Beer Mash-ups

BY DAVID NUTTALL

Mash-ups seem to be all the rage these days, commonly found in music, cuisine, movies, and more. They occur in liquor as well; however, they tend to be referred to by the more refined word of “blend”. Of course, the wine world has its own, even classier word that has multiple definitions; cuvée. The blending of different grapes or barrels of spirits is a common practice, having been done for centuries. Similarly, the blending of different batches of beers is often used to achieve consistency, add complexity, or balance to the final product. Aged beers often mix different barrels to achieve the brewmaster’s desired result; for example, Belgians combine young

White Ipa

While it’s not too often we know who brewed the first beer of a new style, the White IPA is an exception, with Chainbreaker debuting from Deschutes Brewery of Oregon in 2012. An amalgamation of a Belgian Wit and a West Coast IPA, it has now been copied in countless breweries. Combining two continents’ worth of brewing history creates something unique. The result? A hoppy wit or a spicy, wheaty IPA? You decide. This style is recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).

Trolley 5 First Crush (Calgary), CSPC 821819

$16 6 pk. cans

Pile O' Bones White IPA (Saskatchewan), CSPC 831234

$20 4 pk. cans

Troubled Monk Famous Five (Red Deer), CSPC 122817

$20 4 pk. cans lambics with older vintages. Finally, there is the homemade or common pub blend exemplified by the popular Black and Tan, a marriage of light and dark beer.

However, the focus here is the combining of two different styles that results in something new. Many of these are relatively modern, given that specific beer styles were not really categorized until about 50 years ago. Even so, the originators of most of these creations are lost in time. All the examples below (except two) are not even considered recognized beer styles by major beer groups. Below are some that you should be able to find in Alberta stores with a few, mostly local, examples.

White Stout

When people think of stouts, they invariably picture a dark brown/ black beer with chocolate and/ or coffee notes. White stouts are a blend of golden ale and stout where the clear golden colour belies the unexpected flavours of coffee, vanilla, and cocoa nibs in a lighter body than dark stouts. Being relatively new, when you can find it, it is commonly a seasonal, with only a couple in the Alberta market in any given year.

Propeller Flat White (Nova Scotia), CSPC 116197

$5 473 mL can

IPA

The India Pale Ale (IPA) has been around for over two hundred years. First brewed by the British and now also common in North America, it is a staple of almost every brewery’s lineup. Yet, no one seemed to ever think of translating this high hopped beer into a lager. Until now. Take the lighter body of a lager but add the hops that would otherwise go into an ale, and you get an India Pale Lager (IPL). It will still be crisp and clean but with more bitterness on the back end. The Bavaria 8.6 version is made with lager yeast and has a subtle citrus nose and flavour to it.

Bavaria 8.6 India Pale Lager (Netherlands), CSPC 895893,

$5 500 mL can

SHANDY/RADLER

The shandy (UK) and radler (Germany) arrived over a century ago as a combination of lager and fruit soda. These beers are so popular today, even Big Breweries are marketing them. Companies like Waterloo Brewing (Ontario) and Pump House Brewery (New Brunswick) have become virtual cottage industries for radlers with variety packs and multiple singles available in Alberta.

Any variety of fruit can be used with the beer, which is usually a lager, but sometimes is an ale. The main difference stems from whether the fruit portion is soda or juice and what proportion the mixtures are. The result is a beer that normally ranges between 2-3% ABV, although some are higher. The fruit defines the beer, with different degrees of intensity and colour in each. Find a fruit you like, and you’ll love the beer. They are not recognized beer styles and tend to get lumped into broad fruit beer category

Grizzly Paw new Raspberry Lemon Shandy (Canmore), CSPC 126139 3.4% ABV, $17 4 pk. cans

Waterloo Mango Passionfruit Radler (Ontario), CSPC 105675, 2.5% ABV, $4 473 mL can

Alley Kat Lemon Lime Radler Ale (Edmonton), CSPC 126530, 3.3% ABV, $19 4 pk. cans

CASCADIAN DARK ALE/ BLACK IPA

First brewed in the US Pacific Northwest in the 1990s, the Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA) or Black IPA is a mixture of a dark ale and an IPA. Essentially, they have some of the same characteristics of a West Coast IPA but with a chocolate/coffee addition coming from the black malt. They have less perceived bitterness than you would think, as the dark malt masks some of the piney/ grapefruit flavour from the hops. However, they are still more hoppy and have less body than a standard stout. Their popularity seemed to peak around five to ten years ago, so now they usually appear only as special editions. They fall under the Black IPA category in the BJCP guidelines.

Apex Brewing Baracus

Cascadian Dark Ale (Bragg Creek), CSPC 124801, $20 4 pk. cans

NO NAME ???

A few beers are so new, they represent no named style. Such is the case of Calgary’s Dandy Brewing Peli-Can. Released in April 2025, it is a blend of a traditional German hefeweizen and a West Coast IPA, so they naturally call it a West Coast Hefe. The appearance is golden and partly cloudy with a nose of clove and banana. The spicy wheat notes are followed by a tangy citrus hoppiness, making it slightly bitter but refreshing. A trend has to start somewhere, could this be the beginning of a new one? In the same vein. New Level Brewing of Calgary have combined the popularity of hard iced tea and sours to create Iced Demon Sour. The two together taste exactly like you would think, exposing a tart lemony tea flavour.

Dandy Peli-Can West Coast Hefe $20 4 pk. cans available from Dandy

New Level Iced Demon Sour only in the Demon Mixer Volume 2 CSPC 123573 $22 4 pk. cans

Beer styles continue to evolve and thanks to brewers’ imagination, they know no bounds. Try some beers that explore new boundaries and see how creative breweries can be.