Sparky IPA
4th Meridian Brewing Co.

A- This pours a very hazy golden, almost bronzed color, with a super white head that starts out around one finger in thickness before settling down to a very thick film over top the liquid....it retains superbly! The carbonation seems to be vibrant, dense and plentiful, with several columns rising to the top in vigorous fashion, and as for the lacing, there doesn't seem to be much of it, as the foam created swiftly glides back into the beer without much issue. Overall, this is a decent looking IPA!

S- There is a juicy citrus like quality right off the bat here, with grapefruit, tangerine and lemon/lime bittering rinds abound, and in the background, there are biscuit, butter cracker like richness, nuances of vanilla creme, sweet caramel malts and a finish that is slightly floral and bitter.....Earthy if you will....

T- This is quite a nice tasting IPA, if not a little sweet for the style.....there is a heavy sweet malt presence, with caramel/toffee/molasses that has all been cooked, some vanilla bean and creamy yeasty biscuit dryness to help round everything out. The finish does have some muted citrus rind and hop oil based bitterness....overall a flavorful and slightly sweet version of the style

M/O- The mouthfeel is more of a creamy medium body, and the carbonation is quite smooth and velvety, which I enjoy as it allows the full flavors to coat the tongue and palate for that matter. It is a highly drinkable version of an IPA, as the sweetness allows me, and I'm sure others, the ability to handle a couple, maybe even a third over the course of a session. I'd add this to a meal as the drink of choice, with a spicy chicken or pork dish being the main dish. 4th Meridian has done an alright job here, and while not the best version of the style by any means, it is something that is flavorful and I'd have again in a heartbeat!

8oz glass at Beer Revolution YEG Oliver Square. Hah! The dude that added this 8 months ago and hasn't yet reviewed it, was the same guy complaining about such behavior in the forums a little while back!

This beer appears a clear, bright pale golden yellow colour, with one finger of puffy, loosely foamy, and mildly bubbly eggshell white head, which leaves some decent pockmarked limestone wall lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of semi-sweet, bready and doughy caramel malt, buttery crackers, muddled domestic citrus rind, and some tame earthy, musty, and floral hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, some phenolic yeastiness, an out of place under the basement stairs mustiness, faint bland citrus peel, and more understated earthy, herbal, and dead floral 'hoppiness'.

The carbonation is fairly benign in its stillborn frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and not particularly smooth, as that yeasty and musty essence takes no prisoners here. It finishes trending dry, but not in a good way.

Overall - yeah, something is certainly wrong with this one, there is almost no IPA character existent, as such. Quality control shit the bed at some point in the supply chain, and it pisses me off that I'm unable to discern where, as I write this.