Fracture Hazy Imperial IPA

A new spin on an Ontario classic, Fracture Hazy Imperial IPA takes the original Fracture and gives it the New England-style treatment. According to the copy in on the teal 473mL cans, there are even more hops in the hazy version than the original, though I’d have to guess that the extra hops are added late in the process. The beer checks in at a boisterous 8.5% and it comes from Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewery.

Hazy Fracture has aromatics that tiptoe between sweet stone fruit and bitter citrus. The flavour is powerfully sweet and big on fruit notes. The can said to expect peach purée, mango, and citrus, and I think that is fairly apt; there is a definite intersection of mango and grapefruit. Compared to Fracture Classic, the hazy version is a lot less assertively bitter and boozy. The alcohol is subtle, but belied by the candied sweetness.

The Hazy edition of Amsterdam’s Fracture is an interesting adaptation. What I really like about the original is it’s brashness. The hazy iteration is sweeter, juicier, and more mellow. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I personally miss the unapologetic grapefruit rind bitterness. Good strength and an interesting flavour combo, though a bit too sweet—I’ll definitely buy this again, but I won’t seek it out.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Mantis IIPA

 Mantis IIPA is a 7.8% imperial IPA from the minds at Goose Island Brewhouse Toronto. Sold in 473mL cans, Mantis is a hazy orange ale crowned with a shock of fluffy white head.

Tropical and sweet, with a whiff of tartness, Mantis has a pleasant aroma. The beer has a silky texture and a relatively mild orange and apricot flavour. It has very little bitterness, nor does it possess much in terms of alcohol warmth.

Mantis is a bit under-strength for an imperial IPA, but the booze it does have is covert. The flavour is enjoyable, but not really all that memorable. This is definitely a personal preference, but I’m not wild about smoothness in an imperial IPA—I’d rather get a bit of grit and snarl. Still, there is much to like in this brew.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

DOOM3!

A collab between two small and excellent Toronto breweries, DOOM3! is an imperial IPA from Laylow Brewery and Halo Brewery. It’s a 7.9% ale sold in 473mL cans. The beer is a bit hazy, with a dullish orange-gold colour.

DOOM3! has a dank, fruity nose—it’s boozy, sticky, and sweet. For a nearly 8% grog, the beer is quite approachable, with tart apricot and orange notes initially and nice, juicy balance throughout. The beer’s finish is still sweet, but it drifts into a resinous bitterness.

I found DOOM3! to be a pretty solid IIPA. I’d have liked it to be quite a bit stronger, and a bit more assertively bitter, but the sweet and tart fruit combo is well executed.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Green Goddess Imperial IPA

Green Goddess Imperial IPA is a take-no-prisoners 9% brute from Kingston, Ontario’s Stone City Ales. Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer is dull gold and hazy, with a slim but durable layer of off-white head. There is a dusting of sediment at the bottom of the glass, but this is acceptably minimal.

The beer, brewed with a trio of hops (Azacca, Citra, and Mosaic), has sweet and juicy aromatics. The scent has pineapple, melon, and citrus elements, as well as a heavy layer of boozy sweetness. The flavour is big on citrus, specifically clementine and orange juicy. It has some substantial hops presence, but also a load of warm booze heat that manifests as sweetness.

This is a stronger-than-average Imperial IPA, but one that exudes balance and juiciness. I thought it was a pretty solid rendition and I was glad my pal MZ shipped a bottle my way care of mutual mün WFM.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Danger Close IIPA

A modestly strong and impressively juicy imperial IPA from the gang at Indie Alehouse in Toronto, Danger Close IIPA is an 8.1% ale. Sold in 500mL bottles with a label featuring some sort of pineapple armament, the beer is an extremely hazy brownish gold. It pours with a sudsy white head.

Danger Close has a potent and extremely sweet pineapple aroma. The beer has a smooth texture and it delivers a sweet, tropical flavour. Not particularly bitter, the beer finishes sweetly with some citrus elements and some boozy heat.

This beer is juicy and sweet—verging on too sweet. It’s easy to forget that this smooth offering is actually an imperial IPA.

 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Devil’s Trill XVI—Trill Bill Volume 16

One of the treasures of a beer mail delivery from Toronto’s Blood Brothers Brewing was 355mL cans of Devil’s Trill XVI—Trill Bill Volume 16—great homage on the label, too. It’s an 8.5% imperial IPA brewed with a trio of hops—Amarillo, El Dorado, and Sabro.

 

The beer is a hazy orange gold with a fluffy white nimbus on the top. It has pungent and sweet aromatics, with tropical fruit playing lead and a vanilla subtext on rhythm. The flavour is a quirky blend of grapefruit and vanilla that is accented with booziness and culminates with a heady dose of bitterness.

The sixteenth iteration of Blood Brothers’ Devil’s Trill is a subtle bruiser with an interesting flavour profile. It’s a touch too sweet, perhaps, but it is definitely intriguing.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Big Kahuna Imperial IPA

A beefy and bruising imperial IPA that I’ve been hoping to acquire for a while now, Spearhead Brewing Company’s Big Kahuna Imperial IPA is a 10%, 100 IBU ale from Kingston, Ontario. Brewed, like its li’l brudder Spearhead Hawaiian Style Pale Ale, with a measure of pineapple juice, Big Kahuna is a clear, bronze ale. It comes in 473mL cans, from which it emerges with a layer of creamy suds.

Big Kahuna has a sweet and juicy aroma backed with some feisty hops—Cascade, Cashmere, Hallertau Blanc, and Warrior are the quartet listed in the copy. It is an extremely flavourful beer, balanced between a sweet, candy-tinged pineapple juiciness on the front end and a raucous, commanding bitterness at the back end.

At 10%, this beer has lights-out potential. It also has oodles of agreeable flavour. It’s the polar opposite of subtle, but Big Kahuna is an unapologetically beastly imperial IPA. I liked it a whole lot.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Hop Shop Imperial IPA

Hop Shop Imperial IPA was my first brush with a brew from Red Arrow Brewing Company, as well as my first beer upon arriving for a quick trip to Victoria. At 7.5%, it’s a bit low octane for an Imperial, but the rowdy 95 IBUs make up for that.

A hazy walnut brew, Hop Shop pours with a thin cover of eggshell head. It has a rich aroma built around a dank hoppy foundation, with some potent brown sugar leanings along for the ride. The flavour is equally rich, with toasted brown sugar backed with an earthy bitterness.

Hop Shop was an unusual IIPA, with its relatively low percentage and toasty sweet front end. While it was a bit off style, this was a really enjoyable beer. I’d have classed it as a strong English-style IPA rather than an Imperial, but I’d definitely buy it again.

Big cheers to my father-in-law for sourcing this one for me. It was a beaut!

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Pivot Imperial IPA

Pivot Imperial IPA is a pretty cool series of strong ales from Picaroons Traditional Ales/Northampton Brewing Co. out of Fredericton, NB. The concept is simple and the execution is elegant. There are (to date at least) nine versions of Pivot. The grain bill is the same in each, though the hops vary from release to release. They all seem to come in very handsome 500mL bottles and contain 8% alcohol. Sadly, I only had one version to write about, rather than multiples to compare, but I’ll live.

The version I found in my parent’s fridge was #8—brewed with locally-grown Sorachi Ace hops from Moose Mountain Hop Farm, along with Warrior and Azacca varieties. 

Pivot 8 was a largely clear number. It was golden-hued and poured with a nice layer of creamy eggshell head. It had a dankly bitter nose supplemented with a waft of floral perfume. Like many of Picaroons’ offerings, Pivot 8 is built around a familiar biscuity, slightly toasty, malt foundation, but it departs from the formula in the degree and style of hopping—fragrant and floral, with some pretty arid attitude. It wasn’t as assertively, crisply hoppy as I’d have liked, but the IBUs were definitely there.

Picaroons’ Pivot Series is almost certainly one worth exploring if you’re a beer lover with a passion for hops varieties. Unfortunately, I can only speak to one version, which I enjoyed, but if you dig exploring how a few changes elements can affect the whole of an ale, this here is a good opportunity.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Laser Show Vermont Style IIPA

When the Stout Man has a head cold, reviewing beer becomes a challenge. However, the Bitter World doesn’t stop turning just because I have a head cold, so the answer is to select huge beers with massive aromatics. Enter Laser Show Vermont Style IIPA. From Left Field Brewery, Toronto’s baseball-mad beer maker, Laser Show is an 8% Imperial India Pale Ale. Sold in 650mL bombers, this is a beer to be undertaken solo only with caution and when one has a pretty clear schedule.

The beer is hazy and has an orange-gold tone. Jumbo notes of tropical fruit and sticky hops waft through a light, off-white haze. The flavour is rich in the juicy, exotic fruit notes that characterize a Vermont-style IPA—pineapple, guava, and loads of citrus.

Bitter and fairly strong, Laser Show packs a nice amount of flavour into a relatively boozy package. I’ve certainly had more assertive Vermont-styles, but this one has some chops of its own. I’d have liked to taste more bold and resinous hops in this number to justify that first “I” in IIPA, as well as a bit more booze—bump this up to 9%+ and I’d have been more impressed.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Accelerated Stall Maverick's IIPA

I'm not wild about breweries giving their products two names. As a reviewer, I find it baffling. Such is the case with a new imperial IPA from Barrie, Ontario's Barnstormer Brewing Co. The beer is called either Accelerated Stall, Maverick's IIPA, or Accelerated Stall Maverick's IIPA. God, it might even be called Maverick's IIPA Accelerated Stall! See what I mean? What's a beer scribe to do? I'll tell you what: I'm going to call the beer "Maverick's", and the folks at Barnstormer should be grateful I didn't dock them points for this nonsense. End of rant.

Maverick's is sold in 473mL cans that are nearly as busy as those that house Flight Deck, another Barnstormer product. The beer inside  checks in at a pretty substantial 8.4% alcohol and a ballsy 80 IBUs. Under a durable and dense off-white foam, Maverick's proved to be a hazy golden orange ale. For so strong a beer, the nose was almost dainty, with subtle hops notes and a leaning toward citrus. Less dainty was the flavour, which also had citrus leanings (orange rind and grapefruit), but managed to contain some sweetness, much booze, and a bit of resin. The finish wasn't powerful, but it did definitely linger.

As IIPAs go, Maverick's 80 IBUs represented a substantial integer, but not one that translated into obvious bitterness to my palate. This was as approachable as an imperial IPA is likely to get, and would be the kind of brew I'd recommend to a recent craft beer convert with a hankerin' for something stronger. That's not to say the beer isn't good--quite the contrary! I liked it a fair bit. It's just not as gum-wrinklingly bitter or as unconscionably strong as some of its peers. A fine tasting beer that fits somewhere between a highly charged IPA and a less-than-obliterating IIPA.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Impossible Geometries

Impossible Geometries is an imperial IPA from the creative brewers at Toronto's Halo Brewery. Unlike some of their more esoteric numbers, this one is pretty well a straight up IIPA--it comes in spiffy 500mL bottles and contains 8% alcohol. A dull gold colour, IG is slightly hazy and pours with a thick eggshell foam.

The bouquet of Impossible Geometries is assertively citrus, with an emphasis on grapefruit, and a slight floral undercurrent. To the tongue, there is a fair amount of sweetness and booziness, but these are trounced by a bitterness that teems with grapefruit, but is also fresh and floral.

Like any good IIPA, this one has an unapologetic emphasis on hops, and a forthright flavour. Perhaps a touch too sweet, but otherwise well crafted and a bit distinct, this is a relatively memorable imperial and a satisfying strong ale. I dig it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Tsarina Bomb

My good pal SL purchased me a 500mL bottle of Tsarina Bomb, an imperial IPA from Toronto's Bandit Brewery. The label, which features a bomb riding raccoon, indicated that this hefty beer contained 8.2% alcohol. Tsarina Bomb poured a handsome dull brown, hazy, and with a sudsy off-white head.

TB had an unexpectedly mellow nose, with sweet and citrus aromatics. The flavour was, above all else, quite boozy. Beneath that, there was a considerable amount of sweetness, notes of satsuma, and some resinous bitterness.

Tsarina Bomb is a pretty fair IIPA. It's a hop bomb, but one that I found a bit too sweet.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Collective Arts Imperial IPA

I spotted a can of Collective Arts' limited edition Imperial IPA out of the corner of my eye and knew immediately that it had to be mine. Brought the 473mL can of 8.5% IIPA home, cracked it, and was broadsided by a gust of boozy citrus. The aroma of this hazy, dull gold ale is strong and assertive, wafting up through a loose and thick off-white head with some force. The flavour wasn't quite as powerful, though still packed a punch, with its bold grapefruit notes. However, there were also some understated floral elements that added a bit of depth.

This Hamiltonian beer comes from one of Ontario's most interesting breweries. Their Imperial IPA lived up to my expectations and left me quite pleased. A bit more in the IBU department might have suited the potency of this beer's aromatics, but that didn't stop CA's effort from being a quality IIPA.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Red Racer Imperial India Pale Ale

On Christmas Night, sitting in my parents' kitchen long after the family went to bed and feeling melancholy, I reached for four things: a fine single malt, an old blues album, a good novel, and a strong ale. The ale I chose for my solitary Yuletide vigil was Red Racer Imperial India Pale Ale, the 9% alcohol, 90 IBU sibling of Surrey, British Columbia's Central City Brewers + Distillers' excellent Red Racer IPA, and cousin to the rest of the Red Racer family.

Sold in 650mL bottles, the Imperial version was clear and honey hued. It poured with a proud layer of off-white head. It's aroma spoke in a slightly slurred, liquor-soaked voice, about spicy pine notes and a toasty warm sweetness. The flavour was equally verbose and equally sauced, though much sweeter than the nose. According to the label, I was to expect "strong aromatics of grapefruit, tangerine and mango." This description didn't entirely square with my experience of the beer, which I found, underneath the boozy sweetness, to be piney and touch dank. Though, it should be said that as my glass of ale warmed, I did start to clue in to some fruitier notes than i initially detected. It finished merrily, with lingering hops pop.

Red Racer IIPA was a hearty, full-flavoured ale that delivered on my desires for a strong and satisfying beer. I found it to be a well made brew with a lot to compliment. On the other side of the ledger, I must admit that the sweetness attached to the big percentage wasn't nearly as well cloaked as I'd have liked and proved a bit distracting. All things considered, this was a grand ol' ale, and one I'm glad to have brought home. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, though only in the fall or winter, because the sweet heat of this beer would be stifling in the sunnier months.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Twin Pines Imperial IPA

On this, my 31st birthday, I wanted to review something big, strong, and charming, just like me.

There was a Sawdust City Brewing Co. tap takeover going on during a recent visit to east end Toronto standout The Only Cafe. As I'm a longtime fan of Sawdust City's excellent Lone Pine IPA, the pride of Gravenhust, Ontario, I jumped at the chance to try a pour of Twin Pines Imperial IPA, it's big, bad relation. According to the Sawdust City website, this chunky IIPA clocks in at 8.8% alcohol and 88 IBUs.

Twin Pines arrived with a hazy, slightly rusty orange look. It came covered with a thick and very persistent cream head. It had a boisterous nose that blathered on about grapefruit, tropical, and bitter notes. Full bodied and boozy, Twin Pines had a formidable flavour--at times too sweet, but building to a dank, resinous "hopsplosion." There were juicy citrus notes, but it was really the sticky resin that made me sit up and take notice. Unlike Line Pine, there isn't a heavy focus here on evergreen notes, though it does appear as a whisper.

Twin Pines lacked the artful modesty of its Lone Pine forebear, but it certainly packed a heady punch and a ton of flavour into a pint of ale. Another beaut from one of the under appreciated, under the radar, bright lights of Ontario's always improving craft beer scene.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale

Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale is a behemoth at 10.2% alcohol. Plus, apparently it's "soaked in lots and lots of delicious Vermont maple syrup". I'm listening.

I was gifted a 16oz can of the stuff during a trip to North Carolina. It comes from Charlotte, where it's brewed by NoDa Brewing Company. According to the NoDa website, it's a member of their "NoDables" series. It's a hazy orange grog topped with a thin layer of off-white head. There is a sweet and powerfully boozy nose. The beer is thick and very sweet. There isn't a whole lot of overt maple in the flavour, but there is some sticky syrup sugariness. There is a layer of dank, resinous hops that brings some heat.

This beer is wildly strong and very flavourful. It's way too sweet by the end of pint, but tastes pretty decent until that point. My beer was also a bit heavy on sediment.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Omnipollo Fatamorgana

Omnipollo Fatamorgana drew me in with its beautiful and simple label. The 12 oz bottle is adorned with a stylized moon reflecting on water. From Sweden, but brewed in Westminster, Maryland, Fatamorgana is an imperial India pale ale that is constructed, according to the label, by Pub Dog Brewing Co. It clocks in at a respectable 8% and pours hazily, cloudily orange with a chipper white head.

There is a juicy, bitter grapefruit nose that packs a potent punch. For a hearty imperial, the flavour is quite mild and nuanced. It's citrus-leaning, slightly sweet, and politely hoppy.





Truly a delicious beer, Fatamorgama has lots of great things to offer. It was pretty pricy for a single bottle, but well, well worth it. I downed my bottle just before sunset at a friend's lake house on Lake Tillery, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, and it was glorious.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Cabin Fever Imperial Black IPA

Taking in a little March Madness on a Sunday evening, I worked up quite a thirst watching my bracket disintegrate before my eyes. I did so poorly that it called for something strong and assertive, so I uncapped a 650mL bottle of Cabin Fever Imperial Black IPA. Cabin Fever is a 8.5% alcohol brute that pours coffee-black, beneath a fluffy off-white head. It's brewed by Victoria, British Columbia's Phillips Brewing Company.

While Cabin Fever doesn't have a strong aroma, it does give the impression that it's a powerful beer, with a suggestion of potent, dank bitterness. Here, flavour has much more depth than aroma, with pungent hops chops. It's murky and also has a big roasted malt presence.  Tastes pretty good to me.

Cabin Fever's label needs to be commented on--both complimented and criticized. On the happy side of the ledger, it's "made from 100% post consumer recycled materials. However, it should also be noted that the copy about the beer is a tad insensitive. It claims to be "crafted for the crazy in all of us", a "balanced beer for the unbalanced mind", and to have enough hops and malt to "satisfy all the voices in your head". Not exactly respectful or compassionate for persons with mental illness.

All in, it's a pretty decent imperial black IPA. Flavourful and robust. I'd buy it again if they changed the image.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Stack '72

A rare treat for me: a quadruple review with three great pals, all of whom are friends of this blog (not to mention three of the four founding members of the best rock band you've probably never heard of, The Stormalongs). For the occasion, we chose to analyze Stack '72 Imperial I.P.A., a 9% alcohol bruiser from Sudbury, Ontario's Stack Brewing. Sold in 473mL cans, Stack '72 is named in honour of "The Superstack", which is apparently Canada's tallest smokestack. It's a murky, dull amber brew with a frothy off-white head.

The Reverend Nick

My man Nick was our gracious host for the evening. so his thoughts go first. He found '72's aroma to be powerful and almost sweet, with hop and grapefruit notes. He found there to be a very fresh, clean taste with light citrus fruit notes. To the Rev's mind, this stuff tasted a bit under-powered for a 9% alcohol Imperial I.P.A. The mouthfeel delivered acceptable carbonation and the finish picks up steam. It sits in your mouth well.

Overall, Nick said he wanted the beer to have more punch. He called it a great Northern beer, but noted that he was surprised that it was as strong as 9%--he'd have guessed 7 or 8. Said Nick: "Blue collar. Not too snooty, but still craft." For him, '72'd be great after a hard day's work and he' be happy if it was more available.

The Rev: 7.0 out of 10.

Adam

Adam was our source for Stack beer. His parents live in Sudbury and he'd been hyping its new brewery to me for ages. Like Nick, Adam declared that this beer tasted less strong than it is. He characterized it as hoppy but not over the top, with a medium sweetness that left him craving something salty. He had a hard time describing the flavour, twice noting that "there's something I can't put my finger on", but he theorized that there might be some subtle smokiness combined with some sweetness, maybe some caramel, or maybe some resin. Said Adam: "I love this beer, but it's a mystery."

A super-enthusiast, Adam declared that "Stack '72 makes a lot of other beers feel inferior" and that "this is one of my favourite Ontario beers, despite my inability to articulate what's going on". It's strong but not damaging. Adam said that he could drink this stuff all day, as long as it's a short day.

Adam: 9.0 out of 10.

Colin

Colin, The Stormalongs' front man, is always great for a sound bite. Of Stack '72, he said that it's "a beer fit for a working man, but developed enough for a craft beer palate. A high alcohol content reflects the hard-scrabble origins as a Northern brew."

He found it to have a hoppy, dark, and vaguely spicy aroma, with lime notes. As for mouthfeel, it was simple, not foamy, direct, refreshing, layered, strong, and clean. He found the flavour to be sweet, playful, dark, and not overpowering. All told, Stack '72 was "a straightforwardly hoppy ale with enough complexity and balance of flavour to merit repeated experience."

Colin: 7.0 out of 10 compared to "normal beers"; 9.0 out of 10 for Northern Ontario.

Stout Man

For yours truly, Stack '72 had a swampy, resinous nose that was dank and faintly fruity. Unlike my compadres, I found that the healthy booze presence was well on display. It was malty and sweet a short lived, front end with a rich caramel aesthetic. Then it turns sharply into bitter territory: considerable hempen and citrus tones are present, but I found murky resin to be the order of the day.

A fine pungent ale. Flavourful, pushy, and nice. It's not an elite IIPA, but it sure is a good one.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.