Duggan's #18

Duggan’s Brewery in Toronto has adopted a numerical system of naming their beers (see previous posts in which I reviewed #9, #46, and #99). The #18 is billed as a raspberry weiss beer. It’s a 5.4%, 22 IBU brew that I recently picked up at the bottle shop in a bottle (volume uncertain, but it must have been between 400-500mL).

For a wheat beer, I found #18 to be notably dark in colour—closer to an auburn than the pale gold I was expecting. The beer poured with a fluffy cloud of off-white head, but it was short-lived. The beer had a tart berry nose supplemented with a waft of banana and a yeasty fug. The tartness of the raspberry elements really came through in the flavour, which is nearly sour. The mouthfeel was sturdier than many others in the style, which hurt crispness but gave the beer a bit more substance.

 

The big one-eight from Duggan’s is a pretty enjoyable little wheater; however, it is a bit wanting on the back end, which finishes short, tart, and uninspired. It’s also a bit low on the fizzy fizzy. Otherwise, the beer has a lot going for it: good strength, meaty body, and a tart raspberry vibe that tastes authentic and isn’t sweetened into jammy oblivion. Even with out a better established back end, I thought #18 was good stuff.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.