RyansBooze

Born Brewing Co. (Born Colorado Brewing) Park Pass 003 – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.50 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 9-Oct-2024, reviewed 14-Oct-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with one fat finger of loose pale ivory head diminishing gradually to a persistent cap, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: field berries, cereal grains, light dank resin, hint of mint. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-low bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, off-dry slightly sharp finish. (3/5)

Dry hopped, but I don’t think single-hopped, with Idaho Gem. The aroma is not exactly typical for the style, with more berries and mint than the normal citrus or tropical notes. I waffled a little on scoring aroma and flavour, but ultimately decided that this different character is really neither bad nor good – just different. That said, it ends just a little sharp so ultimately falls just a little short for me.(15/20)

This will be my 5,973rd unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Irrational Brewing Company Exp. Krush DDH Hazy IPA – American IPA at 6.0% ABV (C$5.31 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 9-Oct-2024, reviewed 14-Oct-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with two fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, good retention and heavy soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: sweet tropical and stone fruit, cereal grains, light dank resin. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium duration finish. (4/5)

Looks to be single-hopped with Krush, formerly experimental HBC-586. The brewer calls it their favourite hop, but my experience with it seems to have been a bit hit and miss. This one, however, is removing all uncertainty regarding its qualifications, and is pretty emphatically the best implementation of the hop I’ve encountered to date. Quite nice. (16/20)

This will be my 5,972nd unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Bellwoods Brewery / Eighty-Eight Brewing Co. Pool Shark – American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.1% ABV (C$6.35 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 26-Sep-2024, acquired 9-Oct-2024, reviewed 13-Oct-2024)

Appearance: hazy medium gold with one fat finger of fine pale ivory head, good retention and  heavy soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains, resiny pine. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry mildly warming finish. (4/5)

The Eighty Eight version of the collaboration with Bellwoods. The ABV is a fair bit higher in this one – thus the warming – though they’re otherwise pretty similar. Which is to say, damn fine. No notes. Go get one. (17/20)

This will be my 5,971st unique Untappd check-in.

8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Refined Fool Brewing Co. Death Row Fruit Punch IPA – American IPA at 7% ABV | 20 IBU (C$5.31 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 20-Aug-2024, acquired 9-Oct-2024, reviewed 11-Oct-2024)

Appearance: heavily particulate-laden hazy deep gold with two fat fingers of fluffy pale ivory head, excellent retention and well-defined droopy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild tart. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, moderate bitter slightly tart finish. (3/5)

A “tropical fruit medley made Comet hops and real pineapple, mango and blood orange” so, yeah, I guess I gotta give it a pass on the “chunky style” appearance. I will, however, complain just a little that the character here is completely dominated by the fruit adjunct. I’m not a traditionalist, so I’m perfectly fine with a little flavour boost from outside sources, but I still like to be able to discern the underlying hops – and here, I pretty much can’t.  I’d like to see this slightly retooled with a bit more actual beer character, but on the other hand, mad props for making fruit punch that’ll fuck you up. (14/20)

This will be my 5,970th unique Untappd check-in.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Superflux Beer Company Mesa – American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$6.85 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 15-Aug-2024, acquired 9-Oct-2024, reviewed 11-Oct-2024)

Appearance: hazy pale gold with one fat finger of fine white head, excellent retention and well-defined droopy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains, floral. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)

Dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, and Citra. Smells decent, but almost immediately I got astringency through the finish. On their web site, the brewer indicates they (for some reason) eliminated oats from the malt bill here, and, yeah, I detected that fact immediately. In fact, I strongly suspect some oats would have smoothed this out pretty much perfectly – but as it is, it’s not great. (15/20)

This will be my 5,969th unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Red Truck Beer Company Chilly Willys – Cold IPA at 7.0% ABV | 60 IBU (C$3.36 at Ace Liquor Okotoks, 355 ml, packaged on 5-Jun-2024, acquired 20-Sep-2024, reviewed 21-Sep-2024)

Appearance: slightly hazy straw with one finger of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, spotty soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: mild, citrus, floral. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration sweetish finish. (3/5)

I mean, it’s a little better than their Down Under, but it’s still pretty firmly in “meh” territory. (13/20)

This will be my 5,968th unique Untappd check-in.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Red Truck Beer Company Down Under Aussie IPA – American IPA at 5.0% ABV | 40 IBU (C$3.36 at Ace Liquor Okotoks, 355 ml, packaged on 13-Jun-2024, acquired 20-Sep-2024, reviewed 21-Sep-2024)

Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with one finger of fine pale ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: mild, caramel, grass. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, medium duration sweetish finish. (3/5)

No idea what makes this an “Aussie” IPA, because I’m certainly not detecting any ANZ hops. Or, if we’re honest, many hops at all. Malty, grassy, and meh-tastic. (12/20)

This will be my 5,966th unique Untappd check-in.

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Red Truck Beer Company Monster Jam Juicy IPA – American IPA at 6.0% ABV | 50 IBU (C$3.36 at Ace Liquor Okotoks, 355 ml, packaged on 10-Jun-2024, acquired 20-Sep-2024, reviewed 21-Sep-2024)

Appearance: clear pale gold with large fluffy white head, excellent retention and well-defined soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, cereal grains. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, medium duration mildly warming finish. (4/5)

Pleasant enough, no negatives. Maybe not quite “juicy”, but not bad. (14/20)

This will be my 5,965th unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Arcobräu Moos Mooser Liesl – Helles Lager at 5.3% ABV (€0.99 at Spar Unterer Stadtplatz Kufstein, 500 ml, packaged on 22-Aug-2024, acquired 12-Sep-2024, reviewed 13-Sep-2024)

Appearance: clear straw with one finger of creamy white head, excellent retention and well-defined soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: toasted bread, honey, herbal, hint of citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body tending slightly light, moderate-lively carbonation, short duration finish. (4/5)

These Helles lagers are really starting to grow on me – quite possibly because they’re all super fresh and made nearby? In any case, I enjoyed this. Clean and easy. (14/20)

This will be my 5,945th unique Untappd check-in.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Augustiner-Bräu Oktoberfestbier – Festbier at 6.3% ABV (€1.29 at Spar Unterer Stadtplatz Kufstein, 500 ml, best before 1-Jan-2025, acquired 12-Sep-2024, reviewed 13-Sep-2024)

Appearance: clear pale gold with one fat finger of fluffy white head, excellent retention and well-defined soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: toasted bread, light herbal/floral, grass. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-lively carbonation, short duration finish. (4/5)

Yep, I can see why this is a standard reference for the style. Clean malt dominates, with mild hops providing balanced bitterness. As lagers go, this is pretty good stuff, that doesn’t resort to tricks like bombastic New World hopping. Not that I’ve got a problem with bombastic New World hopping, but this very emphatically isn’t that, doesn’t need to be that, and pretty much stands as the antithesis of that. (16/20)

This will be my 5,943rd unique Untappd check-in.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com