The Bar Towel

My thoughts on Curmudgeon:

http://www.tasteto.com/2009/02/24/beer- ... dgeon-ipa/

Quick summary: I liked it.

Bobsy wrote:I had this at Volo last night. I had a lot of anticipation because I've really enjoyed the 10 other Grand Rivers offerings I've drank, but this one left me a little disappointed. While it was still a very decent beer, the aroma and the flavours weren't as assertive as I hoped. It seemed very close in character to a lot of the bitters I used to drink when I was back in England - sessionable, but not exceptional.

I had this at Volo tonight, and Bobsy's post sums up my feelings exactly. Tried it once, certainly decent, not exceptional. Enjoyed the cask Granite Hopping Mad more.

to those of you who have tried the Curmudgeon once and not found it spectacular please try it again but first know this is the most layered, complex IPA ive ever tasted and try a bottled version at just below room temp.

matt7215 wrote:to those of you who have tried the Curmudgeon once and not found it spectacular please try it again but first know this.....

this is not a west coast IPA....

this is the most layered, complex IPA ive ever tasted....

try a bottled version at just below room temp.

I'm fully aware that the Curmudgeon is not intended to be a west coast IPA, and I'm glad of that. I've tried too many cookie cutter attempts on that style already, and I'm not sure it would suit the mineral qualities of Grand River's water anyway.

Maybe its a completely different beast from a bottle, and I'd love to have the opportunity to try it. I'm sure we've all found that the difference between tap and bottle can be quite pronounced for some beers. However, I can only talk of my own experience, and the reality is that most people are going to have this on tap. While I found the beer to be well balanced, there didn't seem much depth or complexity to that balance, and no one thing leaped out at me that said this is a great beer. I found the aroma to be subdued, even after the beer had warmed considerably, and the appearance was only average for the style. The body also seemed a bit rough. I will try it again though because Grand River are my favourite local brewery, but I just found this one to be a bit disappointing.

matt7215 wrote:to those of you who have tried the Curmudgeon once and not found it spectacular please try it again but first know this is the most layered, complex IPA ive ever tasted and try a bottled version at just below room temp.

Funny that was my first impression after a bottle served fairly chilled.....I "got" that it was a British version of the style, (which I'm not all that partial to) and it seemed a tad 2 dimensional.... but in a subsequent tasting I had it on tap in a pint glass and allowed the the last 2/3s of the drink to warm to almost room temp. The layering was definitely evident but it was an earthy-woodsy-herbaceous complexity...very indicative of other ales I had where there was Fuggles used in dry hopping or with infusion process.

As I stated earlier, the modern English IPA is not my preferred version of this style but this GRB offering is satisfying, flavorful and very approachable and of course the killer factor with any GRB brew is it's freshness. It will be interesting to see if that well deserved reputation holds out after they hand their product over to the LCBO for distribution...hopefully they can buy cooler space.

Bobsy wrote:

I'm fully aware that the Curmudgeon is not intended to be a west coast IPA, and I'm glad of that. I've tried too many cookie cutter attempts on that style already,

Not me. I never tire of the style and I can never get enough variants with their juicy grapefruit tones and rich malt spine...damn I want another case of Big Sky IPAs now dammit

I just tapped the cask and I have to say it's truly superb. 2 of our loyal real-ale fans happened to be at the bar and they tried it too and were raving about it when I left to post this message. I can see this moving fast.....

Well done Rob, Bob and all the crowd at GR.

King Edward wrote:I just tapped the cask and I have to say it's truly superb. 2 of our loyal real-ale fans happened to be at the bar and they tried it too and were raving about it when I left to post this message. I can see this moving fast.....

Well done Rob, Bob and all the crowd at GR.

I'll see if I can get there on Saturday to give it a try on cask. Should I ask for Rich?

Any of our friendly staff will be able to help you, but by all means ask if I'm around and I'd love to say hello. I'm in and out on Saturday as we are catering a bonspeil.

Rich

Had this last night at Volo..... good stuff and didn't disappoint. Look forward to the bottled version. Would like to try this on cask.

King Edward wrote:Any of our friendly staff will be able to help you, but by all means ask if I'm around and I'd love to say hello. I'm in and out on Saturday as we are catering a bonspeil.

Rich

I'll be by Saturday Rich. It'll be good to see ya!

I had a pint of the Curmudgeon IPA at Volo on Friday night. It was very good up there with Durham Hop Addict as one of my favourite OCB beers. Hope it's on tap at the Victory soon !

After 8 or 9 bottles from my case, I finally got to try this on tap last night at the Phoenix. I agree that it is different between the two mediums and I liked it even better on tap. The malt seemed even chewier and more buiscuitty and the fruitiness was more upfront. The marrigae between the big earthy fuggles and the sharp mineral quality of the water that I found a little challenging in the bottle seemed to be a little more balanced as well. A simply killer IPA.

matt7215 wrote:to those of you who have tried the Curmudgeon once and not found it spectacular please try it again but first know this is the most layered, complex IPA ive ever tasted and try a bottled version at just below room temp.

You are quite right on that note, I let one warm up for a while on the counter tonight for the first time and wow, what a beautifully complex brew, I only have about 5 left but they are my most cherished beers in my fridge right now.

I've just tapped another cask of this fine ale this morning. In my view it's even better than the last, more rounded with a longer finish. Not that the finish on the last cask was short by any means.

And if you do come in and try please don't ask for it to be dyed green if you're in on St Pat's!

Visited the brewery yesterday to pick up the IPA and Pils which I have yet to sample.

Overall, a great old building. It was a pleasure to meet Bob and tour the facility.

Also got to sample the Imperial Stout. I could taste a little molasses but it wasn't overbearing. At 9%, though, I could easiy sit and drink 2 or 3 of these without getting hit with too much alcohol taste.

Cheers,
J