Beer # 79 606 India Pale Ale

Paddock Wood 606 India Pale Ale

Paddock Wood Brewing Company
Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada
Independent
India Pale Ale 5.4% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 355 ml.
$2.25 ($13.50 6 pack) (Canadian) At The Beer Store.

Twitter: @paddock_wood

Paddock Wood Brewing company has one of those interesting bull-dogged determined to make this work stories. Brewer and Owner Steven Cavan was a lecturer in History and his wife a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. However there was no good craft beer to be had in Saskachewan in 1992, so Steven decided to brew his own. Problem number two arose when Steven could not find the ingredients he needed to make his english-style beers so he tried to import them. Upon discovering that the minimum shipment were far too large for just his own brewing habit, he decided to sell the excess through a mail order business. When a nearby grain company began taking away his business, he changed format again to make "homebrew kits." Demand spike for the homebrew kits and he expanded his facilities, until he came under the radar of the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Association. They determined he needed a liquor licence for what he was doing. So he decided to convert to a full brewery, but there were no licences for a small craft brewery, only brewpubs. So after some lobbying the SLGA changed it's rules allowing Paddock Wood to become Saskatchewan's first craft brewery in 2004.


Onto the tasting:

pours dark amber with a red tinge, head is frothy and off-white bubbles are Small and tight. Bright citrus and herbal hops on the nose along with a slight earthiness. The taste is all grain, deep, rich, malt, caramel. Herbal, hay and straw. giving over to a bright citrus burst of tropical fruit. Aeration brings out ripe tropical fruit and re-asserts the grain.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6Exceptional
Re-Order:  6/6 Exceptional
Experience:   6/6 Exceptional

Final Thoughts:

An excellent brew, high marks indeed! To me the taste profile is very reminiscent of Smashbomb by Flying Monkeys here in Ontario. This is definately a beer i will keep coming back to as long as the Beer Store stocks it.


Cheers
CJT

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