Curmudgeon IPA - Grand River Brewing

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle from the LCBO, 500ml into a pint glass. Consumed March 5, and bottled on March 1. Good turnover!

Poured a light burgundy, filtered with a solid eggshell head. Coupled fingers of head resulted from the pour and had some very nice lacing and retention. Nose of berry, grapefruit, some breadiness, tea, molasses and mild toffee notes. Taste is similar, and quite bitter all around. I'm getting some more berry and grapefruit in the finish, with the malts being fairly pronounced as well. Earthy hops and a long, earthy, dry and bitter finish. Maybe some light spicing too? Good mouthfeel and something I'd certainly pick up again. Enjoyed this one.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2011 00:36:22 | More by liamt07

HATS4BATS

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -32.2%

05-17-2013 23:21:40 | More by HATS4BATS

BigGruntyThirst

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

04-27-2013 02:26:40 | More by BigGruntyThirst

henryhampton

South Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%

02-27-2013 19:32:54 | More by henryhampton

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +8.4%

02-13-2013 04:04:05 | More by DaPan

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -18.7%

11-06-2012 18:02:05 | More by cfalovo97

kinguy

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -5.1%

11-03-2012 21:16:15 | More by kinguy

Molson2000

Ontario (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +22%

09-10-2012 22:05:01 | More by Molson2000

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

4.13/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; bottled on May 30 2012. Never had this one before, but my expectations are fairly high. One of my favourite styles meets one of my favourite Ontario craft brewers.

Pours a beautiful reddish-copper colour, quite deep in hue and with perfect clarity. Topped with a little more than one finger of creamy, light-tan coloured head with unremarkable retention. The sides of the glass are coated in lacing by the time it dies down, though, so overall this is one great looking brew. Nice aroma, but nothing spectacular - biscuity malts and caramel are fairly prominent, with some earthy hop undertones. A few notes of orchard fruit that remind me of a regular English pale ale.

Excellent flavour that changes throughout the sip. Malty flavours take over the palate at first - lightly toasted buttered biscuits, caramel sweetness, with a hint of strawberry or passionfruit. These are countered later in the sip by floral, earthy, grapefruit-citrus rind notes from the hops. Bittersweet finish, with lingering dryness. Medium-bodied, with subdued carbonation. Heavenly mouthfeel, and extremely drinkable for a bitter brew at 6.5%, but probably not something I'd want to drink more than one or two of in a night.

Final Grade: 4.13, a satisfying A-. All in all, Curmudgeon IPA is a remarkably well-balanced brew, and at least to me, a new gold standard for the English IPA style. There is some solid hop bitterness to this brew, but the strong malt profile means that this can potentially satisfy both hopheads and haters alike. I myself am more of an American IPA guy, but this is every bit as enjoyable for different reasons. What's not to like?

I would happily recommend this to someone looking for a good English IPA, and will certainly get it again some time. Well worth the price - once again proving to me that you just can't go wrong with Grand River. Cheers, and great work!

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2012 06:16:15 | More by thehyperduck

mspang

3/5  rDev -18.7%

06-18-2012 03:14:50 | More by mspang

caporegimo

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Not a lot on the nose. Some sweet caramel, molasses,and a bit herbal. Beautiful clear copper color with a white frothy head which dissipates rather quickly but leaves spiderweb-like lacing. Sweet malty body is balanced perfectly by a rather generous amount of bitter hops. This one builds as the beer goes on. Beautiful English style IPA from one of Ontario’s best brewery’s

Serving type: cask

05-17-2012 18:34:14 | More by caporegimo

traumaqueen

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%

05-15-2012 03:38:53 | More by traumaqueen

MattPS

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

05-14-2012 01:20:10 | More by MattPS

Wordslinger

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -18.7%

05-06-2012 01:30:23 | More by Wordslinger

ZorPrime

Quebec (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle received from a trade with Liam. Cheers BAmate!

Bottled on march 2, 2012. Drank on April 10, 2012.

Color is copper, very dark copper. No head, maybe due to my inability of pouring beer adequately! :) The aroma is very strong on the malts, lots of caramel malts, I get some small touch of burnt sugar too. Some hazelnuts. Nice. Very strong malty aroma.

The taste is again very caramel malts with a finish that has some bites. Maybe a little bit spicy. This is true English Style IPA if you ask me. Very nice and so easy to drink and refreshing. As it warms up, I notice that there is some woody notes in there. Nice again.

I really like this one. A very good IPA in the English Style... you don't find this quite often in those days of American IPA domination!

Seek this one.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2012 18:56:27 | More by ZorPrime

beerhunter13

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -5.1%

04-09-2012 10:48:38 | More by beerhunter13

Groulxsome

Ontario (Canada)

4.4/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottled March 17, 2012. Drank April 6, 2012.

A: A deep copper with reddish tones. Clear, with a thick, firm off-white head which doesn't show any signs of dissipating. Almost like the kind of head you get on a Guinness or Killkeny type of beer. It might be faulted for being a little too dark (almost like an ESB) for the style, but not by me.

S: Some toasty malts. A little dry earthy-ness from the hops. A little light floral, somewhat creamy smelling, like a strawberry ice-cream.

Flavour: Assertive hop bitterness. Very assertive! One of the finest bitters I've had in a while, actually. It's sharp, acidic (like a grapefruit in bitterness and acidy) and wraps around your tongue. The opening, however, is mild and pleasant. There are toffee, caramel, and bread notes. With the floral from the hops the malt sweetness is almost like strawberry. It finishes dry. The bitterness lingers in a really perfect way.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth. The creamy head appearance does not betray the mouthfeel. It's creamy like it's from a nitro can but it was just a normal bottle. A medium body with a fairly light carbonation. A little alcohol warming which works with the lingering bitter.

Overall: An extremely well executed beer. It's earthy with a rich malt body, a killer bitter, and a creamy mouthfeel and head. One of the best English IPA's I've ever had. This would be absolutely awesome on cask somewhere. It would pair well with good pub food like (a good) fish and chips or meat pies. The bitter and the alcohol warming are strong enough to cut through heavy, greasy, rich foods. It's also perfect for on its own.

I understand that I have rated this beer high above the average. To my understanding of this style they have nailed it pretty hard. As much love as I have for the American style IPAs, this makes me want more English ones - especially more of this one.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2012 01:37:23 | More by Groulxsome

WeissBoy

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

04-06-2012 04:48:21 | More by WeissBoy

korguy123

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottled March 17th, 2012

A- Burnt copper with red highlights. Two finger soapy off white head with excellent lacing.

S- Sweet malts, nice biscuit and earthy floral hops. Slight grass and citrus rind.

T- Sweet malt, bittering hops (pine and floral) touch of strawberry and a long lingering bitter finish.

M- Medium bodied, good carbonation.

O- This one really grows on me. I was never a English IPA fan (always a West Coast American IPA) but this is my favorite out off all I've tried.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2012 19:15:18 | More by korguy123

dipso123

California

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%

03-27-2012 23:58:55 | More by dipso123

Yeoman9459

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Comes in a 500mL bottle, 6.5% abv, pounred into Grand River Brewings pint glass. Bottled March 2nd.

Appearance - deep red almost brown colour. Off white, khaki head thats pretty bubbly and probly wont stick around for a while.

Smell - pine, grapefruit, little bit of caramel maltness.

Taste - Overwelming pine taste with an earthy characteristic to it, some fruity notes, but pine hops seem to be the dominating taste.

Mouthfeel - pretty smooth feel, not much carbonation and a lingering bitterness. Closer to medium bodied.

Overall - good beer, closer to the english style ipa.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2012 18:59:27 | More by Yeoman9459

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: It has a nice copper/amber color to it. It has a nice thick tan head that dies down slowly and leaves nice lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitly give out hints of citrusy, piney and earthy notes with some bready and caramelly notes.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a nice citrusy, earthy and piney hop character with a nice caramelly malt backbone, some toffee notes and a lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with good flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 20:28:22 | More by SebD

irishkyle21

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +8.4%

01-17-2012 21:15:22 | More by irishkyle21

kelvarnsen

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +8.4%

11-30-2011 18:08:53 | More by kelvarnsen

hopsolutely

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

My favourite regular Grand River beer thus far.

Taste varies significantly from year-to-year, but the 2011 batch may well be the best yet. Less malt-forward than earlier years, with both citrus and pine notes as well as a delightful bitterness in the finish. A shame that the hard Cambridge water seems to consistently prevent aroma, but very pleasant to drink nonetheless. Beautiful clear, dark amber in colour with excellent head retention and pleasantly slick mouthfeel. Hides its 6.5% ABV frightenly well.

Although still miss the old bottle label shown on this site, a real pleasure to drink. Can only hope that one day Grand River will choose to brew a full fledged American Pale Ale as well...

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2011 22:17:29 | More by hopsolutely