Critical Point
Category 12 Brewing

Critical PointCritical Point
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From:
Category 12 Brewing
 
British Columbia, Canada
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
5.6%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.88 | pDev: 6.7%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
20
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 11, 2021
Added:
Jan 23, 2015
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  2
The pressure is on. It’s going to take cunning to blend science with instinct and the clock is ticking. But timing is everything and precision is the only thing that matters. Confidence, analysis and art collide to create a perfectly balanced beer. And, when it comes down to the wire, success tastes even more satisfying.

This true Northwest Pale Ale is all about timing. An emphasis on late hop additions with notes of tropical hops, Critical Point is extremely smooth. The alluring citrus aroma will draw you in and the well-rounded caramel finish will keep you coming back.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Tivlavrie:
Photo of Tivlavrie
Rated by Tivlavrie from Canada (AB)

4.25/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Jul 10, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of Ghrymm
Reviewed by Ghrymm from Canada (BC)

3.94/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured this one from a 473ml can. Canned on May 17/2021
A nice hopped Pale Ale almost a IPA West Coast Style.
A nice dark amber pour with a light nose.
Jun 11, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Nov 09, 2019
 
Rated: 3.51 by BirdsandHops from Oregon

Apr 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4.13 by StormAles from Canada (ON)

Nov 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.87 by BcCraft710 from Canada (BC)

Oct 22, 2017
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

3.52/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
650ml bomber poured into tulip 10/5/17

hazy amber body with a steady stream off the bottom, not much retention and some random patches, citrus and iced tea powder, wet tea bag, malts starting to take over in what I assume is a bottle with a few months on it?
May 11, 2017
 
Rated: 3.52 by CUBeerBuff from Washington

Jan 19, 2017
Photo of elvisdoc
Rated by elvisdoc from Florida

4.5/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Amazing.
Sep 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.93 by GlendonTT from Canada (AB)

Sep 06, 2016
 
Rated: 3.94 by Bunman3 from Canada (AB)

Aug 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3.77 by KStark from Canada (BC)

May 25, 2016
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.93/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
650ml bottle - more pseudo scientific/artsy bunk in the label's marketing blurb - yeah, I'm sure there are critical points in the process, now make with the brew!

This beer pours a glassy, medium copper amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, very loosely foamy, and mostly just bubbly tan head, which leaves a decent array of craggy webbed lace around the glass as it quickly beats it outta town.

It smells of grainy and doughy caramel malt, a further biscuity toffee sweetness, subtle pine forest floor notes, gritty blood orange and red Texas grapefruit citrus flesh, a small flinty chalkiness, and more understated leafy, herbal, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is bready and crackery caramel malt, a touch of buttered white breakfast biscuits, muddled green leafy and piney astringencies, testy lemon, orange, and underripe white grapefruit citrus rind, a hard water stoniness lurking in the background, and some yeast that should perhaps know when to make itself a tad more inconspicuous.

The carbonation is good and active in its challenging and structural frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and generally smooth (though hardly 'extremely', but I already took my grain of salt before this, thank you), with a wee airy creaminess arising as soon as things warm up a tad. It finishes off-dry, the lingering complex malt watching the verdant and citrusy hops bump heads on their way out the door.

Overall, a fairly pleasant and well-rounded Yankee-style pale ale, the hops just heady enough to keep things in the realm. However, it's the malt that deserves accolades here, as I'm getting a schwack of bad-touch ESB sensibilities, and I don't care about their propriety - I just want more!
May 11, 2016
 
Rated: 3.8 by chickenm from Canada (BC)

Aug 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.24 by ZachT from Canada (BC)

Apr 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.82 by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

Mar 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4.01 by D_Min from Canada (BC)

Feb 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.95 by Beervana from Canada (BC)

Feb 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.71 by schopenhauerale from Arizona

Feb 11, 2015
Photo of Hoptoria
Reviewed by Hoptoria from Canada (BC)

3.49/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I hate to give this anything less than a stellar rating, as I loved C12's Saison and Black IPA, but it looks like it's heading that way. This one is your typical NWPA, but it suffers from a little bit of asymmetry between its caramel malt flavours and its hop additions. In short, it lacks a bit of balance. I don't like to call beers out on having a diacetyl-ish twinge, because I don't necessarily trust my palate, but I might be getting a little bit of that. Perhaps others can corroborate. It's not so much that this is a "bad" brew, but in a competitive beer market, saturated with so many great pale ales, it simply fails to stand out. Early days for the brewery though, and I'm sure they'll churn out many-a-great-brew.
Feb 04, 2015
Critical Point from Category 12 Brewing
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 20 ratings