B.C. Beer Reviews is back to give some love to a brewery that does not get the attention they should in the lower mainland, Fernie Brewing. The men and women of Fernie Brewing have been consistently putting out solid beers since opening, and the Slingshot Session IPA is no exception to that statement.

B.C. Beer Reviews with Nic Hendrickson: Fernie Brewing – Slingshot Session IPA

As stated above, in my humble opinion, the folks at Fernie Brewing do not get the attention they deserve in the lower mainland. They are a brewery that has yet to put out a beer I did not enjoy drinking, and the Slingshot Session IPA is in there.

Let’s take a look at this one.

Colour

This beer poured a rather clear and bright yellow colour from the can. The clarity diminishes when the glass is full, but the bright yellow colour remains. Hits the style spot on.

Nose/Aroma

As soon as you pour this you get a very noticeable, but not pungent, floral and piney notes that are accompanied by a light hint of citrus. The citrusy notes come off as more of a citrus zest or orange peel rather than the fruit itself. This is certainly a beer with a good deal of hops used, hence why these notes are so prevalent.

When you get a closer sniff you get a bit more than the hop presence. You get the noticeable sweetness indicative of the malt/grain bill. It is not strong, but it is definitely noticeable.

This is a rather balanced nose/aroma. The hop presence is balanced nicely by the strong backbone of the malt/grain bill in this one.

Tasting Notes

The floral and piney notes that you get in the nose/aroma follow through as the dominant characteristic in the tasting notes. Once again, it is not anywhere near being pungent, but rather a smooth bitterness that lingers just a little bit after each sip.

There is a little backbone of the malt/grain bill here as well. It is not as strong as it is in the nose/aroma, but it helps to balance out the beer a bit. This one still undeniably leans heavily towards the hoppy notes.

This one also has a fairly dry finish to it. The finish accompanied by the floral and piney bitterness from the hops makes it seem drier yet. Definitely not to the level of being labeled astringent, but certainly dry for a session beer.

Other Notes

The branding/labeling is typical of Fernie Brewing. They always have their cans and bottles in a two colour scheme. This one is sky blue on the top and green on the bottom. The colour scheme of the can is accompanied by the picture of a slingshot with hops scattered along the ground.

The head poured from this beer is below average. The retention of that head is also on the low end. It dissipates rather quickly.

There is a decent amount of lacing throughout. The glass is not coated, but it is present throughout with thin patches of lacing on the sides of the glasses.

If you are trying to guess what kind of hops were used, good luck guessing them all.

Final Grade

The hops used are definitely the alpha in this beer, imparting strong notes of floral and piney bitterness. They dominate the nose/aroma and the tasting notes, with the latter being even more towards the hops. However, there is a noticeable presence of the malt/grain bill that keeps it at a respectable level of balance.

This beer likely will not blow your socks off, but it is rather easy to drink a six pack of. Screams of being a beer to drink a few off in the warm weather on a porch. Good, but certainly nothing groundbreaking.

Grade: 7.8/10

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