Brun
Stanley Park Brewing

 

 

Had a pint on tap at Beer Revolution in Calgary. Arrived in a pint glass, a dark reddish brown hue with a light splattering of tan bubbles. Aroma was subdued and difficult to dissect at first, I do get some buttery yeast, cola spice, caramel, generic nuts and perhaps faint earthy hops. Palate is also unassertive and unassuming, I get some cinnamon bun malt/yeast flavors on top of a sweet caramel malt backbone, brown sugar, cola, weak black tea (or some other herbal earthy flavor), and an annoying flavor that I sometimes get in macrobrews masquerading as craft (cough, Big Rock) that I can only describe as "cheap, shitty baker's yeast" (some day I will invent a more specific term for this flavor). This could be diacetyl gone awry although I believe this latter flavor is different on my palate. In any event, the overall effect is that of a cheap low rent dubbel. Overly carbonated for a true Belgian ale, rather thin-bodied and with a finish that becomes cloyingly sweet over the course of an entire pint. Perhaps I am being hard on this brew, but one's evaluation ought to be based on a within-style comparison rather than how a given beer stacks up against your local adjunct lager. This one falls rather flat (not a reference to the carbonation level).

 

330ml bottle, apparently a cast-off from the Stanley Park (no mention of Hell's Gate whatsoever) mixed pack currently available in Alberta.

This beer pours a clear, dark red-brick amber colour, with one skinny finger of weakly foamy, yet tightly bubbly pale beige head, which leaves little beyond a bit of short-lasting specked lace as it quickly fades away.

It smells of semi-sweet pale malt, a touch of caramel and toffee, um, 'darkening', stale bar-top nuts, acrid apple flesh and cider notes, a burgeoning nail polish alcohol nature, and wet leafy, perfumed floral hops. The taste is nutty caramel and pale malt, a dead and spent yeastiness, one hardly Belgian in nature, discarded and bruised apple and pear, a now more neutral boozy intrusiveness, and weakly leafy, musty hops.

The carbonation is quite understated, and really a non-starter beyond very basic support duties, the body an adequate medium weight, and rather pithy in its workaday smoothness. It finishes a bit on the sweet side, with a cheap Christmas cake fruitiness, acrid alcohol, especially for the ABV, and a plain, underdeveloped earthy hoppiness.

Another one of those marketing-heavy, and quality-lite brews - everything here just seems designed by committee, one who's members have never been exposed to a Belgian-made beer, let alone been to Belgium. A typical Canadian amber ale, maybe a slightly above average one, sadly, to anyone who fails to read the label. Otherwise, just a basic failure.