Author: dpatrickryan

Lost Coast Brewery Fogcutter Double IPA American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.7% ABV | 80 IBU (C$7.22 at Oak & Vine, 650 ml, packaged on 16-Feb-2017, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 7-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with three fingers of rocky ivory head diminishing gradually to a persistent cap, patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: grapefruit zest, resiny pine, toffee & caramel, earth & floral. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter warming finish. (4/5)

Brewer notes notwithstanding, this isn’t particularly bright. It’s big, bitter, and beefy, but bright? Nope, alliteration breaks down at that point. Sticky and mildly dank, sure. This is subject to my fairly common complaint: I’d like it better if it were less sweet and more dry. On the up side, the big ABV doesn’t intrude at all, and manifests only as a moderate warming presence in the finish. Decent, if not stellar. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Red Arrow Brewing Company Sweet Leaf IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV | 65 IBU (C$6.41 at Oak & Vine, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 7-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear (except for the heavily particulate-laden final half inch) medium amber with two fingers of rocky off-white head, good retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus zest, biscuity and caramel malt, tropical and stone fruit, grass, faint resiny pine. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (6/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter finish. (4/5)

Meh – if you’re gonna choose a name comparing your hops to pot – and plagiarizing Sabbath lyrics on the label, to boot – you might want to make sure you’ve got some pretty dank West Coast style hopping going on. This is almost English in style, with citrusy hops and crackery caramel duking it out for the front runner position, with a grassy, weedy note bringing up a very distant rear and hardly worthy of top billing. The colour is relatively dark as well, again more in keeping with an E/IPA. Decent drying bitter finish on the tongue, though. (Completely unrelated to the beer: what’s up with the massive, heavy bottle? You’re not doing bottle-conditioned ales needing high pressure ratings, why use such thick glass?) (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Pike Brewing Company Space Needle Golden IPA American IPA at 6.5% ABV | 58 IBU (C$6.81 at Oak & Vine, 650 ml, packaged on 10-Feb-2017, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 7-Jun-2017)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with two fingers of creamy ivory head, excellent retention and chunky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: resiny pine, citrus, caramel, floral. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter finish. (3/5)

Slightly, well, “classic” in character – I was actually a little surprised to discover it only dates to 2012. Hops lead the way over malt, but barely, and they’re not even close to being bright. Decent enough, and structurally pretty much perfect, but not all that exciting. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

DuClaw Brewing Company Blood Orange Neon Gypsy American IPA at 6.5% ABV | 75 IBU (C$4.80 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, packaged on 7-Apr-2017, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 6-Jun-2017)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with some light particulate, one finger of creamy ivory head, good retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: sweet oranges, grainy malt, earth and pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, light tart. (7/10) Medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter and slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Not an unqualified success: the fact that blood oranges dominate is neither here nor there, since I like a Radler as much as the next guy – but there’s not much else going on. The underlying ale is grainy and earthy, and the finish has an oily astringent note that’s reminiscent of orange peel, rather than flesh or juice. Slightly disappointing. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Ninkasi Brewing Company Megalodom American Double / Imperial IPA at 10% ABV | 100 IBU (C$8.82 at Oak & Vine, 1 l, growler fill, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 5-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear medium amber with three fingers of rocky ivory head diminishing to a persistent cap, patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: doughy and grainy sweet caramel, boozy stone fruit, citrus, floral, earth and pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Medium oily body, moderate carbonation, emphatic lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Double digit ABV and triple digit IBU – what’s not to like, right? Well… a bit, actually. First and foremost (yes, fine, I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive, moving on) why’d they call it “MegalodoM” when the animal was “MegalodoN”? Then you’ve got the malt-forward character (despite the palate-wrecking bitterness) and the poor structural aspects to consider. On the other hand, it’s beefy enough to make that other hand numb in fairly short order, so, umm.. yeah. Would have it again, for sure. But I’d pretend not to like it! (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company Full Time IPA American IPA at 6.7% ABV | 60 IBU (C$6.41 at Oak & Vine, 600 ml, packaged on 21-Apr-2017, acquired 5-Jun-2017, reviewed 5-Jun-2017)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with two fat fingers of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: oranges and grapefruit, white grape must, resiny pine, tropical fruit. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, drying bitter and slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Nice. The combination of Nelson Sauvin and City makes for a pleasant combination of bright citrus and vinous flavours. The bitterness tends strong, but not unbalanced (at least, not for a hophead like myself), although there is a hint of melon peel astringency in the finish that doesn’t really belong. It’s not enough to knock this thing out of world-class territory, though. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Big Rock Brewery Wunderbier Dunkelweizen at 5% ABV | 18 IBU (C$2.99 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Apr-2017, reviewed 3-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear medium amber with one finger of loose beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: toffee, chocolate, banana, nutty, metallic. (4/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, mild bitter. (4/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, sweet short duration slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Well, I guess that’s fool me twice, huh Big Rock? This appears to be a renamed/rebranded version of their “Dunkleweizen”. Too sweet, with a light body tending watery, and slightly astringent in the finish. And that metallic note isn’t helping matters. Meh. (9/20)

4.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Big Rock Brewery Session IPA Session IPA at 5.5% ABV | 32 IBU (C$2.99 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Apr-2017, reviewed 3-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear deep gold with one finger of fluffy ivory head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: biscuity caramel malt, grass, hint of citrus. (4/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter. (4/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (3/5)

Shame on you, Big Rock. As far as I can tell, this is simply their same old “IPA,” rebranded. And no, there’s actually no more truth to the label now as there was before: this is neither an English- nor an American-style IPA, but rather simply a malty amber. I gotta say, I like the 360/“big mouth” style can – though I’d like it more if it were filled with something I actually enjoyed drinking. (10/20)

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Bridge Brewing Company Lemon Gin Saison Saison at 5.5% ABV | 24 IBU (C$8.61 at NLC Stavanger, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 29-May-2017, reviewed 1-Jun-2017)

Appearance: clear deep gold with two fingers of rocky ivory head that retains poorly, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: juniper, lemon, wheat, fruity esters. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter, light tart. (7/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry slightly oily light tart finish. (3/5)

I’m re-reviewing this after being somewhat disappointed with last year’s offering: at the time, I was hoping for much more lemon gin, as opposed to the wheaty malt and fruit that dominated. And, lo and behold, this year’s version actually delivers precisely that! I really am getting juniper and lemon as the predominant aromas and flavours, and there’s even a little gin-like oiliness in the finish. It’s still not without issues – it’s too dark, with a disappointing head, and the ABV is tending too high – but all in all it’s a significant improvement over last year. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com