The Bridge Is Over

The Bridge Is Over is billed as a Bandit/Laylow Production—brewed by Bandit Brewery and Laylow Brewing in Toronto. The beer, a double dry-hopped Belgian New England IPA, is a 6.8% number sold in 355mL cans. The beer is a hazy orange-gold colour and it pours with a thick layer of white foam.

The Bridge Is Over has a yeasty, tart fruit nose. For just 6.8%, the beer tastes surprisingly potent, with a bit of funk, some floral elements, and a touch of tangy apple. The back end has a floral hoppiness, but it is quite mild and short.

A quirky little ale with a big flavour, The Bridge Is Over is a pretty enjoyable collab with some character.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Etobichoker Double Belgian IPA

 Born in Toronto’s west end, Etobichoker Double Belgian IPA is named in honour of Great Lakes Brewery’s location. The 8.1% ale comes in 473mL cans with a lurid Frankenstein’s monster/Halloween motif. The beer itself is orange gold and pours with a fluffy eggshell head. It incorporates both oats and wheat into the brewing process.

For a strong beer, Etobichoker has a fairly mild aroma, highlighted with tangy apple, funky yeast, and evergreen. The flavour harmonizes Belgian-style yeastiness with loads of pine bitterness. There is lots of boozy sweetness, as well as some crisp orchard fruit elements.

Etobichoker was a quirky offering from GLB. A nice hybrid beer, with good strength and a nice flavour. It’s a little too sweet for me, but otherwise solid.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Clown Punch Belgian IPA

Clown Punch Belgian IPA is a 6.7% alcohol brew from Manantler Craft Brewing Co. in Bowmanville, Ontario. The beer comes in 650mL bottles with awesome, creepy labels. The beer has a handsome dull-orange/brown colour and pours with a fluffy eggshell head.

I reviewed a bottle with my great pal, WM, over Skype during the great quarantine of 2020.

WM: Bitter hops is only present initially and it fades into a corny, malted sweetness. There’s a hint of citrus and a slight floral element.

It tastes like an IPA at the front, but a bit more like an APA toward the finish. Tastes a lot hoppier than it smells. The bitterness lingers pleasantly at the finish. Light on the palate—would have guessed there was less alcohol.

Pleasant with a lot of nice components, but its missing something to tie it all together. The beer doesn’t taste particularly Belgian, beyond a bit of yeastiness. Enjoyed, but would not seek out actively.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Stout Man: Considerable pine aromatics, with a faint floral bent and a bit of yeasty funk. Great aroma, but the flavour isn’t quite as punchy. There is a sweet malt and yeast kickoff, a quirky bubblegum streak, and a modestly bitter finish.

The beer is a decent take on the Belgian IPA style, but it isn’t as boisterously bitter as I’d have liked, nor as yeasty as it might have been.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Chalice Belgian IPA

Chalice Belgian IPA comes from Long Bay Brewery in Rothsay, New Brunswick. I picked up a 355mL bottle based on the excellent label featuring a tonsured monk grasping a jeweled grail. It’s a 6.5% alcohol brew with relatively low levels of bitterness at just 25 IBUs. Brewed using Belgian yeast and with grains of paradise, the beer is a hazy, pale gold potion that pours with a lot of carbonation and lusty white head.

With a spicy, yeast-driven aroma, Chalice has the profile of a Belgian ale and its flavour backs up that assessment, with warm, yeast notes and a sizable spice presence. That said, there aren’t the subtle fruit esters that make a Belgian-style ale really click. The bitterness is modest to the point of timidity, but certainly provides some balance. Overall, it was a nice beer that could be great with a bit more fine tuning.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

All's Welly That Ends Welly: Bewitched Belgian IPA

Bewitched Belgian IPA, an India pale ale brewed with farmhouse-style yeast, is a 6.3% alcohol, 65 IBU grog from Guelph, Ontario’s Wellington Brewery. Bewitched comes in creepy-as-hell 355mL bottles. The beer is a hazy and highly carbonated orange ale that pours with a thick fog of bright white head.

This ale has a yeast and tart fragrance that has a dusting of arid hops. For flavour, Bewitched is floral, yeasty, and cracklin’ dry. There is a subtext of bitterness, but the 65 IBUs are pretty well hidden.

Bewitched was a pretty decent Belgian-styled take on the IPA, but I’d have liked it to be a bit stronger and a bit deeper. Still, it was an enjoyable brewski.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Wandering Monk Belgian IPA

At a hearty 8% alcohol, Wandering Monk Belgian IPA packs some significant heft into each 500mL bottle. From Elora, Ontario’s Elora Brewing Co., this potent ale is an orange-gold elixir. It’s hazy and pours with a very lively layer of thick, sudsy off-white head.

Wandering Monk has a yeasty nose, augmented by white wine vibes. The flavour is multifaceted; it kicks off with Belgian-style funk and opens into a curious melange of fruity notes. The back end remains yeasty, but swivels into a bitter posture.

This beer would be a nice partner in crime with a strong cheese—methinks the funks would make a joyful noise together. On its own, it’s pretty good stuff, though the somewhat unusual flavour almost certainly precludes teaching for a second bottle—given the potency, that’s probably not a bad thing. I’d have liked a bit heavier hand in the hopping of this brew and it’s a touch sweet, but these are minor complaints about a largely impressive and well-executed ale.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

First World Problems

First World Problems is a Belgian-style IPA brewed in Edinburgh, Scotland by Stewart Brewing. The 6.2% alcohol ale is sold in pithy 330mL bottles that seek to illustrate a first world problem.

The beer is a hazy orange potion that pours with a considerable layer of loose off-white head, and which has a small measure of sediment. The beer has a potent aroma characterized by notes of yeast and some floral notes. Compared to the assertive nose, FWP’s flavour is unexpectedly mild. Not particularly bitter or punchy, this Scottish ale has a slightly earthy taste, with some perfumed hops evident at the back end. Mostly, though, Belgian-style yeast is the most prominent note.

 

I found FWP to be a bit of a disappointing effort. When I spy a new internationally-brewed IPA on local shelves, I expect a unique offering, something unique. This beer was fine and all, but it lacked a depth of flavour that would have set it apart from the bulk of Belgian-style IPAs. A fine ale, but really nothing special.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Infinity Mirror Brett I.P.A.

According to the label on the 650mL bottle of Infinity Mirror Brett I.P.A., it's brewed by Halcyon Barrel House, which is "Part of the Beau's Family" out of Vankleek Hill, Ontario. The 6.5% ale sports a cheery orange hue and pours with a sudsy white head.

There is a crisp nose with notes of apple and funky yeast. As for taste, the flavour has hefty yeast notes, some tart fruit elements, and some jazzy bitterness. The finish is notably dry and fairly pleasant.

I liked Infinity Mirror well enough, but I wouldn't call it all that memorable. I'd have liked a bit more malt emphasis in the early going to fill it out a bit. Definitely a nicely made beer, though.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Hop Trapp IPA

The Bitter Wife and I spent a weekend in Dallas, Texas to check out the excellent Old 97's Country Fair. While there, we ducked into a little pub on Main Street called the City Tavern and I ordered myself a pint of Hop Trapp IPA. Hop Trapp comes from Lakewood Brewing Company in Garland, Texas. It contains 6.4% alcohol.

My pint arrived looking nice--slightly hazy, deep amber-hued with a thin layer of off-white head that could have had a bit more depth. It had an oddly yeasty aroma that had me questioning whether it was actually an IPA (after the fact, I googled it and learned that it is a Belgian-style IPA), but there was some hops pop in there too. The flavour continued to demonstrate a fair level of yeastiness.  Along that were faint peach notes and a hefty resinous hop display.

This wasn't the best IPA I've ever tried. Don't get me wrong, on a hot Saturday afternoon in downtown Dallas, it was seriously satisfying, but I found it lacked the desired hop crackle and astringency. I'm not likely to buy it again, mostly due to its yeastiness.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Catherine Wheel Belgian IPA

Proving that Ontario breweries can do pretty passable Belgian-style ales is a beauty like Catherine Wheel Belgian IPA from Toronto's Bellwoods Brewery. At 7.2%, Catherine Wheel comes in 500mL bottles festooned with attractive and colourful labels. It's a cloudy golden orange beer topped with an effusive white head.

Catherine Wheel has some pretty funky, yeasty barnyard notes on the nose, alongside fruity and bitter elements. The brew has a tangy flavour, packed with ample hoppiness, stanky yeast, and a dry, brittle finish.

To my palate, this stuff is more "Belgian" than it is "IPA"--I'd have liked a better-developed hops profile to really guide the flavour. It delivers satisfying yeastiness, though, and an interesting flavour.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.