My 50th Post! Duggan's Brewery-#9 IPA

Duggan's Brewery is one of Downtown Toronto's finest microbreweries.  They've had some setbacks in terms of food service, but they continue to brew some of the best beers in Ontario.  Of the Duggan's brews I've tried, the #9 IPA is my personal fave.

Served in slim but stylish 275mL bottles, the #9 IPA measures in at a healthy 6.2%.  It pours a warm looking ruddy brown with a fair amount of cream-coloured head and lots of clinging lace.  The scent is predominantly hoppy, but also contains sweet fruit aromas of plum and apricot.

The flavour begins with an initial jolt of malty, fruity sweetness.  This is soon swallowed by a hoppy bitterness that persists though the aftertaste.  The piney taste is pleasant without being overpowering.  The #9 is fairly dry.  It has a strong, complex flavour and the elevated alcohol content is not particularly discernible.  It's a bit strong to be conventionally "sessionable", but a Duggan's session would be fun.

This is an excellent IPA.  The piney taste of hops is complemented by a variety of other flavours and balanced against a delicious blast of maltintess on the front-end.  Get some!

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.