Adaptation Sabro Dry-Hopped Kölsch

Brewed in scenic Gravenhurst, Ontario at Sawdust City Brewing Co., Adaptation Sabro Dry-Hopped Kölsch is a 5.5%, 20 IBU beer that also contains Magnum and Spalt hops. The beer, sold in 473mL cans, pours a hazy golden colour with a sudsy shock of white foam.

Adaptation a sweet and engaging aroma, backed with a tickle of floral hops. The beer has a smooth texture and an interesting flavour. It’s sweet, initially, progressing to an earthy, botanical finish. The dry-hopping adds a richness, but, it should be said, might impact the potential crispness of the underlying Kölsch-style brew.

I thought Sawdust City’s Adaptation was an enjoyable little beer with a quirky flavour and texture mix. I enjoyed my cans and I’d gladly buy it again.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

People's Pint Pit-Stop: Wheat the North

An ode to, in my opinion, Toronto’s raddest professional sports team and their “We the North” slogan, Wheat the North comes from People’s Pint Brewing Company. A 5.1% dry-hopped American wheat ale, WtN comes in PP’s generic 500mL bottles. The beer is a hazy, dull orange, and it pours with some off-white suds.

WtN has a nose that is, at the same time, sweet, juicy, and a wee bit hoppy. The flavour has some citrus and berry sweetness up front and then it shifts into a bitterness more reminiscent of a pale ale than a wheaty brew, though there is some characteristic smoothness to the finish.

If you like your wheat beers well-hopped, Wheat the North could be for you. As for me, I certainly thought it was pretty good, though not nearly as well executed as some of the other People’s Pint offerings I’ve been sipping recently.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Jelly King Blood Orange

A modified version of Bellwoods Brewery’s Jelly King is Jelly King Blood Orange, a dry-hopped sour ale with fruit. This Torontonian ale contains 5.6% alcohol and comes in a 500mL bottle. Brewed with blood oranges (one of my favourite things), this beer has a cloudy dull-gold look and a thick off-white head.

JKBO has an aroma that is both juicy and tart. There are potent citrus notes and just a whiff of bitterness. Its flavour is only moderately tart, making JKBO an approachable sour, but one sharp enough to intrigue sour heads. As well, there is a bit of a briny edge that runs parallel to a gently hopped finish.

Approximately equivalent to the original Jelly King, but with a juicier bod, JKBO is an interesting take on the classic formula. It could probably be a bit more sour, but the beer is all the more accessible as a result.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Double Dry-Hopped Cat Lady

Way back in 2014, I told you about Cat Lady IPA, from Toronto’s Bellwoods Brewery. This week, after shooting some hoops, I swung by the Bellwoods bottle shop and spotted an updated version, Double Dry-Hopped Cat Lady. At 7.2% alcohol, there is actually less booze than the original (7.3%). Sold in a 500mL bottle, Cat Lady DDH is an extremely hazy brew—it’s a milky dull orange-gold with a fairly fluffy off-white head.

CLDDH has a mammoth aroma that is resplendent in tropical fruit notes. Like the original, there are serious satsuma vibes, but in place of grapefruit, passion fruit is the secondary fruit feature. Despite the juicy sweetness, the beer manages a dry and bitter finish, with a slightly resinous vibe.

Compared to the original Cat Lady, I found the DDH sibling to be a bit more hop-bopping and considerably more juicy. This was, to my mind, a Vermont-style IPA. The only substantive failing that I perceived was a touch too much sweetness, particularly in the early going. Other than that, this was a lovely ale and quite worthy to share the stage with Cat Lady 1.0. I actually bought two bottles of this stuff; the first left me floored, but I was less blown away by the second.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Adaptation: Mosaic Dry-Hopped Kölsch

For our fifth anniversary, the Bitter Wife and I took a little weekend trip to cottage country. While in Gravenhurst, we dropped into the Sawdust City Brewing Co. for a couple of cold ones to celebrate. While she knocked back some Little Norway Pale Lager, I alternated between a couple of different offerings, but the one that first caught my eye was called Adaptation: Mosaic Dry-Hopped Kölsch.

This take on the kölsch style showed up pale yellow-gold and mostly clear, with a thin cap of off-white head. It had a charming aroma that was both grainy and fruity. The flavour toed that same line, with some soft grain notes cohabiting with a peachy element. The beer culminated with a snappy, dry finish that had some modest hops crackle.

The idea of a dry-hopped kölsch-style ale seems like a strange bird--and to choose a juicy hop like mosaic, instead of a pinier option seemed like an odd choice--but the folks at Sawdust City clearly know their craft (beer), because this stuff was treat. I found it too thin, even for a kölsch-style, but the flavour combination was genuinely enjoyable.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Heart of Tartness

From Toronto's newest brewery (at least as of September 2017), Northern Maverick Brewing Co., comes Heart of Tartness. HoT is a 5.2% alcohol dry hopped sour beer, brewed, according to the 500mL bottle, with oats to add balance.

The beer is a milky, pale yellow-gold number. It's crowned with a thick layer of pearly white head and has an aroma that vacillates between pungent brine and juicy fruit notes. The flavour is moderately tart, with some sour fruit elements--unripe peach and cranberry to this amateur aficionado--though the label promises pineapple, cherry, apricot, and orange. I can see where they're coming from with cherry, but the others elude me. The finish is quite dry and short, providing the beer with a nice crispness that cut right through a hot late-summer day to provide serious refreshment.

Heart of Tartness is a tame but thoroughly enjoyable sour ale. The strength is pretty good, there is depth of flavour, and it finishes with a commendable crispness. Perhaps not as sour as I'd have liked, nor as hop-focused, but this was a nice beer and I'll gladly revisit it before to long.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Burlington Funk: Duplicitous Citra Dry-Hopped Gose

Nickel Brook Brewing Co.'s Duplicitous Citra Dry-Hopped Gose has a curious distinction: despite the dry-hopping, it is the first beer that I've ever sipped with a listed IBU count of 0. Sold in strangely-sized 375mL bottles, Duplicitous is a light beer at just 4% alcohol. It's born and bred in Burlington, Ontario.

The gose has a sunny golden hue. It's quite hazy and pours with a vibrant white head. According to the label, this low-alcohol ale is brewed using both Himalayan sea salt and coriander. It has a sharp, citrus twang to the nose and a flavour that is both briny and tart. The mouthfeel is crisp, but also a bit thin, while the finish is short and sour.

I found Duplicitous to be a pretty engaging little gose. Neither too sour nor salty, but still meaningfully tangy, it left me feeling refreshed while I watched a Jays game on a Sunday afternoon.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Nectarous

It was a family effort to get me a bottle of Nectarous, a dry-hopped sour ale from Delta, British Columbia. Spearheaded by my ol' pal KF, who enlisted her step brother to complete the delivery, it took a few weeks for me to get my bottle, but the beer was well worth the wait.

Nectarous is a member of the Zephyrus Series of brews done up by Delta's Four Winds Brewing Co. I was provided with a 650mL bottle of the stuff, listed at 5.5% alcohol and just 6 IBUs, which I thought must have been a misprint but confirmed on the FWBC website. It poured with a hazy dull golden aspect and a layer of lusty white head. The aroma was positively mouthwatering, with juicy tropical fruits and the suggestion of some serious tartness. Not quite mouth puckeringly sour, Nectarous' flavour managed to be more than simply tart, while retaining a devious blast of almost ripe fruit. Nor was it particularly yeasty. Funky, sure, but not all that yeasty.

This sour beer wasn't what I was expecting when I read "dry-hopped sour". Not at all hoppy is usually a bad thing for me when I'm reviewing an ale, but this beer somehow utterly failed to disappoint. It was big, bold, well-made, and delicious. Too tart to drink a second in a sitting, perhaps, but each sip demanded attention. This was a unique and special sour.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.