I don’t know about you guys, but we’re getting wicked festive over here. Went to a Christmas tree farm, picked out a little tree, and spent some quality time getting it all gussied up. All of that hard work demands a thirst-quenching beverage. Luckily, I get to pull a surprise beverage out of a funny looking box every morning.
Here, have a look at what my weekend tasted like!
December 4: New Belgium Brewing – Voodoo Ranger IPA
This is one of those beer names that seems like it was picked out of a hat full of words, and then they designed the can around whatever came out. I like most things that feature skellies, and this can is sort of fun, but the name is annoyingly default wacky beer-name to me.
It seems as though New Belgium is an American brewing company that has subcontracted this beer to Steamwhistle for the Canadian market? I wasn’t really aware that Steamwhistle was brewing anything other than their flagship hotdog-water flavoured pilsner, but here we are.
This is a 7% IPA. It’s bitter, but not crazy bitter. Something about it tastes kind of old fashioned to me, but I can’t find the words to better explain what I mean by that. It’s fine. I don’t know that I would rush out for another one.
Jollymeter score: 5/10
December 5: Whitewater Brewing Company – Wild Bog Cranberry Sour
At first glance, this beer seems to have a the same kind of word salad name that I just complained about, but I am now reading that cranberries used to grow wild in bogs, so… this one actually makes sense. I was resistant to the sour beer explosion a few years back, but have come to enjoy them fairly regularly these days. Never more than one in a sitting, mind you, but they can be extremely refreshing and they lend themselves pretty well to the addition of extra flavours.
This is a good sour. Flavoured beer sometimes suffers from having a “fake-y” taste, but the cranberry notes work well here. Very refreshing and nicely carbonated. Pretty to look at, although I was hoping for more of a pink colour when I poured it. The flavour is intense. Each sip is a bit bracing. I could definitely only drink one of these in a day.
Fun to drink and fun to say the word “bog”, so I will pick this up again at some point.
Jollymeter score: 8/10
December 6: Beau’s Brewing Co. – Wag The Wolf White IPA
Beau’s Brewing Co. is pretty similar to Steamwhistle in the respect that I feel like they’ve been largely defined by just one beer. Their flagship beer, Lugtread, is a totally fine and drinkable ale. Comes in a fun bottle that you should probably only have one of. I hadn’t really given much thought to their other products, but my mystery box has presented me with a reason to.
White Wolf White IPA has a pretty nice looking can design. I’m not the world’s hugest fan of wheat beers in general, but they’re a pleasant change from time to time. This beer pours characteristically light, and created such copious amounts of head that my wife started mocking me for not knowing how to pour a beer and I’m not sure if the beer should lose points for that or if somehow I should just lose points for that.
This beer delivers exactly what its style suggests. It features the bright, lightly fruity notes of a wheat beer, while also serving up a bitter hoppy snap. It was refreshing, but I feel a little more partial to a straight-up IPA. Usually with a wheat beer or white ale, you can throw a lemon wedge into the mix in order to liven things up, but I’m not sure that the lemon would work very well in this case.
I think that this beer is good, but it’s maybe just not my thing.
Jollymeter rating: 7/10
This brings the weekend to a close! What will the next week bring? Hopefully some more beer and maybe some weather that doesn’t make us all want to jump into a wild bog and drown ourselves.
The Fraudsters' Almanac 
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