Aloha Friday HPA

Fittingly, I had my first taste of Longslice Brewery’s Aloha Friday HPA on a Friday evening following a long work week. The “H” in HPA stands for hibiscus. According to the 355mL can, Aloha Friday is brewed with both “tropical hibiscus and fruity Azacca hops.” The Torontonian ale contains 4.9% alcohol. The cans are particularly eye-catching, with a pink and teal colour scheme, flowers, and a distant volcano. The beer is, itself, quite pinkish in hue, and it pours with a thin covering of eggshell head.

Aloha Friday has a sweet nose that, to my mind, suggested strawberries. The flavour, equally sweet, packed some floral notes around a berry body. The back end had a suggestion of bitterness, though if truth be told, it was also a bit on the watery side.

Aloha Friday was a lovely change of pace from the typical Ontario pale ale. I really enjoyed its floral/fruity dichotomy and style-appropriate weight. If I were pulling the levers, I’d have given the beer a bit more oomph through the finish to close out strong and a bit more body—its current configuration has an unfortunate kool-aid mouthfeel. Overall, though, I thought it was an innovative and enjoyable can o’suds. I’ll definitely be buying it again soon.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.