Half Pints Little Scrapper IPA

Firstly, yes, I lied at the end of my last post. I promised Hitachino Nest Commerative Ale as my next review, but due to unforeseen "technical diffuculties" I have a flagship IPA from a small Canadian craft brewer with a very punny name. Half Pints Brewery is located in Winnepeg, Manitoba and has received minor notice or attention thus far. It wasn't until very recently that the brewing company expanded distribution beyond Manitoba. None-the-less, I feel that their products which I have sampled thus far to be quite spectacular. The brewery's flagship beer is the Little Scrapper IPA, but they also brew up seasonals such as the Weizen Heimer, Burly Wine, Pothole Porter and possibly the best Canadian Imperial IPA, the Humulus Ludicrous.

The Little Scrapper IPA is 6% ABV and 50 IBU's and pours a bright copper colour with a bountiful slightly off white head. Quite a bit of carbonation at first, but this subsides over time. Tons of huge bubbles appear in the head and the carbonation appears to die down. The aroma is full of hops, citrus, pine needles, fruits and a subtle malt finish. The taste matches well with the aroma with forceful hops overpowering the citrus and pine nuances. The malts are in perfect symphony with the strong hops. The alcohol is pretty much unnoticeable amidst the full flavoured hops. Little Scrapper is medium bodied and has a huge amount of lacing. This is certainly a very drinkable session IPA that I would like to drink more often. Fortunately for us hopheads, Little Scrapper's big brother Humulus Ludicrous is and even better offering. I find Little Scrapper to be pretty price comparative to other flagship IPA's such as Tree HopHead, Wild Rose IPA, Yukon IceFog or Lost Coast Indica. Overall, a pretty solid craft IPA.

Grade - A-

Next Review - Hitachino Nest Commerative Ale

Central City Brewing Red Racer IPA

Central City Brewing (http://www.centralcitybrewing.com/) is one of the craft breweries from the Vancouver area that is finally getting some distribution in Alberta. Central City Brewing Company, based in Surrey brews 7 flagship beers under the title of Red Racer. Interestingly enough, Central City uses standard 355 mL cans as opposed to glass bottles. The use of cans or bottles for storing beer has become a large debate recently, however, I find no real difference between the two. However, several brands use clear bottles instead of brown or green. The increased light entering the bottle results in a skunky beer.

Central City Red Racer IPA is a classic West Coast style IPA with huge resinous hops with sweet lemon and grapefruit floral notes. At 6.5% ABV, this is not a great session beer, but has great drink ability. Clear amber body with a finger of thick off white head and mild carbonation. The aroma is sweet grapefruit and malts intermingled with bountiful hops. The flavor is predominated by the floral hops with subtle tones of grapefruit, orange and pine needles. Overall, a wonderful IPA with huge potential to become massively popular within the Canadian craft beer community. I would place the IBU's for this beer around 50, a perfect value for a hophead's session IPA. When compared to the widely popular craft IPA's in the US such as Dogfish Head 60 minute, Lagunitas IPA, Sierra Nevada or Lost Coast Indica IPA, Central City's brew holds strong.

Alley Kat Brewing's Sherbrooke Beers

Sherbrooke Liquor in Edmonton, Alberta has for several years now been contracting out so called "special brews" to Alley Kat Brewing Company, also of Edmonton, Alberta. Recently, I made a trip to the local beer store for obvious reasons. They happened to have a new shipment of several of these "special beers". I picked up the Bad Hare Day (Very Hoppy Double IPA), KGB Russian Imperial Stout, Chocolate Cherry Ostiarius and probably most interestingly, or maybe most disturbingly, Van Helsing's All Natural Mouthwash, a garlic beer.

The gem of the collection was by far the KGB Russian Imperial Stout at 10% ABV. The pour is an intense dark brown nearly verging on black, with a thin tan head clinging to the body. A rich nose consisting of dark chocolate, roasted malts, slight alcohol aroma, and musty coffee undertones. Just a hint of hops creates a truly unique medley of aromas. The taste, is just as rich as the nose...with the coffee, chocolate and the dark roasted malts being predominant. There is a slight aftertaste of bitter malts and alcohol, but overall, KGB is a wonderful brew. On top of the beer itself, the amazing label and its quote "We have ways of making you drink, comrade" make this brew a wonderful libation experience.

The Bad Hare Day Double India Pale was good, but by no means amazing. The pour consists of two fingers of off white head sitting atop a coppery amber body. A nose of floral hops, citrus, fruit, slight spice, and moderate malts. Flavor is a strong hop with a sweet malt finish. Subtle tones of grapefruit and apricot. Minimal alcohol flavor or aftertaste and not nearly the advertised "very hoppy double IPA". I would place Bad Hare Day around 60 to 70 IBU's, falling short of my expectations.

Perhaps the most disappointing beer of the set was the Chocolate Cherry Ostiarius, a stout brewed with chocolate and cherry flavors. Not only did this brew fail to satiate me at all, but failed to impress me in the least. The chocolate flavor was weak in both the nose and flavor, and the cherry flavor was not present at all. The stout itself was very average lacking both flavour and body. A thin mouthfeel and little flavor make this a very dissapointing brew indeed. Never-the-less, this beer was better that what Van Helsing had in store for me.

Van Helsing's All Natural Mouthwash is perhaps the weirdest and most unusual beer I have ever tasted. The beer itself is very un-impressive with a sweet corn malt aroma overpowered by the flavor of raw garlic. In fact, an entire clove of garlic is contained in the bottle, allowing the beer, which is substandard among itself to marinate in the strongest of garlic flavors. This is most certainly an interesting beer, but not one that I truly enjoyed.