RyansBooze

Red Bison Brewery Star Fall White IPA at 6.8% ABV (C$7.99 at Sobeys Liquor Okotoks, 650 ml, packaged on 8-Aug-2018, acquired 18-Feb-2019, reviewed 18-Feb-2019)

Appearance: hazy straw with two fat fingers of creamy white head, excellent retention and moderate chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: coriander, Belgian esters, grainy malt, citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, light peppery spice. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration mildly spicy slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

The label has a cute semi-accurate historical story about a white bison hunt during the Leonids meteor shower, but it’s at best only peripherally got anything do with Calgary, since the story is Cheyenne. Decent enough example of the style, if a bit heavy on the peppery spice. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Railyard Brewing NEIPA American IPA at 7.5% ABV | 30 IBU (C$3.87 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 17-Feb-2019)

Appearance: slightly unclean hazy straw with two fingers of fluffy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, pale malt, stone fruit. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, sweetish moderate bitter slightly astringent finish. (4/5)

Starts off smelling pretty much like SweeTarts, which is all the more impressive when you consider it’s done strictly with hops and no fruit additions of any sort. The aromas get a bit muddled as it warms, though, and are accompanied by a fairly unwelcome sweetness and astringency in the finish. All in all, it’s not bad, but it’s not something I’d go looking for again, either. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Outcast Brewing No. 2 Trhopical Paradise American IPA at 6.0% ABV (C$4.23 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 29-Jan-2019, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 17-Feb-2019)

Appearance: opaque pale gold with two fingers of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: stone and tropical fruits, pale malt, light pine. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, moderate tart. (9/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter and tart finish. (4/5)

Woof. Total juice bomb, aided by the addition of real apricot and passionfruit. And not in small amounts, either: the label claims “the equivalent of close to a pound of fruit”. And when you consider that the can contains pretty much a pound of beer, well, I guess that means there’s no alcohol or anything else here, right? I’m going with “it’s healthy”, and am tempted to make it a breakfast drink. (17/20)

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Twin Sails Brewing Space Armadillo American Double / Imperial IPA at 8% ABV | 60 IBU (C$4.95 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 27-Dec-2018, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 16-Feb-2019)

Appearance: clear deep gold with two fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: juicy citrus, tropical fruit, grainy caramel, flinty petrichor, light resiny pine, dry hay funk. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter slightly astringent finish. (4/5)

Another excellent offering from Twin Sails. The use of Sacc Trois yeast is generally even-handed and unobtrusive, initially manifesting as tropical fruit and becoming otherwise distinguishable only near the end of the pint as things warm up. In fact, I suspect if you were served one of these cold and drank it at normal speed, you might not even notice it, but I got distracted halfway through and when I came back to it when it was at least 10ºC. Even so, the funkiness wasn’t unpleasant, but instead an interesting counterpoint to its bright fruitiness when colder. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Annex Ale Project Imperial Progress IPA American IPA at 7.1% ABV (C$10.25 at Collective, 946 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 14-Feb-2019)

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

Nothing in particular stands out here, just a solid, well-made IPA. Bright and juicy citrus and tropical fruit over a clean malt base, with a hint of pine on the back end. Like an amped up version of Forward Progress – which is all to the good. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Born Colorado Brewing Punitive Damages American IPA at 6.6% ABV (C$10.25 at Collective, 946 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 13-Feb-2019)

Appearance: hazy near-opaque straw with one fat finger of dense white head, excellent retention and heavy soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: juicy zesty citrus, tropical fruit, bready caramel, light pine, hint of cattiness. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

I suppose it would be unreasonably pedantic of me to point out that Canadian law doesn’t generally allow for punitive damages? An OK sophomore effort from yet another new Calgary brewery that isn’t without its issues – in particular, there’s a cattiness that I assume is related to Citra or another starts-with-C hop – but it’s all right, overall. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Eighty-Eight Brewing Cassette Saison at 4.3% ABV (C$2.47 at Collective, 330 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 13-Feb-2019, reviewed 13-Feb-2019)

Appearance: clear straw with one finger of fluffy white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: white pepper, lemon zest, pear, pale crackery malt, apple. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter, light funky tart. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry slightly peppery finish. (4/5)

It was a bit difficult to decide how to classify this one, and I initially thought it might be a Session IPA. (“Table Beer” is really more a tax classification than a style.) However, as soon as I smelled it I realized that wasn’t the case, and a little research on the brewer web site has me satisfied that this is best classified as a Saison – and a very traditional one at that, given the very low ABV. Clean malt and slightly funky Belgian yeast further add to the traditional farmhouse-style character. Nicely refreshing. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Ballast Point Brewing Company Peanut Butter Victory at Sea Imperial Porter at 10% ABV (Gift – thanks Beer Revolution!, 355 ml, packaged on 12-Oct-2018, acquired 4-Feb-2019, reviewed 12-Feb-2019)

Appearance: semi-opaque amber-brown with two fingers of loose tan head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, heavy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: peanut butter, milk chocolate, anise, mint, berries, metallic. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-full creamy body, moderate carbonation, slightly sticky astringent coffee warming finish. (4/5)

I’m a bit surprised to be saying this, but I don’t think the addition of peanut butter is helping much here. I understand there’s a chocolate and peanut butter version and I suspect that might work out better, but I actually consider this one to be inferior to the original. In particular, there’s a hard-to-identify fruit note that I’m calling mint or red berries, but in conjunction with a slight metallic edge (which I also detected in Sea Monster) it’s coming across as slightly medicinal. (15/20)

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Dandy Brewing Company In the Bleak Midwinter Black IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.00 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 7-Jan-2019, acquired 31-Jan-2019, reviewed 9-Feb-2019)

Appearance: clear brown with two fingers of rocky beige head, excellent retention and heavy chunky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: pine, citrus, caramel, light ashy roasted coffee/cocoa. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium slightly creamy body, moderate carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter finish. (4/5)

Definitely much more IPA character here than roasted malt, which is just fine by me. I know dark, malty beers are traditional for the season, but in fact citrusy piney hops are at least as likely to get me through the bleak midwinter. (Which, right now, it most certainly is. We’re in our second week of nearly -30ºC temperatures, with no end in sight.) Nicely balanced and easy drinking. (16/20)

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Granville Island Brewing Small Batch Brut IPL India Pale Lager at 7.6% ABV | 50 IBU (C$8.39 at Okotoks Co-Op, 650 ml, packaged on 10-Jan-2019, acquired 6-Feb-2019, reviewed 8-Feb-2019)

Appearance: slightly unclean hazy pale gold with two fingers of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy chunky lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pomes, drupes, grainy malt, citrus, faint pine & weeds. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-light body, effervescent carbonation, dry crisp finish. (4/5)

First time I’ve seen the “Brut” designation applied to an IPL, but it’s not that far a stretch by comparison to an IPA. The body is light, the carbonation champagne-like, and the finish dry, consistent with that sub-style. Definite Lager characteristics on the nose, including some stone fruits and slightly browned apple. Decent, but not as good as some of the IPAs of the style I’ve had. (14/20)

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com