Blue Dream Hazy IPA by Four Winds

Apparently inspired by a cannabis strain, Blue Dream is a hazy IPA infused with plant terpenes designed to give this beer the smell of marijuana.

Appearance: The can is visually distinct from all other Four Winds releases that I have seen. (The Four Winds brand doesn’t seem to have a strong design language. There's like four or five different design templates for their cans.) Blue Dream is hazy and yellow gold with a head that settles quickly and then dissapears completely, leaving almost no lacing. (I assume the additional terpenes inhibit foam formation.)

Aroma: Does it smell like pot? I’m not an expert, but I think not really. I do get a sort of vegetal smell, maybe a little spice and not too much fruit.

Flavour: Tough to pinpoint but I think there is some stonefruit in there. Some hops make beer taste fuzzy and I don’t know yet how to explain or elaborate on that any better. But this beer is fuzzy. There is a really strong ginger component to the flavour which is actually kind of pleasant.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is medium. Body is full, like a traditional IPA. It doesn’t have that pillowy fluffiness you get with a great hazy IPA.

Overall: For the record, I like Four Winds as a brewery. I have spent a lot of time in B.C. drinking B.C. beer and I always found their early, more traditional releases to be very technically proficient when a lot of craft brewers struggled with consistency. But this beer is just okay. Maybe it’s because I’m not a cannabis connoisseur, but the plant terpenes gimmick—which mostly seems to drive ginger notes in the flavour profile—isn’t enough to make up for what is a middle of the road hazy IPA. (And there's really no shortage of those in the world today...)

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Down the New Zealand Pilsner Rabbit Hole

There are many different beer styles but the majority are well-established and well-known to brewers. Their characteristics and the ingredients that comprise them are generally understood and accepted. That said, the craft beer explosion over the past decade or two has led to an evolution and expansion of traditional beer canon. New styles have emerged. Some have trended then waned—take white IPAs or India Pale Lagers for instance—while others seem to have completely redefined the brewing industry. (Yes, I'm talking about hazy or New England-style IPAs and pale ales.) New Zealand (NZ) Pilsner is a relatively new and seemingly only loosely defined style. Most articles on the style have been written in the past three years. Popular primarily in its country of origin and among homebrewers, its defining features seem to be that it is brewed mostly with Pilsner malt and NZ-grown hops. Much has been written about hops from NZ, especially Nelson Sauvin , a particularly standout vari...

Monocle Single Hop IPA with Nectaron by Four Winds

I really like single hop beers for their educational value—there’s no better way to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of different hops. Mikkeller, one of my favourite breweries of all time, had a wonderful series of single hop IPAs a decade or so ago that was instrumental to my understanding of classic North American hop varieties like Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe and many more. So I was happy to see that Four Winds has a newer series of single hop releases with more contemporary hops coming out under the name Monocle. This was my first sampling of this series. Aroma: Smells like yard and garden clippings—in a good way. I personally get that from a lot of modern IPAs with new hop varieties. Taste: Very strong stone fruit finish, like peach or apricot. Bit of dank and a touch of grain which I like. (Maybe some blueberry notes as it warms—gets a little more sour too.) Mouthfeel: Pretty nice. Doesn’t fully achieve the fluffy cloud-like feeling I associate with an ou...

Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales

This is a quick review of Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales from Nokomis, Saskatchewan. Appearance: Classic IPA comes in a traditional 335mL can featuring clean and simple graphic design. The beer pours a little hazy but has a nice copper colour with head that lasts throughout the glass and leaves thick lacing. Aroma: I smell resinous pine and a touch of candy. Taste: Citrus, pine and just the right amount of sweetness. This is a really well balanced. Mouthfeel: Carbonation is slightly less than medium. Body is slightly fuller than average. Perfect for the style. Overall: It's rare to find such a prototypical example of a West Coast IPA released by a brewery that was founded in the last 10 years. I really enjoyed this beer, which is the first I have tasted and reviewed by this brewery. Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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