Polar Park is itself not quite up and running as of yet, so this one was contract brewed at Two Sergeants, at a time when the Edmonton Oilers are apparently worth watching again.  Also, this is timely because of the name, and a recent brew-ha-ha (I know) going on around the Oiler brand – I wonder if their lawyers only care about words, and not colour schemes.

This 473ml can pours a clear, medium bronzed amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, rocky, and somewhat creamy dirty white head, which leaves some Runic alphabet lace around the glass as things eventually sink away.

It smells of mildly sweet, biscuity and grainy cereal malt, musty apples and pears, ephemeral citrus rind notes, a touch of earthy yeastiness, and some innocuous leafy, weedy, and floral green hop bitters.  The taste is grainy and gently crackery pale malt, quite understated pome and citrusy fruity notes, maybe a hint of further breakfast cereal sweetness, and more laid-back musty, weedy, and dead floral ‘verdant’ hoppiness.  The carbonation is pretty meek in its (neutral) zoned-out frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and boardroom-diktat smooth.  It finishes off-dry, and robustly malty, as the hops seem to have left early to avoid the rush.

Overall, yeah – this is another simple, but pleasant offering that seems to have taken advantage of the recent Alberta craft malt boon, and is really a standard quaffer (the whole point I would imagine, and there’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but don’t go in expecting anything more). This is what you drink (so it doesn’t distract you) while you’re looking for greatness by association elsewhere.