A-Bay

Named in honour of Asbridges Bay, A-Bay is a pale ale from the team at Beaches Brewing Company, an outfit based in Toronto. A-Bay is a 4.5% alcohol, 28 IBU crusher. Sold in 473mL cans, the beer is clear, pale gold, and effervescent. According to the copy on the can, it’s a “Canadian style wheat ale”, although wheat is noticeably absent from the ingredients list. Regardless, A-Bay lands under a fluffy and thick layer of bright white foam and has a pretty imposing citrus aroma given the low percentage.

Fruit salad notes are the driving factors of A-Bay’s flavour, with orange, banana, and grape leading the way. The finish has some hops, but not in the assertive fashion necessary to compete with the fruity disposition of the front end. Despite the lack of wheat mentioned in the ingredients list, this beer does have the hallmarks of a wheated ale—most notably banana esters.

A-Bay was a pretty enjoyable little ale, but it falls a bit short in the bitterness department. At just 4.5%, there are some sessionable chops, but the beer is a touch too sweet to make that entirely realistic. What A-Bay is, though, is refreshing as hell. And that’s worth a lot.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.