Bear Hug IPA

Bear Hug IPA is produced in sleepy Newmarket, Ontario by Market Brewing Co. It’s a 7% alcohol jobby that comes in (IMHO) sorta tacky, textured 473mL cans that feature: a bear in shades, a “wild” font on the word hug, and a slightly raised texture.

The beer is extremely cloudy—it has a milky, dull orange cast, under a thick and durable off-white white head. Bear Hug has an assertive aroma that boasts of satsuma and other sweet citrus notes. The flavour is similarly situated, with orange and clementine notes overlaying a relatively bitter framework.

In spite of the lackluster can (again, IMHO—I’m certainly not a marketing or graphic design whiz), the beer inside is punchy, juicy, bitter, and adequately strong. Too sweet, perhaps, but not by too much, I found Bear Hug to be a pretty credible Ontario IPA. Not as grapefruit-focused as many of the leading lights, this effort digs into the orange bag of tricks with decent effect. Would I bring Bear Hug to a party?Damn right! Would I enter it in a competition? Perhaps not. But would I buy it again? Absolutely. That alone is worth a respectable rating, and makes Market Brewing Co. a company worth watching.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.