Northern Swell Session IPA
Vancouver Island Brewing

Northern Swell Session IPANorthern Swell Session IPA
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Vancouver Island Brewing
 
British Columbia, Canada
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
5%
Score:
+7 ratings needed
Avg:
3.3 | pDev: 17.27%
Ratings:
3 | reviews: 3
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 15, 2023
Added:
Jun 24, 2022
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
The allure of our cold-water swells is entrancing, balanced by calm beauty and ocean intensity. This dry-hopped session IPA is smooth and light with prominent hop aromas and flavours that create a subdued bitter finish. Like the continuous waves rolling in, this is just as sessionable.
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Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of charleskimmle
Reviewed by charleskimmle from Canada (BC)

2.5/5  rDev -24.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Pours somewhat hazy. Smells like ipa. Body is interesting, kind of watery but also a bit viscous, hard to explain, almost like it separates in your mouth. Taste is fairly standard ipa, mainly a mild grapefruit flavour, a bit more delicate than the average ipa. Malt presence seems a bit absent, but it's there when it warms up, i guess the more delicate nature of the hop profile requires a milder malt? There's some flavour that hits the tongue near the finish that seems unique, really not sure how to describe it, almost like a bit of tart "barnyard" but it's not unpleasant and seems to prevent bitterness from building in the mouth to the same extent as other ipas.
Jan 15, 2023
Photo of altstadt
Reviewed by altstadt from Canada (BC)

3.6/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Hazy yellow-orange color. Poured a short head that dropped back to a thin skiff in less than a minute. Medium flow of tiny bubbles from the bottom of the glass. Left very few small dots of lace.

Light barnyard smell with equally light malt and vegetal hops. Very light yeast. Swirling the glass kicked up a lot more barnyard, but only for a few seconds.

Starts with medium-light bitters. The bitters have a light floral presence in the flavor that is missing from the scent. Mild barnyard pops up a little after the bitters. Light malt and just a hint of yeast. The aftertaste starts with a mild ground black pepper flavor. The bitters pop up and get stronger for several seconds. The floral hops return for a few seconds. The barnyard comes back but then fades away with the bitters.

Mild tongue tingling. Quickly grows to a light foam and then coarse bubbles. Slightly oily toward the end.

Basic Session IPA, although it is trending towards a NEIPA. The light floral hops flavor was an added treat. A bit more malt flavor would have been appreciated. The barnyard is right at the limit; please don't push it further or it will degrade the experience.
Dec 03, 2022
Photo of LampertLand
Reviewed by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

3.79/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Vancouver Is. Brewing 'Northern Swell Session IPA' @ 5.0% , served from a 6pack of 355 ml cans
A-pour is a light gold from the can to a slight hazy gold in the glass with a small size white head , leaving a spotty lace along the tulip
S-dry-hopped
T-crisp & clean session IPA , the dry-hopped leads to a slight bitter finish
MF-ok carbonation , medium body
Ov-only needed a 4pack or a single tall boy can
prost LampertLand
Sep 24, 2022