Month: April 2022

Field House Brewing Co. Dutch Pale Ale – American Pale Ale at 4.8% ABV | 16 IBU (C$3.24 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 10-Mar-2022, reviewed 11-Mar-2022)

Appearance: clear straw with one fat finger of fine white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: mild, crackery malt, floral, grass. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, short duration clean finish. (4/5)

I haven’t had a lot by this brewer (four, prior to this one) but I’ve been fairly impressed with those (μ=7.9 & σ=0.25). This is… less impressive. That’s not to say there’s anything negative about it, but it’s just a very straightforward, Pilsner-ish Pale. The aroma is mild, and what there is of it is largely dominated by pale malt. It’s easy to drink, but equally easy to forget when it’s gone. I suppose could have scored it lower out of sheer boredom and crankiness, but to be fair there are no negatives, so it really shouldn’t be scored much lower than I have it. (14/20)

This will be my 5,218th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Trans Canada Brewing Co. Arrow – American IPA at 6.8% ABV | 60 IBU (C$3.25 at Collective, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 10-Mar-2022, reviewed 10-Mar-2022)

Appearance: hazy pale amber with two fingers of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pithy citrus, resiny pine, caramel, grass. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (4/5)

To be perfectly honest, I only bought this because of the name and label. (Personally, I pinpoint the termination of the Avro Arrow project as the solidification of Canada’s role of being subservient to the US.) I hadn’t previously encountered the brewery, so I had no expectations there. But, this is really good. Hazy in appearance, but otherwise pretty old-fashioned in its hop balance and bitterness. (16/20)

This will be my 5,217th unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

O.T. Brewing Company Snow Rippa – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.4% ABV (C$4.45 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 18-Feb-2022, reviewed 9-Mar-2022)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with one fat finger of fine off-white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical & stone fruit, caramel, citrus, hint of pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate-soft carbonation, building bitter boozy finish. (3/5)

Label notes say this is done with “an 80º C whirlpool of Azacca, Strata, Motueka, Amarillo, Mosaic, and Eldorado hops finished with a double dry-hop of Cryo-Amarillo and Cryo-Mosaic”, so you might as well call it “Kitchen Sink Rippa”. The label calls it “complex” but I call it “a bit of a muddled mess”. To be fair, there are no off notes, as such, but it is just a big slightly sticky dose of hops and malt. (14/20)

This will be my 5,216th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Folding Mountain Brewing Fiddle Pass – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8% ABV (C$4.68 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 18-Feb-2022, reviewed 8-Mar-2022)

Appearance: slightly hazy medium gold with two fingers of fine off-white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, tropical & stone fruit, caramel, pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, sweetish lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

The brewer says it’s hopped with Talus, Zythos, and Cashmere. I mean, it’s not a bad beer by any means – but by just about any metric you care to pick, it’s the exact antithesis of its stated style. Clarity, aroma, and bitterness are all much more WC than NE. I once had a prof who told me he didn’t know whether to give me an “A” for the quality of my essay or an “F” for how much class material I included, so to take my “C” and be happy. Well this might not be a “C” in absolute terms, but if I scored it as an NEDIPA, it sure is (and maybe worse). So, I guess, take your “B” and be happy? (14/20)

This will be my 5,215th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Cabin Brewing Company Mesosphere – American IPA at 7.3% ABV (C$4.77 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 24-Jan-2022, acquired 18-Feb-2022, reviewed 7-Mar-2022)

Appearance: slightly hazy straw with one fat finger of fine white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pine, grapefruit, tropical fruit, pale crackery malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, sweetish lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Fun fact: if you go above the mesosphere, the FAA officially considers you an astronaut. Which has got precisely nothing to do with this beer, so, anyway… Except for the tropical fruit notes, this might be an old-school WCIPA, so it’s certainly West Coast-ish. Quite a bit sweeter than I’d like, and my scoring reflected that, but it sort of grew on me, helped along by the solid bitterness and ABV. Neither of those reach stratospheric levels, but are respectable… and, hey! Did I just figure out the name? (The mesosphere is immediately below the stratosphere.) Ultimately, I don’t have any real complaints about this one, and for some other brewer it might well be the best you could reasonably expect, but given my experience with Cabin (n=25, μ=7.7 & σ=0.56) for them it’s dead average or a little less. Call it the curse of competence, but I’ve come to expect better of them. (15/20)

This will be my 5,214th unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com