Misty Mountain
Canmore Brewing Company

 

Appearance - Pours a slightly hazy deep gold with two fingers of bubbly white head.

Smell - citrus, tropical, and earthy hops, bready malts, caramel, mango, pineapple, citrus, and earthy yeast.

Taste - Citrus, tropical, and earthy hops upfront followed by the bready malts, The caramel, mango, pineapple, citrus, and earthy yeast help to finish the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes sticky with the hops and malts lingering.

Overall - An enjoyable IPA that displays elements of the style well. A sessionable brew to be had on this smoky Cowtown evening.

473ml can - I now tend to avoid making proclamations about a beer's exclusive availability, because a month later, it will change, it will change.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with four fingers of puffy, rocky, and mildly fizzy eggshell white head, which leaves a few layers of frilly lace around the glass as it rather slowly sinks away.

It smells of gritty and grainy cereal malt, some fresh orange, white grapefruit, and lemon citrus rind, a damp minerality, and more earthy, weedy, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is bready and crackery pale malt, some muddled domestic citrus peel, further indistinct tropical fruity notes, some flinty chalkiness, ethereal yeast, and more leafy, weedy, and floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its structurally supportive frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, with nothing really going out of its way to mess with the ideal here. It finishes off-dry, the malt, frooty character, and greenery in full lingering effect.

Overall - this comes across as an agreeable and approachable version of the sub-style, with all the robust hop flavour, but sans the attendant bitterness. Easy to throw back on a Saturday afternoon, especially when the extra booze is totally undetectable.

This is a dandy seasonal from my favorite Canmore brewery. All of the appropriate elements are here for the style. The citrus notes carry through nose, taste, and finish. If you’re in the area and you like this style of beer, stop in because it’s not available anywhere else.