Month: July 2016

Bruery Terreux Frucht: Passion Fruit (2016) Berliner Weisse at 4.3% ABV (C$17.49 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 21-Jul-2016)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with a short-lived fizzy white head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. (4/5) Aroma: peach, tropical fruit, lactic, wheat, light funk. (8/10) Taste: high tart, moderate sweet. (8/10) Medium-light body, lively carbonation, tart and lightly funky finish. (4/5)

Whoo, that’s tart!  They claim it’s passion fruit, but to be honest I’m getting peach puree baby food. Not that that’s a bad thing, y’unnerstand. I’m not getting a lot of woodiness from the oak foeder aging, but perhaps that’s a component of the lightly funky finish. Lots of fun, if a whole lot more heavy-handed than traditional Berliner Weisses. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Harvest Hefeweizen: Hazy pale straw with no head to speak of; citrus, grainy wheat malt, light bubblegum/banana; moderate sweet, mild bitter, light tart; light body, moderate carbonation, crisp finish. Decent and refreshing, if far too clear for the style. 6/10

ISA: Clear straw, no head and patchy lacing; mild floral, citrus, pine, pale malt; moderate sweet, moderate-light bitter; medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lightly bitter finish. Light and easy-drinking, but not necessarily watered-down. 6/10

TK IPA: Clear pale gold, low creamy white head and moderate lacing; floral, citrus, pine, caramel malt; moderate sweet, moderate bitter; medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter finish. Very similar to the ISA, just slightly more emphatic. Still quite mild, though, and could almost qualify as an ISA itself. Not getting a lot of the PacNW/NZ hops the board claims, and could definitely stand to be more dry-hopped. 6.5/10

Blowout Stout: Clear brown with a short light beige head, good retention and lacing; roasty malt, coffee, cocoa; medium-full body, soft carbonation, clean dry finish. Decent dry Irish-style stout that manages to be pleasantly rich without becoming heavy. (And no, it’s not “viscous” or “heavy” the way the commercial descriptions claim.) ABV is on the high side for the style but doesn’t detract. 7/10

Bench Creek Brewing White Raven American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$3.87 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 473 ml, bottle date 30-Jun-2016, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 20-Jul-2016)

Appearance: opaque pale amber with three fingers of loose ivory head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, tropical fruit, pine, pale/caramel malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

Oh hell damn yes – three week old IPA? Sign me up! Yeah, it looks like one of those malt-forward A/IPA messes I love to complain about – but it ain’t that. Lovely citrusy hops lead the way over tropical fruit, pine, and a restrained pale/caramel malt base. Fragrant aromas on moderately high bitter flavours? This would be worth going to Edmonton for – and I don’t say that lightly. (I advise you to just ignore the loony ramblings on the side of the can – crackpots can make good beer, apparently.) (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Ninkasi Brewing Company Beer Run American IPA at 7.3% ABV (C$9.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 20-Jul-2016)

Appearance: clear medium gold with two fingers of rocky off-white head, excellent retention and decent lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, pine, pale malt, tropical fruit tones. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (7/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

Not completely convinced by this one: yes, there’s a fairly big bitter going on – which is definitely to the good – but it seems just a touch unbalanced, or at least not well represented by the aromas. If I had to choose, I’d’ve suggested a bit more dry hopping and a bit less hops in the boil. Not a lot, by any means, but I think a slight tweak of the balance here would be a big improvement. Well, that and hiring an actual graphic artist to do the label, instead of the owner’s 10-year-old child (or maybe 20-year-old mistress-with-pretensions-of-artistry). Yes, it really is that cartoonishly bad. If you don’t want to spend money on your labels, follow De Molen’s lead. Otherwise, step it up like Driftwood did. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Alley Kat Brewing Co. Back Alley Brews #1: Spruce Almighty Spice / Herb / Vegetable at 5.2% ABV (C$7.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 20-Jul-2016)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with one finger of dense, almost creamy light ivory head, excellent retention and decent lacing. (4/5) Aroma: mild evergreen (yes, OK, spruce tips), light citrus, pale malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

To say I went into this with “a little trepidation” would be putting it mildly. My first couple of forays into this style have covered a range of “deeply strange and off-putting” to “somewhat strange and off-putting”. This, though? Not very off-putting at all. The spruce tips actually work reasonably well with the typical pine/citrus flavours of starts-with-C hops. My biggest complaint is that the hopping could’ve stood to be more emphatic: more hops could’ve pushed this into world-class territory, but as it stands it’s just quite good. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Troubled Monk Brewery Homesteader Saison at 6% ABV (C$2.33 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355 ml, bottle date 15-Jun-2016, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 20-Jul-2016)

Appearance: clear deep gold with one finger of loose ivory head, short retention and no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: coriander, floral, citrus, caramel and wheat malt. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter, light tart, light peppery spice. (6/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate-high carbonation, slightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Solid but unremarkable Saison. I’d like it more if it weren’t quite so sweet, though – towards the end of the glass, it gets a little mouth-coating, verging on cloying. Doesn’t make me want to grab another one, at least not right away. And I’m not opposed to higher ABV’s, but I tend to prefer lower ones (<5%) for this style, which I think should be bright, crisp, dry, and refreshing. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Big Rock Brewery / Last Best Brewing and Distilling Collaboration #2 Saison at 5.2% ABV (C$2.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 473 ml, best before 28-Jan-2017, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 19-Jul-2016)

Appearance: clear straw with one fat finger of rocky white head, good retention and patchy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: coriander, floral, yeasty, pale malt. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, light tart, light peppery spice. (6/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter and slightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Y’know, I’m starting to get a little suspicious that this whole “let the beer do the talking” schtick is just a dodge. I mean, the savings on label art alone, right? I was going to say, it’s pretty frustrating not knowing what the intended style is when you’re trying to rate something – but it pretty quickly became apparent that this could only be a Saison. (Well, OK, it might be considered a Hefe, I guess, but it’s not cloudy or particularly wheaty, and there’s no bubblegum or banana. Moving on.) Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as good a Saison as Collaboration #1 was an IPA. It’s OK, sure, but only just. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Pivovary Staropramen s.r.o. Staropramen Czech Pilsener at 5% ABV (C$3.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 500 ml, best before 31-Mar-2017, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 19-Jul-2016)

Appearance: clear straw with one fat finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and patchy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: grass, pale grainy malt. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, light bitter. (5/10) Light body, moderate carbonation, crisp lightly bitter and slightly metallic finish. (3/5)

Meh. It’s a straightforward Světlý without a lot to distinguish it. Easy drinking but starts to get a bit sweet with an adjunct flavour as it progresses.  Can’t think of any reason why I’d ever go looking for another one. (11/20)

5.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Rough Draft Brewing Company Eraser IPA American IPA at 7% ABV (C$10.69 at Crowfoot Liquor Douglas Square, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 18-Jul-2016, reviewed 18-Jul-2016)

Appearance: hazy pale amber with three fingers of rocky ivory head, decent retention and good lacing. (4/5) Aroma: toffee malt, citrus, generalized fruity esters, pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (4/5)

Middle-of-the-road-A/IPA… well, OK, verging on “slightly better than middle-of-the-road”. To my nose, the malt leads – which is definitely one the “con” column. On the other hand, the bitter is actually fairly massive – as in, DIPA levels – so there’s that. Overall, it’s solid – but I’m slightly disappointed, because it feels like it could’ve been better, had the malt taken its rightful place behind the hops. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com