Peaks And Valleys
Russell Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Pours an off amber with tight Lacey head the persists. Aroma of grapefruit rind and pine with bready malt in the background. Flavour follows suit with assertive bitterness followed by citrus and slightly sweet honey like malt flavours. The piney bitterness lingers nicely

355ml can poured into tulip 12/6/16

A clear pale copper, slow bubbles throughout, a finger of foam has decant retention leaving a couple thick partial rings

S I could pretty much copy and paste from the ISA in the same mixed pack, diacetyl like caramel and butterscotch with a little spruce and citrus

T pines a little stronger then the ISA but again its eerily similar

M very slick, medium weight, bubbles give it some life, rindy pine finish

O I can't say its off but lacking for sure, odd how similar this is to what should be a completely different brew

Something isn't quite right with this Russell mixed pack, buying beer on sale? I should know better might be old? might be off? its not bad but I'm guessing there's a reason its on sale.....

 

Look: deep warm orange aura with a sturdy cap of confident snowy mountain peaks.

Smell: sugar frosted grapefruit with a diagonal dash of pine. elemental crispy cookies with thin, ethereal icing waft throughout the bouquet. as the drink steadies, juicy dank hops begin to blossom.

Taste: A contradiction has risen against the aroma! Things begin with lemon-leather belt tartness which then unbuckles into unsweetened grapefruit rinds. grainy malts thereafter softly rain before a semi-aggressive rebellion of hops lash out with handfuls of unripe fruit grenades. a bitter-sweet compromise between aroma and taste is negotiated in the end until a swooping judgement from on-high infuses the proceedings with the hitherto purely aromatic soggy fruit -- mourning for an empty can.

Feel: medium body with carbonation nibbling the tongue.

Overall: most appreciated is the taunting between aroma and taste and how both aspects merge after much time elapses. this is a forthright, righteous beer that loots whole storehouses of sweet, grainy malts before plucking every age of citrus and fruity hops.

Appearance - Pours a amber tone with a finger of creamy white head.

Smell - citrus hops, orange, grapefruit, bready malts, hint of toffee.

Taste - Citrus hops take the forefront. It then goes into the orange, grapefruit, bready malts, and hint of toffee.

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

Overall - A well crafted APA. This is quite drinkable and I like the use of the local hops.

 

 

Russell Brewing 'Peaks & Valleys Pale Ale' @ 5.7% , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $6.25
A-pour is gold from the bottle to a clear gold in the glass with a good size white head leaving a streaky lace along the pint
S-hoppy , citrus floral , hint of pine
T-ok tasting pale ale , clean & crisp , slight bitterness on the swallow
MF-decent carbonation , medium body
Ov-ok beer
prost LampertLand

 

 

 

 

Oh boy. Locally sourced, fresh hops dominate this offering from what is rapidly becoming my favorite BC brewery. Hop nose, citrus zest, crackery pale malt and an extremely dry finish make for a seriously hopped up pale ale. This is a very nice beer that would pair well with spicy food. Bravo!

650 ml bottle poured into a Red Racer pint glass (hey, I don't have a Russell one ... At least its still local). Pours a nice burnished clear golden amber with a small amount of lively off-white head that rather recalls the name (which I like, by the way ... Nice spiel on the label too).

Aroma is indeed redolent with fresh hops ... Citrus rind (orange, lemon, grapefruit), tannic leafy greens and stems, flower water, a dusting of pepper. The malts are cracker-like and slightly green themselves, just a whiff of toffee. Palate is a rather cool demonstration of what "terrior" can do to a well-known hop varietal. This Centennial features some of the oft-associated sweet orange, mango, and cotton candy notes but includes added woody, astringent, herbal, and tonic water like tart elements that add quite the wrinkle. Getting some vitamin C tablet and aspirin, quite medicinal. I want to say pine but that's not quite it. The freshness probably helps matters. Grainy. Fairly light bodied and airy, with aggressive but not painful carbonation. Finish is dry, tea-like, earthy and weedy, with just a little citrus rind remaining.

Quite a stellar fresh hop ale, this. No piquant carrot or onion notes that I can discern, just a lot of forest floor and sour fruit complexity. The last brew I had that was dubbed an "extra pale ale" wasn't terribly good. This has re-appropriated the term and justly so.

 

650ml bottle. A seasonal offering, wherein the brewer procured local hops and local malt to create this so-called 'extra pale ale', and with a low-key ode to the New Year.

This beer pours a clear, bright pale golden amber hue, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well-bubbly ecru head, which leaves some layered swollen raincloud lace around the glass as it lazily recedes.

It smells of rather floral piney hops straight off, a touch of astringent yeast, grainy, crackery pale malt, an ephemeral caramel sweetness, some muddled, but growing in prominence citrus rind bitterness, a hint of white pepper, and further earthy, leafy, and grassy hops. The taste is grainy, crackery, and biscuity caramel malt, additional wet bready tones, edgy citrus pith notes, some hard water flintiness, and complex earthy, weedy, leafy, and grassy hops.

The carbonation is fairly involved in its heady and challenging frothiness, the body a bit on the light side of middleweight, and plainly smooth, a few ashes wafting down from the overall hop eruption here. It finishes trending dry, the hops still kickin' it like they owned it (and they do), while the malt backs into its supporting role for the more than a few ounces yet to come.

A pretty tasty and enjoyable hopped-up pale ale, this one is. The Lower Mainland-sourced Centennial varietal really does a number here - complex, bordering on complicated, but that's of no particular concern to my indulgent tastebuds. Lots more peaks than valleys to be found as I quickly make my way through a somewhat surprisingly drinkable brew.