Crick or Creek
St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company

 

I am now clearing out some St. Boniface CANs, including this one from a recent fundraiser. The CANQuest (tm) is proud to support such efforts!

From the CAN: "Whether you say Crick or Creek, come support Water Week"; "With each beer purchased you are supporting clean streams and rivers in Lancaster County. To learn more about our efforts please visit www.lancasterwaterweek.org and join us at one of over 20 events during Water Week, June 1 - 8, 2019."; "Lancaster Conservancy 2019 Water Week"; "celebrating Lancaster Conservancy Water Week".

I CAN only tell you that it was prevalently available in the lead-up to LCWW & it was also on-tap at CKW2G where I was a barback until I had to step down, thanks to my surgery.

I beCAN by Crack!ing open the vent & beginning a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. It quickly rose up to form just under two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with very good retention. Color was an oh-so-faintly-hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) & if you are going to live by the sword, then you must also be prepared to die by the sword. If the hallmark of the style is haziness, then you had best be bringing haziness. Nose smelled strongly of grapefruit, which was fine by me. Whoops! On the other hand, the style seems to require the use of Southern Hemisphere hops to impart "a bursting juicy, tropical hop experience." Well, if that is the case, here comes another stylistic downgrade. Mouthfeel was medium, about on-par for the style. The taste did not evince any tropical juiciness, just lovely grapefruit bitterness. Finish was semi-dry & easily drinkable. It was not really in the style, but I liked it precisely because I generally do not like NEIPAs. YMMV.

NE IPA. OK. I've only had two beers of this style but if my life depended on it I don't think I could distinguish one in a blind taste test. So let's leave labels aside and move on to this specific brew. If you've read any of my other reviews you know I am a big fan of the late great Justin Wilson who said "the kind of wine you drink is the kind you like." I like this beer. Why? A wonderful balance of taste and bitterness. Is that what makes it a NE IPA? Who knows? I can tell you the following. It has that IPA character without going overboard. Oddly enough this beer does not have any citrus character, but that does not detract from the overall enjoyment of this brew. With a lesser IBU than their Theory and Relativity brew, Crick or Creek hits a sweet (or is it bitter) spot. Worth bringing home a growler or two.