Review: Malty National Gin & Joose New England IPA

It's been over two and a half years since I've last visited Malty National Brewing Corporation in Regina, Saskatchewan. I had a quick stop there to pick up some beer and growlers to take to Saskatoon for a friend's wedding. Since then, I haven't had the time or money to go back to the province.

There was a beer from Malty I really wanted to try.. I already forget what, but unfortunately it sold out pretty quickly. A week or two later I received Malty's Gin & Joose NEIPA in the mail from Greg over at Flatland Beer, what a nice treat! I think the last time I was at the brewery BOTH himself and Luke made impromptu appearances as they saw me check into a beer on Untappd, those guys are everywhere (in Regina).

Gin & Joose is a New England-style IPA that contains gin from Black Fox Farm & Distillery out of Saskatoon. I hate gin but I find I don't mind it as much in a beer.

From the label: Ingredients: Pale & Honey Malts - Black Fox Gin #3 - Mosaic, Citra & Chinook Hops - Foggy London Yeast. Contract brewed at District Brewing. Brewed on November 5, 2019. 5.9% ABV

I'm actually surprised that they had this brewed over at District, but if you've ever seen their brewhouse, it's tiny, so the beers that need to be made in larger quantities for sure has to be brewed off site because Malty's only so large (not large at all - awesome and cozy).

Appearance: Mildly hazy IPA with a honey-amber appearance to it, there's a good deal of floaties going through the beer the second I pour it in the glass, the floaties end up collecting all at the bottom within a moment or two. The head is thick, off-white/beigey and diminishes a tad as the beer goes down, mostly gives a bit of a spider web kind of look to the glass.

Aroma: Decent fruity/citrus notes coming from the beer with notes of lemon, a bit of pear, a light sourness and a hint of grapefruit. The gin is there but it's mostly giving off a bit of an herbal presence to it that compliments the floral/citrusy hops so far. Moderately cereal graininess in the beer. Slight sweetness of honey and caramel.

Taste: The taste of gin is pretty much there in every sip and I'm not a fan of gin but I don't mind it. The gin gives it a bit of a boozy bite to it, a bit of an herbal presence.. kind of like juniper or something? The hops react to the gin so it compliments it by giving it a bit of a leafy and mildly pine presence to it. The beer is somewhat citrusy with a bit of lemon, orange peel and something else I'm not really able to put my tongue on. Quite herbal, floral, a tad boozy, moderate amount of sweetness and a hint of graininess as well.

Overall Thoughts: Not as juicy or NEIPA-ish as I was hoping but it was definitely enjoyable. I found the gin was decently forward in the beer but not too much to make me cringe, but I was expecting much more of a classic ol' juice bomb themed NEIPA from Malty.