2.7 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Had this at the Camra beer festival in Calgary, 2011. Still going through some old tasting notes I’ve forgotten to put up on ratebeer. This one is a major disappointment. The pour is a light golden orange with a off-white head. A nose of subtle hops, grass and light caramel malts. The taste is sweet and grainy with a minor hop presence. Big Rock needs to learn how to brew a bigger and better IPA that this one. It has a nearly non-existant hop character with light grainy sweetness. A disappointment.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Pint at Laughing Buddha in Sudbury. Pale clear amber with a minimal off-white head. Pretty much no aroma - some dry leafy bitterness overlaid on sweet grain. Taste is ... Not very IPA-like - only vaguely bitter, actually it has more nutty nougat character, and no alcohol at all ... Too sweet (5-). Watery, slick mouthfeel, mercifully quick-finishing, slight sweet heather aftertaste. IPA? 50 IBUs???? At least that was a good, cleansing laugh!!!
3.2 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Understated English style IPA. Some bitterness from Fuggles and Golding. Orange colour with lots of lace. A touch of sour. Chewy above average mouthfeel. Like a pale ale. Grew on me. A little funky aroma.
On tap at Bottlescrew Bill’s.
0.9 AROMA 2/10 APPEARANCE 1/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 1/5 OVERALL 2/20
Pours clear ajd amber with no head. Aroma is very malty with subtle notes of corn filler. Tastes very malty caramel and burnt malt. There are no hops in thos beer. It is slightly bitter but all in all os god awful. In no way is this IPA. Way to do a shitty job as always big rock why don’t you stop cheaping out and brew a real beer. Hops are not that expensive you cheap bastards.
2.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
Bottle. Well Magpie sucked ass, let’s see how this holds up. The description seems promising, "a true IPA", at 50 IBUs, well, we’ll see about that. I was more optimistic about this brew prior to the Magpie, but I’m keeping an open mind. Pours clear amber, thin off-white head, lacing is spotty to decent. So far, so good. Nose is fresh baked bread, like walking into a bakery, along with nice spiciness. Flavours are lightly bitter and spicy, some nice sweetness, some real balance here. Let’s be perfectly clear. I like this beer. Labelled as the Magpie I would give this pretty high marks, but this is tagged as an IPA, which it fails MISERABLY at being. A nice beer, possibly even a very nice beer, but it is in absolutely no way an IPA. Have the Big Rock folks actually TASTED an IPA??? Jesus, there’s no need to be so fucking timid. Red Racer and Hophead are selling like CRAZY in Alberta, as are IPAs that are sold by the bottle (Mikkelller, Rogue, Lagunitas, Chalevoix, Half Pints, etc.). Why do you have to bitch out like this Big Rock? Can you seriously not brew better beers than this? No, you know what? This beer proves you CAN! This is a nice beer, a terrible IPA, but a nice beer. You can do better Big Rock. Hell, I do MUCH better on my 10-gallon system in my garage EVERY SATURDAY AFTERNOON! I really wanted to love you for this Big Rock, I honestly did. but you’ve hurt me for the last time.
3.2 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Tap at the brewery. Part of the new Brewmaster’s Series for select draft accounts. The batch for this pint was actually 44 IBU. Amber beer. Unfortunately the glasses at the brewery have an aroma of glass cleanser. Nice hop flavour reminds me of Alley Kat Full Moon with a lighter malt. The hops seem about as strong as the current grain bill can support. Nice beer and pairs well with food. Nice to see Big Rock stretching a bit. I look forward to future tweaks and adjustments.
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