Neon Wasteland

Neon Wasteland, from Toronto’s Rainhard Brewing, is billed as a Belgian pale ale. Sold in cool 473mL cans, the beer tips the scale at 5.1%. It’s a swampy, dark brown ale that pours with a thick layer of of off-white foam.

NW has a pretty complex nose, with big yeast notes, some raisin, and just a touch of bubblegum. That bubblegum element is even more apparent in the flavour, where it blends with an earthy yeastiness and a touch of clove. The finish continues to be yeasty and sweet, but it also possesses a little spice.

While I found it a bit too sweet, on the whole I was pretty impressed with Rainhard’s take on the Belgian pale ale. Neon Wasteland had a lot of character, an interesting flavour profile, and a lovely dark hue.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Funky Fresh Kiwi Lime Sour

Funky Fresh Kiwi Lime Sour comes from Foresters Falls, Ontario and the Whitewater Brewing Co. The beer contains a crushable 4.6% and just 2 IBUs. Sold in 473mL cans, Funky Fresh is brewed with wheat, oats, lime purée, and kiwi purée. It’s a lightly hazy gold ale under a thin white head.

This li’l guy was a potent sweet and tart candy aroma, with (surprise, surprise) notes of kiwi and lime. For a low-alcohol brew, the flavour is massive. It weaves lime tartness and candied kiwi.

The only thing timid about this beer is the percentage, with jumbo tartness and punchy sweetness. The beer is certainly not subtle, and I found it to be a bit much, but it does deliver an intriguing flavour combo. And for a sour, it isn’t alienatingly tangy. Will I buy it again? Probably. Should you? I guess, I’m not your manager.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Folly Rice Lager

Been a while since I’ve seen something new from Folly Brewing in my local liquor store, but I spotted their Rice Lager the other day and needed to bring a 473mL can home with me. The cans that house the 5% brew pay homage to the rice lager’s roots in Japan. The Torontonian beer is pale gold, clear, well-carbonated, and topped with a thin white head.

Folly’s Rice Lager has a slightly sweet, grainy aroma, with a little touch of perfume. The beer is light, but decently flavourful, with a sweet to bitter progression and faint floral and citrus notes that really come out at the finish.

This is a pretty interesting little lager—crisp and refreshing; flavourful, yet subtle. This’d be a great post-chore beer for a summer afternoon.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Fracture Hazy Imperial IPA

A new spin on an Ontario classic, Fracture Hazy Imperial IPA takes the original Fracture and gives it the New England-style treatment. According to the copy in on the teal 473mL cans, there are even more hops in the hazy version than the original, though I’d have to guess that the extra hops are added late in the process. The beer checks in at a boisterous 8.5% and it comes from Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewery.

Hazy Fracture has aromatics that tiptoe between sweet stone fruit and bitter citrus. The flavour is powerfully sweet and big on fruit notes. The can said to expect peach purée, mango, and citrus, and I think that is fairly apt; there is a definite intersection of mango and grapefruit. Compared to Fracture Classic, the hazy version is a lot less assertively bitter and boozy. The alcohol is subtle, but belied by the candied sweetness.

The Hazy edition of Amsterdam’s Fracture is an interesting adaptation. What I really like about the original is it’s brashness. The hazy iteration is sweeter, juicier, and more mellow. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I personally miss the unapologetic grapefruit rind bitterness. Good strength and an interesting flavour combo, though a bit too sweet—I’ll definitely buy this again, but I won’t seek it out.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Smarch Weather

On thing that the Stout Man will always buy is a rye IPA. Every time. So, when I caught wind of Smarch Weather from Toronto’s Rainhard Brewing, I snapped up six of the 7.2% beauties post haste. Sold in 473mL cans, the beer’s name plays homage to a quality Simpsons bit. The beer, itself, is bright copper in colour and pours with a thin covering of off-white suds.

Smarch Weather has a lovely aroma that blends malty caramel notes with sticky pine and a dose of grapefruit rind. The flavour has a sweet, malty base, but it is the hoppy, citrus and evergreen elements that really drive things. Throw in a little bit of spicy rye and you’ve got something cooking.

Smarch Weather is a wee bit sweeter than I’d like, but it’s otherwise delightful. Great strength, bold flavour, and a 90s TV reference? Sign me up! Make it year round.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.