Tasting at Wild Rose Brewery

While visiting friends in Calgary, we went to Wild Rose Brewery for lunch. I decided to order the sample pack and taste the beers that Wild Rose Brewery produces. Here are my favorites (and not so favorites).

The good

• S.O.B. is a slightly bitter and friendly session ale. This is the perfect drink for a weekend afternoon.
• HooDoo Hef is really nice. A well balanced hefeweizen with character, interesting, slightly sweet, and with the promised clove flavour. There is a slight banana flavour as well. Great mouth feel, great beer. This is a seasonal brew and is one of my favorites.
• Wred Wheat is a good amber ale, balanced, interesting, dependable and something that you could drink all night.
• The Brown ale is chocolatey and malty, delicious and another great beer by Wild Rose Brewery.

The not so good 

• Velvet fog is boring, no flavour stands out, and this unfiltered beer looks more interesting then it tastes. The beer does have great mouth feel, but not worth experiencing twice.
• The IPA is a little off, I can’t put my finger on it, but it just isn’t like the IPAs from Victoria and Vancouver.
• Alberta Crude has a great start, complex flavours, a smooth beginning and a great middle, however, the finish doesn’t live up to the start. A bitter note near the end leaves you a little confused, and you wonder what happened to the great start.

Final thoughts

Wild rose has a full line of beers with great variety. There are some real treats (Wred Wheat and Brown Ale). The seasonal is fun and interesting, definitely showing you that the brew master knows how to make new and interesting beers.

Crannog Brewery

Rolled into Sorrento about 5 minutes before Crannog Brewery closed, drove up to the farm and picked up a growler of The Back Hand of God stout. Crannog brewery is a small brewery on an organic farm who sells their beer by the keg, the pig and the growler, I got a growler.

What a beer, super dark, chocolately, velvety, rich stout. Absolutely delicious. I would have taken a photo, but I drank it too fast. All that is left is an empty growler and this photo, happy memories.

Cask beer

I have heard about cask beers from the blogger The Sloppy Gourmand and today I had the chance to try one at Tre Fantastico. On tap was a Salt Spring Golden ale with Nettle, and I had to try it.

Different process, different beer

To put it elegantly, cask ales are prepared in a tradition method, which results in beer in its natural state. Without the the use of artificial carbonation or filtration, cask ales give you an unique flavour to the beers you might be used to.

This beer was different, in a good way, the complexity of the flavours had me feeling good that I ordered the brew. This was definetly more sour then most beers that I drink, and it reminded me of my times while at The Panya Project. A good earthy reminder of the beauties of natural fermentation.

Extra Hippie

This beer comes with a little extra hippie in the form of nettle. Added a unique flavour to it. Being my first cask, I couldn’t nail down whether the great earthiness was from the cask or the nettle. My guess: both.

Final thoughts

Cask beer give is delicious and different.

Summertime Beer

I love west coast IPAs, but in the summer, they just are a little too heavy for me. With the great weather that we have been having the last couple of days, I have found my self searching for something new. A few months ago, while in a BCL, I had a sample of Lighthouse’s Fisgard 150 and it stood out.

This golden lager has a great crisp mouth feel. The flavour profile is somewhat complex, yet simple. Not too malty, not too bitter and not too sweet. It finishes dry, making it easy to drink.

Other information

Best use case would be on a patio (or deck), with sunglasses, company and a light snack.

• Style: Bavarian Lager
• ABV: 5%
• Will I buy again: Yes