On the rebound

It's been a while since I had any Boundary beers on here, so let's get a rake of them logged and blogged.

We'll start (broadly) sour with the 4.5% ABV To Here Knows When. They're calling this a Berliner weisse though honestly I think "pastry sour" would be more appropriate, despite the lack of lactose. The added ingredients are cherry, plum and tonka bean, and I think it's the latter in particular which gives it a cakey sweetness. The tonka mince-pie effect is most of what's going on, with the fruit playing second fiddle in the background. It took me a few sweet mouthfuls before I noticed it's actually very light-bodied and fizzy: the flavour is that of a thick and smooth beer. It's not an unpleasant experience, but it's an unsettling one. I would be happier if tonka went back to haunting imperial stouts instead (see below). 

Today's pale ale is called Life's Carousel, an adventurous name for a pretty basic 4% ABV beer brewed with Simcoe and Cascade. But basic doesn't mean bad, by any means. It's specifically designated "west coast" pale ale, and it is indeed amber coloured and only slightly hazy -- they could have tried harder on the clarity front. I expected bitterness but it's remarkably sweet, with lots of orange candy and hints of chocolate. There's a light and sherbety effervescence which further enhances the candy store effect. The finish is quick, which at least prevents that sweetness from building up, but it's still a little cloying. It's not just for stylistic reasons that this needs to be more bitter. 

The pilsner Dispiriting Exercise seems very much pitched at the likes me. I mean, drinking ones that come in 440ml cans often is quite dispiriting, but I do it anyway. Boundary's is a very light 4.1% ABV and an extremely pale yellow. The head is fine and fluffy, but doesn't last as long as on mainstream continental brands. Fears of blandness are dispelled by the aroma which offers soft stonefruit and a little dry grass: not pilsner, but promising. That dry grass thing -- from Saaz and Tettnang -- is the main feature of the flavour. Normally this would be a problem for my palate, which tends to find it too severe. Here, however, there's a bonus sweetness to counterbalance it, plus a surprisingly rounded and soft texture. It's still definitely a craft take on pils, but it's one that works, being characterful but also refreshing. That's enough. 

Little Wonder isn't blessed with a sub-style, being badged bluntly as just "Lager" and includes rice and maize in the grist. If anything it's even paler than the previous, but they've got their fermentable money's worth out of the adjuncts as it's 5% ABV. It smells quite appley, which isn't a good sign. The flavour continues in that disturbing direction, starting at tart green apple skin and continuing through clove rock and into pear drops. If the aim was to get something supremely clean, crisp and bland, like the big breweries make, it hasn't worked. The hop they've used is Lórien, which is new to me, and the grower says it should taste of melon and cinnamon. While that does ring true for what I'm tasting, to me it's too close to acetyl aldehyde or warm-fermentation esters -- not desirable in any lager. Whichever way you slice it, this one isn't for me, and apologies if that makes me a craft lager philistine.

Boundary has been doing its bit to keep the black IPA flame alight and their latest, Compare Notes, was on tap at The Black Sheep some weeks ago. 6% ABV is a good strength for these, offering a big enough base for the flavours I expect. Sure enough it's smooth and a little chewy, with just a smidge of tarry stickiness. They've gone for classic American IPA effects, beginning on a pure squeezed-grapefruit aroma, leading on to a flavour that combines that with other sharp citrus. Still there's a fun sweetness to the lemon/lime/grapefruit combination, while the roast sits at the back, only speaking up in the finish. Black IPAs can be quite serious with their strong grain-and-hop bitterness. This is one of the fun ones, all spritzy and quite refreshing while still absolutely properly to-style. I wholeheartedly approve and would like to see more of this, and more like this.

Excellent Gif Work is a 10% ABV imperial stout featuring the return of the tonka beans. Usually I can take or leave the unsubtly spicy additive but Boundary has made good use of it here. Yes, it's unsubtle, and the tonka is immediately obvious in both the aroma and flavour, bringing its signature cinnamon character. The base beer, however, is powerful enough to hold it in some level of check. There's luscious creamy chocolate in spades, and a herbal cola dryness. It might have been sticky and cloying without the tonka, but the spicy sparks really help offset any sugary excesses. The long tonka finish gives it two kinds of warmth in the end, the spice and the inherent alcoholic glow. I shared the can, but I don't think this would have been a hardship to drink all of.

Coconut, chipotle and vanilla is a combination I can't imagine comes together anywhere other than in a microbrewed stout. Here, they're in No Comma Before Please, another 10% ABV imperial job. It's quite a thick and foamy one, very creamy and dessert-like, despite the chilli. The flavour's dominant feature is good old malt-derived chocolate, with a bit of sweet coffee oils. The vanilla is at work there. Unusually, I had to look for the coconut, and it is discernible, but subtle. I like that: a reminder that coconut in a stout doesn't always have to recreate the sensation of having a Bounty bar lodged in your throat. And then the smoked chillis are no more than a seasoning, something I'd likely have missed if not told they were there, but there's a sharp and dry catch in the finish here which indicates their presence. You could probably list a load of other ingredients in it and I'd likely find them too. Everything is nicely blended together with none of the novelty ingredients going too hard. This is a dessert stout first and foremost, thanks to the vanilla, but they've put a twist in it to make it more interesting than most.

Take a moment to note that none of this cross-section is hazy IPA. I'm sure I could have added one or two if I'd wanted, but it's commendable that Boundary still puts out plenty more besides.