I had the pleasure of having the fine folks at Granville Island Brewing sending me a crate of 4 brews, ready and good to go for some tasters! It's a sample of their re-branded beers that they already have, but I figure it's worth a go.
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| Crate of Beer from Granville Island Brewing, courtesy of Jive Communications @ Brewji Home Photo: Brewji |
The crate is pretty rad...I'm re-using it to store things around the house. But let's get a closer look at the brews I was sent, shall we? The photo below shows the beers I will review in order:
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| Maple Shack Cream Ale; Swing Span Amber Ale; Hey Day Hefeweizen; Infamous IPA from Granville Island Brewing @ Brewji Home Photo: Brewji |
1. Maple Shack Cream Ale (5% ABV)
I'm guessing this is the Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale, but re-branded to make it look like it's something new. Well, It pours the same, smells the same, but it's new alright. I split this with Tammy into two taster glasses, and we couldn't detect any maple on the nose. We don't know if the maple was reduced, or the recipe was changed, but unfortunately there was no maple scent.
From there, we took our first sips and tasted a plain-like cream ale. There wasn't much flavour or bite to it. It kind of tasted like a mildly-flavoured cream ale. I miss the Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale! I'm sorry, but this didn't have much of anything to it...and Tammy seemed to agree.
I give the Maple Shack Cream Ale a they-don't-make-it-like-they-used-to 5.0 / 10
Tammy gives the Maple Shack Cream Ale a 3.0 / 10
2. Swing Span Amber Ale (5.6% ABV)
Here's one I remember from awhile back! The GIB Amber has been around for awhile, and has always been a go-to brew if there's not much selection around. Tammy and I poured a taster of these, and we were pleased with both the nose and the flavour. There was a mild hop presence, some malt, and a slight hint of toffee. This beer had some promise and flavour to it! Tammy seemed to like this one the best out of the four.
I give the Swing Span Amber Ale an I-quite-like-this 7.0 / 10
Tammy gives the Swing Span Amber Ale a 6 / 10
3. Hey Day Hefeweizen (5% ABV)
I've never had their Hefeweizen outside of the summer season, and I wasn't really in the mood for one seeing as it was the winter. However, a cold hefe never gets refused from me (unless it's from Green Leaf). So, I poured a taster each with Tam and she was turned off immediately by the taste. Granted, it's no White Bark or glory-hefe from a brewery like Phillips, but it did have alcohol in it. Not to sound harsh, but it's an average hefe. It's something along the lines of what I'd expect to get as your standard wheat beer if I went to a dirty bar that had "some craft beer" on tap.
I give the Hey Day Hefeweizen a mildly-boring-and-out-of-season 5.0 / 10
Tammy gave the Hey Day Hefeweizen a 4.0 / 10
4. Infamous IPA (6% ABV)
This was the last beer of the pack, and it's the IPA that GIB has been making for awhile. I really don't understand the name change. Most of the brews don't taste any different, and I would always look for the older name if I was out anywhere. Besides that, this IPA pours a see-through light copper colour. It really tastes like carbonated hoppy-water. It's not a true, real west coast IPA, but it is definitely a good one to introduce and transition people into.
If you have friends that drink nothing but econo-lager piss-water, and they want something with more flavour (or actual flavour), then this is definitely a stepping stone into the world of real beer.
The Infamous IPA gets a hey-I-think-I-had-you-in-my-mouth-once-but-it-was-just-okay 5 / 10
Tammy gives the Infamous IPA 2.0 / 10
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I'll say this: I had much higher expectations from GIB, seeing as their previous samplers have been much better. If you're a newbie to craft beer, I might recommend you sample some of these, but I really hope they step up their game back to a reputable level! I'll stick to my Phillips for my dollar vs. value for now.
Cheers!
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