Great White Combine
Ribstone Creek Brewery

 

355ml can poured into tulip. Label is pretty.

Pours a hazy golden yellow with half a finger of white head that leaves ancient stonehenge lace as it recedes.

Smells of lime, kiwi, orange and grapefruit salad, soft bread crust, white pepper and pleasantly piney hops.

Tastes of more bready caramel malt, spicy Belgian yeast, more juicy mixed citrus and tropical fruit, pine resin and flowery hops.

Feels soft and mild. Medium bodied with gentle carbonation. Finishes dry.

Verdict: Highly recommended. Great summer refresher.

 

 

 

355ml can poured into tulip 10/6/16

A milky pale orange liquid, only enough clarity to see bubbles streaming up the side but they must be in there because two fingers of foam has great retention leaving a few thick rings followed by random patches

S mango, passion fruit, over ripe pineapple, lots of citrus rind, some cereals, a hint of banana, coriander, a little spruce, and some yeast round things out

T not as tropical but has some orange juice working for it, not quite peppery spice but maybe some clove? lemon and lime, differs from the nose but just as good

M light bodied, stay on the creamy side of foam, mild bitter bite, a little slick in the mouth with just a touch of sugar on the lips, heaps of citrus peel with a little pine just keep going

O well rounded and goes down quickly, lots going on and I could enjoy a few of them in the sun without falling over

My first offering from these guys was the lager and it was basic at best. Since then every beer I've had from this brewery has improved on the previous and this one tops them all. I'd be really impressed if the next offering tops this one, this ones going into my Summer rotation for sure.

This is a lively, lovely, lingering brew - the best white IPA I have encountered. It looks great - hazy, heady and full of promise. The smell is truly zesty, leaning more to the orange and lemon end of the spectrum. Taste wise, the malt and Belgian yeast meld into a creamy and extremely satisfying brew. The overall package is great - I love the story behind the name and the label makes me think of the wide open skies of my home province.

Poured from a can, from a six-pack purchased from a Liquor Depot. Maybe I'm behind the ball, but I hadn't previously heard of Ribstone Creek Brewery (I even had to google where Edgerton, Alberta is on a map).

Pours beautifully--a super cloudy, almost opaque orange/apple juice topped by a finger of stable, dense foam. Lots of lacing on the glass. Aroma initially more Belgian than IPA-ish: clove, coriander, orange zest. A bit of citrusy hop notes. Some light, crackery, bready malt as it starts to warm.

Taste is also heavier on the "white" than the IPA, though less so--a lot of conventional "wit" flavours again, but there's a nice balancing bitterness from the hops, as well as a bit of a grapefruit tang. Finishes dry with a bit more hop bitterness. Body is nice--fairly heavy in the mouth, but carbonation is fairly light. It's not overpowering at all.

Have to say, I'm pretty big on the "White IPA" trend, and this one is certainly up there with some of the best of the style (think Deschutes Chainbreaker). Worth trying if you stumble across it in a sixer or at a growler bar.

 

Form a Crowler purchased at Sherbrooke.

One of the better summer seasonal beers available in Alberta. Good hop citrusy nose and the taste to follows. The cloudy wheat seems to soften and mellow everything out just right so it's easy to drink and it's very refreshing. Perfect for sitting in the deck!

 

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor, denoted as a 'White IPA'.

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well bubbly off-white head, which leaves some disintegrating cloud lace around the glass as things quickly move south (directionally, not proverbially).

It smells of perky orange and white grapefruit citrus rind, edgy Belgian yeast, grainy caramel malt, a touch of pine needle acerbity, soft earthy black pepper notes, and further leafy, herbal, and lightly perfumed hops. The taste is more bready, grainy caramel malt, an additional spicy wheatiness, fleshy and fruity orange and lemon, white pepper, gritty, yet agreeable yeast, ethereal pine forest floor esters, and a hovering, but respectful perfumed alcohol measure.

The carbonation is rather low and ineffectual, but capable enough in its support duties, I suppose, the body a sturdy middleweight for this hybrid style, and more or less smooth, the testy yeast and hops taking pity in concert, or so it would seem. It finishes on the sweet side, actually, as the mutt-ish malt finds a lingering strength, amongst the swirling bitter hops and edgy yeast.

A genuinely tasty and satisfying wheaty and yeast-forward IPA - whether it is intended to fall into the Belgian camp or not, I leave that up to more knowledgeable folks than I, though this particular scribe's opinion does tend that way, for what it's worth. Easy to drink, engaging, and very worthy of the limited, but well-focused hype that continues to herald its various releases.