Month: July 2021

Outcast Brewing Zilla – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.95 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 30-Jun-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 27-Jul-2021)

Appearance: slightly hazy particulate-laden pale gold with one fat finger of fine white head, good retention and well-defined droopy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: juicy tropical fruit, citrus, resiny pine, pale malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering building bitter finish. (4/5)

I understand this is not so much a collaboration, as a recipe share from Rebellion. It so happens I actually had the original, at the brewery in Regina, just over three years ago. This isn’t as pretty as the original, but I think it’s got a slightly more emphatic resiny bitterness, which I enjoy. In my opinion, that gives it a slight edge over the original, but I’m also a bit of a fan of Mr. Schnarr, so that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. (15/20)

7.5/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

AleSmith Brewing Company Cloud Stream – American IPA at 6.9% ABV | 7 IBU (C$5.26 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 4-May-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 26-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of loose pale ivory head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, minimal lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, pale malt, citrus, stone fruit. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (3/5)

Another middle-of-the-road, sort-of-hazy, East-Coast-West-Coast, how-many-more-hyphenated-descriptions-can-you-use kind of beer. Kind of forgettable, one and done. (13/20)

6.5/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

Vancouver Island Brewing Tidal Series: Farmhouse DIPA – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.7% ABV | 80 IBU (C$4.27 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 25-May-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 26-Jul-2021)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with two fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, caramel, melon, resiny pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter mildly spicy warming boozy finish. (3/5)

Somewhat boozy and malty, and I’m not getting a whole lot of the promised NZ hops. It’s a bit of a throwback, with lots of malt and mixed fruits in roughly equal measure, and a truly old school bitterness that I’ve sort of started to miss. (No photo – camera burped. Side note: I’ve taken literally hundreds of thousands of photos professionally, tens of thousands for fun, and thousands of beer, in various states of inebriation – and I’m not just talking about the beer photos. I’ve never before lost one. This may literally be a one-in-a-million event. I considered going back to take another one, but the beer was half gone and the label was already off the can, so I figured, “Fuck it, what’s the worst that can happen? I don’t get paid for this one?” News flash: I don’t get paid for any of them.) (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

AleSmith Brewing Company Hazy .394 – American IPA at 6% ABV | 13 IBU (C$5.26 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 21-Apr-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 26-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with two fingers of dense pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, doughy caramel, citrus, pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter. (7/10) Medium slightly creamy body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (3/5)

Slightly old-fashioned, in the sense that the caramel malt is definitely vying for dominance with a mixed bag of fruit, with a little pine coming up the rear. Not to be overly critical, but ultimately there’s not a lot to particularly distinguish this among a fairly crowded field. (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

Freehold Brewing Co. Lawn Darts – American IPA at 5.9% ABV | 50 IBU (C$4.18 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 7-Jul-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 25-Jul-2021)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, pine, pale biscuity malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (3/5)

If you were looking for a metaphor of how the 70’s and 80’s were the best decades, you need look no further than lawn darts. No, not this beer, the toy – banning lawn darts was the beginning of the downward slide. The beer is also throwback to an earlier age, done as a fairly traditional hoppy IPA, albeit perhaps more 90’s or 00’s style than the era of its namesake, but still. Decent, refreshing. (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

Born Colorado Brewing Moose Mountain Trail Races Uphill Climb / Downhill Grind – Session IPA at 5% ABV | 15 IBU (C$4.05 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 5-Jul-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 24-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: mild, stone fruit, pine, pale biscuity malt, citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (7/10) Medium-light body tending slightly watery, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (3/5)

Not bad, but a bit forgettable. Everything is light here, including the aroma and flavour, but the ABV is not so light that I’m inclined to make allowances. As well, the light body tends just a little into “watery” territory, especially with the slightly light carbonation. There’s nothing really wrong with any of this, but the overall effect of the “death by a thousand cuts” is that it’s just a little “meh”. (Also, what’s up with putting the same beer behind two different labels, other than trying to sucker people like me into buying two examples instead of one?) (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

S.Y.C. Brewing Co. The More – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.9% ABV (C$4.63 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 1-Jun-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 22-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: stone fruit, zesty citrus, bready malt, resiny pine. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration minimally boozy finish. (4/5)

Yes, it is more, and yes, I’d like more. That’s all I have to say about that. (16/20)

8/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

Lake of the Woods Brewing Company Dead Man’s Switch – American IPA at 6.8% ABV | 40 IBU (C$4.50 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 9-Jun-2021, acquired 15-Jul-2021, reviewed 22-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of dense pale ivory head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: mild, citrus, floral, pale biscuity malt, pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Smooth slightly creamy medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, medium duration sweetish finish. (3/5)

I like label notes that make me go, “Wait, what?”, and to do it twice and force me to go to the Google is, well, at least twice as good. (The first one is kind of interesting from a historical perspective: the Kenora Thistles defeated the Montreal Wanderers in 1907 to win the Stanley Cup. {I had heard of the Wanderers, but not the Thistles.} The second event is far more WTF: an ultimately unidentified man robbed the CIBC in Kenora armed with a rifle, a pistol and a homemade bomb {!} consisting of six sticks of dynamite, with a dead man’s switch in his teeth {!!}, was shot by a police sniper, triggering his bomb {!!!} killing only himself and injuring Constable Don Millard, whose pants were ripped off {!!!!} by the explosion.) Anyway, obscure Canadiana aside, this is hopped with Citra and Amarillo, but I’m getting a distinct floral note that I don’t usually identify with either. I don’t dislike it, but it’s definitely not typical. Perhaps like Kenora? (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

DuClaw Brewing Company Four Hops This Time! – American IPA at 7.5% ABV | 61 IBU (C$5.40 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 17-May-2021, acquired 2-Jul-2021, reviewed 21-Jul-2021)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with two fat fingers of rocky pale ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: doughy yeast, tropical fruit, citrus, coconut. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Smooth creamy medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, medium duration sweetish mildly spicy slightly sticky finish. (3/5)

Hopped with Azacca, Mosaic, Sabro, and Lotus, but even that combination is struggling to keep up with the doughy cereal grains that dominate on the front end. What fruit character is there, is somewhat muddled, and doesn’t really shine through as bright or juicy. It’s OK at best, which for this brewery is a massive disappointment for me – though it certainly seems like they don’t do anywhere near as well with IPAs and the like as they do with Porters etc. (13/20)

6.5/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze

Upstreet Craft Brewing Third Place – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.5% ABV | 40 IBU (C$4.50 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 18-May-2021, acquired 2-Jul-2021, reviewed 19-Jul-2021)

Appearance: clear pale gold with two fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, caramel, citrus, pine. (5/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry medium bitter finish. (4/5)

I initially thought, if that’s third place, what won? But, there is an odd note on the nose that I’m not completely in love with. Tropical fruit, yes, but more “bruised mango” than “fresh pineapple”, and it becomes progressively more off-putting the more it warms. Definitely one to drink quickly, and despite the high ABV it’s smooth enough to allow that. Third place, yes, but one where you can hold your head up high because you won the semifinal playing your own game. (14/20)

7/10 ryansbooze.com #ryansbooze