Beer # 136 Ginja Ninja Granville Island Brewing Company

Ginja Ninja

Granville Island Brewing Company

Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Owned by Six Pints Speciality Brewing Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of MolsonCoors Brewing
Flavoured West Coast Ale 5.5 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 341 ml
$2.25 (Canadian) At LCBO  (#13.50 for a 6 Pack)
Twitter: @Itsgoodtobehere

I visited Granville Island Brewery a long time ago, well before it was purchased by MolsonCoors. I had always loved the brewery and they made some fine beers. So I was excited when Ginja Ninja was coming here to Ontario and that it had some good hype. Sadly, I am very disappointed, I fear that the overbearing hand of the mega-corp has dampened down the enterprising, innovative spirit of my one time go-to west coast brewery. This is a very poor example of a macro-craft.

Onto the tasting.

Translucent chestnut to light copper in colour with a small off-white head made up of tiny bubbles. Nose is ginger beer or ginger pop, slightly sweet, and some candied ginger. The first taste is two disparate sensations; one is a watered down ginger beer the other is a watered down west coast ale. Sadly the two compete and do not mix. They do taste like a poorly made shandy. The beer is lacking in body and the ginger, while present, gets shoved aside roughly by the haphazard ale it is supposed to be accenting. After taste is mostly flat and lifeless with just a reminder that there was some ginger in it. Aeration gives off a chemical, alcohol feel, and a hint of pickled ginger (this kind you get in grocery store sushi.)

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS 

Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 1/6 FAIL
Re-Order:  1/6 FAIL
Experience:  2/6 FAIL

Final Thoughts: 

Shockingly bad. When you have to wonder halfway through your "craft beer" if you misread the label and bought the wrong beer. It's bad. I am disappointed in Granville Island almost to the point of being furious with them. This beer felt rushed, unfinished, unrefined, and certainly not worthy of the name Granville Island, or at least the brewery I remember. Try it if you must. Don't expect too much.

Cheers 
CJT



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