Tag Archives: herbal

Midway ISA – Goose Island Beer Company

by Mike

From Goose Island Beer Company out of Chicago Illinois comes their “Midway India Session Ale”.  The beer pours an orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of mild tropical fruit, melon and some sweetness.  The flavour is of mild tropical fruits, melon, herbal and low bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.6% with an IBU of 30.  Much like many ISA’s I wish this beer had some malt presence but it was pretty tasty.

Commercial Description:  Paying tribute to the city we call home, Midway IPA is sessionable and refreshing, or as we like to refer to it – easy drinking. With a lower ABV, balanced IBU’s, and a tropical fruit aroma, make Midway your new go-to, have more than one, easy drinking IPA.

Cabalier Blue Blueberry IPA – Beau’s All Natural Brewing

by Mike

From Beau’s All Natural Brewing in Vankleek Hill Ontario comes their “Cabalier Blue” Blueberry IPA. The beer pours very red with some floaties and a light reddish head. The aroma consists of Blueberries, herbal and grassy hops and some grain.  The flavour is of blueberries, mild tropical fruits, some bready malts, herbal and grassy hops with some hops bitterness in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 6%  with an IBU of 50.  Leave it to Beau’s All Natural Brewing to come up with a really interesting blend of flavours!

Commercial Description:  Built on the foundation of a generously hopped I.P.A., Cavalier Bleu blends the citrusy aromas of organic New Zealand hop varieties with the fruity flavours found in American Azacca and German Mandarina Bavaria hops. Topping it off is an infusion of organic blueberry juice made from wild Québec blueberries.

Food pairing as per brewery:  Venison steak with a blueberry reduction, blueberry cheesecake, beemster cheese.

Dirty Hop Water: Last Living Dinosaur – Arizona Wilderness Brewing

by Mike

From Arizona Wilderness Brewing in Gilbert Arizona comes their “Dirty Hop Water: Last Living Dinosaur” a Cloudy Double IPA.  The beer pours a murky orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of orange juice, pineapple and basically just juice.  The flavour is of orange juice, pineapple, citrus rind, some herbal notes and a mild bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 8.2%.  With a great mothfeel this beer is really tasty and I am so glad I was able to get a can from the Hoppy Craftsmen while in Arizona.  These cans sell out extremely fast!

Commercial Description:  What the hell is “Dirty Hop Water?”  First off, it’s proof that humulus lupulus is God’s gift to beer.  It’s also proof that the all powerful hop is still craft beer’s king.  This series combines the hazy proteins of AZ grown unmalted grains with the most badass, aromaticaly driven hops in the world.  The result is this murky, juicy, tropical smoothie-esque hop bomb.  We Won’t make this D.H.W. rendition ever again.  Like, ever.  You’re special if you were able to grab a sip of this can.  Enjoy!  Cloudy India Pale Ale with Eureka, Callista and Belma Hops.

FRESH HOP RED IPA – Stanley Park Brewing

by Mike

From Stanley Park Brewing (Turning Point Brewing) in Delta comes their “FRESH HOP RED IPA” a part of their new Sampling Series in Bombers.  The beer pours a deep reddish colour with a tan head.  The aroma consists of roasted malts, rye, caramel, grapefruit and floral hops.  The flavour is of roasted malts, rye, caramel, toffee, chocolate, earth, grapefruit, grapefruit rind, pine, pepper, herbal and bitterness.  The alcohol content  comes in at 6.4% with an IBU of 70.   This Red IPA has a similar roast malt characteristic of some Cascadian Dark Ale’s.  I quite enjoyed this one although it is definitely more roasty than most.  Stanley Park Brewing is now owned by Labbat.

Commercial Description:  A robust Fresh Hop Red IPA with Crystal Rye malts and heaps of fresh, locally-grown Cascade and Chinook hop cones direct from bines at B.C. Hop Co.’s picturesque hop fields in the heart of the Fraser Valley.

Steve’s Beer Advent Calendar Day 3 – Moralité American IPA – Brasserie Dieu du Ciel

by steveeh

Mikes wife gift me a beer advent calendar she put together herself. I thought I should post each day as a review. Now, you’re wondering: where are days 1 and 2? I got this on day two and didn’t think of this series until today so I’ll catch up.

So, on with the show.

From Brasserie Dieu du Ciel in St Jerôme, Quebec I got Moralité American IPA. It pours a beautiful, hazy hay yellow with a creamy head of very fine bubbles. Carbonation is invisible through the haze.

The nose is super herbaceous. Celery and thyme come forward quickly with a little raw, wet cereal grain following. There might be a hint of tangerine.

The flavours are super hop forward. Herb-y bitterness really dominates, so much so that it is almost hot or spicy. A sweet tangerine note offers a nice counter to the hops. The finish goes on forever with bitter hops.

Commercial description: The concept of Morality is perhaps a subjective one, as the history of alcohol in Quebec May demonstrate. This IPA is brewed with a dare-we-say excessive quantity of Simcoe, Citra and Centennial hops. The dry finish is highly aromatic and slightly resinous, invoking tropical fruits atop dominant hop bitterness. Moralité was crafted at our Montreal location in 2012 in collaboration with John Kimmich of The Alchemist brewery in Vermont USA.