Month: June 2015

Half Pints Brewing Co. Pothole Porter American Porter at 7.9% ABV (C$9.75 at Sundance Wine Market, 655 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear ruby brown with one finger of dense light beige head, good retention and minimal lacing. (4/5) Nose is roasty malt, coffee, dark chocolate, caramel, dark fruit, oak. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter. (7/10) Full body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering and slightly warming bitter finish. (4/5)

Nice solid porter – full body supporting nice roasted malt notes of cocoa and espresso, with just a little herbal hop bitterness and some faint woody complexity. Porters aren’t typically my favourites, but this is a pretty well-balanced performer. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Abita Brewing Company Turbodog English Brown Ale at 5.6% ABV (US$1.79 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 355 ml, best before 26-Aug-2015)

Pours clear brown with one finger of loose light beige head demising gradually to a thin skim, minimal lacing. (3/5) Nose is roasty malt, coffee, chocolate, toffee, dark fruit, slight nutty. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter. (6/10) Medium body tending a little to the watery, lively carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Not much to say here – fairly typical English Brown. The body is a little on the watery side, and the carbonation a little on the high side, as compared to more conventional browns – which actually makes it pretty drinkable, so there’s that? (12/20)

My 186th from the 2010 Edition (174th from the 2013 edition), and 196th combining both editions.

6/10 #1001beers #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Blue Moon Brewing Company Rounder Belgian-Style Pale Belgian Pale Ale at 5.6% ABV (US$1.49 at Total Wines & More, Henderson NV, 355 ml, best before 30-Mar-2015)

Pours clear pale to medium amber with one finger of loose light tan head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, patchy lacing. (3/5) Nose is caramel malt, orange peel, floral. (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter. (5/10) Medium body, lively carbonation, sweetish medium duration finish. (3/5)

Worst. BPA. Ever. OK, fine, it’s a bit past its best before, but still. This is another one from the Expressionist series that is perfectly fine (well, OK, serviceable) on its own merits, but bears little or no resemblance to the style it’s claiming to be. Only the faintest hints of Belgian style to this, and certainly not crisp and dry the way I like BPA’s to be. Better than a macro lager, if not by much. (10/20)

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Omnipollo Hypnopompa American Double / Imperial Stout at 11% ABV (C$11.00 at Zyn, 330 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours solid black with no head, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is burned sugar, vanilla, dark roasty malts, coffee and dark chocolate. (8/10) Taste is strong sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Full body, zero carbonation, off dry and strongly boozy finish. (4/5)

Wow. I mean, I know I left the Reinheitsgebot in the dust some time ago, but this beast is some whole ’nuther level stuff. Yes, it’s made with marshmallows. Yes, it smells and tastes like a marshmallow. To be more precise, it tastes like a marshmallow after you’ve tried to toast it, but didn’t pay attention how close it was to the camp fire – beer may or may not have been a factor – and it caught on fire. Not one to waste a perfectly good blackened marshmallow, you blew it out and ate it. Those marshmallows. Ridiculously sweet, flat as a board, kick like a mule. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mikkeller / Prairie Artisan Ales American Style American IPA at 7.5% ABV (US$13.99 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 750 ml, best before 9-Apr-2017)

Pours cloudy medium gold with three fingers (and growing) of rocky light tan head, heavy lacing. (4/5) Nose is pithy citrus, brett funk, tropical fruit, pale grainy malt. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderately strong bitter, strong tart. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, dry funky finish. (4/5)

That’s a fairly unique A/IPA – definitely dominated by the brett, but still retaining a strong hop character. I’ve had Belgian IPA’s before, and this shares a lot of the characteristics of that style, but the brett is definitely the joker in the deck. In fact, the first thing I thought of when I cracked it, was that it smelled like a lambic or a gueuze. Bit of a beast, but lots of fun. The only other beer I can think of that took the “brett inoculated IPA” route is Stone Enjoy After – but that’s gonna be my Boxing Day present to myself this year, so I’ll have to get back to y’all with a comparison on that. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Lager American Amber / Red Lager at 7.5% ABV (US$1.79 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 355 ml, bottle date 1-Apr-2015)

Pours clear medium gold with one finger of medium dense white head, good retention and moderate patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel malt, grassy and floral, hint of citrus. (6/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, very mild bitter. (6/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, short duration slightly bitter finish. (3/5)

Definitely a prohibition-era lager: much more robust and less crisp than today’s typical light lagers, yet still easy-drinking and refreshing. Some of the hop flavours (especially the citrus) build and become more apparent as the glass progresses, making me like this a bit more than I first thought. Not great, perhaps, but worth trying, especially on a hot day. (13/20)

My 185th from the 2010 Edition (173rd from the 2013 edition), and 195th combining both editions.

6.5/10 #1001beers #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Firestone Walker Brewing Company Union Jack IPA American IPA at 7.5% ABV (US$1.79 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 355 ml, bottle date 1-Apr-2015)

Pours clear deep gold with a short, short-lived white head, patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is bright pine resin, citrus, pale malt, light tropical fruit. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium to light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry warming finish. (4/5)

“Lions, bears, and beers”? Oh my! An enjoyable A/IPA with a bit of E/IPA malt character. For me, the first sip was the best – after that, the maltiness becomes just a tiny more pronounced than I’d prefer. This would be a great beer with a BBQ or camp fire, though. As long as I didn’t have to drive afterwards – because not that this one is hot, by any means, but at 7.5%ABV, it’ll get the job done quicker than many. (16/20)

My 184th from the 2010 Edition (retired from the 2013 edition), and 194th combining both editions.

8/10 #1001beers #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Blue Moon Brewing Company Farmhouse Red Saison/Flanders-Style Ale Saison / Farmhouse Ale at 5.8% ABV (US$1.79 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 355 ml, best before 20-Apr-2015)

Pours clear medium amber with a short, short-lived light tan head, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is yeasty wheat, coriander, grassy/floral, slight pepper. (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, very mild tart. (5/10) Medium body, lively to moderate carbonation, brief duration finish. (3/5)

Maybe we need to take up a collection and buy Blue Moon a dictionary? I’m getting essentially no saison character whatsoever, and only the weakest of tartness as the nominal “flanders-style” aspect. Coriander is more witbier than saison, and the yeasty tones just smell like bog standard Blue Moon. It’s not terrible, but it’s not what it says on the label, either. (10/20)

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Sierra Nevada Harvest Fresh Hop IPA – Southern Hemisphere (2015) American IPA at 6.7% ABV (US$4.99 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 650 ml, bottle date 27-Apr-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with three fingers of pillowy light tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (5/5) Nose is citrus, pine, floral, caramel malt. (7/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter, mild peppery spice. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter and slightly spicy finish. (4/5)

Now that is a heckuva sessionable IPA – a decently dry finish and a well-integrated moderately strong ABV make this a beer you can quite enjoy having a couple of, while the flavours are sufficiently bright and complex to keep you interested. Both the body and the sweetness are perfectly suited to support the hop-forward character without detracting from it, making the beer a decent showcase for NZ hops. (I keep wanting to think there’s a little vinous character in there, but I can’t really pin it down. Something a little more adventurous would have been nice.) Recommended. (16/20)

My 183rd from the 2010 Edition (172nd from the 2013 edition), and 193rd combining both editions.

8/10 #1001beers #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Deschutes Brewery Armory XPA Experimental Pale Ale American Pale Ale at 5.9% ABV (US$3.99 at Total Wines & More Henderson NV, 650 ml, best before 14-Jul-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of rocky light tan head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus, grainy pale malt, tropical fruit. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering moderately bitter finish. (3/5)

I like this. Not quite a traditional APA, but not quite an IPA, either. Bright citrus and fruit play well with the emphatic bitter. Fun, but not great – the flavours aren’t as bright as promised by the nose, so though it’s bitter, it’s not as clean as I’d like. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com