Granite Brewery Hopping Mad

Brewed by Granite Brewery (Toronto)
Style: American Pale Ale
Toronto, Canada

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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On tap at Volo during cask days, hop infused. Amber pour, very little head. Aroma of extreme tea like hops. Taste is ok at best - the very thin yet malty body gets overwhelmed by hops very quickly. Terribly unbalanced - and I like my unbalanced extreme hoppy beers - , I just cannot stand this tea like taste that I get when many Ontario brewers try their hand at hopping up their beers. I will retry this one not hop infused because usually Granite can do no wrong for me.

on Cask at volo. cloudy yellow, not much foam. nose is hoppy as hell very grassy. flavor was grapefruit with a good malt background well balanced beer

On tap at Cest What? , Toronto
Appearance: medium clean amber ale with darker hints , smallish top.
Nose: Slight vanilla hint on hop base , rich caramel malt at bottom , baking soda.
Flavor/Palate : Medium full bodied. Oily texture. Hops in centre. A bit rough with wrinkle-up palate, almost medicinal like flavour that did not come from infection. Sweet maltier finish with black tea hop.

New useful addition to their lineup, and perhaps their best beer. An understated IPA whose orange-grapefruit citrus and good use of hops and freshness lends itself well to the cask format. Pours grapefruit cloudy colour with abundant soapy bubbles. Taste is a bit soapy and hoppy. There is a bit of clorine/alcohol that may be due to the glass cleaning. Medium mouthfeel, smooth and drinkable.

Cask. At Victory Cafe. Holy crap this is a great beer - freshly tapped, I had a few pints of it, hands-down the best beer they make and I think that it, along with Durham Hop Head are my two favourite cask beers in Ontario. Cloudy, light yellow pour, smallish head. Thick pungent floral hop aroma with background sweetness - incredible smell, like the best of the floral/grassy English golden ales. The taste followed - sweet grainy body and lush waves of grassy/pungent floral bitterness - I couldn’t wait for the second pint. Average body, not over carbonated but quite lively on the tongue, intense floral bitterness that manages to leave no aftertaste - has a crisp, dry finish to it. Awesome pint - a must try; well done Granite!

UPDATED: OCT 18, 2008 2008-10-17. Dark amber body with modest off white head. (3+) Nice hopp aroma, light caramel malt and earthy character. (7+) Pleasant moderate bitterness throughout, light earthy malt has and "English"ness to it for lack of a better description. Muted notes of herbal hops? Interesting melange of flavours show brief appearances. Smooth average palate. Just a bit more interesting than last time, went back for more. 7+/3+/7/3/16 - 3.6 Cask @ Volo Cask Days 2008

2008-10-03. Dark orange amber body. (3+) Sweetish aroma with notes of a spice almost, hop accents. (6+) Reminds me a lot of one of their other beers but I can’t place which one. Earthy bitterness, touches of nutty not quite toasty malt, pleasant bitterness. Echoes of the Peculiar. Not nearly as bitter as one would expect from the name. Average plus palate. Found it a bit odd at times, but I think this is one I will re-visit. 6/3/7/3/14 - 3.3 On tap at C’est What

Draught at C’est What. Pours a slightly hazy dark copper with no head. Decent hoppy aroma well backed by malt. Flavour, also decent, of hops and caramel malt. Good body for the style. Different then what I expected, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would -- but it’s good though.
Note: Had this again on cask at The Victory and this time I loved it. Looked great, nice and cloudy. Smelled great, tasted great...well done! I need to go to Granite to get some growlers of this!

UPDATED: SEP 23, 2009 Cask at C’est What - poured a reddish caramel colour with a smallish head. Aroma mainly malty, with a hop presence lurking in the background. The flavour is the inverse - quite rounded with the hops sticking out, but the caramel malt is there all the way, providing a nice canvas on which the hops can play. Slightly metallic. Quite a lovely beer, and one I hope becomes a regular offering from Granite.

On tap @ C´est What? Fall Fest. Nose is a full malt, hints of caramel, light copper, zero head, strong malty taste, hops are subtle, but present, medium bodied, strong bitterness is most appreciated. Great! Well Done Ron!