Stoke IPA has bitter, complex taste.

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This article was published 28/08/2015 (3873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back in January 2014, I started the First Draught column in the Brandon Sun as a way to introduce local beer drinkers to new beers that most people would never have sampled otherwise.

I’ve reviewed a wide assortment of wheat ales, India pale ales, stouts, a few lagers and even a cider or two. Just like you, I’ve learned a lot about beer just from the weekly First Draughts — and my taste buds sure do enjoy it!

My inaugural review in 2014 was Steinlager Pure, a liberally hopped pale lager from New Zealand that turned into one of my favourite import lagers — it sure beats Heineken or Stella Artois any day of the week.

Rod, the manager at the west-end Liquor Mart Express (in Sobeys), kept recommending Steinlager two or three years back, telling me it’s the “purest beer you’ll ever try.”

Sure enough, Rod was right. Steinlager Pure tasted like it was just bottled that very day. It had a very crisp taste with a nice clean, yet bitter, hop profile to it, which gave off a nice hint of pine and no noticeable skunky aroma.

Since Steinlager came out, I’ve wanted to try more beers from New Zealand.

The newest import available at Liquor Marts is Stoke India pale ale by McCashin Family Brewery out of Nelson, New Zealand.

As some of you may already know, India pale ales are harder to ship than many other beers because hoppy beers are best served fresh, within two months of the production date. Depending on the beer, after it reaches two months, the hop characteristics change, giving off different flavours than what the brewers intended.

So, for a beer coming from all the way from New Zealand, it’s possible that Stoke IPA could have been in transit and warehouse for quite a while before being sold in stores. I hope not.

Thankfully, Stoke IPA’s life expectancy is approximately nine months as I notice the “best before” date is March 18, 2016 — so this beer still has quite a ways to go before it’s past its prime.

Stoke pours an orange, cloudy honey-amber ale, a bit heavier than your typical IPA. There’s a bit of an off-white head that’s sticking to the side of the glass but that’s about it.

The aroma is mostly malt forward with a mild hoppy presence. There are notes of lemon, lots of barley to give it an aroma reminiscent of a grainery, and I’m noticing a hint of fruitiness — possibly pear — plus a medley of various hops that give off a grassy and pine scent. It smells slightly woody like a whisky and there’s a hint of caramel malt.

The taste is more complex to me. It immediately leaves a bitter, metallic sensation on my tongue, yet minimal real presence of flavourful hops. I’m tasting a bit of lemon pledge, even more whisky-like woodiness, minimal sweetness of pear and an overly acidic mouthfeel, which combined with the metallic sensation, is not appetizing.

Well, even though the “best before” date is still several months away, I feel this beer is already past its prime. The overly metallic and woody notes that replace floral and pine tip flavours are a sure sign that the beer just isn’t fresh.

This is more of an English-style IPA, more malt forward than the bitter and full-of-hop West Coast IPAs we are more accustomed to on the Prairies. But even then, English-style IPAs tend to have a sweet caramel malt focus, while this one does not.

You can find Stoke IPA for $2.64 per 330mL bottle at Liquor Marts in Brandon (10th and Victoria) and Dauphin. If I were you, I’d pick up a bottle of Steinlager as well.

Stoke packs 4.8 per cent ABV.

• Rating: 2 pints out of 5.

Cody Lobreau is a Canadian beer blogger who reviews every beer he can get his hands on as he believes that he should try every beer twice to get an understanding if it’s truly good or bad.

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