Belgian Pale Ale as a style waned somewhat in the latter half of the last decade, but Jordan Harbour makes a case for its return. The nose features white pepper, floral notes and a touch of grapefruit, all of which butt heads with ripe banana and plummy esters from a Belgian yeast strain. The hops become woody and herbal on the palate but are bolstered by slight minerality and a vibrant carbonic attack. Slightly out of balance, but compelling.
The Canadian Brewing Awards 2019 Beer of the Year. After Hours is a home run from a vertical integration standpoint. Central City uses their house-made single malt whisky and bitters along with orange peel and cherries to create a product best described as beer adjacent. That said, it is experientially similar to drinking an Old Sashioned at a significantly reduced level of alcohol. It is dominated slightly by the cherry and orange.
The emergent Italian Pilsner style is hard to define, but Left Field’s version uses Eraclea barley from near the Adriatic Sea, so it has terroir on its side. The light dusting of confection sugar on the nose seems to frame the lemon zest and light herbal bitterness on the palate, although it eventually finishes extremely dry with a touch of Campari-Chinotto bitterness. One sips sweet and bitter alternately.
A barrel fermented beer and the inaugural release from Blind Enthusiasm’s sister brewery The Monolith, where barrel-aged sour beers via spontaneous fermentation will be produced. Measure of Patience is a mixed-fermentation beer (both yeast and bacteria were added). After at least a year, the barrels were tasted and a select few were blended to achieve a desired taste profile. The resulting beer is clean, lightly sour with notes of stone fruit and incredibly well balanced. The quality is remarkable given that it is The Monolith’s first release. Owner Greg Zeschuk and head brewer Doug Checknita indicate that the beer was inspired by natural wines, but there is a purity and welcome lack of excessive funkiness from which many “natural” wine producers could take a lesson. A beer produced with a nod to wine lovers, but also accessible without sacrificing character for those new to this style. A brewery to watch.
Focusing on individual hop varieties can come with mixed results, but in the case of Propeller’s Galaxy IPA, the hallmark is subtlety and restraint. The beer is gentle on the palate with mild bitterness and its aroma is passion fruit, pineapple and mango in a pillow-like texture, resulting in a dangerously quaffable beer, gone in an instant.
Pours a mellow orange with good head retention. A small amount of apple and tobacco above a much larger profile of white grapefruit and pine. The bitterness is pronounced but kept in check by the darker malt character that suggests sweetness, but never lets it off leash.
Unfiltered’s beers tend towards exuberance in flavour, and Exile on North Street is no exception. The level of bitterness is commensurate with old school west coast IPA and the generously apportioned pine, grapefruit and mango presence will please drinkers who remember how IPA used to be in the bad old days.