St-Ambroise New England IPA
McAuslan Brewing

 

 

 

 

On tap at Sparrow Bar in Montreal. ++ bar atmosphere, by the way. Would love to go back. Not as hazy as American NEIPAs, but noise is true. Smooth.

Serving: Can
Best before: Mar-14-2019 (Consumed: Feb-8)


A:
Pours a slightly hazy honey color with a three-finger beige head that sticks around. Very good retention; rings of lacing. (4)

S:
Light mango and grapefruit, pez, a hint of oxidation. (3.75)

T:
More assertive bitterness than the nose with some white bread, papaya, mango and candied orange rind. (3.75)

M:
Medium body with medium carbonation and a sweet finish. (3.75)

O:
Me at better than expected and definitely the best IPA they make.
It pours nice enough but is not really to style as far as that goes. The aroma is a little fruity with some tropical sweetness. The flavor is a touch earthy but still with a little mango. It is drinkable with a little more residual sweetness than I'd like but is good otherwise. I feel bad raving about how surprisingly good it is but their other IPAs are so rough it almost makes this one pop that much more. (3.75)

Can: Poured a slightly hazy bright yellow color ale with a medium size head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of citrusy hops with nice floral undertones notes. Taste is a mix of floral undertones with some with some citrusy hops notes and light residual sugar notes can also be detected. Body is slightly below average for style with good carbonation. Enjoyable NEIPA which is better than expected but falls below the style staples.

A; Pours a hazy pale amber color with a pure white creamy looking head. Right on the head of the genre look-wise without being anything super special either.

S: The nose is pretty low with notes of ripe pineapples, passion fruit and red grapefruit, honey and biscuit malts. Super straightforward but too low intensity. Also, too much malt presence in the smell for the genre IMO. Still good.

T: A bit stronger than expected malt presence for the genre (but no where near a traditional IPA either). You get a little bit of vanilla, oat, honey and biscuit malt. The hop profile is pretty strong while being a bit too shy for the genre too. You get some ripe pineapples, passion fruit and red grapefruit juice. It's a tiny bit more bitter than the genre indicates too.

M: It's damn good feel wise. Super fluffy carbonation with absolutely no residual sugar feel. Super drinkable. Could be a bit creamier, but still excellent.

O: This is a decent beer for sure. It doesn't respect the genre 100% but it tastes good enough for it to be quite enjoyable.