Scout Rye IPA
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers

 

 

Rating an IPA is among the toughest things I have ever done. I love them and sometimes, hate them... Even trying the same IPA when it is fresh vs when not so fresh can often be very deceiving. This is my first time trying the Scout from Deep Cove and like many reviewers I am sure, I like reading what the other ones said. So there I went and looked at the score: 3.55. I immediately thought: "Oh no, not another one of these disappointing (weak, unbalanced, etc) IPA's". So I came to this one with a load of apprehension and poured it. It looked a little pale and clear for an IPA but RYE IPA's are in their own category. The head was also not the most impressive I have seen but the lacing was as nice as could be. Then came the time to smell it. Sweet orange, grapefruit, pineapple, ... Yes, very, very fruity. Wow! This smell was a real game changer in my tasting of this beer. Might as well have a sip. Grapefruit, orange, some pineapple... Am I the only that feels like I am repeating myself quite often between the smell and taste of a beer? There is very little resin/pine needles at first and just the right dose in the aftertaste. This is very well balanced. Not only between the hops and the malt, but also within the hops themselves. I see exactly what the brewmaster/headbrewer had in mind when he brewed this and decided to keep the recipe and, I like his mind. The feel is medium body with the right amount of carbonation. Overall, I think the other reviewers were out to sleep, or had an old bottle, or something. If you like balanced fruity IPA's, this is for you. If you like them harsh and very bitter, it will at least taste like something else. Personally, as a true hop head that likes his IPA's balanced most and foremost, this might be the better version of a Rye IPA I have had so far. Yes, I will buy it again. Yours to discover!

I've tasted this twice in the last week; first on draught at the brewery and latterly from a bottle.

At the brewery it was the last beer of the night having tasted two glasses each of their 80'/ (a slightly sweeter version of the beers that I grew up with back home in Scotland....but still awesome) and their Dunkel (a surprisingly boozy tasting beer for a 5.5% brew but, once again, awesome).

However, this beer was the best of the night. Fresh, great lacing on the glass, great mouth feel amd wonderful flavour: tropical heaven.

With the bottle, however, it tasted like a slightly funkier version of the draught and was a slight disapointment to be honest. I still got the trpoical fruit aroma but the funky tinge to the flavour was a little off-putting.

Recommendation: if you live on or near the North Shore in Vancouver, make the effort to visit the brewery and taste it from draught.

CAN
Pale orange with loose white cap. 3.75
Spearmint, overripe tangerine, and a bit of must. 3.5
Sticky toffee start, dried orange, bit of bubblegum, rye spice bite, and long ringing IBU linger. 4
Almost medium, crisp, fizzy. 3.75

Just about gets there: citrus hops and rye spice in broad strokes. Thin for 7%. Touch of oxidation, too, at only 3 weeks in the can. M.V.P (in the Agile sense.)

Deep Cove are not improving. 3.75