Category: Reviews

Belching Beaver Brewery Imperial Phantom Bride – American Double / Imperial IPA at 9% ABV (C$7.15 at Collective, 568 ml, packaged on 15-Oct-2024, acquired 28-Nov-2024, reviewed 1-Dec-2024)

Appearance: clear pale gold with a massive fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and spotty soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: resiny pine, citrus, tropical fruit, cereal grains. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter warming finish. (4/5)

Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops. Big and bombastic, hop-burny and warming. I like it! (16/20)

This will be my 6,025th unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brewsters Brewing Company Original Lager – American Pale Lager at 5.0% ABV | 30 IBU (2024 Craft Beer Advent Calendar #1, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 23-Nov-2024, reviewed 1-Dec-2024)

Appearance: clear pale straw with one finger of fine white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: biscuity malt, grass, hint of diacetyl. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-lively carbonation, short duration finish. (3/5)

Boy, that’s pretty hard to get excited over – a bog standard American Pale Lager. It starts off fine, but gets a little less so as it warms. Overall it’s just OK. Here’s hoping the Advent Calendar improves over time! (12/20)

This will be my 6,024th unique Untappd check-in.

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Godspeed Brewery Světlý Ležák 12º – Pale Lager at 5.0% ABV (C$6.25 at Collective, 355 ml, packaged on 2-Oct-2024, acquired 28-Nov-2024, reviewed 1-Dec-2024)

Appearance: clear deep gold with one fat finger of fine pale ivory head, excellent retention and well-defined heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: toasted bread, grass. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, medium duration finish. (4/5)

Super clean and simple, and one that I could quite happily drink all day – but another one that I don’t feel overly qualified to evaluate. It’s clean and pleasant, easy to drink, and has no negative characteristics at all, but I’m not sure I could pick it out of a lineup with any number of other well-brewed Lagers. I will, however, point out the one thing of which I am sure: it’s the only beer I’ve had with “Premium” on the label, that actually deserves the description. (15/20)

This will be my 6,023rd unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Irrational Brewing Company Exp. Opacity 15 – American IPA at 6.0% ABV (C$6.25 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 28-Nov-2024, reviewed 30-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with a short, short-lived loose off-white head, minimal spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: stone & tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains, mild dank. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, medium duration finish. (4/5)

“DDH Hazy IPA w/ Luminosa”. Only my third (I think) experience with Luminosa, but I seem to pretty consistently enjoy it. This example is bright and juicy, with notes of sweet stone and tropical fruit as well as citrus flesh. The brewer description indicates it to be “almost completely void of the pine/resinous character” (almost as if this were a good thing???) but I’m detecting some not-unwelcome dank on the back end. Very pleasant overall. (16/20)

This will be my 6,022nd unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Ale Architect Brewing Ltd. Fuzz Phase – American Pale Ale at 5.3% ABV (C$6.00 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 28-Nov-2024, reviewed 29-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: stone fruit, citrus, cereal grains. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, medium duration slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

“Dry-hopped with Citra and experimental HBC-1019”. Pleasant but not emphatic aroma and flavour. A little sharpness through the mid ends up seeming just a little astringent. (14/20)

This will be my 6,021st unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Blood Brothers Brewing Islands of the Moon – American Pale Ale at 5% ABV (C$8.15 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 22-Aug-2024, acquired 31-Oct-2024, reviewed 27-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: stone fruit, grape must, citrus, cereal grains. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-soft carbonation, medium duration slightly sweetish finish. (3/5)

“W/ Citra, Motueka & Riwaka”. Maybe a little too long in the can, but this is just lacking a certain brightness. Maybe a bit better than OK, but not by a lot. (14/20)

This will be my 6,020th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Blood Brothers Brewing Cactus Head – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$8.50 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 11-Jul-2024, acquired 31-Oct-2024, reviewed 22-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of fine white head, excellent retention and moderate chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, grape must, citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter, light tart. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-soft carbonation, sweetish slightly flaccid finish. (3/5)

“Double dry hopped w/ Citra & Mosaic + white wine juice”. Meh. Probably a little too long in the can, but the aroma isn’t as punchy as I’d like, and it’s a little sweet and heavy on the tongue, with the body falling off a bit flaccid. I get the impression that, instead of adding complexity, the grape must is just kind of adding sweetness and weighing things down. It’s not terrible or anything, but it really fails to impress. (14/20)

This will be my 6,019th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

The Establishment Brewing Company / Lowlife Barrel House Small Enough – Session IPA at 3.8% ABV (C$5.35 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 7-Oct-2024, acquired 31-Oct-2024, reviewed 16-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale straw with two fat fingers of fluffy white head, excellent retention and moderate spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: mild, citrus zest, cereal grains, light pine, grass. (7/10) Taste: moderate-low sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, short finish falling off slightly watery. (3/5)

My second collaboration between these two, though this time The Establishment has top billing so I assume it was brewed there. It’s actually pretty similar to their Tiny Dancer “Nano IPA”, but unfortunately that’s not a good thing. That’s not to say this is a bad beer, but much like Tiny Dancer, it does suffer from its extremely light malt bill, in that it just doesn’t have the body to support a decent hop profile. The aroma is mild (although pleasant) and the finish tends to fall off slightly watery. I’m also detecting no barrel notes whatsoever, so I’m not sure what Lowlife are bringing to the party. Ultimately, although I’m sure it could hold its own against any number of other offerings, it’s not a great effort for The Establishment. (14/20)

This will be my 6,010th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Blood Brothers Brewing Things Will Go Wrong – Everything Goes Away – American Double / Imperial IPA at 10% ABV (C$10.25 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 22-Aug-2024, acquired 31-Oct-2024, reviewed 15-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: stone fruit, citrus, cereal grains, dank pine. (9/10) Taste: moderate-low sweet, moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate-soft carbonation, medium duration warming finish. (4/5)

“w/ Nectaron, HBC 638 & Idaho 7” That’s a helluva beer – nicely balanced stone fruit and citrus on a clean malt base, with a hint of dank pine behind. Slightly thick, but not sweet, and impressively easy to drink for the double-digit ABV. I wouldn’t mind having a few of these to pass the time until things go wrong and everything goes away. (17/20)

This will be my 6,009th unique Untappd check-in.

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Lowlife Barrel House / The Establishment Brewing Company Friends – American IPA at 5.1% ABV (C$5.40 at Collective, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 31-Oct-2024, reviewed 14-Nov-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale straw with a massive fluffy white head, excellent retention and moderate spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: Brett funk, zesty citrus, floral. (8/10) Taste: moderate-low sweet, moderate-low bitter, mild tart. (8/10) Palate: light body, moderate-lively carbonation, dry short duration attenuated finish. (4/5)

The label calls this a “Modern IPA”, but in some ways I beg to differ: although the Brett notes and attenuation might not be common in old-school IPAs, they certainly are in Saisons or Table Beers, which this very emphatically resembles. Not that that’s a complaint, mind you – I like a funky beer with a crisp dryness, so I like this. (16/20)

This will be my 6,007th unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com