Amsterdam Boneshaker Unfiltered India Pale Ale (7.1%)
I have a somewhat difficult history with the flagship IPA of Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewing, dating from well before the company was purchased by Royal Unibrew of Denmark in 2022. The long-time head brewer at Amsterdam, Iain McOustra, is a brewer I admire and many of his specialties, seasonals, and one-offs over the years have rated quite highly with me.
Boneshaker, on the other hand, I’ve always found to be, well, a bit much. Even when others whose palates I respect were lauding it, I thought it a bit too brash and over-bearing, its hoppiness less an enjoyable bitterness than a grapefruity slap in the face. I never thought it bad, just not quite my cup of hoppy tea.
Then the company released it in a 568 ml ‘stovepipe’ can, and for no reason other than its new packaging, I decided it was time for a reassessment. I am glad I did.
Pouring a rich copper-amber colour with a generous and lasting collar of just off-white foam, this seems less cloudy than it was when I last paid the beer a visit, I think a couple of years ago. Still quite hazy, but a fair ways from the turbidity found in so many beers these days.
On the nose, it is Old School through and through, with loads of grapefruity notes – pith, rind, and juice – supported by a piney backdrop accented by plum, sweet raisin, and maybe even a touch of something vanilla-ish. This translates well into the flavour, although in a manner I find much less heavy-handed than it used to be, with slightly chocolaty, slightly caramelly malt at the forefront before the hoppiness kicks in mid-palate.
About that hoppiness. Maybe I’m simply nostalgic for a bygone age when IPAs were unapologetic about their hop bitterness, but I find this Boneshaker to be far more balanced than the one in my taste memory, with mostly grapefruity citrus and resinous herb flavours dominating but not subjugating malty notes of milk and dark chocolate, prune and date, and even a fleeting hint of licorice. The bone(shaker) dry finish returns to its grapefruity emphasis, but also leaves a touch of woody spice lingering.
Again, maybe it is my nostalgia doing the tasting, but I’m finding this Boneshaker to be a positive breath of fresh air relative to so many of the tentative IPAs of today, both hazy and not. For those who appreciate a solid dose of bitterness in their beer, the way North American IPAs used to be, this is a definite winner.
87 ($4.25/568 ml)