Author: dpatrickryan

The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Sour Beer IPA Sour Ale at 7% ABV ($4.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 341ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours slightly hazy pale amber with two fingers of off-white head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose starts with pine, citrus, and caramel malt, giving away to moderate vinegar. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, moderate tart. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter and tart finish. (4/5)

That’s interesting: it starts off smelling like a normal A/IPA, with just a hint of sour underneath, but as it warms, the sour comes more to the forefront, dominating the smell and taste. By halfway through the glass, this is predominantly a sour ale, with very little IPA character. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Sour Beer Barley Wine Sour Ale at 9.25% ABV ($4.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 341ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours muddy brown with a short beige head settling down quickly to a dense cap, thin patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark caramel, faint dark fruit, mild malt vinegar. (5/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, moderate tart. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, mild bitter and lightly tart finish. (3/5)

Not as nice as their Sour Brown – the nose has an initial slightly off-putting character that I can’t put my finger on, but it grew on me. The ABV is also seriously hidden, to the point where it’s barely noticeable at all. The flavours are muddled, though, and it’s not something I’d go looking for again. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Sour Beer Big Head Nut Brown Sour Brown at 4.2% ABV ($4.79 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 341ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy amber brown with a short tan head settling down quickly to a dense cap, thin patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is sour grapes, slightly musty oak, faint balsamic vinegar. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, moderately strong tart. (8/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, crisp tangy finish. (4/5)

Well, I wasn’t expecting that! This drinks like a flemish brown – lots of sourness and a hint of umame. I can’t say I’ve found their other stuff to be all that memorable – I know I’ve tried, but not properly reviewed, some of it – but this is really interesting. I’d like to know what their process is here – I assume they’re adding pure culture in addition to the barrel aging, and that there’s no spontaneous or wild fermentation happening here. And there’s not a word about it anywhere on the internet. Bizarre. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Anderson Valley Brewing Company Highway 128 Session Series: Blood Orange Gose Gose at 4.2% ABV ($3.70 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 355ml, can date 5-Nov-2014)

Pours hazy deep gold with a short-lived white head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is bright orange soda, slight bready yeast and salt. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, strong tart, moderate salt. (8/10) Light to medium body, moderate carbonation, crisp tangy finish. (4/5)

Wow – that’s really nice. Looks and smells like cheap orange soda, tastes tart, tangy and mildly salty. This would be an awesome summertime thirst quencher, very sessionable with its low ABV. This could well be something that I need to keep a case of in the fridge!(16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Privatbrauerei Loncium Imperial Schwarze Gams Doppelbock at 7.0% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #14, 330ml, best before 25-Jun-2015)

Pours clear brown with a short loose light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is mild smoke, herbal, liquorice, coffee. (6/10) Taste is moderately sweet, mild bitter and smoke. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, smokey bitter finish. (3/5)

Interesting and not unpleasant. Definitely an appropriate choice for an Advent theme and probably best appreciated by a crackling fire on a cold winter’s night. The body may be just a little on the thin side for a high gravity dopple, but still quite drinkable. The ABV is very well behaved and only becomes apparent as a gentle warming towards the end of the glass. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brew Dog / Mikkeller I Hardcore You American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.5% ABV ($6.50 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 330ml, best before 25-Jul-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of loose off-white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is pine resin, pithy citrus, tropical fruit, caramel malt. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (8/10) Medium to full body, low carbonation, moderately strong bitter finish. (4/5)

Aww… Mikkel… I hardcore you too, buddy, but I’m not nearly drunk enough for that. Nice beer. Definitely better than Brew Dog’s Hardcore, but I can’t comment on how it compares to Mikkeller’s I Beat You since I haven’t tried that one. Lots of fun – plenty of dry hopping, backed up by a well-behaved caramel malt backbone. The lost-count-of-how-many-times dry hopping gives it a nice presence on the nose, but overall it’s not an aggressive palate wrecking hop bomb. I could go for another of these. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Evil Twin Brewing Hop Flood American Amber / Red Ale at 7% ABV ($4.50 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 355ml, bottle date 19-Jul-2014)

Pours hazy medium to deep amber with one finger of dense tan head diminishing gradually to a medium cap, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is pine resin, pithy citrus, caramel malt, earthy fruit. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (8/10) Medium to full body, soft carbonation, strong bitter finish. (4/5)

So in the past couple of days I’ve seen Mikkel redefine pale lager, two students of his redefine pilsner, and now Jeppe is redefining amber ale. I might as well just throw out the damn dictionary. Basically, this is an amber that smells and tastes like a DIPA. I can live with that. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Anderson Valley Brewing Company Heelch O’Hops Imperial/Double IPA at 8.7% ABV ($4.20 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 355ml, no bottle date or bets before)

Pours clear medium to deep gold with two fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is pine resin, pithy citrus, caramel malt, tropical fruit. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, strong bitter, some peppery spice. (7/10) Medium to full body, soft carbonation, strong bitter finish. (4/5)

Well, that’s a Heelch of a lotta hops, all right. Not bad at all, if a little malty despite the starts-with-C-hop heavy handedness. Somewhat lacking in subtlety, shall we say? A fairly standard DIPA without a whole lot to distinguish it. Not as good as their Hop Ottin’, but still pretty drinkable. Pretty, too. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

The Inveralmond Brewery Ltd. Blackfriar Scotch Ale at 7.0% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #13, 330ml, best before April 2016)

Pours clear deep amber with one finger of loose light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark boozy fruit, brown sugar, possible diacetyl, slight smoke. (7/10) Taste is moderately strong sweet, mild bitter. (6/10) Medium to full body, moderate to low carbonation, boozy and dry sharply bitter astringent finish. (3/5)

I found it difficult to rate this one, since I’m not a fan of the style in general, but I tried to keep the rating fair to the style. However, there are some characteristics of this one that I’m fairly sure are not indicated, like the faint buttery diacetyl. The BJCP guidelines say hops and bitterness should be low to medium-low, but I’m tasting a strong astringency that, while it may not be a hop bitterness, is certainly bitter. I’m finding this to be unbalanced and generally not my cup of tea. (10/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com