Vancouver Craft Beer Week Cascadian Brown Ale
Russell Brewing Company

quite a few CDAs out right now and I wonder if a collab CDA was the way to go from Craft beer Month. This is a decent beer that is very drinkable but seems to miss the real balance between hops and dark malt. I actually see that a brown ale is more likely as the hops faded a bit to the back on the finish. Caramel flavours arise as it warms up but the beer seemed to lack the mouthfeel I was looking for in the style.

 

 

Thanks to Rutager for this bottle. Poured in to Founders tulip.

A - Dark brown, almost opaque with only a slight glow around the edges. Half a finger of dirty cream coloured head formed and receded to a thin layer.

S - Roast, nuttiness and some earthy and piney hop aromas. Balance seems good.

T - Moderate hop bitterness up front with earthy and piney flavours that gives way to moderately roasted malts, nuttiness and light coffee. Some lighter citrus flavours are present as well. A dry and bitter finish.

M - Medium body. Light carbonation.

A: Pours dark cola in colour with 2 fingers of light tan head that lingers.

S: Initial scent of pine resin and citrus rinds together with hints of smooth malts and molasses.

T: Initial flavours of rich coffee together with earthy notes followed by the hops, citrus rinds and pine saps. Finishes with a lingering hoppy bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with low level of carbonation.

O: An enjoyable beer, but I found it to be too heavy on the hops. More pronounced malts would improve the overall balance.

Ruby brown with a very light tan head, bit of retention, nice lace.

Aroma of pine, grass, grapefruit rind, nectarine, woodsy spice, hints of caramel and roasted nut.

Good flavour for a 5.5% brew, nice hopping (pine, GF rind, nectarine, woodsy spice), roasted nut, figs, caramel, solid bitterness.

Well attenuated; light hop acidity.

Good overall brew.

Appearance. Pours cola brown with a finger of amber tinted head.

Smell. Nice piney hops and citrus rinds, chocolate and caramel, a bit of roasty malts and coffee. Yum.

Taste. Coffee and citrus rinds, pine sap, a little roasty and has some good oily citrus rind bitterness.

Mouthfeel. Medium body, medium carbonation.

Overall. Another nice VCBW cascadian. Don't remember it very well from beerfest, but tastes awesome from the bottle. I do miss the chocolate and molasses that I remember from last year's, but I'll survive.

This limited edition release brewed for Vancouver Beer Week is loaded with hops. Though it's called a Cascadian "Brown" Ale, rather than a Cascadian "Dark" Ale, it's stylistically pretty similar. You get a big hit of floral, citrusy hops in the nose that smells great but overpowers the caramel, roasty malt notes. The palate is pretty similar. While the taste is good, the balance between the massive hops infusion and the dark malts isn't quite in sync. Still, it's an interesting take on the style.

 

 

A collaboration beer by 30 of B.C.'s breweries in celebration of Vancouver Craft Beer Week 2012.

A: 1/4" tan coloured head that dissipated quickly over dark brown liquid.

S: Caramel, toffee, and nutty malt scents with some citrus hops.

T: Pine and grapefruit hops up front with a finish comprised of caramel and nutty malt.

M: Thin viscosity and a medium level of carbonation. Somewhat of a dry finish.

O: Pine, grapefruit and nut flavours dominate this beer. Its an interesting style, and I consider it more drinkable than many Cascadian Dark Ales.