Annex Ale Project Metes & Bounds XPA American Pale Ale at 6% ABV | 45 IBU (C$3.49 at Thumbprint Craft Beer Market, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 27-May-2017, reviewed 9-Jun-2017)
Appearance: hazy, somewhat murky pale amber with two fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and well-defined lacing. (4/5) Aroma: stone fruit, caramel, pine, floral. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter finish. (3/5)
The name of this one drove me nuts because it made no damn sense to me at all, until I looked it up and discovered it’s a way of measuring land. Which I guess goes some ways to explaining the label notes, but I still find them unbearably pretentious: “understand the space this beer occupies”? Really? Allow me to clarify: it occupies my glass. Then my head, then my gut, then the toilet. It’s not deeply philosophical. Not to mention, they say it’s an XPA, (meaning “Extra Pale Ale”, which is a poorly defined and not formally recognized style) but then proceed to claim it possess the aromas of a “great IPA”. Well… no. No, it doesn’t. It possesses the aromas of a passable APA, but that’s as far as I’d go. Appearance, aromas, and flavours are all similarly muddy. (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
