Six Borders
Big Spruce Brewing

Howler purchased at The Brewer's Apprentice.

Apparently, the folks The Brewer's Apprentice were mentioning that this is collaboration brew with Tool Shed.

Appearance - Pours a straw gold with three fingers of foamy white head.

Smell - citrus hops, pineapple, other tropical fruits, hint of peach, bready malts, and earthy yeast.

Taste - Lots of citrus going on from the hops. The pineapple, other tropical fruits, hint of peach follow suit. The bready malts and earthy yeast finish off the brew.

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

Overall - A flavourful and quaffable IPA. The flavours are spot on making this very sessionable. Well done Big Spruce and Tool Shed!

8oz glass at Beer Revolution YEG Oliver Square - apparently this is a collaboration with Calgary's Tool Shed, and is a New England-style IPA.

This beer appears a hazy, medium golden yellow colour, with one finger of puffy, loosely foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves a solid wall of painted lace around the glass as it quickly wafts off.

It smells of orange, white grapefruit, and lemon citrus rind, bready and doughy caramel malt, a lesser biscuity toffee sweetness, some mild earthy flintiness, and more leafy, weedy, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is sugary domestic citrus peel, grainy and bready caramel malt, bubblegum, some damp minerality, and more peppy earthy, musty, and floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly benign in its complacent-seeming frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, as the hops do well to keep the background noise down here. It finishes off-dry, the mixed citrus and forest floor detritus hops ruling the lingering roost.

Overall - this comes across as pretty earnest in its attempt at replicating the NEIPA ideal. Lots of citrus, hard water character, and just enough haze to quell the haters that will inevitably arise. Good stuff!