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

ESB by Sea Change Brewing

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...

Alive in the Superunknown by The Establishment Brewing Company

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...

Naughty Hildegard ESB by Driftwood Brewery

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...

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