Tag Archives: earthiness

Graham Cracker Ale (2016) – Hearthstone Brewery

by Mike

From Hearthstone Brewery in North Vancouver comes their “Graham Cracker Ale”.  This is a new version of the beer that has launched in December 2016.  The beer pours a chestnut brown with an off white head.  The aroma consists of graham crackers, honey, vanilla with an overall sweetness and some fruit.  The flavour is of caramel, graham crackers, vanilla, fruit and some mild bitterness and earthiness in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 6% with an IBU of 30.  This beer has tons of flavour and is backed with a good body.  With the reduction of alcohol from the original 8% the malts have become much more forward in the flavour.

Commercial Description:  In 1829, Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham invented the graham cracker in an attempt at staving off an epidemic that was sweeping the nation – masturbation. As a tribute to Reverend Graham, we decided to concoct a graham cracker brew with 50kg of graham crackers in each batch, resulting in notes of honey, vanilla and all around graham cracker goodness. So instead of knocking one out this evening, how about knocking one back with Hearthstone! Cheers!

Here is a link to my old review of the original version.

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Puff (Imperial IPA) – Sixpoint Brewery

by Mike

From Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn New York comes their “Puff” an Imperial IPA.  The beer pours a very hazy orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of orange, lemon, bready malts and a hint of malts.  The flavour is of orange, lemon, tropical fruits , ginger, resin, dank, pine, earthiness and lots of hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 9.8% with an IBU of 108.  Being a huge fan of big IPA’s I have to say I am super excited to find this in liquor stores in British Columbia now!  This stuff is the serious real deal.

Commercial Description:  Imagine puffing away on hops for days, then just chillin’ as the party starts winding down.  But wait, a final burst of energy; one last dose in a tank of dry hops. A special hop bouquet for the afterparty.  If you love Resin, try tasting it straight from the tanks. That’s PUFF – a hazy, unfiltered pour with an extra dose of dry hops… a new blend devised just for Puff.  We decided to capture our own puffy, cloudy brew in a limited release can. First puff says it all – this ish is Keller. Breathe deep and put your head in the clouds… it’s Mad Science.  This cloudy, unfiltered brew is meant to be drank super fresh. Don’t wait to Puff – this beer is code dated for consumption within 100 days. Puff, puff…

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Penticton Harvest Honey Pale Ale 2015 – Tin Whistle Brewing

by Mike

From Tin Whistle Brewing in Penticton comes their latest edition of “Penticton Harvest Honey Pale Ale” a fresh hopped pale ale. The beer pours a orange amber colour with a tan head. The aroma is of honey, caramel malts, hops oils and a grassy finish. The flavour is of honey, caramel, sweetness, some earthiness, grassy and an oily finish from the hops oils. The beer has an alcohol content comes in at 5%. Having the addition of honey really makes this beer stand out. To many of the fresh hopped beers miss the point because they are styles that really need to be bitter. With a pale ale the hops bitterness is not as important and goes well like this.

Commercial Description:  The most wonderful day of the year! It’s hop harvest time, and that means Harvest Honey Pale Ale. Harvest was ahead of schedule because of the hot summer we have had, and so today I brewed with Cascade, Centennial, and Mt Hood hops from Chilliwack! Expect to see this beer in the next couple of weeks cause with hops, fresh is best!

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India Pale Lager – Red Collar Brewing

by Mike

From Red Collar Brewing in Kamloops in the Okanagan comes their “India Pale Lager” a growler fill I picked up at the brewery.  The beer pours a golden colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of tropical fruit, citrus, floral hops, mild malts and a noticeable sweetness.  The flavour is of tropical fruit and citrus, some earthiness, thin malts and a pretty strong hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 46.  While not having a huge bitterness this IPL has more of a North West IPA style than the English IPA that Red Collar produces.  I would pick this IPL up at the brewery again any time and if it made its way to bottles I would not hesitate to pick up a bottle either.

Commercial Description:  A new-world take on the Czech-style pilsner. A golden bodied crisp lager fused with citrus and spice aromas from Ahtanum and Amarillo hops.

red collar ipl

IPAwkward – Awkward Brewing

by Mike

From the new Nano Brewery in Lake Stevens, Washington comes their “IPAwkward” an awkward named IPA to be sure.  The beer pours a deep cloudy orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consisted of melony fruit, floral hops and some sweetness.  The flavour was of tropical fruits, citrus rind, sweetness, bitterness, pine with some mild earthiness to finish it off.  There was a ton to the body of this beer that made it almost chewy think Fat Tug IPA if you are in BC.  The alcohol content comes in at 7.1% with an IBU around 118.  I quite like this beer and look forward to trying more of their beer in the future.

Commercial Description:  Hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, Citra and just a bit of Simcoe. Hoppy but very drinkable.

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