Cheakamus Chai-Maple Ale
Whistler Brewing Company

 

This one didn't do much for me - too busy, sweet and muddled. If you are going to make a beer, then make it. In my mind, this is the beer equivalent to those fancy-ass coffees that take too damn long to make.

 

Let me lead this off by stating that I am not the biggest fan of chai. Pours a beautiful light brown with red highlights. Great head with good retention and lacing. Aroma is chai and maple which is surprising since maple syrup was added in the mash and should mostly ferment out. Theres a lot to sort out in the taste. Upfront is the chai, followed by some maple and toffee flavor but its certainly not cloyingly sweet. A mild woody hop presence lingers to the finish although a touch of sweetness still remains. The beer is relatively light, and a moderately light carbonation which is probably good as it allows the maple, chai, and other flavors to shine. It's an interesting beer - worth trying once just because you haven't had anything like it.

 

 

A good, dark-looking ale with deep flavour. Indescribably delicious, and touted by liquor store employees when brought to the counter for purchasing, at least in my local store!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance- Pours a dark nut brown with two fingers of creamy beige head.

Smell- maple syrup, vanilla, nut aroma, cinnamon. Any other chai spices are subdued.

Taste- Prominent flavours of maple syrup, vanilla, nuts with some support from chai spices (cinnamon and cardamom predominantly). Hint of biscuity malts.

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall- Finally...a beer with maple syrup that you can actually taste. The flavour profile for the "chai inspired ale" is quite good. It would be nice to get more of the aromas of the chai spices.

650ml bottle, apparently only available at Co-op liquor stores in Alberta. Whistler's employment of the word 'palette' in the back label's marketing blurb is done in such a way that I can't quite discern if it is being used correctly, or not. Boo.

This beer pours a clear, I think, very dark reddish amber hue, with three fingers of puffy, thickly foamy, and somewhat creamy beige head, which leaves a bit of spectral wave splash lace around the glass as it rapidly and evenly recedes.

It smells pretty strongly of raw maple syrup and musty, spiced tea (so, 'chai', then) up front, followed closely by a bready caramel malt, and a bit of earthy, bittersweet cola. The taste is much more laid-back, with the semi-sweet breadiness leading the lot, the dry chai tea lagging a touch, and the maple going to ground, getting all native in its wooden, sappy manifestation.

The carbonation is fairly mild, exhibiting but a weak frothiness throughout, the body just on the short side of medium weight, and a little thin in its overall smoothness. It finishes mostly dry, the spiced, savoury tea notes edging out the waning maple for guest ingredient honours.

A tasty enough dark spiced ale, the additional flavours melding well with the sturdy base malt, even if they're a tad inconsistent themselves. The relatively fast fading maple is a mild disappointment - were that the finish mirrored the aroma in that respect. Good to try, but kind of dull by the time the second pour out of this bomber comes around.