Passive Aggressive Dry-Hopped Pale Ale

While in Vancouver, I made it a top priority to visit a couple of the city's microbreweries. In Van City, it seems like breweries pop up like mushrooms after a rainstorm, which is as it should be. However, it made choosing which breweries to visit a difficult ordeal, particularly since beer tourism wasn't really the point of the trip. One of the places that we settled on was Brassneck Brewery. The tasting room at Brassneck was a pretty swank environment, in its own way. The space is filled with rough-hewn wood and a hempy hop aroma. It's clearly a hipster haven.

Passive Aggressive Dry-Hopped Pale Ale was the first beer that caught my interest. I had a 12oz. mug of the stuff, fresh from the source. It contains 7% alcohol. It has a hazy golden colour and a luxurious and durable off-white head. It also has a surprising amount of carbonation.

I found its nose to be quite charismatic, with curvacious notes of tropical fruit backed with a stalwart hop bass line. It's scent has a slightly candied quality. Passive Aggressive's mouthfeel is crisp, if perhaps a touch thin. Passionfruit and citrus swirl together with a nice bitterness to make this beer eminently drinkable for a strong ale. The finish is quite dry and has a short bitterness that is outlasted by the lingering fruit flavours.

Passive Aggressive Dry-Hopped Pale Ale tastes nowhere near its 7% alcohol content, which helps it go down with lightening pace. White a bit thin of body, this beer proved to be delightfully enjoyable. If I lived in Vancouver, growlers of this stuff could definitely become a regular in my fridge.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.