For the first time in B.C. Beer Reviews there is a second addition from the same brewery. Barkerville Brewing of Quesnel, British Columbia was previously in B.C. Beer Reviews for their 52 Foot Stout.

This time is a much different beer. Out of the Ashes from Barkerville Brewing is their take on a rye white IPA. An interesting take on the popular style of india pale ale makes for a fun beer to review.

B.C. Beer Reviews with Nic Hendrickson: Barkerville Brewing – Out of the Ashes

Colour

The light golden yellow hue that is associated with IPAs and West Coast IPAs is spot on with the style of this beer. It is right in the middle ground of what you would expect of a West Coast or from a white IPA.

The clarity of this beer is impressive. While it is the middle ground of both styles in the pour, in the glass it is much closer to a West Coast IPA.

Nose/Aroma

The most dominant part of the nose is the floral notes. The floral aroma is reminiscent of spring or summertime blooms. This suits the West Coast styles and would make this a nice beer to have in warm weather.

There are notes of bright citrus notes, but it is hard to place exactly what kind of citrus fruits they would be. Nonetheless, they compliment the floral notes of this beer very nicely.

There is a background note of the rye used in this beer, but it is very subtle. It adds a layey of complexity to the nose/aroma that makes this a very interesting beer overall. They are certainly subdued in comparison to the aforementioned floral and citrus notes.

You get a bit of the hoppy bitterness in the nose/aroma, but it is very slight. You can also get a bit of the spicy notes in the nose that is a common characteristic of the Belgian yeast strain they used in the beer.

As the beer gets a bit warmer you will get more of the traditional aromas from Belgian yeast. These include scents like banana, which I got a good deal of towards the end of the glass.

Overall this is a very complex, and very nice nose/aroma.

Tasting Notes

The floral notes common to white IPAs hit you first in this one. The citrus notes follow suit with the nose and come shortly after. You also get a nice backbone of bitterness that is not at all overpowering.

The rye tasting notes are subdued, which is nice. They come through at the back end of each drink and add a nice finishing touch to each drink. They compliment the floral and citrus notes nicely, which is odd for rye to do.

The Belgian yeast used in this beer compliments the rye notes extremely well. It adds some dry and spicy notes to the end of the drink that gives it a nice crisp finish. The finish is super dry and a bit spicy, the polar opposite of the floral and citrus notes your first get.

There is a very complex tasting profile to this beer.

Other Notes

There is almost zero head to this beer, regardless of how meticulous or not you are with your pour. There also isn’t much to say about the head retention, primarily because there is very little head to retain.

There was a decent amount of lacing on the glass. It isn’t significant, but it is exactly what you would expect to see from this type of beer.

The branding on the bottle is much the same as their 52 Foot Stout: simple and sharp. They have a new school meets old school Western style look to the labels on their bombers. This sound odd, but it is actually quite sharp and it definitely catches your eye.

The difference between Out of the Ashes and the 52 Foot is that the lettering on this one is shiny and fluorescent, catching your eye almost immediately. Kudos to the marketing and branding team.

Final Grade

As stated above, there is a good deal of floral and citrus notes in both the nose/aroma and the tasting notes. The rye adds a level of complexity that is nice and not overpowering, even for those of us who do not like rye in their beer.

Overall, this is a very well-done beer.

Grade: 8.0/10

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Cheers!