Magpie - Big Rock Brewery

Big Rock Brewery, situated in Calgary Alberta, is probably Alberta's most successful "craft" brewery.  Every Albertan has swilled on pints of their Traditional Ale or Grasshopper Wheat Ale at some point in their lives, as these two beers have infiltrated almost every bar in the province.  Their roster of beers has grown over the years to include many different styles, some much better than others.....but most still not very good.  I've been told the beer used to be quite good in the early days of the breweries life, but as the popularity of the brewery grew, and the size of the brewery grew, the quality of the brew quickly began to wear thin.  New recipes, and cost cutting solutions have brought Big Rock's reputation to a stand still, putting them on par with the likes of Molson and other big adjunct beer producers (my opinion here, just saying).  But then word hit the streets that they would be re-releasing a discontinued hit from their past, beer geeks were getting stoked, and I had high hopes that maybe....just maybe, Big Rock could produce something worthy, perhaps even enjoyable.

Finding information and history on the Magpie is difficult.  It's a rye ale brewed by Big Rock ten years ago, back when "craft" was still the name of the game.  It seems to have made a quiet debut on the scene as their is still zero info about it on the website, as well as beer advocate.  As far as I know the only places in Edmonton to serve the Magpie is the Druid, and now for the month of December we're pouring pints at The Sugarbowl.  I've had a few pints in the last week or so, trying to get my head wrapped around this stuff.  Some of my beer geek friends were very excited about this product, and had great things to say about it....although these fond memories are at least a decade old. Here's to hoping.

The pint pours a light amber color, the head full of large dissipating bubbles and zero lacing.  On the nose it had a sweet undertone, pleasant hop character but that strange Big Rock smell is in full force.  I find all the Big Rock products to have a similar smell and taste, must be the water...I don't know. Either way it's not an overly enjoyable addition to the beer.  The flavor is sweet and malty, not sure what I'm looking for in a rye profile.  The only other rye beer I've tried is the  He'Brew Lenny's Double Rye IPA, which is fantastic and probably one of my favorite beers this year.  The Magpie I found to be a bit astringent on the tongue, thin and watery, and overall experience very tipical of a Big Rock beer.  If they're trying to coax experienced beer drinkers into buying in to this product, or any of their products for that matter, their going to have to start brewing a lot better than this. Nice try Big Rock, but your beer still sucks (my opinion here, just saying).