Werk Avoidance
Innocente Brewing Company

 

500 mL bottle picked up at the brewery; served slightly chilled. One of three Innocente American-style pale ales that I picked up in Waterloo last week.

Pours a clear, pale amber-golden colour, producing roughly one inch of loose, soapy white head at the surface that displays respectable retention. After five minutes' time, I am left with a generously wide collar and foamy cap, as well as some exceptional lacing - this is a gorgeous pale ale. There are hints of doughy, biscuity malts on the nose, with maybe a touch of caramelized sugar sweetness, but it is the fruity notes that will undoubtedly pique your interest. I am getting a lot of peach/apricot and citrusy orange, with minor hints of canned pineapple and passion fruit. It's a subtle aroma, but for 3.4% there's lots packed into it.

Yummy stuff. Not much to be heard from the malts - the overall flavour is lightly grainy and doughy, with more noticeable notes of apricot, orange, pineapple and grapefruit pith. The latter facet remains strong into the finish, where it is joined by some bitter pine resin astringency that hangs on into the aftertaste - surprisingly long, too. Light-bodied, with assertive carbonation levels that offer up a good, solid bite. This session ale feels crisp on the palate, and it is exceedingly easy to drink - which leaves me faced with a conundrum. Do I keep gulping away at this rapid pace, since that seems to be the beer's intended mode of consumption? Or do I savour the half-a-glass left in front of me? One thing's for sure - the next time I'm in Waterloo, I'll be buying more than one bottle.

Final Grade: 4.06, an impressive A-. The phrase "session ale" is getting used a lot more frequently these days - not always appropriately, in my opinion. Innocente's Werk Avoidance, however, is a true session ale, and a pretty damn good one, at that. At only 3.4%, it seems almost an order of magnitude more flavourful than it should be - I have had 5+% Ontario pale ales that proved unable to supply a comparably forceful hop punch. If you're a fan of these sorts of ultra-light pale ales, and live within driving range of the KWC area, then a fresh bottle of Werk Avoidance should be considered a high priority - it's right up there with Limp Puppet and Naughty Neighbour in quality.

 

This is not a light and fruity patio drink, it's really an india session ale. Great flavour, with an awesome mix of hops: Galaxy, Centennial and Palisade. Somehow, at only 3.4%, it doesn't come across as watery bong water. Papaya, nectarine, tangerine, candied pineapple, mango and piny resin. Crisp, extremely bitter finish.

Makes me think Dogfish Head should do a 30 minute IPA.