Star Cheek IPA
Tool Shed Brewing

Star Cheek IPAStar Cheek IPA
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From:
Tool Shed Brewing
 
Alberta, Canada
Style:
American IPA
Ranked #3,044
ABV:
6.2%
Score:
84
Ranked #22,616
Avg:
3.69 | pDev: 11.92%
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
48
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 25, 2022
Added:
Jul 12, 2013
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  5
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.55 by aklavall from Canada (AB)

Apr 25, 2022
Photo of BPVandenbroek
Reviewed by BPVandenbroek from Canada (AB)

3.97/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Star Cheek is crystal clear and light copper in color. The head is rocky, off white, and lasting.

On the nose crisp, peppery hops lead the charge and is supported by the buttery aroma of werther's caramels. Bready, biscuit malts come in here, lending more structural support to the hop centered aroma. Hop aroma builds in the center, becoming more juicy and citrusy in nature and coupled with balancing elements of pine needle.

Star Cheek's mouthfeel is smooth, medium bodied, and rounded. Moderate carbonation crosses my tongue, accentuating the beer's hop profile. Up front flavors of Werther's caramels combine with soda cracker and biscuit malt. These flavors lead nicely into a center where I get just the right amount of earthiness to support and balance the hop profile. Again hops give me oranges, dried orange peel, and elements of pine in the finish.

8 out of 10 feels fair. Star Cheek is a flavorful, balanced, and very assertive west coast IPA. The hop profile is assertive and mouth coating as a good IPA ought to be.
May 21, 2021
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

3.77/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Golden hazy with little slow rising carbonation, and 2 fingers of white head.

Smells of phenols and coriander.

Tastes of fire, slightly sour, phenols, and then a big dull bitterness on the end.

Medium light body with little carbonation.

I got this in Banff, AB and am drinking it in Redding, CA, Aug 31st, 2019. Kind of everywhere in its taste.
Sep 01, 2019
Photo of kitsgrad84
Reviewed by kitsgrad84 from Canada (AB)

2.79/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Easy drinking mellow hop bite ipa session tasting but a nice kick after a few.
Nice chewy ipa with yes grapefruit citrus, but all the flavours really separate in this brew for a very good tasting. Damn good beer good job
Aug 11, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by joemcgrath27 from Canada (AB)

May 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.92 by ben741 from Canada (ON)

Apr 26, 2019
 
Rated: 3.81 by Derek from Canada (BC)

Aug 13, 2017
 
Rated: 3.67 by csmrx7 from Canada (AB)

Aug 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.62 by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

Jul 08, 2017
 
Rated: 4.19 by cknoch from Canada (AB)

Jan 21, 2017
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Reviewed by MaltyPythonsHopCircus from Canada (BC)

3.81/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Fruity and floral hop aroma with sweet malt background notes. Fairly assertive hops but backed up by full bodied malt. Relatively easy drinker and goes well with food
Jun 21, 2016
Photo of LampertLand
Reviewed by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

3.88/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Tool Shed Brewing 'Star Cheek IPA' @ 6.2% , served from free sample 355 ml can
A-pour is gold from the can to a hazey amber in the glass with a small off-white head leaving a streaky lace along the pint
S-hoppy , mostly citrus
T-clean and a certain crispness
MF-ok carbonation , medium body
Ov-ok beer and Alberta IPA
prost LampertLand
May 07, 2016
Photo of Mlkluther
Reviewed by Mlkluther from Canada (AB)

3.73/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
I don't think this is being contract brewed anymore - I think it's brewed in Calgary now?

Great looking hazy golden orange with lots and lots of head that is off white and sticks around. There is yeast in floating about as well - that doesn't bother me.

I was expecting to get kicked in the face with hops - but it's actually quite mild and balanced. The hops are there at the front in a nice subtle way and then the malt, also subtly, come and back it all up. It's a solid beer - if not uniquely outstanding - very enjoyable
Apr 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3.44 by LanceH from Canada (ON)

Mar 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by MilkLeg from Canada (AB)

Feb 19, 2016
Photo of derdtheterd
Rated by derdtheterd from Canada (AB)

4.29/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
New recipe as of October '17. Amazing west coast style IPA. Well done.
Dec 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by sherpahigh from Canada (AB)

Dec 03, 2015
Photo of headlessparrot
Reviewed by headlessparrot from Canada (ON)

3.88/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Pours a very hazy almost orange-amber colour. A semi-aggressive pour nets a stupid (4+ fingers) amount of head that is dense and pillowy and recedes slowly, leaving a decent amount of lacing.

This IPA leads with the pine resin and vegetal greens, with a noticeable undercurrent of citrus. Is that coriander and anise? Very floral. Biscuity malt, a bit of pepper. There's almost a hint of Belgian character here?

Taste actually has a distinct peanut butter note, so that's strange. A mix of pine, dank marijuana, and very dry grapefruit juice. A bit of pale, crackery, biscuity malt. Finishes dry, herbal. Good body and good carbonation.

Not the best Calgary IPA, but a respectable beer. My preference runs toward more juicy and less piney on the IPA front, but this is quite nice for what it aims to do.
Nov 30, 2015
Photo of robertwmartin
Reviewed by robertwmartin from Canada (AB)

3.56/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
I found a six-pack of this at Sherbrooke last week and have been quite happy with my find. I personally find the paper glue-on labels (used on this brew and others such as Yellow Dog's Shake a Paw Porter) awesome since, at least to me, it symbolizes how new technology is helping craft brewers advance their product. Mine were stamped "Batch 000049". Here's to hoping they keep going.

This is a beer to pour cautiously since it is extremely easy to get three things of foamy head. The beer and head looks nice together, with the beer a cloudy amber color contrasted by the bright white foam. The smell is the least impressive point of this beer, with only a little interesting offered up. The taste is nice and bright, with a bunch of grapefruit and some other citrus, plus a bit of spice like something was thinking of trying to taste like black pepper but didn't quite make it. The beer has a nice if somewhat indistinct mouthfeel to it and overall is definitely worth a drink or two.

Happy to support an Alberta brewery and looking forward to trying more from Tool Shed.
Nov 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.72 by Corson from Canada (AB)

Sep 20, 2015
Star Cheek IPA from Tool Shed Brewing
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 48 ratings