Cranky Reviews

Vice Lite

Lite IPA

Beer Type

11 to 14

11 to 14

Honourable Mentions

Rating

Vice Lite

Niagara Vice

Cold Break Brewing Co.

4% Alcohol

The Cold Break crew are doing their own version of the iconic 80’s show Miami Vice.* Flashback to the fashion forward show with pastel coloured T-shirts under  Armani jackets, slip-ons no socks, with some designer stubble on the chin. I assume the boat on the can is Crockett’s Wellcraft 38 Scarab KV. When it comes to detectives, I much prefer Mickey Spillane’s hard-boiled NYC Mike Hammer* to the flash of Miami based Crockett and Tubbs.**

I got thinking that comparing Hammer to Crockett is like comparing a jet black imperial stout to this bubbly lite pastel IPA. Both in the same business but that’s where the similarities end.

A light golden bubbly pour. Bubbles bubbling up from the bubbles, and replacing the bubbles that had previously bubbled up. Crockett and Bubbles. A fresh citrusy fruit aroma, light and inviting. The first taste is effervescent mild juice, no hops or bitters, close to a sour. It has a bit of a funky bitter thing happening with the malt.  Mild fruit and a dull funky body, nothing going on with the finish. It’s like a light citrus punch but with no punch.

Complex for a light and although the fruit was OK the overall combination didn’t really work for me. The funky was competing rather than complimenting the light fruit.  This pastel pint is not my favourite vice.

*Editor’s Comment: Miami Vice was a NBC TV crime series that ran for 5 seasons from 1984 to 1989. The show was a cultural phenomenon, creating fashion trends and popularizing the music on the show. It became the show to be on and a long list of celebrity guest stars appeared over the years including actors, musicians, sports stars and icons of the business world.

**Editor’s Comment: Mike Hammer was introduced to us by Mickey Spillane in 1947. Hammer was based in NYC but in the 2015 collaboration novel with Spillane and Collins “Kill Me, Darling” he ends up in Miami. The CBS TV show “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” aired from 84 to 87 and competed with NBC’s Miami Vice, sometimes in the same time slot.

Final Rating: Pastel Pint Posts an 11 out of 20

Lite IPA

Beer Type

11 to 14

11 to 14

Honourable Mentions

Rating

Other Info

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