Today was one of the worst days I've had in several, several months - Essentially it was one of those days where if anything could go wrong, it certainly did. Well, the day's almost over and I was wanting to get a big buzz tonight after all that, but I decided against it. Instead, how about review a newish beer that I recently purchased without thinking about it?
I absolutely love Halifax's Garrison Brewing's beers, they were one of the first non-local craft breweries I really enjoyed. I think my first review was their Imperial IPA, which at the time I said was expensive at $5.00 for a 500mL bottle, which now looking back.. I'll spend $7 on a 473mL can without blinking.. oh how the times change, but I was unemployed back then so I guess I just couldn't afford to really buy beer at all at that time.
Today's Garrison review is their Wicked Good New England-style Pale Ale. I regularly buy their Juicy Double IPA, which I find to be a great substitute to a New England IPA when you just can't find one. I've stated many times in the past that I'm bored of the NEIPA trend, but on a day like today I could really go for the taste of a beer tasting like juice!
Appearance: As you can probably tell, there's a lot of head on this head.. very thick and off-white. It took about 20 minutes for it to finally be minimal enough so I could finally get a chance to take a sip of this beer. The body is a thick, orange juice-like appearance, yet it's not as hazy as some NEIPAs when closer to the base of the glass.
Aroma: There's a moderate tropical fruit sweetness popping up in this beer.. not overly juicy like many of the style that I've had in the past. Light amount of floral hop presence, and a light sweet wet barley smell.
Taste: I'm not really getting much of the typical over-the-top sweet & juicy flavour that a good NE(I)PA typically has, rather it tastes like how a NE(I)PA would taste if I had a really bad cold.. there's definitely something there but it's light on taste. There is a bit of orange peel, a bit of a Five Alive kind of taste to it, and a slight bitter aftertaste at the end. I like the sweetness but I want a serious punch from this beer.
Overall Thoughts: Even though I bought this fairly recently, I took a look at the bottom of the can to see what the canning date was - September 25, 2018, so not exactly fresh but definitely not yet at the point where it tastes oxidized or off. It was a nice beer but I'm picky when it comes towards the New England style after being lucky enough to sample NEIPAs in Vermont immediately before the style became a huge trend all over the continent. If I see it again, I'll probably buy it again but I'll check the canning date first before hand.
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