Pearson Express
Henderson Brewing Company

 

 

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from the Bench Henderson Collab Mixer boxset, from my favourite LCBO at The Roundhouse Centre in nearby Windsor. My first beer from the Toronto brewery.

I had this on tap during a recent trip through Canada. It is a copper color with a thin head. Mostly clear with a light haze. Herbal hop and grain smell, with a distant undercurrent malt scent. The taste is balance. Slightly bitter finish. It reminds me of an old-fashioned IPA.

Slightly hazy in appearance, decent mouth feel, average hoppiness without significant sweet or sour notes

 

Rare moment when I disagree with taxandbeerguy, but this beer pleasantly surprised me in every single area.

Pours a lovely amber — not hazy, but slightly opaque, foggy. Looks great in the glass. Thick long legs of lace. Already looks like an IPA you want to drink.

Smell is resinous, it’s piney, it’s old school classic bittering hops. Pithy, grapefruit notes.

Which is all present on the palate and more. I love the way this old school IPA balances the hops, bitterness, and malty notes. Earthy and slightly spicy, the grapefruity pith and piney citrus swirl around the pale malts in the background, and ultimately leave with a clean finish, only slightly bitter on the tongue after a while.

This is no insult — Henderson Brewing is the absolute king of the space they’ve carved out in the beer world. It’s in between ‘typical good macro’ and ‘super expressive, unique $20 specialty beer’. By that I mean they’re not the absolute craziest malt bomb or hop haze, but it’s not trying to be. They consistently brew excellent beers that are also eminently drinkable at any moment, more complex than any macro without wandering into an area that is so complex it becomes a sipping beer. And I love them for that. I’m about to go back to the store to grab myself 6 more of Pearson Express. It’s more than a session IPA, it’s kind of like that very above average IPA that you can also easily crush.

 

 

Bright orange gold under a substantial cap out of a moderate head on pour. Some chunky lace. Resinous nose and that carries on through to the flavour of the beer. Aroma otherwise not really distinguished. Anonymous citrus pith character. Properly hoppy, but not overwhelming, gets a little extra push from the high ABV. Bitter to drink and on the finish, but doesn't linger. Grapefruit pith, pine and alcohol more pronounced on the nose and to taste as the beer warms up.

A really nice middle of the road ipa. Very nice flavor, 6.5 alcohol content. Super pleasant. Think I’ll have another.

I continue to buy Henderson's Pearson Express IPA because it tastes good and is well brewed. It lacks the bitterness, which I dislike and is very satisfying. I continue to buy two or three tins each time I shop for beer and enjoy each one. A very fine IPA in my opinion and one I will continue to enjoy.

Pours bright, hazed orange with a frothy, everlasting head. Scads of lace coat the glass on the way down. Orange, caramel, field berries in the nose. The taste is of tropical, mango, apricot hops with a prominent balancing malt profile. Lots of cookie dough. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with light carbonation. Moderate bitterness and light fruity hop flavors in the finish.

A pretty subdued IPA by today's standards. Quite malty. Worth a try if you don't like the uber hoppy ones.

 

 

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for $3.75 CDN. No caning date listed.

Appearance - Mildly hazy rich amber color with two fingers of rocky white head. Tremendous staying power and large swaths of lacing cling to the glass.

Smell - Some leafiness, hints of orange and grapefruit and muddled in with pine. Caramel is there too. Not a terribly big or unique nose.

Taste - Middling bitterness, some earthy and lightly citrusy flavors with orange pith, hints of lemon and maybe a sprinkling of melon. A little too bitter in the aftertaste for the sake of being bitter, just more grapefruit pith.

Mouthfeel - Medium-full bodied, good expressive carbonation and medium-dry finish.

Overall - A decent old school IPA, this one just misses in a lot of areas. So while it is enjoyable, with some tweaks I think it would be a beer I'd enjoy even more. Nonetheless well brewed.

I bought a can at the lcbo in Ontario 473ml can at 6.5%.
poured a 2finger head into glass that left a nice lace as you drink it.
tropical fruit flavors medium bitterness medium body .
overall a good IPA beer.
cheers.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; canned Oct 8 2020 and served barely chilled.

Pours foggy orange-amber, equipped with an inch of foamy off-white head that dissipates within five minutes; a sponge print pattern of lace becomes painted upon the glass, with a fat collar of soapy froth also being left behind. Looks fantastic to me. Lightly caramelized sugars and bready malts on the nose, along with hints of orange peel and earthy, herbal, slightly woodsy hop notes. Smells clean, but not very interesting.

It's advertised as a West Coast IPA on the side of the can, and it's a pretty decent one at that - it's got a firm backbone of grainy, bready pale malts and caramel sweetness that remains present from start to finish, providing adequate support for the hops. I'm getting a touch of citrus out of them by mid-sip, and a hell of a lot more spicy, earthy, resiny flavours nearer the finish; floral, resiny bitterness carries on into the aftertaste, which is persistent. Medium in body, with moderate carbonation levels that start off quite frothy, but settle down over the course of the glass, giving a little bit of crispness to its generally smooth, slick texture. I finished my can fairly quickly, but it's not something I'd be inclined to drink en masse.

Final Grade: 3.89, a B+. Pearson Express is a fine old-school IPA, one which I thoroughly enjoyed, even though I can understand why this combination of flavours may not be everyone's cup of tea - I mean, it's certainly no haze bomb, nor does it have the 'juiciness' that kids these days are infatuated with. But that's the appeal for me - fresh, quality pale ales of this ilk are not always easy to find, so this fine product is one that I intend to return to repeatedly, for as long as it's available.