RyansBooze

Analog Brewing Castleva-NEIPA – American IPA at 5.5% ABV | 40 IBU (C$4.45 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 5-Oct-2020)

Appearance: hazy straw with two fingers of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thick cap, moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: melon, pine, orange, pale malt, vanilla. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Hopped with Lotus, Galaxy, Azacca, El Dorado. Not great: odd aroma on the front end, thinnish and tending watery, with an astringent finish. I get that it’s showcasing a new hop, so we need to be careful about it not conforming to expectations, but this isn’t just unexpected, but unimpressive too. (12/20)

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Canmore Brewing Company Sulphur Mountain Session Ale – Session IPA at 4% ABV | 35 IBU (C$4.50 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 25-Jul-2020, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 2-Oct-2020)

Appearance: clear slightly brown-tinged pale gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: grass, citrus, biscuity malt. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: light body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry mild bitter finish. (3/5)

Smells like a Pils. Tastes like… a Pils. Bit disappointing. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Rainhard Brewing Daywalker – Session IPA at 3.9% ABV (C$5.08 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 31-Aug-2020, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 2-Oct-2020)

Appearance: hazy straw with two fingers of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a persistent cap, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: citrus, pale crackery malt, tropical fruit, grass/floral. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: light body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry mild bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

I was initially pretty optimistic about this one, based on the aroma, but it eventually became apparent that the malt bill here is just too light to support the overall structure. It ends up falling off just a bit thin and watery, and finishing just a little astringent. It’s not bad, and actually smells pretty darned good, but overall it needs to be tweaked. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Category 12 Brewing Juicy Data – American IPA at 6.1% ABV | 31 IBU (C$5.04 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 31-Jul-2020, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 1-Oct-2020)

Appearance: opaque pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: juicy citrus, tropical fruit, bready malt, grassy weeds, earthy funk, slight cattiness. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry mild bitter finish. (4/5)

I waffled a bit on my scoring here because the cattiness (OK, fine, pissiness) certainly grows as the pint warms – I can’t find any indication of what 4 hops they’re using, but I’m guessing at least one of them has to be Simcoe. Despite that, I don’t really find it objectionable, but I could see that some might. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Rainhard Brewing Kapow! – American IPA at 6.5% ABV | 60 IBU (C$5.08 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 2-Sep-2020, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 30-Sep-2020)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical & stone fruits, bready caramel, floral, faint pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, slightly sticky moderate bitter finish. (3/5)

I really wanted to be dismissive of yet another brewer from the Centre of the Universe (Come on: “Rainhard? More like blowhard!” just writes itself, doesn’t it?) but this is actually decent. Malts have a bit more presence than I would prefer – caramel features significantly in the aroma, and it’s a little sweeter than I’d like – but there’s also a pleasant hop aroma and good bittering through the finish. Oh, and the label looks like propaganda-style KMFDM album art, so there’s that. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Apex Predator Brewing (Bench Creek Brewing) Westley Tropical Double IPA – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.5% ABV | 75 IBU (C$13.27 at Collective, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 29-Sep-2020)

Appearance: muddy amber-brown with two fat fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: rum, vanilla, tropical fruit, caramel, oak, resiny pine. (7/10) Taste: high sweet, high bitter. (6/10) Palate: full slick body, moderate carbonation, sticky lingering bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Woof. Drinks way heavier than the relatively light ABV would lead one to expect, weighed down with a whole lot of sweet rum barrel. I can’t say I’m hugely impressed by this – though I might be if it had a few more points of the jolly juice: it smells like it should be a double-digit Old Ale or similar, and halfway drinks that way, but ultimately falls a bit short. Now that I think of it, it’s not entirely dissimilar to their Whiskey Gap English Strong that also left me cold. Not even a theme borrowed from one of the best movies of all time (and I’ll fight anyone who says different) can save this from much more than a “s’OK, I guess”. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Nelson Brewing Company Fjord Hopper – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.50 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 28-Sep-2020)

Appearance: hazy straw with three fat fingers of pillowy pale ivory head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pineapple & tropical fruit, citrus, pale crackery malt, earth & mild funk. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, light funky tart. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lightly funky finish. (4/5)

Fruity and lightly funky, with restrained sweetness tending dry and refreshing in the finish. Nice example of the style, and definitely one that encourages a second… or a third… (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

S.Y.C. Brewing Co. Hop Me Darkly – American IPA at 5.5% ABV (C$4.85 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 10-Sep-2020, acquired 25-Sep-2020, reviewed 27-Sep-2020)

Appearance: hazy ruby brown with two fat fingers of fluffy pale beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim and ring, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: coffee, resiny pine, citrus, tropical fruit, ash. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body tending slightly thin, moderate carbonation, off-dry finish. (4/5)

In my experience, the major risk with CDA-style beers is that the coffee ends up tasting over-extracted: more “coffee grounds in the trash” than “fresh coffee”. This one doesn’t fall into that trap, and gives a reasonable balance between coffee and West Coast-style IPA aromas. It also finishes bitter, but not astringent. It’s not perfect – I would have liked to see more emphatic hop aromas and a bit more weight in the body – but all in all, a decent attempt at the style. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

New Level Brewing Triple Berry Vanilla Milkshake IPA – American IPA at 7.5% ABV (C$4.95 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 17-Sep-2020, reviewed 27-Sep-2020)

Appearance: hazy purple-tinted pale amber with two fat fingers of rocky off-white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: field berries, vanilla, sweet cake dough. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter, light tart. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, sweetish finish. (3/5)

So, let me the this straight: you’ve got the code printer, but instead of putting the packaging date on the bottom of the can, you choose to go with “BERRY YUM YUM”. Seriously? Anyway, this is emphatically sweet berry and cakey malts, with very little actual beer characteristic. It’s not bad, and it’s actually a bit impressive that so little of the hefty ABV makes itself known, but it’s not really “beer” in any traditional sense. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Town Square Brewing Market Series IPA #004 – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.18 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 17-Sep-2020, reviewed 26-Sep-2020)

Appearance: clear pale gold with two fat fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: resiny pine, tropical fruit, citrus, caramel, herbal, light sweaty funk. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry building and lingering bitter finish. (3/5)

Pretty similar to #003 in a lot of ways – probably largely due to the same feature hop, Strata – but I don’t like it quite as much. In particular, the bitterness feels a little unbalanced, resulting in an almost astringent note in the finish. (And that’s coming from an inveterate hop head!) It’s definitely good, but just as definitely solidly in third place behind #001 and #003. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com