Road Trip to Auckland
Nickel Brook Brewing Co. - Burlington

Oct 16 2025

At my lady Pamela's house; canned, from Nickel Brook's Chill Pack, from my favourite LCBO at The Roundhouse Centre in nearby Windsor. My sixth beer from the Burlington brewery.

473 mL can from the LCBO, included in Nickel Brook's Chill mixed pack; dated Mar 14 2024 and served slightly chilled.

Pours hazy straw yellow, topped with more than an inch of fluffy, soapy white head that drops back over the next three minutes or so. A thick coat of lace adheres to the glass, with a generous collar of suds remaining on the surface - lookin' good so far. The aroma includes hints of lemon and lime zest, as well as shades of pineapple, stone fruit and floral, weakly piney hops.

Fruity and flavourful forefront that tapers off towards the end of the sip - I'm getting melon, pineapple, white grape and peach initially, with background notes of bready, wheaty pale malt sweetness. Hints of citrusy lemon-lime zest join in by mid-sip, with floral, grassy hops adding little in the way of bitterness; fruity aftertaste of stone fruit and melon rind that lingers briefly. Fairly light-bodied, with low-ish carbonation that froths up on the tongue, adding some semblance of crispness to this pale ale's smooth & pleasing mouthfeel. Very crushable, maybe even borderline sessionable at 5.5%.

Final Grade: 3.97, a B+. Nickel Brook has been brewing up solid IPAs for at least a decade, and Road Trip to Auckland is another feather in their cap. While I wouldn't call this a mind-blowing or "must-try" beer, I do think the New Zealand hops were used to good effect, distinguishing this hazy IPA from the vast majority of its competition. Fruity and approachable with low bitterness and fantastic drinkability - what's not to like here? If NB can source the hops reliably, this would make a fine summer seasonal.