One of the most interesting beer projects in Canada recently (and I mean that in an entirely objective fashion), is Double Trouble Brewing’s Hops and Robbers IPA. The brewery has been operated for only five months, but they, from the beginning, had big ambitions for national distribution.

Double Trouble is a contract brewer. It is brewed at Wellington Brewery in Toronto, and some reports said it is/will also be brewed at Paddock Wood in Saskatoon (I haven’t taken time to confirm that, but I am pretty certain that PW is NOT yet brewing it). What makes them unique is their explicit intention of becoming, in short order, a nationally distributed beer – Canada’s first national craft brewer without a brewery. These boys think big.

That means the stakes are high. The beer had better be high  quality and they need some way to overcome their lack of brewing control.

Their (for now) only beer hit Alberta beer shelves in the past couple of weeks, in single-sales super cans. As you might expect, I could not resist the urge to pick one up to try.

What I found was a light orange-copper beer with really attractive clarity and a decent, fluffy white head. The aroma is a bit subdued. I pick up some piney hops and a soft, biscuit malt. Lurking is a touch of honey and a subtle fruity ester. I was hoping for a bit more aroma.

Upfront, the beer presents with toasted biscuit, some graininess and a sharp, chalky edge. Hops moves in at mid-palate, suggesting citrus and some pine. At first you expect the hops to just keep rising and take over the beer, but they never do. They level off at a moderate level. It finishes remarkably balanced. In the linger I get some resiny hop across the top of my mouth and a slightly off-putting metallic note. At times it feels the hops come through as metallic rather than bitter.

Overall it is a pleasant beer, reminding me a bit of Alley Kat Full Moon (although with a rougher edge). Which tells me immediately that this is no IPA. A marketing over-sell? Possibly. This is a decent, well-crafted beer that is quite enjoyable. Call it a Pale Ale, and I am with it all the way. The metallic character might be due to travel, packaging or something else, so I am not sure that is a major problem. It just isn’t an IPA in my mind.

If you want to be Canada’s first virtual national brewery, this could be an appropriate beer to try it with. Just, please, please, don’t oversell it. Because that just pisses me off.