Molson Fireside Lager
Molson Coors Canada

473ml can (look at Molson, trying to act like the cool kids!). And who the hell decided the style for this on here?

This beer pours a clear, very dark amber-highlighted brown colour, with three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and mildly bubbly tan head, which leaves a bit of spotty lace around the glass as it quickly dissipates.

It smells of bready and doughy cereal malt, a hint of tobacco smoke, muddled domestic black stone fruit, and a very faint earthy, musty, and dead floral hoppiness. The taste is grainy and bready pale malt, mild dark cocoa notes, wispy campfire smoke (natch), still hard to parse frooty notes, and more well understated leafy, herbal, and musky hop bitters.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-pleasing frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, with perhaps a touch of ashiness getting stuck in my teeth at some point in the process. It finishes off-dry, the 'seven malts' earning their lingering bonus cheque.

Overall - I can't say that this doesn't resemble at least in some part the real deal, which really is the trick, right? Also, at the moment, I shall not be pairing this (perfectly or otherwise) with food and/or friends. But that's not Molson's fault, as much as I might wish it to actually be. Yeah.

Molson Fireside Lager. Made with seven selected malts. 4.6 per cent alc. Decent beige head that lingers for a few minutes. The beer is Coca-Cola coloured. Nice aroma and taste. Think that dark malty profile. Medium body and a fairly smooth finish. I think they could push up the abv a point or so. Grade: A-

Can - decants a dark chestnut color beer with ruby highlights and a 1 finger mocha cap that reduces to a surface lace...aromas of smokey toasty grains, light burnt treacle tones..no hop aroma to speak of....flavor is sweat with roasty malts, smoke, burnt treacle, light woody hopping, breaks to a clean lightly dry smokey-malty finish..interesting brew....not unlike a Scottish peat smoked wee heavy with some smooth lager qualities...tasty, different

Pours a cola, cherry red color with a frothy but short lived head. The aroma is of raisin bran, sweet, fruit notes and some roasted barley. Sweet malts and some husky, roastyness in the taste. Anemic hop profile. The mouthfeel is light bodied with light carbonation. Sweetish but not overbearingly so finish.

A pretty one dimensional dark lager. Not undrinkable but pretty bland.

 

A- Well this one pours with a fizzy light tan colored head....it is quite fizzy and noisy, dissipating in rather quick fashion, settling into a patchy foam-works that is thin and scratchy looking. The coloration of the beer itself is quite dark and it is clear, showing rusty copper and red hues when held up against the light.....the lacing is pretty slippery and doesn't stick to the inside of my glass at all Average overall, but the color is deeper than I would have expected, so that is a plus!

S- I find that it has a damp wood aroma and tries to pass off smoky spice, but it is weak. Malt sweetness shines through, and I get some caramel, toasted toffee, muted chocolate, coffee creme and a finish that is on the drier side. I like the aromas, yet cant help but feel that there is some adjunct tinned aromas lingering in the background.....still....better than what I expected!

T- Good overall flavor, and it passes for an easy drinking Schwarzbier style lager that doesn't take much thinking. Roasted malts and baking spice are rounded out by subtle smoked wood flavor, chocolate, coffee and toasted pine nuts. It is somewhat lacking but nothing offensive.....a bit of diacetyl detected that lingers on the palate after the swallow, and also leaves an oily buttery note on the lips.

M/O- Light to medium body with aggressive carbonation initially, which settles down to a semi velvety froth that coats the palate in decent fashion. As far as drinkability goes, it is quite easy on the palate and I could enjoy a couple of these in a sitting. For a Molson product, I am pleased....not the best out there, but I would buy this one again!

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded Aug 22 2019 and served barely chilled. They haven't done much with the Rickard's label lately, and this seems like the sort of beer that would typically have it affixed.

Pours a deep chestnut brown colour; good clarity, with crimson red highlights and an inch of buff-tinged foam situated atop. It wilts within the next five minutes or so, eventually reduced to a smooth, creamy quarter-inch cap and frothy collar, partnered with a tight band of even lace. Its aroma is less subtle than some schwarzbiers, with the roasted malts imparting notes of cocoa and coffee, accompanied by caramelized sugar sweetness, toasted nuts and just a touch of smoke.

A serviceable no-frills dark lager: not too sweet, and not particularly flavourful to be honest, but not objectionable in the least. Notes of grainy malt and lightly caramelized sugars dominate the forefront, with faint suggestions of coffee and woodsmoke towards the back end. Light in body, with low carbonation levels that lightly prickle the palate; feels soft and smooth, but not quite 'silky' as it's much too thin for that. Excellent drinkability, as you'd expect from a 4.6% premium macro lager - every bit as easy to knock back as Canadian, if not moreso.

Final Grade: 3.53, a B grade. Fireside Lager is quite possibly the best Molson-labelled product I've ever tried, which means we'll probably never see it again after this year. All kidding aside, I'd recommend giving this beer a try - it might not knock your socks off, but it's a passable dark lager that I enjoyed more than I expected to.

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $2.65 CDN. The advertising worked on me, I was intrigued.

Appearance - Dark near black color and nearly two fingers of loss light tan head are poured. Not much staying power and no lacing.

Smell - Wood, coffee, chocolate, some sweetness in there, maybe almost too much sweetness. Still plenty of aromatics and very inviting.

Taste - Initially some wood, some smokiness and coffee flavors, but they are quite thin. On the plus side, no everlasting bitterness or acrid smoke. Slight bit of metallicness at the end.

Mouthfeel - Body is moderate, carbonation a touch lighter than usual, finish is spritzy on the tongue.

Overall - Better than expected, a decently made dark lager that I would be willing to enjoy again. The nose is the highlight but a tasty product and much better than many of Molson's core line up.

Good dark color. Bit of a burnt, smoky, taste, which may be where 'fireside' comes in. A lot of flavor for a Molson product, but not a particularly good flavor. Possibly the best thing to come out Molsons since their Stock Ale (1908), which I would much rather drink.

 

Very good for a Molson branded product.
September 16 2019

I was in my local beer store today, and the attendant seeing the variety I was buying suggested I try this, which had just come in today. In a can, it pours out quite dark with a brownish head. The smell I found underwhelming, but with plenty of hops notes. They claim seven different hops in the beer. It drinks smoother than it's darkness would suggest, with a hoppiness to it and hints of caramel and chocolate. I did find a bit of lingering aftertaste in it. Overall better than I expected, given Molson's mainstream offerings.