33 Brewing Exp – MkIII Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA
We’re back with #PourOfTheWeek Vol. 3. This week we’re stoked to feature a craft beer fresh off of the canning line from 33 Brewing Exp.
What is ’33 Brewing Exp’, you ask? It represents 33 Acres’ significant brewery expansion project and soon-to-be tasting room situated next door to their current operation on West 8th Avenue. The ‘Exp’ stands for ‘Experiment’, which is the driving force behind their new brewery.
This snippet from 33 Acres’ community journal sheds some light on their new project:
“We got our hands on the next door space and rather than just expanding our current line up, we wanted to open a space that was centered around experimentation. A facility to try new things; a place to fail, a place to be perfect, and a place to come together to let everyone inside to see how we create.” – Josh Michnik, Founder of 33 Acres Brewing.
Although the doors of the 33 Brewing Exp tasting room aren’t open yet, Josh and the team have been busy brewing a ton of new experimental beers which have started to hit local shelves. Each new beer is being released in six packs of 355ml cans, which is another differentiator between 33 Brewing Experiment and 33 Acres Brewing.
Luke and I decided to pick up their 003 MkIII, or Mark III, Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA from Legacy Liquor Store to get a taste of what they’re about.
According to 33 Brewing Exp’s Instagram page, this beer is the third in a series of IPAs that have similar base recipes, but with tweaks to (ex. hop changes) to make each beer a related yet unique drinking experience.
The label design is as you’d expect from 33 Acres Brewing; simple, tasteful, and perfectly aligned to their brand. However, they’ve introduced a pop of colour at the bottom of the label, which contains the beer’s details. Experimentation, indeed! Each 33 Brewing Exp beer label is essentially the same, with a different coloured bar at the bottom for each brew.
Now, on to what’s inside the can. Although this beer is labelled a hazy IPA, upon pouring it’s clear that it’s not…at least in appearance. Visually, it’s more in line with a traditional northwest IPA. 33 Brewing Exp addressed this in the comments of their Instagram post about the beer. Although their brewing techniques to achieve the haze didn’t go as planned, this beer still has many of the great characteristics that make the NE IPA style so sought after by craft beer fans.
The beer has orange peel, blueberry, and a fresh, grassy aroma on the nose. This draws you in to take a sip. Citrus fruit flavours come through in the body, but the real highlight here is the delicious malt flavour that slightly overshadows the hop profile. The bitterness is quite mild which makes this a dangerously drinkable beer at 7.2% ABV.
To me, this beer is a hybrid of a NE IPA and the classic, NW IPA. You get the fruity aroma and flavour plus the dialed back bitterness that’s common in a hazy IPA, with the appearance and malt backbone of northwest IPA. Even if it doesn’t look like what the brewers intended, this is a deliciously interesting beer. Needless to say, I can’t wait to see what else the 33 Acres/33 Brewing Exp team can come up with.
Visit 33 Brewing Exp’s website and click on this beer to discover where you can purchase a six pack of your own!
Connect with Vanpours
Get in touch! Are you a local brewery? Craft beer enthusiast? Event planner? Media savvy blog guru? Give us a shout, we’d love to hear from you. Shoot us a message on our contact page!
