Double Roman Candle
Bellwoods Brewery

473 mL can from the brewery; dated Oct 2 2025 and served slightly chilled.

Pours hazy and turbid, its pale yellow-coloured body supporting half a finger of dense, creamy white foam that fades within a minute or two. A thin cap and frothy collar are left behind, with an arcing swath of lace redrawn after each tilt/sip from the glass; looks fine so far. Fruity aromas of melon, mango, orange and pineapple are reminiscent of this beer's older, lighter sibling; I'm also getting hints of Meyer lemon, lime and a touch of yellow guava, as well as a faint whiff of ethanol.

Great flavours at the forefront, but it starts to lose me a little at the finish. I'm getting honeydew melon, mango and orange early on, later joined by pineapple, candied lemon and grapefruit peel. Bready, wheaty malts tie things together well enough, with floral, earthy, dank hop bitterness asserting itself late in the sip; muddled melon, citrus and dank hop bitterness persist into a moderately boozy-sweet aftertaste. Full-bodied, with active carbonation that lends some prickliness to this brew's otherwise smooth & generous mouthfeel. Decent drinkability for a double, but the dank bitterness at the finish clashes with the fruity hop forefront.

Final Grade: 4.07, an A-. If you appreciate Bellwoods' original Roman Candle, I think it's fair to assume that you'll also enjoy their Double Roman Candle. Personally, I have never ranked Roman Candle all that highly amongst Bellwoods' prolific portfolio of IPAs, and I feel mostly the same way about this imperialized version - I'll admit that it's above average compared to much of its local competition, but I don't think I'd take this over, say, Witchshark. It's worth trying for sure, but not necessarily a brew I'd deliberately seek out in the future.

 

Pours cloudy straw with an everlasting chunky head. Lemon, pineapple and mango hops with some bread in the nose. The taste is full of loads of the aforementioned with berries in there too. Solid bread pudding malt ballast. The mouthfeel is full bodied with copious carbonation. High bitterness and plenty of malts in the finish.

Another banger DIPA from the local Ontario masters. This time with more malt prominence.

Pours beautifully, with a light orange hue and lovely half an inch, firm head. The nose is a really nice citrus bouquet. The taste is quite tart, with citrus but also a bit of smokey earth notes. Smooth, though there is also hard carbonation.
Overall it's a good beer, however I wish the tartness and carbonation would be less.