# 210 Hops and Bolts India Pale Lager
Mad and Noisy Brewing
Cremore Springs Brewing Company
Creemore, Ontario, Canada
Craft Division of Creemore Springs Brewing Company
A division of MolsonCoors
India Pale Lager 5.3% ABV Aluminium Can 473 ml
$2.90 (Canadian) LCBO
Twitter: @CreemoreSprings
It has been awhile since we have been down to Creemore Springs. We have already discuss their main core brands, so it was about time that I got around to their off-shoot brewing project Mad and Noisy. Named for the two rivers that merge at Creemore, Mad and Noisy is their experimental label, not unlike B-Side at Beau's All Natural. Currently they only have the two labels running... This one and a saison called Sunny and Share (No not Sonny and Cher...) Tonight's offering is a take on a West Coast IPA merged with a Pale Ale, merged with a Lager... too ambitious? Well let's see.
Onto the Noise...
Pours a clear dark honey colour with a generous off-white head made up of small to medium bubbles.Very light grain nose with very light hints of citrus and caramel. The first sip is malt forward like a West coast IPA but even then it is still very light flavoured. Bitter herbs and grass follow the attack with a lingering tinny taste. Aeration brings forward the west coast style of malt, and the hops are present. However the taste profile is slightly discombobulated and lacks a continuity or flow.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order: 2/6 SO-SO
Experience: 3/6 SO-SO
Final Thoughts:
Not a great offering. Seems rather unfinished for a finished product. I see what they were trying to do, but I find it just doesn't come together for them. So not all the way into the "Avoid Pile" because there is some merit to the beer, and I am sure there are plenty of people that will like it. I however, do not. That being said, do not let it stop you from trying it yourself. I would love to hear some other thoughts on it.
Cheers
CJT
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#201 Hop Bot IPA
Hop City Brewing Company
Niagara, Ontario, Canada
Saint John, New Brunswick
Wholly Owned Craft Beer Subsidiary of Moosehead Breweries
India Pale Ale
7.1 % ABV 473 ml Aluminium Can
$2.95 (Canadian) At LCBO
Twitter: @HopCityBrewing
Ok, I confess... I bought this can because I love robots. I didn't even check the label before it went into my basket at the LCBO. I was home (for at least a day or two), before I realised this was a Hop City Beer.
Hop City Brewing Company is the former Niagara Falls Brewing Company. In 2004 they were purchased by Moosehead Breweries and re-branded as their "Craft Beer Wing." It was not an unusual event this. Around the same time Molson... now MolsonCoors bought Creemore Springs Brewery, and Granville Island Brewery which became Six Pints the Craft arm of Molson in Canada. Sleemans... before they were purchased by Sapporo, bought Unibroue from Quebec, among others. The Macro breweries have known, for at least a decade now, that the craft beer revolution was coming, and they wanted a piece of it. It was easy to see, because it started in the USA in the 1980's and was slowly working it's way North. That aside, Moosehead is the "last brewer standing" so to speak. It is the oldest continuously operating fully Canadian brewery left. (Molson is half American now, Labatt is owned by the Dutch, and Sleeman is now Japanese).
Hop City tries very hard. They have a tough row to hoe. They have large corporate expectations, small craft brew ideas, and a large audience that is unsure if they like craft beer or not. I will not lie, I used to drink their product "Barking Squirrel" a lot. (It was convenient and available at my local). It was not a horrible product, but I found it to be inconsistent in flavour. That being said, I am eager to try some of their other beers.
Everybody do the robot...
Pours a slight orange colour with a hint of cloudiness. the fluffy off-white head is made up of small to medium bubbles and is short lived. The aroma is fresh green herbs with a good strong grapefruit scent followed lightly by passion fruit and the barest hint of pine. First sip is malt forward followed by more grapefruit, orange, and guava. Bitter herbs and some pine come through for the finish which is light and clean with some black tea at the very end. The overall body of the beer is very light despite its 7.1 5 alcohol, and the mouthfeel is a little watery. The finish is a re-iteration of the malt with a touch of caramel, Aeration brings out a little extra bitterness from the hops.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 4/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order: 4/6 PASS
Experience: 4/6 PASS
Final Thoughts:
Lovely colour, and a great aroma. However, I found it too lacking in the body department for an IPA. While the malt forward notes at the beginning made me think West coast Pale ale, they had no staying power and fell flat. The nose promised me a Fruit-Bomb IPA (a style which I am really coming to love BTW), but it also had no staying power. Sadly I think this is a beer lost between two styles, and neither the twain shall meet. Would I drink it again? Of course, it is worlds better than many beers out there, but it the flavour profile just sits a little off on me. Get out there and try it for yourself and tell me what you think.
CJT
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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
Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Auburn Ale
Cameron's Brewing Company
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Independent
West Coast Ale 5.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 341 ml
$2.50 (Canadian) At LCBO
Twitter: @CameronsBrewing
And we are starting off OCB Week with a bang. Lot's to come so stay tuned. Until then here is another from Cameron's.
Auburn colour indeed, a very nice rusty brown with a very pale tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is dark sugary malts, slightly nutty, and a hint of hops, floral and medicinal. First sip gives us a complex roasted malt, very dry through the middle with a hint of sweetness at the end. Light in body and well rounded, Finish is green herbal hopes ending tart, and slightly bitter. Aeration brings out the green hops and some of the malt sugars.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts:
Avery good well rounded beer, complex, yet still light.
Cheers
CJT
Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
