the option of it or a Full Moon Pale Ale or one of their seasonals, Flint always lost out.

However, a few months ago the Kats switched the beer around – going with organic malt and tweaking the hopping as well. Now, going organic is cool, for various earthly reasons. Some of you may not immediately appreciate the other significance of the switch, so let me be clear. Malt is the biggest ingredient in beer (besides water) and beer is in large part defined by what kind of malts it has. Use a bunch of roasted barley, you gotta stout. Use delicate pilsner malt you have, well, a pilsner (or related style). That much is obvious, I suspect. However, even where the malt is grown and malted makes a huge difference to its overall flavour and aroma. Brewers pick their malts as carefully as vinters select grapes. So the lack of pesticides is not just about human health and the environment. It is about redefining your beer.

So needless to say I was just as intrigued to see how the new malt would affect the flavour. The result of that inquiry is my Vue review – which you can read by clicking here.