Beer# 280 Hopsta La Vista IPA Longslice Brewery

#280 Hopsta La Vista

Longslice Brewery
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Contract Brewery
India Pale Ale 
6.5 % ABV IBU: 69
473 ml Aluminium Can
$2.90 at the LCBO

Twitter: @LongsliceBrews

Longslice brewery is a new one on me. I was initially attracted by the punny, bright packaging. Started by two brothers from Bracebridge, Jimmy and John Peat who started homebrewing in high school with their Dad... ( way cool Dad!) In 2013 Jimmy Peat took second place in the Toronto Beer Week Homebrew competition with a hybrid English Pale Ale/ American IPA. That beer would go on to become tonight's offering Hopsta La Vista. The Peat Brothers were joined by longtime friend Sebastian Lesch and on March 20 2014 Longslice Brewery was born. In 2015 Hopsta La Vista added another medal to the trophy cabinet taking home a Gold at the Ontario Brewing Awards.

They also have the most awesome retro 1990's style website that made me laugh when I saw it. Please check it out here.

Onto the tasting...

Pours a darker orange amber in colour with an off tan head made up of small bubbles.The nose is malty with a herbal hop and tea nose. First sip is strong and malty with notes of bitter greens black tea. A bit of a creamy mouthfeel. Spikes of pine and cedar with some leather in the background. The beer is viscous, almost oily and clings to the glass when swirled taking on almost a bubbly honey look cascading down the inside of the glass. Aeration gives us some malt and molasses with hints of dried fruit and very mild spice. Finish is bitter herbs and a slight marijuana feeling. 

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6  PASS
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

A very good IPA Deep flavours, well constructed. Great mouthfeel, and well balanced. Definitely pick this one up, if you like full bodied IPAs this is the beer for you.

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 278 Black Rock Dark Ale Boshkung Brewing Company

#278 Black Rock Dark ale

Boshkung Brewing Company

Carnarvon, Ontario, Canada
Brewery
Dark Ale 
5.5 % ABV IBU: 23
32 oz Brown Glass Half Growler
$7.00 (Canadian) At the Brewery Saloon

Twitter: @Boshkungbrewing


Back again to Boshkung and the second of the two half growlers I bought when I visited the bottle shop by the lake. I will have two more offerings from Boshkung coming up this week as I have to do a little housekeeping. The Fridge of Fame is bursting at the seams with craft beer (Not usually a bad problem...) and I really need to work my way through it.

Tonight's offering is a dark ale and a silver medalist in its category at The Ontario Brewing Awards 2016.

Let's see how it earned it's silver...

Pours a deep chestnut colour with a dark tan head made up of tiny bubbles. Aroma is deeply caramelized sugar, molasses, licorice, and barley biscuits. First sip is smoky rich caramel, coffee, and notes of cola and licorice. Aeration gives you more smoke and espresso, molasses, and vanilla.




Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL

Experience: 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

Nicely complex, lots of layering of flavours. A good beer to sit and ponder. Definitely worthy of award and praise. I would sit and sip this, long into a fall night in front of a campfire. You should too.

Cheers

CJT

Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
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