Prairie Gold
Olds College Teaching Brewery

Prairie Gold is hazy and medium copper in color. The beer throws a one finer head that is off white and fairly lasting.
The first thing I smell is subtle caramel sweetness. At first blush Prairie Gold's aroma is delicate in its presence, without feeling the need to hammer at your senses. Caramel offers sweetness, balancing initial aromas of freshly malted grain and soda crackers. In the middle I get that initial citrus juiciness. Specifically, a combination of orange juice and grapefruit pith. Hints of pine resin finish things off, securing Prairie Gold's status as an American style pale ale.
Flavors are a shade more developed than the aroma, which I think is a good thing, here. Flavors of caramel, toasted grain, and soda cracker lead the charge giving me both sweetness and gentle dryness in its malt flavors. Hints of leather and earthiness come along in the center providing additional depth and balance to the overall affair. The finish is all about the hops. Hop finish is flavors of grapefruit pith, pine resin and hints of woodiness.
Prairie Gold tastes exactly what an American IPA should taste like. Caramel maltiness leads very well into a hop profile that is all about the pacific northwest hop in the form of citrus, grapefruit pith and hints of pine. Flavors are assertive, full of character, and nicely balanced.

 

 

A respectable, if unspectacular, middle-of-the-road old-school American style IPA (which is to say that, while it's American in composition, its malty, British leanings are still traceable). Orange copper, with nice dense foam and good lacing, offering up smells and tastes that balance dank bitter pine resin and slight bitter citrus pith. Finish kicks with a nice bracing bitterness, though it's not over-the-top. Drinkable, and surprisingly compelling for (comparatively) high ABV.

A very "classic" American IPA, which makes sense given Olds' status as a teaching brewery--master the basics of the style before you get *too* New World and adventurous.

355ml can poured into tulip.

Pours a deep honey amber with a thin cap of foamy beige head that leaves flaming hot rod paintjob lace as it recedes.

Smells of juicy citrus, dank pine resin and sweet caramel malt.

Tastes of mild bitter citrus and pine, and breakfast biscuit caramel malt. Green floral hops.

Feels bright and refreshing. Medium-light bodied with frothy carbonation. Finishes mildly dry.

Verdict: Recommended. Simple and tasty.

 

Appearance - Pours a copper with a finger of bubbly white head.

Smell - piney and earthy hops, grapefruit peel, citrus, bready caramalts.

Taste - Piney and earthy hops upfront followed by pine resin, grapefruit and citrus. The bready caramalts round things out.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a pleasant lingering bitterness.

Overall - A well crafted American IPA from the folks at Olds College Brewery. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of bitterness from the hops (seeing as this is there first crack at brewing an IPA) I thought it was well executed.

 

Whatever they are teaching the budding brewmasters, they must be doing something right! This beer pours hazy but somehow bright, with a decent amount of foamy head that retreats to the edges of the glass. I could not pick up much aroma - a bit of hops, pepper and bread. The taste is definitely on the bitter side - piney hops, malt, and citrus. Overall, this is an interesting beer that represents the style nicely.

 

16oz glass at Beer Revolution YEG - nice to see this teaching brewery put out an IPA!

This beer appears a slightly hazy and glassy, medium bronzed amber colour, with one finger of puffy, spongy, and mildly bubbly off-white head, which leaves some spackled paint lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of somewhat dank piney hops, earthy orange and white grapefruit citrus rind, a hint of sour apple, gritty pale and caramel malt, and tame floral, grassy, and kind of weedy hops. The taste is rather acerbic, and bitter generic citrus rind, musty pine resin, grainy, and kind of bready caramel malt, and a further minor leafy, grassy, and slightly perfumed hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly accommodating (both structural and playful) in its tightly rendered frothiness, the body an adequate middleweight, and as smooth as the hovering hops will allow for at the moment. It finishes barely off-dry, the complex hops still holding sway over the lingering malt sweetness.

Overall, this is a pretty heady and enjoyable Yankee IPA from this cadre of Alberta's up and coming student brewers - nice and bitter, but somehow balanced, in that good and often strange way. Anyways, the kids (of all ages), they be all right, man!