Devil’s Trill XI—Licensed to Trill

I made a trip to Toronto’s Blood Brothers Brewing on a chilly Friday afternoon to pick up my occasional allotment of their excellent Shumei IPA and while I was there, the Beastie Boys-themed label of Devil’s Trill XI—Licensed to Trill Kviek [sic] IPA caught my eye. The brew is a 7% number sold in 500mL bottles. Extremely hazy, Licensed to Trill is a pale gold ale with a fluffy layer of white suds.

Juicy, tropical aromatics feature notes of mango and berries and cream. The flavour is mellow and juicy, initially, with tropical fruit elements, and this gives way to a reasonably bitter, grapefruit finish. The beer has an unusually creamy and smooth mouthfeel with a hint of yogurty tang.

I’m still pretty new to kveik yeast, but I thought that Blood Brothers’ Licensed to Trill handled the quirky strain quite admirably. The beer is flavourful and a little weird. Not at all session-friendly, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’d just have liked for the grapefruit bitterness to have hit a bit harder.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.