Village Grandfather West Coast IPA
For their 1000th batch Calgary’s own Village Brewery decided to mark Father’s Day 2015 with a well hopped West Coast IPA. Named in reference to a past seasonal the Father, Grandfather is 7.2% ABV and boasts a sweltering 75 IBU’s. Eighteen different hop additions of Galena, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Simcoe hops were used during the brewing process of the limited run of 1500 bottles. Grandfather was released in collaboration with the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre’s Man Van which offer on the spot prostate cancer screening. The hop additions should impart upon grandfather a sizable amount of tropical and lush fruit notes, heavy pine resin and a heavy grapefruit influence.
Pouring out a bright golden orange with a light stream of carbonation and finger of sticky, dense head. Pure white lacing coats the glass as I sip. The aroma is lush, tropical and dank with heavy resin notes, light floral and spice notes. Heavy grapefruit and crisp citrus accompanies a myriad of tropical fruits; pineapple, mango, pear, stonefruit, cantaloupe. Taking in the first sip a moderate toasted sweet malt with light caramel notes and a bit of a bready flavour hits in the middle. The tropical fruits are lush, moderately sweet and juicy. Lush and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice hits towards the finish with a cascade of pine and resin smacking the palate. The finish is heavy with grapefruit astringency, dry bitter hops that linger into the aftertaste but are buffered by the sweet, tropical fruits. A good balance between the sweet and the bitter components adds more to the beer than just great flavour.
Grade: 87/100
Brewed in the Leaside Village area in Toronto, Ontario the Amsterdam Brewery has been redefining craft beer in Ontario since 1986. The first Amsterdam beer to leave the province and land in Alberta is the Boneshaker Unfiltered IPA. Brewed Amarillo hops with a 90 minute continuous hopping to 65 IBU’s and a heavy 7.1% ABV, Boneshaker is for hop fans only. 
Half Pints is Manitoba’s best and single true craft brewery known for their incredible seasonal and special releases. One of the rare seasonal beers to make it from the Winnipeg brewery to Alberta beer shelves is the summer brew Hoppen Heimer. Hoppen Heimer is stylistically defined as a wheat ale but I think it may be best described as a wheat IPA. Single hopped with Topaz to 73 IBU’s and brewed to a very sessionable 4.8% ABV Hoppen Heimer is guaranteed to be a unique beer.
Hoppen Heimer pours a bright clear gold with a thick soapy off white head atop. A small spritzy stream of bubbles as well as tons of soapy lacing rings coat the glass evident of the fresh hops. The first sniff out of the tall weizen glass has a bursting citrus and resinous aroma as well as a milder but present hefe style yeast. Notes of banana, orange rind and a pinch of coriander are all noted in the nose. A great big bursting hop flavour in the mid palate with orange and lemon zest flavours as well as crisp wheat and estery notes. A bit of banana and bubblegum blend well with the big hops. The finish is bitter and lingers on a bit relentlessly with an astringent dryness. The balance is a bit out of whack but the flavour profile is exciting and heaped full of hops and full bitterness.
Evil Twin is a Danish/American gypsy brewery known for its extreme and obscure craft brews. Although brewed at several locations and distributed from Brooklyn Evil Twin is a Danish brewery at heart. I have previously written several blog articles and beer reviews on this blog on Evil Twin beers. Falco is a 7% ABV India Pale Ale brewed in the style of an American IPA. 
I am finally getting around to posting reviews and blog articles on my May and June European Beer Vacation so this may be the first in a torrent of Belgian and Scandinavian beer articles. But during a 3 day stay in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and finally managing to find the government owned alcohol store known as Systembolaget I picked up a can of American IPA for Colorado. SKA Brewing Hoperandi is a beer I have seen many times on blogs, youtube reviews as well as on ratebeer and the like so choosing it instead of 100 SEK ($18 CAD) Swedish craft brews was an easy choice. For ony 29 SEK I purchased this little green can of hop elixir I had wanted to try for so long. SKA brewing is located in Durango, Colorado a distant town in SW Colorado closer to SantaFe and Albuquerque than Denver. At 6.8% ABV and 65 IBU’s this should be a hop rocket in a can. Later that evening after lettign Hoperandi cool a bit in my hostel fridge I set out to a bench overlooking the Baltic near my hostel on Skeppsholmen, Stockholm’s smallest island.
The Alberta BeerSmith 