Dead Woodsman Pale Ale
Apex Brewing

 

 

Dead Woodsman is crystal clear and pale copper in color. Minimal CO2 hold up a rocky, cream colored head with good retention
Aromas of soda cracker start things off, leading swiftly into deeper aromas of fresh baked bread. Hints of earthiness come out in the middle coupled with just a hint of what could be dried orange peels. Baked bread aroma adds an odd through note, throwing an otherwise decent aroma out of balance. Or is that an aroma of ripe pitted fruit? Either way, the whole thing fades into a quiet finish without any of the hop presence one might expect from an American pale ale.
First sip gives me something medium bodied and crisp, with a promising underlying sweetness. There’s an initial, up front dryness before the sweetness kicks In, giving me an impression of soda cracker malt flavors. Malt flavors build towards a rounded center where I find just a faint hint of lemon drop citrus. This is where everything fades into a crisp, assertive, but not overstated bitter finish. Bitter finish is just pleasantly assertive enough to be enjoyable.
The beer has some elements in its flavor and mouthfeel that are decent, bordering on enjoyable enough to give this pale ale a slightly higher score. The aroma throws me off, however. The bready quality just threw things a little off balance in my opinion. And the flavors, pleasant as they are just weren’t enough to totally make up for it. That being said, Dead Woodsman is a very passable pale ale.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed at the Taste of Edmonton food festival. Nice piney, earth hops with a slightly juicy flavour. followed by sweet bready malts and a nice, lingering bitterness. Well done pale ale

355ml can poured into tulip 24/7/156

A golden amber big two finger foam has great retention leaving partial rings deep down the glass

s herbal citrus, some toffee and wet leaves, just a little spice i can;t place ,some woodsy notes

t sweet malts find some balance with a the herbal wet leaves and citrus, has a metallic thing going for it that neither helps or hinders

M lighter side of medium, a little air and gritty but nothing to complain about, woody herbal finish \

o my pint cans nearly gone at this point so that says something she goes down with no effort at all

another winner from yet another unknown Alberta brewer that seem to be popping up like weeds lately, lets cross our fingers that quality stuff like this keeps hitting the market

keep em coming boys , just keep em coming

 

 

 

Liter crowler from Sherbrooke liquor. The best pale ale in Alberta? Really light, subtle flavours of pine, grapefruit, bready malt and slight tropical fruit. But the mouth feel... wow! Silky, creamy and one of the most crushable beers I've had in a while!

This is a very tasty beer, and I'm thrilled that I finally got the chance to try it. Sampled on tap at the Craft Beer Market. This brew looks great in the glass, and has a nice malt/hop balance. The nose is faint citrus, with plenty of pine and spruce on the tail end of the experience. I can picture myself sitting around a fire, enjoying several glasses of this. A wonderful start for Bench Creek - I'm very much looking forward to trying more of their offerings!

Unlabelled bottle poured into Sam Adams pint glass. I hope I'm not about to be poisoned.

Pours a nearly clear light amber with a thin cap of off-white head that leaves mangrove swamp lace as it recedes.

Smells of orange and lemon pith, breakfast biscuit malt and flowery green hops.

Tastes of more sweet biscuit caramel malt and fresh orange and lemon pith bitterness. Piney, flowery hops.

Feels mild and refreshing. Medium-light bodied with mild carbonation. Finishes off-dry.

Verdict: Highly recommended. Very easy to put away.

16oz glass at Beer Revolution Oliver Square - 'tis that other season, the one for appreciating local brews, so here we go, all the way from a few hours or so East of Edson! And why does this make me think of that line from the Simpsons: 'the squid looks like it's been hacked by a blind woodsman'?

This beer appears a slightly hazy, pale copper amber colour, with one brash finger of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly ecru head, which leaves a wall of pockmarked limestone lace around the glass as it slowly sinks away.

It smells of grainy and rather biscuity pale and caramel malt, bristling, if somewhat muddled citrus pith and pine needle astringencies, a genial wet stone path flintiness, and more leafy, weedy, and floral noble hops. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, a touch of a biscuity caramel sweetness that is becoming an increasingly 'remember when?' thing, some reduced chalky earthiness, still tame white grapefruit and orange rind fruity notes, and more heady leafy, wet hay-like, and floral hop bitters.

The carbonation is fairly plain, yet duly supportive in its quotidian frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and more or less smooth, just a wee airy pithiness arising as things warm faster than they should have any right to around here. It finishes off-dry, the biscuity pale malt and lingering hops looking like they want to call it a day, but we know better than that, don't we?

Overall, a decent and very pleasant rendering of the style, if maybe a bit too beholden to the old world ways (ESB), as opposed to the current influence of our southern neighbours (APA). The difference is really moot, of course, as that only makes this all the more Canadian, which is a misunderstanding that I'd like to put to bed once and for all (my toddler gets his first big-boy bed this week, I can't help myself), and new Alberta brewing scenesters like Bench Creek are making it oh so easy to do so.