Lake Placid Ubu Ale

Review Date 5/13/2025 By John Staradumsky

  Style: English Strong   Brewery: Lake Placid   Country: USA   State: New York   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 7%

So check this out. Some time way back in the late 1990s, I was at the Great Northeast International Beer Expo in Providence, Rhode Island and got to try three beers from the Lake Placid Brewing Company of Lake Placid, New York: Lake Placid IPA, Lake Placid ESB, and the beer I am here to speak of today, Lake Placid Ubu Ale.

Lake Placid Brewing had recently opened when they came to the expo, opening teir doors in 1996. I imagine they wanted to introduce New Englanders to their beer in hopes that some would stop by the brewery at some point in their travels. I never did see Lake Placid beers for sale on store shelves or on tap in Rhode Island, and when I moved to Georgia in 2001, their beers became even more out of reach.

Until, that is, 2025 and I added a can of Ubu Ale to my shopping cart at Half Time Beverage. I’m glad I did, because this is one tasty beer indeed, especially if you like them dark and malty. I like them dark and malty.

Lake Placid says on their website:

Our famous English-style Strong Ale is deep garnet red in color, and features dark fruit and roasted malt flavors, with a slightly bitter finish.h

Lake Placid Ubu Ale has an alcohol content of 7% by volume with 33 IBUs and I paid $2.99 for a single can from Half Time. This is the only pricing information that I have. My can had no freshness dating.

Lake Placid Ubu Ale pours to a deep chestnut color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose of gentle cookie malts. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body and deeply malty with rich toasty notes and strong suggestions of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and brown sugar. In the finish it’s dry bitter with grassy hops, barely overcoming the sweetness, but it does, and invites another sip.

A tasty English strong ale/brown ale that I would just love to drink again, and hopefully this time it will not take me 25 years to do so.