Strathcona Beer Company is back again in B.C. Beer Reviews with yet another interesting brew. This time around we will be taking a look at their Canned Heat, a Hefeweizen that claims to showcase both mango and passionfruit, two fruits that B.C. Beer lovers go crazy for and fit the time of the year. Let’s crack this one open and see what’s inside.

B.C. Beer Reviews: Strathcona Beer Company – Canned Heat

Colour

This beer pours a very cloudy colour from the can, something that is not uncommon for a Hefeweizen. In the glass, it is completely opaque and looks like mango juice. Given the fact that a Hefeweizen can be this colour and that it is a mango passionfruit version of the style, this makes it a very enticing beer to the eyes.

Nose/Aroma

A common note with Hefeweizens is a banana aromatic from the yeast used. This is undeniably present in the beer, and it is certainly the most powerful aromatic you get from this one.

Behind that banana note, you get very light hints of both mango and passionfruit, with the former being much more noticeable than the latter. This beer does not beat around the bush with its style.

Overall, this beer could be categorized as a Hefeweizen without seeing it. The banana note is quite powerful in this one. The mango and passionfruit aromatics are very subtle, and undeniably in the background to the banana.

Tasting Notes

On your palate is where the mango and passionfruit shine through. While you continue to get a banana note, it is very much in the background as a supporting role here. Mango is at the forefront with passionfruit coming in as the sidekick with a noticeable banana taste at the finish. This is the definition of a tropical tasting beer.

There is a creamy sweetness that goes hand in hand with all of the tropical fruits at play here. It is smooth and adds a fairly significant body to this beer that makes it come off more as fruit juice than an alcoholic beverage.

Other Notes

The branding/labeling is, as is always the case with Strathcona Beer Company, fantastic. There are tons of different colours coming at you in bending waves that centre everything to the middle of the can. Certainly an eye-catching label.

There is not a significant head to this beer. The retention of that head matches up with the below average level.

While it is lightly carbonated, it is not noticeable through the creamy body and tropical fruits coming at you. This is perfectly okay with that this brew is trying to accomplish.

Final Grade

This beer has a powerful banana aromatic, something that is spot on stylistically. The mango and passionfruit take the driver’s seat on your palate while not completely kicking the banana note out of the way. There is a moderately creamy body to compliment this all that leaves you wondering whether you just drank juice or beer.

Grade: 8.2/10

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Main photo by Nic Hendrickson, Lastword Inc., all rights reserved