RyansBooze

Ecliptic Brewing Sixth Orbit Anniversary Release Hazy Plum IPA – American IPA at 8.5% ABV | 60 IBU (C$9.81 at Collective, 500 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 3-Feb-2020)

Appearance: slightly hazy but heavily particulate-laden pale amber with two fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: stone fruit, tropical fruit, citrus, caramel pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

I dunno about “hazy” plum IPA – more like “chunky style”, if you ask me. Seriously, we’re not talking flakes, here, these bad boys have dimensions. Hell, I swear I could chew some of them, and I had to short pour to prevent the worst of the chunks entering the glass. I realize that’s a risk when working with fruit, but maybe they should either have filtered, or gone with a hazier yeast to hide those particular sins? There’s also a hint of astringency coming from the stone fruit, especially in the finish. On the up side, the stone fruit / plum flavour is well integrated with the tropical fruit and citrus from the hops, and the sweetness is restrained despite the emphatic fruit notes. It’s not without its charms, but overall it falls short in a lot of ways. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Against the Grain Brewery Clearly Everybody Wants Some Hazy Boi IPA – American IPA at 7.2% ABV (C$6.03 at Collective, 473 ml, best before 25-Sep-2020, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 2-Feb-2020)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with one fat finger of rocky white head diminishing gradually to a thick persistent cap, moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, tropical fruit, caramel, stone fruit, grass & pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, short duration mild bitter finish. (3/5)

The label calls this a “vicious display of conformity”, and I’m inclined to believe that all jokes aside they only grudgingly went with this style. That grudging attitude shows in the sort-of-but-not-really haze level, as well as the barely-beats-out-the-malt level of hopping. All in all, it’s fine, but not even close to the juiciness and hop dominance I like to see in the style. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Bowen Island Brewing Main Sail ISA – Session IPA at 4.3% ABV | 40 IBU (C$2.00 at Okotoks Co-Op, 355 ml, packaged on 18-Nov-2019, acquired 1-Feb-2020, reviewed 1-Feb-2020)

Appearance: clear deep gold with two fat fingers of high-lofted loose pale ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: caramel, floral, citrus. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, short duration mild bitter finish. (3/5)

Brewer notes say it’s hopped with Nugget, Chinook, Centennial, and Cascade. Well, perhaps – but not very many of them! Despite its light malt bill, the hops still manage to take a back seat to the malt. On the other hand, it’s easy-drinking with no off character – even if it is boring. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Granville Island Brewing West Coast IPA – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$2.75 at Econo Liquor Okotoks, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 29-Jan-2020, reviewed 29-Jan-2020)

Appearance: clear deep gold with one fat finger of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: caramel, floral, citrus, pine. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration bitter finish. (3/5)

The brewer notes claim the “bright, floral, citrusy hoppiness of a modern IPA, rounded out by a subtle malt character” but in fact the malt is predominant in pretty much exactly the way one would expect for a near-macro, mass-market-ish offering. It’s OK, but it’s nothing special. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Sawback Brewing Co. India Dark – Black IPA at 6.2% ABV | 70 IBU (C$4.23 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 29-Jan-2020)

Appearance: clear ruby brown with one fat finger of rocky beige head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: roasty malt, resiny pine, grapefruit. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter, light tart. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Every now and then I encounter an example of this briefly-popular style that reminds me of why I liked them so much. This one does a particularly nice job on the aroma, balancing perfectly a roasty, almost smokey malt with resiny pine and grapefruit courtesy of the Simcoe and Chinook. It generally follows suit on the tongue, with no cattiness at all despite the emphatic bitterness, but the finish tends just slightly astringent. All in all, a good example of the style. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Born Colorado Brewing Born ________ Double Dry-Hopped NEIPA – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.5% ABV | 10 IBU (C$4.05 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 28-Jan-2020)

Appearance: opaque pale gold with one fat finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, mild dank pine. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, low bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, short duration clean finish. (4/5)

Hopped with Ella & Mosaic, giving lovely tropical and citrus aromas. A bit more emphasis there would would be nice but it’s pretty excellent as-is. It really shines on the tongue, with a very nice balance of fruit flavours and restrained sweetness, but the true kicker is the super sneaky 8.5% ABV, that makes no appearance whatsoever until a gradual warming halfway through the pint. Very nice indeed. (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Anchorage Brewing Company Love Buzz – Saison at 8% ABV (C$8.82 at Collective, 375 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 9-Jan-2020, reviewed 28-Jan-2020)

Appearance: hazy pale amber with a short, short-lived off-white head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tart berries, oak, white grape must, orange peel, rose water, peppercorn, dry hay funk. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate tart, low bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, short duration tart finish. (4/5)

That’s an odd one, for sure: more like a Wild or Mixed Fermentation than a Saison. There’s very little Brett character present throughout, from the short, short-lived head to the near complete absence of dry funk. That’s not to put it down: if anything, I could have come up with about a dozen more aspects to the aroma, and I’m a sucker for complexity. An enjoyable slow sipper, even if it misses the mark on just about every metric for Saison. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Tool Shed Brewing Company Project Series: Toss the Tree – American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.8% ABV (C$4.72 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 27-Jan-2020)

Appearance: clear pale amber with one fat finger of rocky pale ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: resiny pine, caramel, citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering and building bitter finish. (3/5)

Wait, “Project” Series? Where have I seen that before? Oh, right! The beer I had right before this one, the series that Collective Arts has been doing for yonks. OK, fine, they’re raising money for charity, I’ll stop. No canning date, but it’s only been on tap at the brewery since the 23rd, so it’s gotta be brand-spankin’ new. (Which might have led to my suggesting it might be a bit late for tree tossing – except I noticed on my way to work this morning that my across-the-road-plus-two neighbour still has theirs up in their rec room…) A very old-school West Coast DIPA, dominated in equal parts by beefy big malt and resiny pine. I waffled a bit on scoring this one, because although there’s nothing really off as such, it’s just not all that interesting – a bit of “been there, done that”. And since it’s so new, it’s clearly not a matter of a fading hop profile being overtaken by malt, so I decided to split the difference and call it what it is: solidly-made, but not very interesting. (Except for the fact that it’ll get you cross-eyed in a hurry. And yes, that factored in scoring it higher rather than lower.) (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Collective Arts Brewing Collective Project/ IPA No. 12 – American IPA at 6.9% ABV (C$4.77 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 10-Dec-2020, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 27-Jan-2020)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with one fat finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: juicy tropical fruit, citrus, bready malt, grass & pine. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (4/5)

I probably wouldn’t argue too bitterly if someone were to tell me the only beer I could ever drink from now on were Collective Project No series. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Valley Brewing, Inc. Prairie Icon – Saison at 5.2% ABV | 25 IBU (C$4.09 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 2-Oct-2019, acquired 24-Jan-2020, reviewed 27-Jan-2020)

Appearance: clear pale straw with two fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: lemongrass, clove, pale crackery malt, peppercorn, floral, honey. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate spice, moderate-low bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, lively carbonation, off-dry mild bitter spicy finish. (3/5)

Not bad, but slightly too much emphasis on the peppercorns. I like spicy as much as the next guy – hell, more than most! – but can be tricky to strike the right balance, especially when the style is one primarily intended to be a refreshing thirst quencher. In this case it starts off as just that, but as the pint progresses the spicy pepper character lingers and builds, eventually making it less refreshing. (13/20)

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com