Across the Nation Collaboration!

Central City Brewers and Distillers has collaborated with twelve other breweries in celebration of Canada’s 150th Anniversary.  What a great idea!

To join the celebration, I’ve decided to use my BJCP skills (National-level certification) to evaluate each of the 12 beers.  I will be using the 2015 Guidelines and scoring each one based on Aroma (12 pts), Appearance (3 pts), Flavor (20 pts), Mouthfeel (5 pts), and Overall Impression (10 pts).  You can see the standard score sheet here.

I’m going to work my way from East to West so the first brewery in the collaboration is Quidi Vidi Brewery in Newfoundland.  From the pictures I see they have a great location–if I can make it happen I may see if I can stop in for a visit! 🙂

The Evaluation.  The beer is called “Hop to the East” Hefeweizen.  According to the description: “Canada’s most eastern province is Newfoundland, and taking a north eastern take on the hefeweizen style, this beer was brewed with new-age tropical hops to give a fruity, aromatic twist on the classic German style.”   Because of this description, I will judge this beer in the Specialty Category with the base style being 10A — Weissbier.

Ok … here goes!  I will add my notes for the categories from above and then score it based on the total points available.

Aroma.  The clove phenols are the first thing I perceive–there is a low spicy (peppery) note as well.  Fruity esters (banana) join early and are well supported by the tropical hop nose.  There is a medium wheat malt character that helps balance the nose on this beer nicely (10/12 pts).

Appearance.  Pours to a straw-color with a big, white long-lasting head.  Haze as expected for a hefeweizen.  Tight bubbles with apparent effervescence. (3/3pts).

Flavor.  Moderately high phenols (cloves, spicy, peppery). Fruit esters (banana) in solid support.  Medium hop flavor (tropical) very complementary of the phenols/esters.  Medium hop bitterness balances well with a moderate wheat flavor.  A perceived medium sweetness follows into a semi-dry finish.  Aftertaste of banana and cloves.  Clean fermentation characteristics.  (16/20 pts).

Mouthfeel.  Medium-light body with high carbonation.  Very effervescent.  Not astringent (5/5 pts).

Overall Impression.  Tropical hop notes fully support this classic hefeweizen.  This is a light, refreshing, well-balanced example of the style (even with the hop additions).  Well done.  (9/10 pts).

That’s 43 out of 50 points bringing this beer into the Excellent category.  The only thing I might suggest to bring it up into the outstanding category is a touch more body.  Otherwise, a great beer!  I hope the other eleven stand out like this one!  A big thanks to both breweries for making this one!

Beer Mentor