True North India Pale Ale

60ml sample from the bottle at Hamilton Food and Drink fest. Poured a golden yellow with a thin filmy head. Very big hoppy aroma with citrus and grassy notes (no mean feat with so much cooking going on around). Flavour was a nice surprise. Very mild malts up front, followed by berry and pine flavours with a nice, although not over powering, bitter finish. Proves good IPA’s can be brewed in Canada and that they don’t have to be hop-monsters to be good.

341 mL bottle. Pale copper-orange in colour; a little lighter than some other IPAs. Just a ring of head. Aroma leans toward the sweet malt. There is some hay and spice in there as well. Body is quite full. The taste is not complex, and swings back a bit toward the hops, although there is still some sweetness early on. The hop flavours (citrus, floral) are quite pleasant. There is some alcohol in there near the end. Nice bitter finish. Pretty good! Drink it while it’s cold.

341mL bottle purchased from The Beer Store in Toronto. I sampled this at the Fort York Festival of Beer and was pleasantly surprised, so I thought it was worth seeking out in the bottle. Pours a pale gold with some carbonation. Minor aroma. The flavour is reasonable, but not nearly enough hops. There’s a slight bitterness bite, but not enough of it. Another Canadian "IPA" that doesn’t come close to its Yankee counterparts.

341 ml bottle - pours a clear amber hue with a nice white head that sticks around for awhile. Very nice aroma - grassy hoppiness (Goldings? Cascade?) that sort of reminds me of wet hay (weird, but it’s a good thing). Flavour is more of the same, but could certainly use a bit more hop and malt punch. Slightly thin body. Well-hidden 6.5% abv. Simple, quality beer, and a surprise for sure. Probably one of the top 5 readily available IPAs in Ontario.