Strathcona Beer Company Head Banger XXIII (Galaxy) – Triple IPA at 9.2% ABV (C$6.25 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 23-Apr-2024, reviewed 23-Apr-2024)
Appearance: clear medium gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, minimal stringy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: white grape must, over-ripe fruit. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium slightly slick body, moderate-lively carbonation, lingering warming finish. (3/5)
That is… not good. Well, maybe I should say, “not great”. Just a sec, let me take another sip… No, no, I was right the first time. This may be the worst Galaxy single-hop effort I’ve ever tried, with muddy overripe fruit (verging on fecal) dominating. I have no idea why it’s so highly rated, other than it appears to be the 23rd (!) in the series, so maybe there’s a lot of residual good will from prior revisions. For me, though, this one is a long way down from X and XI, the only other two in the series I’ve encountered. And, OK, to be fair, after another few sips I’ve relaxed into it a bit and return to “not great” – but I can’t see rating it any higher than that no matter how many of them I drink. (12/20)
This will be my 5,802nd unique Untappd check-in.
6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
