Hook, Line & Citra I.P.A.

The Bitter Wife and I did a wild amount of planned beer tourism during a weekend in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, but our brief stop to the bottle shop at Lake on the Mountain Brewing Company was a total fluke. Because we don’t own a car, we were relishing having our rental for a weekend, so we decided to go for a Saturday afternoon drive and, on the side of the road, the Missus spotted a “brewery ahead” sign. Obviously, I pulled off an awkward u-turn and seconds later, we were faced with a plethora of choices at an utterly unexpected brewery. Given my much depleted purse (owing to the other three breweries we'd already visited, as well as wineries and a distillery) I forced myself to practice a little restraint and only picked up two 660mL bottles, a brown ale (see a later post) and Hook, Line & Citra I.P.A., a 5.5%, 75 IBU that featured a cute fishing scene on the label.

Brassy in colour, clear, and nestled under a fluffy off-white head, HL&C poured with a mild aroma that promised citrus elements. Less mild to the tongue, the beer had a blend of coppery and citrus flavours, giving way to a genuinely bitter back end.

 

I’ve written before about IPAs that clock in below 6%, so I won’t repeat myself here. However, despite the fact that it hurt the overall score, I’ll concede that the low-ish percentage was well offset by the rousing hops presence (both Citra and Columbus) that rattled sabres from start to finish. 75 IBUs might not seem like a lot, but framed inside a lower-than-usual alcohol package, the bitterness resonates with some serious bass. Following the review portion of my pint, I enjoyed the rest of the beer while grilling, and the result was an undeniable synergy.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.