Month: August 2016

Moody Ales Affable IPA American IPA at 6.8% ABV (C$8.50 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, bottle date 15-Jun-2016, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 21-Aug-2016)

Appearance: hazy deep gold with two fat fingers of creamy ivory head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, resiny pine, pale malt, and yes, fruit salad. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium-duration bitter finish. (4/5)

Nice. Citrusy and piney hops lead the way over a pleasant clean malt base. Affable? Well, Merriam-Webster says “affable” is “being pleasant and at ease”, so hells yes, this is definitely affable as all git-out. Definitely the way I like my IPAs – hop-forward, bright, and clean. Doesn’t quite blow my socks off, but it’s definitely worth trying – and I’d like to try it fresher than the two months old this one is. And I gotta say, these guys do their labels right: colour, bitterness, nose (on a scale of “fruit salad” to “egg salad” – nice!), grains, hops, tasting notes, food pairings, IBU, OG, FG, SRM, and serving temperature. My only beef here, and it’s a small one, is that the bottling date imprint isn’t very visible until you actually go hunting for it – a little white cutout in the label would be nice. My first Moody (if we’re not counting their Brews Brothers Purple Haze Black Currant Sour collaboration), but it definitely won’t be my last. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Bridge Brewing Company Hopilano IPA American IPA at 6.0% ABV (C$8.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 21-Aug-2016)

Appearance: cloudy to opaque medium amber with two fat fingers of creamy ivory head, good retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: resiny pine, caramel malt, citrus, floral. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium-duration bitter finish. (3/5)

Meh. The malt is too pronounced, if you ask me, muddling the hops. I was hoping for bright, sharp, and citrusy, but instead it’s dull pine vying with sweet caramel for dominance. And it’s not even like it’s a DIPA, where keeping the malt on a leash can be difficult. Wouldn’t bother with this one again. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Postmark Brewing Summer Saison Saison at 4.7% ABV (C$6.75 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 21-Aug-2016)

Appearance: clear straw with two fingers of rocky off-white head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pears, citrus, stone fruit, crackery pale malt, floral. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild tart, light bitter, light peppery spice. (6/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lightly tart and peppery finish. (3/5)

A middle-of-the-road saison. A little heavy in both body and flavour, but not unpleasant, by any means. Not the best thing I’ve had by them, but it’ll do. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Parallel 49 / Fernie Brewing Co. Spirit in the Sky Havana Club Stout Foreign / Export Stout at 6.5% ABV (C$2.29 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 341 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 16-Apr-2016, reviewed 21-Aug-2016)

Appearance: clear brown with slightly lighter margins, a short fizzy beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: molasses/toffee, dark fruit, cocoa powder, light rum. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter, mild tart. (6/10) Medium body tending slightly to watery, moderate to lively carbonation, off-dry and mildly warming finish. (3/5)

Not a particularly in-spec stout, with higher carbonation than is normal, as well as much less head retention. The body feels thinnish for the style, and drops off to a watery, off-dry finish. There is only a limited ABV presence, manifesting as a mild warming. Nothing very interesting. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Central City Brewers + Distillers / Great Lakes Brewery Peared Up Saison Saison at 5% ABV (C$6.75 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, bottle date 23-Jun-2016, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 20-Aug-2016)

Appearance: clear pale gold with two fingers of rocky white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: pear, hay, banana, floral, white pepper. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild tart, light bitter, light peppery spice. (7/10) Medium body, prickly carbonation, crisp lightly tart and peppery finish. (4/5)

A pleasant, lightly funky and mildly fruity saison. I think this might be my first encounter with Jarrylo hops, and it leaves me a bit on the fence. Pear is hardly a strong flavour to begin with, but to then distinguish the extent to which the pear flavour of this saison is attributable to the pear juice, or alternatively to the hops, is a bit beyond my capabilities. “Yes, it tastes like pears,” is about the most I can accomplish. Not the best I’ve had from CC or GLB, by a long shot, but decent enough. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Worthy Brewing Coeur de la Pêche Saison at 7.0% ABV (C$7.67 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 18-Aug-2016, reviewed 20-Aug-2016)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, good retention and sticky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: slightly musty peaches, banana, grainy malt, cloves, white pepper. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild tart, light bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry funky tart finish. (4/5)

Initially smells sharply of pureed peach baby food, but layers of complexity develop as it warms. Quite enjoyable, but suffers by comparison to the peach saison home-brew Chris Conway (brewer at Folly Brewpub) once gave me. A bit unfair of me, perhaps, to use a one-off home-brew as my gold standard for peach saisons, but there you go – it really was a helluva saison. This, on the other hand, is merely quite good. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Phillips Brewing Company Sour Note Pucker Plucker Cherry Sour Ale Sour / Wild Ale at 6.3% ABV (C$7.99 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 650 ml, best before 12-Dec-2016, acquired 17-Aug-2016, reviewed 20-Aug-2016)

Appearance: hazy slightly pink-tinted pale gold with one fat finger of rocky ivory head settling rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: cherry candy, stone fruit, bready pale malt, light sour cream. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild tart, low bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry tart finish. (4/5)

I went into this with no small amount of trepidation, given the sink pour train wreck that was the last Sour Note (Sax in the Dark, to name and shame). But this isn’t bad. It isn’t great, either, but it isn’t bad. At least there’s no cough syrup aspect to the cherries. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a lacto sour, with no real complexity or depth, but on the other hand it’s easy drinking, with essentially no contribution from the ABV at all. That’ll do, Phillips. That’ll do. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Phillips Brewing Company Bizarro Anniversary Sour Ale Berliner Weisse at 3.4% ABV (C$7.49 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 650 ml, best before 23-Dec-2016, acquired 17-Aug-2016, reviewed 20-Aug-2016)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale straw with one fat finger of rocky white head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Aroma: lemon zest, apples and pears, crackery pale malt, light funk. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild tart, low bitter. (8/10) Light body, lively carbonation, crisp tart finish. (4/5)

Decent and authentic Berliner Weisse. Light, crisp, and refreshing, with just enough funk to keep from becoming boring. The sourness may be just a little on the high side for the style, perhaps, but not to the point of being detracting. Just slightly sweet as well, and the combination of the sweetness and funk make syrup unnecessary – which is good, because I still haven’t found any Woodruff. Worked great as a thirst quencher after a hot, sweaty bike ride! (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Alley Kat Brewing Co. Cerulean Dragon American Double / Imperial IPA at 7.5% ABV (C$8.95 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, best before 8-Feb-2017, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 19-Aug-2016)

Appearance: clear pale amber with two fat fingers of dense ivory head, good retention and well-defined lacing. (4/5) Aroma: grainy and bready caramel malt, citrus, earthy, stone fruit, vegetal. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Seriously? “Cerulean” Dragon? You don’t think that particular well has run dry yet? What’s next, “Periwinkle” Dragon? Questionable colour names aside, I’m not entirely convinced by this one: there’s a vegetal note that doesn’t work for me, and the malts are definitely in the forefront. I’ve had worse, sure – but I’ve had better, too. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something about it that just isn’t working for me. If that’s Calypso hops, sign me out. OK, but no better than that. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Deschutes Brewery Down ‘n Dirty IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV (C$8.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, best before 28-Oct-2016, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 19-Aug-2016)

Appearance: clear pale amber with two fat fingers of fluffy ivory head, good retention and sticky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, resiny pine, earthy, caramel malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium-duration bitter finish. (4/5)

Well, damn, ain’t that some shit. Dirty big bitter on the tongue, a massive hop assault on the nose, and malts firmly in the back seat where they goddamned well belong, like god and George Hodgson intended. (Yes, I know he didn’t invent IPAs, let me have this.) Everybody else on the internet is wrong: this is the best beer Deschutes makes. Well, except for Fresh Squeezed. And Red Chair. And… OK, fine, they make a lot of good beers, happy? This is one of them. Especially if you’re a dissolute unrepentant hophead like myself. Punches a bit above its weight in the ABV department, though – this thing could easily stand to be an 8% DIPA with a little beefier malt bill. If you like IPAs, you need to try this. If you don’t like IPAs, you… well… need to learn to like IPAs. And then try this. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com