Too Wound Down Session IPA

Friday evening, work in the rear view mirror, and a brand new Budos Band album to spin—I needed a quality beer match and decided on a 473mL can of Too Wound Down Session IPA. TWD comes from Bell City Brewing Co. in Brantford, Ontario. It’s a 4.7% session sipper that pours with an agreeable clear copper colour—think new penny—and a hillock of off-white head.

The beer has IPA aromatics in miniature, with bitter pine leading the way. As one might expect from a session IPA, the beer has some sticky hops flavour, though this is less assertive than in a high octane alternative. Personally, I’d say the IPA elements are closer to the English style than the American, with a well balanced malt to hops ratio and a slightly honeyed character on the front end before deviating to a mildly bitter, softwood finish.

Bell City is a brewery that has long been on my list to check out, as their Cream Ale is a real treat (though apparently I’ve never reviewed it, which is an unconscionable oversight) and Lenoir Belgian Style Ale is also pretty good. TWD has given me yet another reason to be curious about this Brantford establishment. I suppose I’ll have to make the trek sometime soon. TWD is a well-executed session IPA in that it is fairly flavourful, clear, and pleasantly balanced. It is a bit thin on the mouthfeel, though I suspect this is a fairly hard-to-avoid sin when dealing with a low-alcohol IPA variant. Otherwise, it’s a grand li’l beer that I’ll happily revisit frequently as long as it remains available to me.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.