Skip to main content

Synthwave by Boombox Brewing Company

Image
By
Canada's best beer comes from British Columbia. I'm pretty confident of that. Some of my favourite Canadian breweries can be found there, like Superflux, Twin Sails and Boombox. The subject of this review is one of the latter's limited releases: Synthwave.

I missed this beer the first time it was brewed and released but managed to pick up a four-pack recently. I believe it was brewed in December 2019 so it's not 100% fresh but not old enough yet that a review would be inappropriate. Information on the brewery's website is sparse at best—this beer does not appear there at all. A rough grain bill is printed on the side of the can and I found a list of hops at the beer blog Bring Your Porter to the Slaughter.

This beer features a combination of Citra, Mosaic and Motueka hops. Citra and Mosaic are par for the course when it comes to contemporary IPAs, especially ones that are influenced by the hazy, fruit-forward beers popularized by certain New England breweries. Motueka is interesting, though. It is one of a handful of hops from New Zealand that have gained in popularity over the past five years. I've yet to brew with Motueka personally—but I have a half-pound in my freezer that I don't know what to do with yet so I've been purposely picking out beers that include them as of late.

  • Name: Synthwave
  • Brewery: Boombox Brewing Company
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Alc/vol: 8.5%
  • OG: Unknown
  • FG: Unknown
  • IBU: Unknown
  • Malt: Unknown base malt, Flaked oats, Wheat
  • Hops: Citra, Mosaic, Motueka.
  • Yeast: Unknown
Appearance: Boombox is one among many beer brands that mines a distinctly Eighties aesthetic. Some do it poorly—Boombox does it pretty well. This is a good-looking can, measuring 473mL. I poured this beer into a Spiegalau IPA glass. The head lasted only briefly and the beer looked almost flat after that, leaving little to no lacing on the glass.

Aroma: Smells deliciously like mangoes. There's alcohol too, which detracts from the overall effect.

Flavour: Grapefruit is king, with a touch of mango that matches the nose.

Mouthfeel: Synthwave has a medium body, which is a little surprising given the higher alcohol content. I expect a little more heft from a double IPA, to be honest. It's coupled with a little more alcohol burn than I like—there are higher alcohol beers that go down more smoothly than this.

Overall: The best compliment you can give a higher alcohol beer is that it is still easy to drink—that you easily forget how strong it is because it is well-balanced and flavourful. This beer does not achieve that, unfortunately. From start to finish, you can't help but notice alcohol on the nose and on your tongue. It doesn't ruin the beer, but it definitely detracts from a very nice hop profile.

Rating: 3 out of 5.


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

ESB by Sea Change Brewing

By
I recently found out this blog ranks highly in search engine results for craft beer reviews so it seems the onus is on me to revive it. To that end, I'm going to start adding new reviews and looking for another contributor or two. Today I'm reviewing ESB by Sea Change , a local Edmonton brewery. I purchased this as part of six pack of singles I assembled myself at Sip Liquor Market , a great little beer-focused shop not far from my home. Is this an authentic attempt at an ESB or English Special Bitter? Read on and find out. Appearance: ESB comes in a 473mL can. The packaging features a custom illustration very much in line with Sea Change's highly consistent design language. Once poured, I can see that this beer is much darker than I expected. I anticipated copper or amber and what I got is brown. Visually it reminds me of a British brown ale more akin to Newcastle than a quintessential English bitter. Head retention was little to none and there was no lacing left on the gl...
Read more

Alive in the Superunknown by The Establishment Brewing Company

By
Is The Establishment Alberta's best brewer of hazy IPAs? It's an entirely valid question that has no definite answer as of yet. But I'll start this review by stating that this beer makes a strong case for yes . In my experience, hazy or New England-style IPAs tend to fall between 6 and 7% ABV. Anything higher than 7.5% is frequently classified as a double or imperial IPA. Alive in the Superunknown comes in at 8.3% and The Establishment has purposefully labeled it an Imperial Hazy IPA. The thing about hazy IPAs is that they don't always fare well with the additional grain bill required to hit a higher alcohol content.  The West Coast-style IPAs of the 2000s and early 2010s handled a higher ABV quite well by offsetting the additional body and alcohol burn with blistering pine and citrus hop flavours thanks to old school varieties like Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and others. But hazy IPAs are more delicate in some ways. Extra body and alcohol burn are not characteristics...
Read more

Naughty Hildegard ESB by Driftwood Brewery

By
The classics never go out of style. Naughty Hildegard ESB is not a new beer to me. Instead, it's an old favourite from earlier days of my foray into craft beer. A friend recommended it to me over a decade ago, advising that it was a decidedly North American take on English Special Bitter. And that it is! Appearance: Naughty Hildegard pours a beautiful copper color that brings to mind classic American craft beers like strong pale ales, red ales and IPAs. I drank this from a classic Spiegelau PA glass. White foam pours thick but ebbs as you drink, leaving just a touch of lacing. Aroma: It smells like fruitcake. In a good way! There's a touch of dessert-like sweetness coupled with the scent of dried fruit. Underneath all of that is a subtle hint of resinous pine. Taste: This beer is sublimely balanced in the old school way with a solid malt foundation and decidedly West Coast hop profile. Caramel malt adds colour and sweetness without overpowering the bitterness and fruit flavour...
Read more