Author: dpatrickryan

Parallel 49 Dumb Funk Brett IPA American IPA at 6.8% ABV | 60 IBU (C$7.49 at Oak & Vine, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 23-Aug-2017)

Appearance: hazy pale amber with three fingers (and growing) of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and well-defined lacing. (5/5) Aroma: dry hay funk, apples, lemon zest, leather, crackery pale malt and oats. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, moderate funk. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration bitter funky finish. (4/5)

Dumb hop-pun name beer number one for the evening. But, funking dumb name aside, this is an excellent Brett IPA. The ingredients list is nigh-on perfect for this style: Brett Trois for the dry leathery funk, Citra as the single hop, and flaked oats to back up the pale malt and smooth everything out. Really nicely done. (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Medicine Hat Brewing Co. Industrial Ave IPA American IPA at 6.7% ABV  | 100+ IBU (C$3.00 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 23-Aug-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with one fat finger of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, pine, grainy caramel, weeds, earth. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration bitter lightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Pretty similar to its little brother APA, but the overall balance is better, with  brighter hops leading the way over pleasant caramel malt base. Pretty easy-drinking for a 100+ IBU brew, with a well-implemented supporting malt. I’d still like brighter, more citrusy hops, though. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Medicine Hat Brewing Co. Aberdeen Pale Ale American Pale Ale at 5% ABV | 50 IBU (C$3.00 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 23-Aug-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with one finger of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: grainy malt, citrus, pine, weeds, earth. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration bitter lightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Slightly muddled but decent enough, I guess. The malt is slightly more dominant than I’d prefer, and the hops aren’t particularly bright. It’s not quite an English Pale in nature, but it’s not terribly different, either, other than the magnitude of the fairly emphatic (though somewhat blunt) hops. (The “Aberdeen” name apparently has nothing at all to do with the beer itself. It looks like their naming convention is drawing upon their home town of Medicine Hat, Alberta – in this case, a street name.) (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brewsters Brewing Company Grapefruit IPA American IPA at 6.5% ABV | 70 IBU (C$6.00 at Oak & Vine, 1 l, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 22-Aug-2017)

Appearance: murky pale amber with one finger of rocky ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pine, citrus, grainy malt, leafy weeds, black pepper. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, mild spice. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter lightly spicy finish. (3/5)

Not a lot of grapefruit, actually – more piney, than anything else in particular. Given the name, I was hoping for bright citrus and a dry finish, and instead got verging-on-resiny pine duking it out with grainy malt, and a finish that would be charitably described as off-dry. It’s not bad, but it’s not great, either. Apparently they do a DIPA version of this, but to be honest, I’m not sure I can be arsed to look for it. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Deschutes Brewery Passionfruit IPA American IPA at 5.8% ABV | 65 IBU (C$9.00 at Oak & Vine, 1 l, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 22-Aug-2017)

Appearance: clear pale amber with three fingers of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, sweet caramel, pine, citrus, earth. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet tending very slightly high, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry medium bitter mildly warming finish. (3/5)

The (very) slightly low carbonation might be due to this being a growler fill, but it’s still quite capable of setting up a towering three finger head that retains as a marshmallow all the way to the bottom. The finish, though, verges on sweet, and I shudder to think how cloying it would be without the fairly high bitterness and booziness. And I guess that pretty much sets the tone for the inevitable damning-with-faint-praise, so we might as well get right to it: it feels like Deschutes mailed this one in. “People are fruiting IPAs now? Oh. I guess we should do that, then. How about passionfruit? That’s a thing, right?” It’s not quite mediocre, I suppose, but you can see mediocre from here. This might be the beer where passionfruit jumped the shark for me. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Tool Shed Brewing Company Papa Bam Bam’s Oatmeal Pale American Pale Ale at 4.5% ABV | 45 IBU (C$3.00 at Oak & Vine, 355 ml, packaged on 1-Jun-2017, acquired 22-Aug-2017, reviewed 22-Aug-2017)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale amber with one fat finger of loose ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: leafy weeds, citrus, caramel, pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration bitter finish. (3/5)

On the up side, the balance between the hops and malt is fairly seamless, to the point where it’s a little difficult to identify individual components. The oatmeal doesn’t make much of a flavour impact at all, and seems to be apparent only by the smoothness of the body. On the down side, the hop character that is most readily identifiable is a bit weedy and unremarkable, which is slightly surprising considering this is single-hopped with Cascade. Pleasant, but not particularly memorable. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Modern Times Beer Black House Oatmeal Stout at 5.8% ABV | 40 IBU (C$4.24 at Oak & Vine, 473 ml, packaged on 3-Feb-2017, acquired 26-Apr-2017, reviewed 20-Aug-2017)

Appearance: clear brown with one fat finger of loose beige head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: smooth dark roasted espresso, nuts, hint of milk chocolate & vanilla. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (4/5)

No surprises here: another solid performer from Modern Times. This one is particularly within their wheelhouse, given that it combines brewing and coffee. Smooth and slightly light for the style, but not to the point of being a detraction. Sweet as well, but again not to the point of being a drawback. It’s too sweet to characterize the finish as dry, but it is short and clean, inviting the next sip. Unlike a lot of coffee beers, this one never becomes astringent or thin, and remains pleasant and well-balanced throughout – “chocolate-covered espresso beans” is an apt description: if I had to pick a single descriptive adjective, it would be “smooth”. This could easily become a go-to. Well.. if I did go-to’s. Which I don’t. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Upright Brewing Company Billy the Mountain Old Ale at 8% ABV (C$16.07 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 1-Apr-2017, reviewed 20-Aug-2017)

Appearance: somewhat murky amber-brown with one finger of loose beige head diminishing gradually to a thin ring, patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tart red berries, caramel, molasses, leather, hint of chocolate. (8/10) Taste: moderate tart, moderate sweet, low bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, dry tart finish. (4/5)

Once again I find myself doubting the conventional wisdom regarding the classification of a beer. Old Ales are supposed to be malty and sweet, occupying a space somewhere between “regular” ales and barleywines. I checked the BJCP description for Old Ale just to be sure, but you know what adjective is significant in its absence? Tart. And, believe you me, this is tart – nearly Flanders Red / Oude Bruin. Yes, there’s malt going on here, including a hint of chocolate, but it’s dominated by tart red berries. Another significant absence is any funkiness attributable to the brettanomyces the brewer notes claim, and I wonder if an extended period of cellaring might awaken that aspect. Good stuff, though, regardless of what you call it. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales Foudre #2 Saison at 6.5% ABV (US$16.55 at Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, 750 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 21-Jun-2017, reviewed 20-Aug-2017)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with a short, short-lived white head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: lacto sour, apples, grainy pale malt, stone fruit, lemon. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high tart, moderate sweet, low bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-high carbonation, dry tart finish. (4/5)

Similar to, but not quite as good as, their Hoeybier: a shade sweeter, more apple than stone fruit, and not as vinous. I guess to be fair, it’s also a shade less expensive as well, so there’s that. Good, sure, but I can think of a great many better ways to spend $16USD. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales Hoeybier Saison at 6% ABV (US$18.39 at Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, 750 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 21-Jun-2017, reviewed 20-Aug-2017)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with a short, short-lived white head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: stone fruit, white wine, oak. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high tart, moderate sweet, low bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-light body, prickly carbonation, dry tart finish. (4/5)

Very vinous and tart – not mouth-puckeringly so, but certainly much more than one would normally expect from a Saison. Fact is, I’d call this more of a Sour/Wild than anything, and it’s actually almost Gueuze-like. Regardless of what you call it, it’s very good, but at that price point I’d expect it to be. Fact is, at that price point there’s some pretty stiff competition, which slightly tempers my enthusiasm for this beer. Yes, it’s world-class, but there are better beers out there for cheaper. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com