Post & Ring: Jack Layton’s New England IPA

Post & Ring: Jack Layton’s New England IPA, from Toronto’s Henderson Brewing Company, was brewed to honour the legacy of Jack Layton, who, before becoming leader of the federal New Democratic Party, was a Toronto city councillor and a top-notch cycling advocate in Canada’s largest city. One of his lasting contributions to cycling in the city are the post and ring bicycle lock stations that pepper Toronto. As a nice nod, the can says that a portion of sales is given to Cycle Toronto.

Post & Ring is Henderson’s Ides of June 2019 beer. Brewed for Bike Month and with input from Jack’s son (and my city councillor until a cruel trick of redistricting shuffled his ward boundaries) Mike, the beer is a 6% ale, sold in colourful 355mL cans. P&R is brewed with Azacca, Huell Melon, and Citra hops. It’s a hazy dull-gold grog that pours under a cloud of off-white head. It has a hefty citrus and tropical fruit aroma. For flavour, it tastes of fresh citrus, with tangy orange out front and bitter grapefruit hit on its heels. As you’d expect from an NEIPA, bitterness is present, but it plays second fiddle to juiciness.

Really a solid NEIPA, it’s a shame that P&R is a limited release, as I’d be happy to bring this hazy, juicy stuff home on the semi-regular.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.