Cabin Brewing Company Evening Chorus – American IPA at 7% ABV (C$5.08 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 1-Dec-2021, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 5-Jan-2022)
Appearance: opaque hazy pale gold with a short fine pale ivory head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: juicy citrus, tropical fruit, cereal grains. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (8/10) Palate: soft medium body, moderate carbonation, short duration finish. (4/5)
The label says this is “NZ-hopped”, and brewer notes specify Motueka, Rakau, and Nelson Sauvin hops – oh my, yes. And, yep, it delivers exactly what I’d expect for those hops: lots of brightly juicy citrus and tropical fruit notes, on a clean malt background. Also, the ABV is right about the sweet spot: above “training wheels”, but below “on your ass”. I really like this one. (16/20)
Annex Ale Project Armchair Anarchist – American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.1% ABV (C$5.17 at Collective, 473 ml, best before 30-Nov-2022, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 4-Jan-2022)
Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with two fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, tropical fruit, cereal grains. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, sweetish medium duration warming finish. (4/5)
I never waved a black flag, but I’ve listened to Black Flag, does that count? The label says they used eight hops here, and brewer notes indicate “hops in the kettle, whirlpool, and three separate dry-hops using three different techniques: high krausen, standard dry hop, and a cold dry hop” – but nowhere can I find which hops. Clearly there’s a few of the starts-with-C usual suspects, but beyond that I’m not sure… which, I suppose, means it’s done fairly well, since nothing really stands out or dominates? I could have gone a little lower on scoring, maybe, but ultimately there’s nothing wrong with this, and although it drinks a little boozy, it’s certainly appropriate to the ABV. (16/20)
Ale Architect Brewing Ltd. Joy Wave DDH NE DIPA – American Double / Imperial IPA at 7.8% ABV (C$4.93 at Collective, 473 ml, best before 6-May-2022, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 2-Jan-2022)
Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of rocky pale ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium soft body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (4/5)
The label says this is hopped with Citra, Simcoe, and El Dorado. The pleasant aroma and restrained sweetness on a clean malt background, with a medium body tending slightly soft and pillowy, make this very easy drinking despite the not-inconsiderable ABV. The only thing that’s stopping me from raving about this is the absence of any kind of resiny pine note, despite the fact that the Simcoe should have been capable of providing that, and as a result I find the character a bit less nuanced than I’d like to see. All in all, however, it’s a very respectable representation of that long string of initialisms that is the style. (16/20)
Field & Forge Brewing Co. Cranberry IPA – American IPA at 6.2% ABV | 50 IBU (C$3.73 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 1-Jan-2022)
Appearance: clear medium gold with two fingers of rocky ivory head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: cranberry, citrus, pine, pale crackery malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, mild tart. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry crisp lightly tart finish. (4/5)
I previously had their Cold IPA, which was a collaboration with Blindman, and maybe my first example of the “Cold IPA” style, nominally associated with using pilsner malt and lager yeast (and no, I don’t how how that then isn’t just an India Pale Lager). This is pretty similar, with the added cranberry adjunct. The label says they use Enigma hops, but doesn’t say it’s exclusively single-hop. I was actually expecting this to be pink, especially given the amount of cranberry presence, and in fact the fruit juice presence ultimately makes this something similar to a Radler. It ends up being crisp, tart, and refreshing – I like it. (15/20)
Born Brewing Co. (Born Colorado Brewing) IPA Series 008 Rye IPA – American IPA at 6.2% ABV | 58 IBU (C$4.18 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 13-Dec-2022, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 1-Jan-2022)
Appearance: clear pale amber with two fingers of fine ivory head, excellent retention and well-defined soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: spicy rye, resiny pine, caramel, citrus, black tea. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter, light peppery spice. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter lightly spicy finish. (4/5)
Hopped with Centennial and Citra, but the hopping doesn’t really dominate – but then again, neither does the spicy rye. It’s actually fairly well balanced in that regard, with a mild pleasant rye spice just barely edging out both the pine and citrus from hops, and a clean caramel malt. Pretty and pleasant. (15/20)
Zero Issue Brewing Jotunheim Spruce Tip Pale Ale (Issue #60) – American Pale Ale at 5.2% ABV (C$4.14 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 31-Dec-2021)
Appearance: slightly hazy deep gold with two fingers of fine pale ivory head, good retention and well-defined soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: resiny spruce, herbal, sweet malt, citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (3/5)
Emphatically evergreen – like chewing on a Christmas tree, but not in an unpleasant way. The spruce (pine?) becomes even stronger as the pint warms, but it’s never offensive, and is certainly seasonally appropriate. You could potentially accuse this of being a bit of a one-trick pony, but it’s a fairly neat trick. (14/20)
Troubled Monk Brewery Buzzword IPA – American IPA at 6.7% ABV | 61 IBU (C$4.27 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 12-Dec-2021, acquired 23-Dec-2021, reviewed 27-Dec-2021)
Appearance: clear medium gold with one fat finger of rocky near-white head, good retention and moderate spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: sweet tropical fruit, citrus, resiny pine, floral/herbal, cereal grains, honey. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, sweetish medium duration bitter finish. (3/5)
The aroma is a bit muddled, with tropical and berry sweetness over herbal and pine, malt coming through as cereal grains and honey. And yes, I am getting about three different types of sweetness, so needless to say this is far too sweet in my opinion. It might be a bit harsh to call this mediocre, but it sure isn’t great. (14/20)
Bruery Terreux Gypsy Tart – Flanders Brown Ale / Oud Bruin at 8.7% ABV | 15 IBU (C$16.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, packaged on 18-Sep-2015, acquired 11-Dec-2015, reviewed 26-Dec-2021)
Appearance: clear deep ruby with a short, short-lived fine ivory head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: wet cardboard, malt vinegar, red berries, metallic. (4/10) Taste: moderate sweet and tart, low bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-light body, lively carbonation, off-dry funky medium tart finish. (3/5)
Look, I get that this is a problematic demonym, OK? We could get into it, but it’s probably best we don’t (trust me on this one, wearing one of my hats as a fraud investigator). In fact, it seems like the brewery has sort of disavowed this one, since I can’t find any details on their website. I can’t say I’m overly surprised by that: naming conventions aside, this did not age well. The dominant aroma for me is a funky wet cardboard, with malt vinegar and some tart berries very much in the rear.
I’m sorry… actually, scratch that, I’m not sorry: no. If you’re going to churn out so many beers that even I can’t keep up, then I’m going to hold you to something resembling standards. Bad brewer, no cookie for you. Real Flanders Browns (i.e. real sours, i.e. Duchesse, Goudenband, Vichtenaar, etc. {if you don’t know what I’m talking about, just go ahead and stop reading now – no judgement, but you won’t get it}) age well and gracefully: I did an eight year old Goudenband that beats the pants off this, six ways from Sunday. I don’t know that this is a kettle sour, but given the way it fell apart in the bottle, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’d score this lower if I thought I could justify it, but the score is actually what this thing is: a substandard, but ultimately drinkable ripoff of a style that deserves better. And yes, earlier this evening I did give the same brewer a world-class score on a different offering, so that should tell you something: shame on you, Famille Rue, for doing this disservice to the style. (10/20)
The Bruery Poterie Anniversary Bourbon Barrel-Aged (2016) – Old Ale at 16.8% ABV (C$44.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 750 ml, packaged on 13-Apr-2016, acquired 19-Jul-2016, reviewed 26-Dec-2021)
Appearance: slightly hazy ruby brown with a short, short-lived loose beige head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: bourbon, dark fruits, toffee, oak, vanilla, nuts, coconut. (9/10) Taste: high sweet, moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-full slick body, moderate carbonation, sticky warming finish. (4/5)
Five years in the bottle, and this still reeks of bourbon upon decapping. Not that I’m complaining, you understand, just a simple statement of fact. That boozy bourbon never goes away, but additional complexity reveals upon warming. A pleasant, warming, slow sipper. (17/20)
Bières de Chimay S.A. Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue) (2016) – Belgian Strong Dark Ale at 9% ABV (C$7.99 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 330 ml, best before 31-Dec-2021, acquired 12-Oct-2017, reviewed 26-Dec-2021)
Appearance: clear ruby brown with one fat finger of fluffy ivory head, good retention and spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bready yeast, cherries, raisins, cloves. (8/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, sweetish medium duration warming slightly astringent finish. (4/5)
I thought I was done with my extended cellaring experiment for Chimay, but found this one in my long-term storage fridge. About a year and a half ago, I tried a 2015 vintage that was nearing its five year BB date, and concluded that, compared to the three and four year cellaring examples, there was no clear improvement. That is, these are already aged sufficiently when bottled, so there’s little or no benefit to be gained by further ageing. With this different five year-old vintage, I’m again getting a hint of astringency in the finish, suggesting at least no further increase in quality, if not an actual decline as compared to the three year tasting. I’m sticking with my previous conclusion: might as well drink these by the time they get to be three or four years old, and certainly by five years old. (16/20)
