Prairie Pirate #2
Ribstone Creek Brewery

L:. Pours a slightly cloudy dark Amber red with a small white head and no lacing on the glass.

S:. Sweet molasses, brown sugar and caramel are forefront, smoked meat is definitely there but more of a background flavor, a slight bit of cherry and a tad of smoked wood and Ash.

T:. Sweet caramel, molasses, brown sugar, a bit of a sweet astringency, the smoked meat is more a background flavor, a bit of wood and cherry. Overall, it is a bit sweet for me and the bitterness is odd here.

F:. Slightly medium slick body.

O:. Drinks a bit like a smoked barleywine, it's not terrible, it just doesn't all come together.

 

650ml bottle - made with Red Shed's 'Kananaskis' malt (what Alberta craft brewer isn't using this supplier's wares, of late?), which they've playfully 'purloined' as part of this whole prairie pirate shtick. And it's the heave ho, hi ho, coming down the plains, stealin' wheat and barley, and all the other grains... but I digress, for the moment.

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber colour, with four fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and mildly creamy ecru head, which leaves some random streaky and webbed lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of well-roasted and meaty caramel malt, some heady charred woodiness, hard to ascertain burnt orchard fruit, and very tame earthy, musty, and ashen floral hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, toasted beechwood (a la Bamberg, as opposed to Budweiser), some additional free-range char, bruised and singed black stone fruit, ethereal earthy spice, and more understated leafy, weedy, and floral noble hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly meek in its spaced-out frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and more smooth than one might have been expecting - that's all I can really say at this juncture. It finishes off-dry, the malt and porcine-tinged smoke locked in a lingering pas-de-deux.

Overall - well, this is definitely a properly-wrought version of the old-school Teutonic style, with the local malt holding up to the rigors of all that fire-branding. And like the better examples out there, this one just gets better the deeper you get into it, for lack of a better saying. I'm sure good ol' Salty Bob would approve.

Ribstone's latest Prairie Pirate is a collaboration with Red Shed Malting, a central Alberta operation close to my heart (and my home.) The "pirated" ingredient in this version is Red Shed Kananaskis Malt, which is supposed to be similar to a traditional Munich Malt. This beer pours beautifully - a deep clear chestnut with a lingering tuft of tawny foam. The beechwood smoke is evident from nose to mouth, and it is near perfection for my palate. The taste is complex, from the initial smoke to the rich malt base to the baking spice finish. The carbonation is subtle and consistent - just enough to make this a smooth and enjoyable experience throughout. This is an absolute winner from start to finish.