Burning Ember
Lake of Bays Brewing Company

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $3.60 CDN. Forgot to jot down the canning date, but this was reasonably fresh

Appearance - Dark orange with some reddish and brown hues. A finger plus of bright white head rest on top and stay a while.

Smell - Kind of a generic piney quality with some caramel malt in the background. Maybe a pinch of grapefruit.

Taste - Some grapefruit and pine, with a heavy dose of caramel malt backing things up. In the end it's fine and serviceable, but combines for a stale taste - the way past their prime piney (old-school west coast) IPA's seems to end up tasting after canning for months. I don't dislike that flavor, but it doesn't really pop or wow me.

Mouthfeel - Medium-full body, a bit fuller than a 5.6% IPA would be expected to be. Carbonation is fairly assertive and finish is semi-dry.

Overall - A passable IPA, but definitely doesn't stand out in the crowded IPA section. Seems a bit clunky and the flavor when fresh tastes a bit past its prime. Still said, I would definitely drink (and enjoy) one if offered, but I'm unlikely to go out of my way and purchase any more than the original two.

Floors, murky, dirty, orange, not so much red no foam bitterness top of mouth is extraordinarily prominent (not in a pleasant way) on first sip. We’ll see if we can finish this. Maybe not my day today.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Oct 4 2022 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a hazy orange-amber colour, generating an inch of soapy, off white head that wilts within several minutes' time. A messy coat of sticky lace is left behind, in addition to a frothy, sudsy collar and cap. Looks fine, but 'red' is a real stretch. Honeydew melon and peach on the nose, with notes of orange and lemon-lime citrus also coming through; much subtler are the hints of earthy, weedy hops and wheaty malt.

A serviceable, balanced amber ale: there are wheaty, toasty malt flavours in the background, as well as a lightly caramelized sweetness, but ultimately the hops are what make or break an IPA, right? I'm getting grapefruit and melon, as well as piney, floral, slightly spicy hops, the latter moreso towards the back end. Resiny, earthy bitterness tapers off into the aftertaste, leaving only suggestions of grapefruit and berries. Light-medium in body, with assertive carbonation that feels prickly on the tongue, maybe even a bit frothy; the mouthfeel is quite smooth, with good drinkability.

Final Grade: 3.65, a B grade. Burning Ember is a pretty decent effort from Lake of Bays, but I also think this is a very 'safe' beer. That is to say it's competently brewed, and might very well be an acceptable brew for less discerning beer geeks & hopheads such as myself. Yet it does nothing whatsoever to make itself stand out - other than the 'red IPA' tag I suppose, but they didn't even pull that off correctly. I'm giving this one a lukewarm recommendation - probably worth a try, at least if you appreciate hoppy, bitter amber ales.

Pours a turbid orange colour, not red or even amber, opaque with a small head. Hints of strawberries and rye on the smell. Hoppy, tart and bitter on the taste, like an IPA. This beer bills itself as a red IPA, but the unred colour on the pour turns me off
Oct 20 2022