Month: March 2017

Destihl Brewery Synchopathic Dry Hopped Sour Sour / Wild Ale at 6% ABV | 8 IBU (US$1.97 at Specs Main Houston, 355 ml, bottle date 20-Oct-2016, acquired 8-Mar-2017, reviewed 24-Mar-2017)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with a short, short-lived loose off-white head no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: lacto sour, citrus, herbal/floral, hint of brine. (6/10) Taste: high tart, moderate sweet, minimal bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, dry intensely tart finish. (3/5)

Meh. Very much a one-trick pony: all tart, all the time. And not complex tart, either. Nope, just straightforward lacto sour. The dry hopping does lend some character to the nose, but the tongue is simply too overwhelmed by acid to resolve much else. Nothing wrong with it, as such, if you want a seriously sour mildly alcoholic lemonade. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Microbrasserie Charlevoix Flacatoune Belgian Pale Ale at 7% ABV | 20 IBU (C$5.68 at NLC Stavanger, 500 ml, bottle date 26-Jan-2017, acquired 17-Mar-2017, reviewed 24-Mar-2017)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with one fat finger of fluffy white head, good retention and soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bready yeast, floral, spices, hint of banana. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry mild bitter finish. (3/5)

Nice. If you’re going to make the (in my opinion highly questionable) decision to not make it about the hops, this is the way you do it: get the yeast working. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Picaroons Traditional Ales  Blonde Ale Golden Ale at 5% ABV | 20 IBU (C$3.79 at NLC Stavanger, 500 ml, bottle date 22-Feb-2017, acquired 17-Mar-2017, reviewed 24-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear medium gold with one finger of medium-dense off-white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, moderate lacing. (3/5) Aroma: grainy malt, grass, earth, hint of plastic/band-aid. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration mild bitter finish. (3/5)

A very uninspired Blonde. The brewer claims Cascade hops, in addition to Maris Otter malt, but it feels very earthy to me. To make matters worse, there’s just a hint of burnt rubber / band-aid. I really can’t see any reason to recommend this – unless, of course, your other choices are macro lagers. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Small Town Brewery Not Your Father’s Root Beer Spice / Herb / Vegetable at 10.7% ABV | 10 IBU (US$6.99 at Specs Main Houston, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 8-Mar-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear deep brown with a short, short-lived white head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: sugary root beer, alcohol, mint, cream, grainy malt. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate alcohol, mild bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium slick body, moderate carbonation, sweet slick warming finish. (3/5)

I deliberately passed on the lower-alcohol versions of this I’ve seen in the past, because I understood this version was “the one”. Well, all I can say is, if this is the one, don’t bother trying any of the others. Heck, don’t bother with this one unless you’re a major fan of root beer. And rubbing alcohol. I mean, it’s not actually terrible – there’s even a hint of beer-like grainy malt underneath the cloying sweetness and root beer extract – but up front it’s very much a hot sugary mess. If that’s your thing, have at it. Me, I’m gonna go brush my teeth for about an hour to try and scrub away the sugar. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Russell Brewing Company Root Beer Milk Stout Milk / Sweet Stout at 6.5% ABV | 30 IBU (C$7.29 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 17-Feb-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: near-black with clear brown margins, one fat finger of fluffy beige head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: root beer, anise, vanilla. (7/10) Taste: moderate-low sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter finish. (3/5)

Well, that was unexpected. Smells very much like root beer, so the low sweetness comes as a complete surprise. They call this a Milk Stout, but it doesn’t seem to have any of the creamy lactose sweetness typical of the style, let alone the heavier sweetness of root beer. Truth be told, I think I like this more than I would have if it were sweeter and more root beer-like. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Melvin Brewing 2X4 DIPA American Double/Imperial IPA at 9.9% ABV | 100+ IBU (C$4.49 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 11-Mar-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with a large fluffy ivory head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, tropical fruit, caramel and pale malt, pine. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

The family resemblance continues – I’d actually be hard-pressed to choose between the three siblings. I guess in terms of overall preference, it’d be this one, for sheer bombast. But, if it were a sunny day on a patio, it’d definitely be the Hubert MPA. I’m quite impressed overall with this brewery. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Melvin Brewing Melvin IPA American IPA at 7.5% ABV | 80 IBU (C$4.49 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 11-Mar-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with a large fluffy ivory head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, tropical fruit, caramel and pale malt, pine. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration sticky bitter finish. (4/5)

Quite similar to their Hubert MPA (APA), except with a slightly more emphatic hop presence, and a beefier malt backbone. These guys don’t mess around – their APA is beefier than some IPAs, and their IPA is bigger than some DIPAs. I’m almost scared to try their DIPA… (No, not really.) (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Melvin Brewing Hubert MPA American Pale Ale at 6% ABV | 65 IBU (C$4.49 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 11-Mar-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear pale gold with two fingers of fluffy ivory head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: juicy orange and grapefruit, pineapple, pale malt, pine, grass. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration slightly sticky bitter finish. (4/5)

My absolute biggest complaint about this? The lack of any kind of container date. I mean, this is lovely and bright, so I assume it’s fresh – but maybe it’s not, and it could be even better! How am I to know? Really quite good, even if it is pretty beefy for an APA – and despite the fact that Hubert’s clearly a hipster. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery Smashbomb Atomic IPA American IPA at 6% ABV | 72 IBU (C$3.39 at NLC Stavanger, 473 ml, best before 28-Feb-2017, acquired 17-Mar-2017, reviewed 22-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with two fingers of fluffy ivory head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, pine, caramel malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (4/5)

Probably one of the first true craft beers I ever tried – so perhaps it’s at least partly to blame for my current hop obsession? This one’s a bit past its BB date, but that hasn’t harmed it overly much – perhaps a tad less citrus on the nose than I remember, but still a solid performer. I certainly don’t regret snagging a couple to have while working on the basement. Interesting that the first time I rated it, I was sufficiently confused and intrigued by the high hops that I called it “at least a 6/10, perhaps more after I’ve gotten used to it.” Yeah, well, I’m used to it, and it’s more. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Ballast Point Brewing Company Mango Even Keel Session IPA at 3.8% ABV | 40 IBU (C$3.99 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, bottle date 30-Dec-2016, acquired 11-Mar-2017, reviewed 21-Mar-2017)

Appearance: clear deep gold with a large rocky ivory head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: sweet tropical fruit, citrus, pale malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, crisp dry mild bitter finish. (4/5)

Somewhat surprisingly, because I usually don’t prefer varietals, I think I prefer this to the base version. I rather suspect there’s a couple of things contributing to that preference: the mango flavour fills out the bottom end, making the finish less thin or sharp than the base version, but also the overall bitterness is somewhat less (40 IBU for this, compared with 51 for the regular version). As importantly, perhaps, the fruit notes come across as sweet and juicy, but not saccharine or artificial. Generally speaking, more hops is better hops, obviously – but when you’re dealing with such a light malt bill, perhaps discretion might be the better part of valour. This time. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com