Anytime my obsessive interest in beer comes up in discussion with someone not previously aware of my supposed "expertise" in the area, two things are generally asked of me. One is what beer is "the best" or "my favourite", and the other is how many different beers I've tried.
The first of these I usually deflect by listing the many variables (the season, the weather, food pairings, etc.) that I take into account when selecting a beer. The second is easier to answer: based on adding up the number of beers I've ticked on RateBeer, plus the backlog of several notebooks I've got filled with tasting notes that aren't yet entered, the current tally is running close to 3000.
This latter answer is usually qualified with an explanation that for many of those, I only had a sample, sometimes as small as an ounce or two. Which isn't to say that I don't prefer having larger samples of the beers I try. Working through a dozen Dixie Cup sized samples of new beers at a tasting or festival can be fun, but so is spending an evening drinking a pint or three of an old (or new) favourite.
In fact, it can be argued quite validly that many beers are best enjoyed in full servings versus blink-and-you'll-miss-it samples. Based on recent experience, I'm pretty confident in saying that Boneshaker IPA from Toronto's own Amsterdam Brewery is one of them.
My first taste of Boneshaker came in late May at C'est What's Spring Festival of Craft Breweries, where the samples come in small plastic cups and there's always a lot of new things to try - in other words, not an optimal situation for forming a full opinion of a beer. My notes indicate that I found the aroma "hot" with notes of "booze and nail polish remover", the body thin, and the flavour "unbalanced - and not in a good way". In other words, I didn't really dig it.
A few weeks later, I was asked to sit on the judging panel for the first round of Volo's Cask IPA Challenge, which meant blind tasting small samples of 22 different beers over the course of a couple of hours. Cross-referencing my notes with the beer list provided afterward, I found that my opinion of Boneshaker had changed considerably. While I described the aroma as "medicinal, green & a bit weird", I praised the "lingering grapefruity hops" in the flavour, giving it a "very good" rating overall.
So, what's the story here? Were the samples from different batches, one better than the other? Did the different times of the tastings (C'est What in the evening, Volo in the morning) play a role? Perhaps the beers I had directly preceding each sample caused my palate to be aligned differently? Or is it just not possible to make a truly reliable assessment of a beer based on quaffing a couple of ounces?
Whatever the reason(s), it seemed only fair to try a full pint or two of Boneshaker before making a final judgment. And having now done so, I'm pleased to report that my ultimate opinion is more in line with the notes from my second sample than my first.
Boneshaker is labelled an "Unfiltered India Pale Ale", and this is proven to be true by the pour, which brings a hazy reddish-orange body with a thick and persistent head of not-quite-white foam. The aroma has a hard time cutting through the head, but what does make it through is pleasant and fruity, with nice hints of pineapple and grapefruit, and not even a hint of nail polish remover. The body is medium full, and the flavour is chock full of hoppy goodness, with loads of citrus and tropical fruit, a bit of pine, and a long finish of grapefruit and orange zest. The malt definitely plays second fiddle, but offers enough caramel sweetness to be noticed.
Boneshaker IPA is available now in 500 ml bottles at the Amsterdam retail store, and on draught at select bars around town. In either format, it's worth having a full one - just act fast, as it's a limited release and won't be around for long.
