Game Day Beer Review: Whistler Brewing Cheakamus Chai-Maple Spiced Ale

(5.00% ABV) Poured into a rocks glass on a hotel balcony overlooking a thickly-wooded hillside in Whistler, Canada. Cheakamus Chai-Maple Ale poured a Coca-Cola brown with a thin tannish head that quickly receded.

The beer smelled strongly of sweet candied maple. Chai was the first flavor we noticed upon tasting, before the maple joined in and the two flavors combined for an exceptionally long finish. The beer was relatively thin bodied with a lively, effervescent mouthfeel.

Maple Ale was different than almost any other beer we've sampled, and for that we've got to give the brewmaster credit for trying something new. It's probably not something we'd drink regularly, but for a late spring / early summer beer we found it refreshing. B

Game Day Beer Review: Whistler Brewing Whiskey Jack English Pale Ale

 

(5.00% ABV)  Poured on draft into a pint glass and drunk in Whistler, Canada. Whiskey Jack showed a clear amber color with very little head, although what small amount there was appeared as white as the still visible snowcap on the surrounding mountainside.

 

 

The beer's primary smell was malt, with no whiskey character noticeable.  Despite the name and what we felt was a suggested mental linkage to the barrel aging phenomenon so popular with craft brewers at the present moment, there was no whiskey character at all to this beer.

 

 

Malt and biscuit were the first things we tasted, but they were followed by a strangely sweet finish. We didn't detect any hops at all in our sample. We don't believe this beer is Whistler Brewing's best effort; in fact, we liked their Paradise River Grapefruit Ale and the Powder Mountain Lager much better. B-