After teasing me for ages, I recently noticed that the Kensington Brewing Co. and its bottle shop have finally opened. The brewery, in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood, is a stone’s through from my apartment, so I recently walked over to check out their wares and came home with a quartet of 650mL bombers. One of these was named In the Weeds. Billed as a West Coast IPA, ITW contained a somewhat sub-strength 5.9% alcohol.
The beer, a hazy golden orange grog,
poured with a thick and durable off-white head and a pretty mild nose.
More biscuity than I expected, with just a soft kiss of citrus
bitterness, the scent did not immediately remind me of the prototypical
West Coaster. The flavour, while quite nice, seemed to me to be closer
to an English-style ale, given its emphasis on malt at the front end.
However, the finish did have a bit of the characteristic hops crackle of
the brews that make the western US such a hotbed of beery greatness.
All
in, In the Weeds is too timid for its purported style. It tastes pretty
good, I was glad I bought it, and I might buy it again, but it didn’t
hit me with the assertive and gritty IBUs I was craving.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
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