the 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 2: Hurry Hard Amber Lager

Beer # 301 Hurry Hard  

Brewery: Hurry Hard Beer  By Triple Bogey Brewing Company

Type: Contract Brewery     Est.: 2013

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Amber Lager

ABV: 5.0%      IBU: ?

Format: Aluminium Can  Size:  473 ml

Cost: $2.50 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter:  @hurryhardbeer @TripleBogey 

"Ladies and Gentlemen take my advice... Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." 

Sydney Freedman (From M.A.S.H)

Tonight's beer is the second sport themed beer from Triple Bogey Brewing company The first was their eponymous Triple Bogey Premium Lager, a golf themed beer. Since golf is very seasonal I guess they assumed they needed to find a sport where people could and usually do drink beer before after and during, but in the winter. Hence curling. Now curling has long been associated with beer especially here in Canada where a number of the Briers or Curling Tournaments have been sponsored by large beer companies over the years. But I will admit this is probably the first beer I have seen marketed specifically for curlers. The name, if you have never watched curling derives from a call from the curlers. Usually when a rock is thrown with "take-out weight'" to knock the other teams rock off of the sheet (ice)  the thrower will yell "Hurry Hard!" to tell his players to sweep the ice in front of the rock to keep the rock moving in a straight line or not "Curling."

Yeah.

Sorry, curling is hard to explain... you just have to watch it. It is truly is fun to watch, especially if you have had a few beers. Or you can watch one of my guilty pleasure, favourite movies "Men With Brooms" (2002) and you might need a few beers for that one too (Bonus: The band The Tragically Hip appear in the movie as the curling team from Kingston Ontario).

Onto our beer.

Pours a dark chestnut with and off-tan head made up of small bubbles. aroma is fresh mothering yeast with hints of sweet and spicy malt. First sip is quite sweet with syrupy malt hints of bread and light spice. drinks more like a sweet red ale than an amber lager. Hops are very light, touches of greenery in the background. Aeration gives us some stale bread, and more malt syrup.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  4/6  PASS
Experience: 4/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer: 2/6 SO-SO

Final Thoughts:

Let me preface this with... this beer is not bad. It is not something I would be comfortable ordering as a regular beer. It's too sweet. The flavour profile for a lager is way off. Is it drinkable? Yes. Would I drink it all night if it was free? Probably. However, it's never going to be my first choice. For what it is designed for... A refreshing beer aimed at curlers... yeah I think it did pretty good. But it is not for me. Try it yourself. You don't have to curl or yell or slide on the ice. I promise.

Cheers

CJT

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Triple Bogey Premium Lager

# 208 Triple Bogey Premium Lager


Triple Bogey Brewing & Golf Co.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent Contract Brewery
Lager 5.0% ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$2.50 (Canadian) LCBO

Twitter: @Triplebogey

Triple Bogey is a contract brewery (that is it's product is brewed under an agreement with another brewery)., and it's Headquartered in the Beach in Toronto. Literally right around the corner from where I used to live. We will skirt quickly around the issue of the term "Beach" as it means so much to many different people. But it is generally accepted to be bounded on the south by Lake Ontario and the north by Kingston Road, and runs basically along Queen Street East from Coxwell to Victoria Park. It encompasses Ashbridges Bay, Woodbine and Kew Beach (although some include the famous Leslie Spit as well). It is one of the Oldest settled sections of Toronto and was the location of the first Horse Racing track. If you are a movie buff you would know that the famous movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was filmed in part there. And it is one of my favourite places in Toronto. Triple bogey is an interesting blend of businesses as it not only produces beer, but it sells a line of golfing apparel. (Well beer and swag DO go well together as we all know). Their aim was to produce a light, crisp lager, for consumption by the golfing enthusiast.

Let's see how well they did...


Pours a clear light gold with a small but sturdy off-white head made up of small bubbles. The nose is grassy with light citrus and clean malt smell. Very light in body, the first sip is mineral, citrus, hints of white bread and a slight tartness. Aeration brings out the grassy hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS

Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience:  4/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

I see what you did there!

Lagers have fallen out of favour with me as I find them often too lacking in flavour. That being said, This one is designed with golfers in mind, so I must put myself in the mind of one. Only having golfed about 2, maybe 3 times in my life I quickly discovered there were two thing wrong with my golf game: my drive and my putt... so as you can see I stuck to beer. But as I remembered, golfing is hot sweaty business and a crisp clean refreshing beer is what you look forward to. I would certainly say this would not be amiss on the golf course or the 19th hole for that matter. Not particularly the beer I would choose to relax to but if you enjoy Steamwhistle, Creemore, or any other the other craft lagers this beer is for you. Grab a can and try it. By the way, the logo on the can was my most favourite part (sorry, it's hard to see in the picture) but the T and the B of Triple Bogey forms an icon in the shape of a +3 (or a triple bogey in golf). Nice touch guys!

CJT


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