Three Sisters Pale Ale
The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company

I got a tall boy can of this beer from a Christmas gift pack that i bought from a Christmas market at the Banff train station. It poured a clear golden with white head that is leaving a nice lace. The scent had subtle citrus hop notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with bright crisp malt base with grain and bitter citrus hop presence. The mouthfeel was medium in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

 

473mL can, PKG : 12APR24
L: drank from the can
S: floral, citrus, pine, fruit
T: fruity, zesty citrus, mild pine, light caramel
F: medium body, ample carbonation, modestly bitter finish
O: easy drinking & refreshing pale ale

On tap at Grizzly Paw Brewing in Canmore, Alberta.

This one pours light amber-ish color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like tea, berry, malt, and pine.

This is very old school, and just too malty ultimately. The hop character is too muted for the style, and doesn’t stand up to the generically sweet malt character.

This is still reasonably drinkable, just not an interesting pint by any means. It’s light bodied and crisp on the finish.

This is a very basic and forgettable pale ale.

My first Canadian Rocky brew from its east side and certainly Canmore. And as I look at the Bow River rushing past in upstream Banff, I think of the old Hamm's sales pitch about the water being key. And in the case of Three Sisters, it indicates that water might be key to session beers.

While Three Sisters offers up a nice amber with sufficient foam, its Smells are mostly malt but without much character relative to the competition from south of Canada's border. Tastes however are balanced by just enough hops for a malt-head like me. And while 3 Sisters ale Feels fine and is refreshing, it is not the Wow of my first sight of the Three Sisters mountains.

Going on Grizzly's website, I'm impressed by how deeply they are imbedded in their community.... which I think we need to also start thinking about as a form of terroir... since this is the Sustainable Century we are living in. That's a much bigger thought than a brewery in a resort town that is up the hills from Calgary. But Grizzly Paw is doing their share, and for that I give them Big Overall Hugs.

I had this on tap in Canmore at the Grizzly Paw restaurant and tap room - "true pint" (20 oz). It had won some local awards and was quite tasty - robust feel and flavor comparable to other pale ales that I have enjoyed.

3/26/19...The grizzly paw three sisters pale ale. Pours Clear copper heavy foam and lacing. Sweet nose. Caramels. Slight malt open and then a buttery creamy flavor. Slight bite at the close. Very tasty. 375 35 375 35 375

Appearance - Pours a deep amber with three fingers of foamy bubbly white head.

Smell - citrus, tropical, earthy, and floral hops, tropical and citrus fruits, bready malts, and earthy yeast.

Taste - Citrus, tropical, earthy, and floral hops. The tropical and citrus fruits follow suit. The bready malts and earthy yeast finish the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes a tad sticky with the hops lingering.

Overall - A refreshing APA from the folks at Grizzly Paw. At 5.3%, this is truly sessionable. I probably will give this a go if they have it on tap in the summer at the brewpub.

 

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - thanks be to good ol' Jay, and his always jovial and friendly demeanour. 'Bunch o' Brady' - you win again, good sir!

This beer pours a mostly clear, medium golden amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, rocky, and chunky dirty white head, which leaves some sparsely co-located islet lace around the glass as things quickly sink away.

It smells of bready and doughy pale malt, muted domestic citrus rind, subtle wet flinty notes, a hint of earthy yeastiness, and more plain weedy, leafy, and musty floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, some ethereal sugary caramel, a gentle hard water stoniness, understated generic citrus rind, and more tame leafy, earthy, and estery floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite weak in its seemingly hamstrung frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and generally smooth, with a ghost-like, minor creaminess creeping in as things warm up a tad. It finishes off-dry, the base malt holding fast, while the genteel West Coast Yankee hops trail off into the long-gone sunset.

Overall, this a rather easy-drinking, and just hoppy enough 'session IPA', if I really have to use that term, but I can't think of anything better right now. When I was a kid, and we went to Banff, my Mom would always point out the Three Sisters mountains when we passed Canmore, in reference to herself and her two sisters. So this is for you, Mom, as well as Aunt Judy and Susie, FWIW.