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BC Natural Selections 6-pk (BC Craft Brewers Guild)

Contribute your own beer reviews and ratings of beers that are made or available in Ontario.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

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Guybrush
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Location: London, Ontario.
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BC Natural Selections 6-pk (BC Craft Brewers Guild)

Post by Guybrush »

This 6-pk I picked up at the LCBO. It contained 6 different beers from B.C., and upon inspecting the 6 brews offered, I had only heard of 'Dead Frog Brewery', but not tasted any of them. It was worth a shot!

Contents:
Vancouver Island Brewery - Sea Dog Amber Ale - 5.2% alc.
Dead Frog Brewery - Pale Ale - 5% alc.
SteamWorks Brewery - Pale Ale - 5.2% alc.
Lighthouse Brewery - Switchback IPA - 6.5% alc.
Russel Brewing Co. - IP'eh - 6.5% alc.
Whistler Brewing Co. - Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale - 5% alc.

So let's start with the worst....
Whistler Grapefruit. This is horrible. I know, by mentioning how bad it is, it will make a lot of you not buy this 6-pack, and that 's a risk I'm willing to take. Maybe you just need to think of it as an over-priced 5-pack, with a spare bottle that you'll get 10-cents back on once you pour its' contents down the drain. Either way, take a sip of it, and try to tell me I'm wrong, this Grapefruit beer tastes nothing like grapefruit, and less like beer. End of story.

Now the middle of the pack....
Steamworks Pale Ale
Switchback IPA
Russell IP'eh

Not bad, basically good. Drinkable beers that I would not hesitate to consume on the future purchases of this 5-pack, that I will undoubtedly be making.

The best of the pack...
Van-city Island - Sea Dog - Amber Ale
Dead Frog Pale Ale

I tried to read up on Dead Frog on ratebeer.com, they seemed to have low-love for the brewery and it's beers. I'm not sure if maybe I got the one bottle that had all the hops in it, or what, but it tasted delicious, and is a reason I'll be buying this mixed 5-pack again.

The Sea Dog Amber was a pleasant surprise, I don't expect much from Amber's in mixed-packs, but this Amber had a pleasing malt flavour, and was enjoyable from start to finish.

Conclusion:
Take what you want from my reviews, maybe I like beers that you don't. But I swear this is a good mix of beers, even if they sell this 5-pack for the price of a 6-pack!

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S. St. Jeb
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Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

So tell us.....how do you really feel about the Whistler Grapefruit? :D

As for your comment that calling this beer horrible will make a lot not buy it.......well, won't affect me. I do consider opinions found on this website, but one bad beer out of six when I've not had the chance to try any of them....I'll still try for myself.

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S. St. Jeb
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Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

Guybrush wrote: Whistler Grapefruit. This is horrible.
Did you get the chance to try the Stiegl Grapefruit Radler? I did not, but just wondering how it compares.

TheSevenDuffs
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Post by TheSevenDuffs »

I really enjoyed Switchback IPA when I had it a while back. Haven't had any of the others though. Might pick up the 6er just to check it out.

Kel Varnsen
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Post by Kel Varnsen »

Wow I need to find this. I have never tried Seadog but I pretty much learned to drink on Vancouver Island Brewery beers when I was living in Victoria. Hermann's Dark Lager is one of my all time favourite beers, mostly for sentimental reasons. If this thing does well maybe they will send more.

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cratez
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Post by cratez »

Aside from the Switchback and, to a lesser extent, the IP'Eh, most of these have terrible to mediocre ratings on BA and RB. But we rarely see new stuff from B.C. here so I may just give it a try. Thanks for the heads up, Guy!
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott

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Derek
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Post by Derek »

Probably not a bad selection of gateway brews for a majority of people...

Vancouver Island Brewery - Sea Dog Amber Ale - 5.2% alc.

Solid amber ale. Reminds me of the 90's when every craft brewer was doing an amber.

Dead Frog Brewery - Pale Ale - 5% alc.

I like this a lot when it's fresh. It was the old brewer from Dix that crafted this one (he really sparked the cask revolution in Vancouver when he was at Dix). It's not a super hoppy west coast brew, it's just really nice. If you're ever around Crescent Beach, there's a great Greek restaurant (Pelagos) that has it on tap.

SteamWorks Brewery - Pale Ale - 5.2% alc.

It's fine, but not their best.

Lighthouse Brewery - Switchback IPA - 6.5% alc.

This is awesome when it's fresh, but the late hop additions just don't age very well.

Russel Brewing Co. - IP'eh - 6.5% alc.

I find that this is a bit like the old Ontario ales... with just a bit too much crystal.

Whistler Brewing Co. - Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale - 5% alc.

Woudn't be my pick either.

matt7215
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Post by matt7215 »

Whistler Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale

- pours hazed orange with almost no head and little carbonation. grapefruit and barley candy nose. the flavour is less sweet then the nose would suggest. not overly drinkable, too sweet to be refreshing. not what id go for in the summer but fine overall 2.9/5

Steamworks Signature Pale Ale

- copper with an off white head. malt forward nose. hopped to balanced but under hopped for the style. not bad but there are way better pale ale options at this abv 3.1/5

Dead Frog Pale Ale

- deep orange, small off white head, minimal carbonation. nothing to this aroma. flavour is heavy cara malt and a touch of hops. just enough bitterness, slightly aqueous. fine but forgetable 2.9/5


Vancouver Island Sea Dog Amber Ale

- Deep amber, small tan head. big malty nose. decent complexity and pretty well balanced flavour. not an alt but still a nice beer. reminds me of lake of bays rousse 3.5/5

Russell IP’eh

- This beer is a watery 6.5% abv American barley wine. Ipas don’t taste like this anymore. fine for 2003 3.2/5

Lighthouse Switchback IPA

- This is the best of the pack. A blonde ipa with a lean malt body and ample hopping. reminds me of an un-fresh mad tom. 3.6/5
Last edited by matt7215 on Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kel Varnsen
Bar Fly
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Location: Ottawa

Post by Kel Varnsen »

I finally finished off this six-pack, and with all the awesome beer out there I wasn't too impressed. The Switchback and the Sea Dog I liked. The Steamworks and the Russel beers were ok, but I probably wouldn't buy them. The grapefruit beer I thought was pretty bad.

And the Dead Frog beer was super infected. It tasted and smelled awful, was a huge gusher out of the bottle and there was even gross brown residue on the bottom of the bottle. I even emailed the brewery (and the brewmaster) and I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get a reply. That fact, more than the bad beer, would probably mean I would avoid Dead Frog in the future.

Ukie
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Location: Hamilton

Post by Ukie »

I had bought 2 six packs and it was only the very last bottle of Dead Frog that was infected, mega sludge in the bottom of the bottle. Don't remember the first one like that or even actually this one till I opened it.

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