Tropic Tundra
Polar Park Brewing Company

473ml can poured into tulip. The second I cracked it, the room smelled like a fruit salad. Looks like I'm in for a good time.

Pours a clear gold with one finger of creamy white head that leaves some bubbling cauldron lace as it recedes.

Smells of navel orange slices, pink grapefruit rind, some varied tropical fruit notes, grainy caramel malt, some rainy outdoors freshness and green sappy pine.

Tastes of fresh bread, more orange and grapefruit citrus juice, mango and guava, flinty water and more pleasantly dank piney hops.

Feels soft and round. Medium bodied with frothy carbonation. Finishes dry.

Verdict: Highly recommended. A nice, clean, classic IPA.

473ml can - I just randomly saw a bunch of clips on YT about Tropic Thunder yesterday, but apparently Netflix has ceded viewing rights to the movie to Amazon Prime - fuckers, the lot.

This beer pours a mostly clear, pale golden straw colour, with one skinny-ass finger of finely foamy, creamy, and generally removed from the ills of the world ecru head, which leave a few instances of Joshua Tree pattern lace around the glass as it lazily sinks into oblivion.

It smells of grainy and crackery Alberta cereal malt, rather complex domestic citrus rind, a further indistinct tropical fruitiness, some damp minerality, and more leafy, earthy, and estery piney green hoppiness. The taste is bready and doughy pale malt, grapefruit and blood orange flesh, a hint of unwashed masses yeastiness, wet stone paths before the squalls let up, and more leafy, floral, and edgy piney hop bitters.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-supporting frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and more or less smooth, with perhaps a smidge of hop intransigence that adheres to the old-school Yankee way of doing these sorts of things. Respect, of the mad sort. It finishes trending dry, the bitterness of the hops precluding any desire to make one's way to the NE of the USA, and I...Am...Here...For...That.

Overall - good on this former varied Edmonton entrepreneurial family, who took over a location off Whyte Ave that I only knew of previously through the whining of ex-Gfs saying, 'we should go for brunch'. Much better use of the space, I gotta say. And great old-school IPA, getting back on point here.

Notes about the brew:

A battle of the biomes. Polar tundra meets tropical flavours from Cascade, Citra, Sabro and El Dorado. A light gold, hop-forward IPA with balanced malt and creative character. Where the polar bears roam. #tropictundra

Appearance - Pours a clear gold with four fingers of frothy white head.

Smell - citrus, tropical, earthy, floral, leafy, and hint of piney hops, hint of pine resin, grapefruit peel, citrus, peach, pineapple, touch of coconut, mango, hint of passionfruit, bready malts, caramel, and earthy yeast.

Taste - citrus, tropical, earthy, floral, leafy, and hint of piney hops upfront. The hint of pine resin, grapefruit peel, citrus, peach, pineapple, touch of coconut, mango, and hint of passionfruit come through next. The bready malts, caramel, and earthy yeast round out the brew.

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

Overall - A well rendered "Canadian IPA" that delivers on everything mentioned on the can. This one is definitely sessionable making it quite enjoyable.