Month: September 2015

Black Market Brewing Co. Hefeweizen Hefeweizen at 4.7% ABV (C$6.41 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits  650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with one finger of fluffy white head, good retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: banana and bubblegum, wheat, white pepper and cloves. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (7/10) Light body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (4/5)

Awww… no cool name on this one? That’s OK, Black Market, I forgive you. You make too many good beers for me not to! (And I just checked – did I really give four other Black Market beers 7.5/10? Talk about consistent…) This one comes up just a little short, though, compared to its brethren. Nice, but just a tiny bit bland. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Spider Bite Beer Co. Fundur Session IPA at 4.7% ABV (C$8.10 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits  650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Appearance: hazy pale straw with a frankly ridiculous three fingers (and growing!) of fluffy white head, excellent retention and good lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bright citrus, pine, tropical fruit, pale biscuity malt, light floral. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (7/10) Light body, moderate carbonation, crisp lightly bitter finish. (4/5)

Nice example of the style – bright, crisp, and pleasant. Crappy bottle art from a brewer I never heard of before, so I went into this with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. Hey! Light, hoppy, and sessionable – what’s not to like? (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Driftwood Brewery gose-uh Gose at 5.0% ABV (C$7.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Appearance: hazy pale straw with an unruly three fingers of fluffy white head, excellent retention and good lacing. (4/5) Aroma: lemon zest, grassy, grainy malt, yeast, salt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild tart, slightly salty. (6/10) Light body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry short-duration finish. (3/5)

I was indecently excited when I saw this – I mean, one can never have too many goses, right? – but this was a little bit of a swing and a miss for Driftwood. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad: it’s got a decent citrus and mild saltiness. But, I’d prefer it to be more dry and tart, and I’d like to see higher carbonation. Good, but definite room for improvement. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com