Do you think it’s cultural appropriation when Americans talk hockey? Me too. Big Deal is a supposedly a NY brewery, but in this case the one doing the talking is Canadian. Former Penguin/Coyote Paul Bisonnette is part of the Spittin’ Chiclets* podcast and apparently this brew was inspired by Bisonnette’s favourite beverage. One can assume his favourite beverage is beer. Nasty Biz was never one to shy away from an on-ice tango and had his fair share of scraps and probably caused more spittin’ chiclets than he endured.
Big Deal** is actually a partnership between Labatt and Spittin’ Chiclets who are part of the Barstool Sports marketing franchise. The more recent cans of the beer show that it is brewed by Labatt with input from former hockey players. According to the marketing campaign, “the entire Spittin’ Chiclets crew at Barstool Sports spent countless hours with the brewmasters at Labatt”. One can only guess what they “spent countless” hours doing.
The moon and North star were the highlight of the evening.
This brew pours a nice golden accentuated by a fireside quaff. CCR saw a bad moon rising ***but it sure wasn’t this one. No trouble on the way here, just another magical Muskoka moon. The North star showed up too, which I think is fitting for a hockey based brew review.
So what did these beer loving hockey pundits come up with? A mild malt aroma, basic lager on the nose. A mellow malt taste with a crisp acetic bitter finish. An easy drinking smooth malt body and lower ABV all designed for having more than one. A slight sweet goes to crisp like it’s a wannabe lager but reverting to its ale nature. The crisp bitters are the finishing touch and in contrast to a basic smooth middlin’ malt body, and seem to be at odds rather than balanced with. I am sure after quaffing a few of these the slightly off-putting finish wouldn’t matter anymore.
It’s a pretty standard big brewery brew. It seems to me like another big brewery climbing onto the back of popular media and spending more time marketing for hockey fans and mass consumption than in trying to create something special. Didn’t Gretzky already try this with his grape stomping craft brewery? At least the 99 line of brews tried to create craft beer. Looks like all Labatt is doing here is being crafty.
0 Comments