Category: Reviews

Beer Here Hopfix American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$6.00 at Zyn, 330 ml, best before 15-Apr-2015)

Pours clear amber-brown with three fingers of rocky tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is pine resin, grapefruit, tropical fruit, caramel malt, (7/10) Taste is moderate sweetness, strong bitter. (7/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

Bit of a hop bomb, but pleasant for all that. Never gets too over the top, and finishes reasonably clean. That said, I’m not sure this – or any of these Beer Here brews I’ve tried so far – are worth the premium. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Beer Here Nordic Rye Ale Roggenbier at 8% ABV (C$11.20 at Zyn, 500 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear amber-brown with three fingers of pillowy tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is molasses, green spruce tips, bready caramel malt, floral. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, slight spiciness. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, lightly spicy finish. (4/5)

Feels very nordic – the combination of spicy rye, green wood, and dark malt feels like something that would be very appropriate to drink in the nordic darkness waiting for spring to arrive… He said, drinking in the nordic darkness, waiting for spring to arrive. Definitely an old-fashioned, hearty brew. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Beer Here Pale Hops American Pale Ale at 5.5% ABV (C$9.00 at Zyn, 500 ml, best before 28-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with two fat fingers of pillowy tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel and bready malt, pine and citrus. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, slightly oily finish. (4/5)

A somewhat malt forward APA that might be suffering slightly from a slight dimming of the hops as a result of being a little after its best-by. Nothing too dramatic or interesting, but solid. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Mikkeller / To Øl Betelgeuze Geuze at 5.5% ABV (C16.90 at Sherbrooke Liquor  375 ml, best before 27-Feb-2024)

Pours hazy pale gold with a short-lived finger of white champagne-like head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Nose is funky horse blanket, tart citrus, pineapple, woody and herbal. (9/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate tart, very mild bitter. (9/10) Light bodied, prickly carbonation, clean finish. (4/5)

Very little hop character, but that’s not a negative for this style as far as I’m concerned. Tart and funky, with a crisp highly carbonated texture. A pleasant gueuze, if not particularly complex. I’d drink this any time it was offered. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Upright Brewing Company Six Rye Saison at 6.7% ABV (C$11.95 at Sundance Wine Market, 750 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours hazy deep amber with three fat fingers of pillowy beige head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is caramel malt, black pepper, dark chocolate, wood, stone fruit, horseblanket. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter, mild tart. (7/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, clean finish. (4/5)

Well, it’s different – and different is always good. I’ve literally never had – or even heard of – a rye saison before. I can see the rye and saison characters, but the interesting thing is, together they almost come across as a dubbel. It’s one heck of an interesting beer: sweet, deep and complex, with just a little sour funk. Hellishly difficult to pour, though! (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Elysian Brewing Company Savant IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV (C$9.29 at South Trail Co-Op, 650 ml, bottle date 5-Jan-2015)

Pours clear pale amber with three fingers of pillowy light beige head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is pineapple, grapefruit, caramel, malt, mild floral and pine. (7/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderately strong bitter. (7/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (4/5)

A middle of the pack effort for Elysian: Better than Loser, similar to Superfuzz, not as good as Space Dust or Avatar Jasmine. (And, holy hell, how many Elysian IPA’s have I tried?) A solid, pleasant hop-forward IPA with a nice amount of bitterness. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH Goldbräu (Stiegl Beer) Märzen / Oktoberfest at 4.9% ABV (C$3.39 at South Trail Co-Op, 500 ml, can date 27-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale straw with one finger loose white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Nose is crackery pale malt, toast, grassy, faint fruit. (4/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, mild bitter. (4/10) Light bodied, moderate carbonation, crisp abrupt finish. (3/5)

Pretty straightforward lager from the “cold, wet, and thirst-quenching” family. Mildly flavoured and mildly sweet, low bitter. Nothing unremarkable. (10/20)

My 151st from the 2010 Edition (144th from the 2013 edition), and 161st combining both editions.

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Saugatuck Brewing Company Neapolitan Milk Stout Sweet Stout at 6.0% ABV (C$8.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear brown with one finger of loose beige head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, moderate patchy lacing. (3/5) Nose is strawberry milkshake, roasty chocolate malt, mild vanilla and coffee. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

Doesn’t entirely work for me – the strawberry is intrusive and not all that authentic. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

8 Wired Brewing Company Rewired Brown Ale at 5.7% ABV (C$9.90 at Liquor Crossing Red Deer, 500 ml, no bottle date or best before)

Pours clear amber brown with one finger of loose light tan head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is toffee, earthy and piney hops, slight bitter chocolate. (6/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (4/5)

An interesting variation on the brown ale theme, but I’m not entirely sold on the combination of the traditional brown maltiness and piney hops. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Howe Sound Brewing Super Jupiter American IPA at 4.5% ABV (C$10.90 at Liquor Crossing Red Deer, 1 l, bottle date 12-Feb-2015)

Pours clear pale to medium amber with one finger of pillowy off-white head, good retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus dominated by pithy grapefruit, pale malt. (7/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium bodied, lively to moderate carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)

Quite a decent session IPA – lots of bright hops flavour (yes, the grapefruit is definitely there) in the nose and on the tongue, with a fairly low ABV. Glad I got this within a reasonable time frame after bottling, but I’d still like to try it even fresher, mind you. The swing top cap on the big boy bottle isn’t a bad idea, though it’s so easy to drink this that I suspect it’s unnecessary in most cases. (14/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com