Lunatic Fridge IPA
Toboggan Brewing Co.

 

Can from the brewery: Pours a d hazed burnished gold with a 2 finger cap...aromas of peach, pine, biscuits and earthyness...medium bodied with a solid malt spine, piney-citrus tones, long robust finish is clean, balanced, lightly bitter with a biscuity snap at the end..nicely executed Candian IPA...quenching yet satisfying

Dec 29 2024

Review from notes. 473 ml can served cold into a pint glass.

Appearance - Slightly hazy dark copper color, leaning more brown than gold. A finger plus of nice white head, which fades away relatively quickly leaving sparse lacing behind.

Smell - Crackery notes, grain, caramel and dull citrus focused hops. More APA on the nose and the more pronounced grainy aromas and malt bill.

Taste - Very grainy, weak citrus hops suggestions, some sweet caramel. Not unpleasant but not really near any of the better IPA's available locally. Too sweet and insufficient hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel - A bit sticky, yet also thin. A strange combo. Carbonation is middling.

Overall - A disappointing IPA to say the least, the grainy and crackery aspect of this beer really detracts from what an American IPA is. Some may enjoy this but misses style points for sure.

What a great couple/few days the opening of July 2019 has been for The CANQuest (tm)! M, 01 July was CANada Day & I CANebrated by drinking, reviewing & rating (in that order) a whole buncha CANadian beers. These were part of a big box dropped off for me by my local, in-person trader, @tone77 , following his foray into The Great White North. His generosity is boundless & although I CAN't quite keep up, my CANvalesence following prostate removal surgery is providing me an opportunity to really clear the backlog. Here comes CANother CANned beer from CANada!

From the CAN: "Proudly Brewing in London[,] Ontario"; "Lunatic/ (loo-nuh-tik) adjective - lightheartedly mad, frivolous, eccentric, etc. She has a lunatic charm that is quite engaging. Fridge/ (fridg) noun - (informal) short for refrigerator. [Also, the name of a bottle & pizza shop in Lancaster, PA where I will never visit again!] I rescued a cold IPA from the fridge."; "West coast hops give this IPA a citrus hoppy flavor with a smooth profile and clean finish."

I was in the midst of hops euphoria & as such, I CAN't wait to Crack! open the vent & get another Glug started! I was not disappointed as it foamed up to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with very good retention, leaving plenty of lacing to remember it by. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose was a 2000s throwback with the pine & citrus scents that first sent me into orbit! Baby, I was hooked to the point that I was putting hop pellets under my tongue & letting them melt for that added, extra kick. Phew. Mouthfeel was medium, as is the norm in the style. The taste was more pine than citrus, but they played nicely together as the caramel malt danced in the background. I was finding myself lost in the mélange, but what a way to get lost! It was not the best example of the style that I have ever drank, reviewed & rated, but it was the best in a LONNNGGG time. Bump tropical, hazebro AIPAs, this was where it's at! Mmm. Finish was dry & bitter & if that ain't your thing, I understand. Go back to styling your man bun & hitting your vape pen & leave me be! Dig?

LCBO London 2019. Hazy gold with a decent head. Dank citrus nose. Light-medium malt body with light citrus notes and some dryness. An average IPA.

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of tropical fruits, light citrus. Taste is tropical fruits, citrus, malts are present, moderate bitterness. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a solid beer and so tropical that it makes me forget the horrific winter weather I experienced while visiting the city where this beer was brewed.

 

Copper with some sediment, no carbonation, and topped with 8 fingers of fluffy, off white head.

Smells like snow. Really I get nothing but perhaps pee and a hint of weed.

Tastes of honey, water, and a little bit of bitterness.

Light body, no carbonation.

Got in Stratford, drinking in New Hamburg, ON, July 13th, 2018. What a disappointment.

 

 

Liked it. Nothing that complex going on in the flavour, but a good tasting standard Ontario IPA. I haven't bought it again as some other IPAs outrank it as ones I like better!

 

 

L: Generally a nice looking beer with a fine head that lasted no quite half way down the pint.
S: Fresh off the pour the head is pleasantly hoppy and then dissipates.
T: More hop bitterness than flavor. Not as out of whack as many but enough to diminish enjoyment.
F: Under attenuated, thick in the body, and the most unpleasant character of the beer.
O: This is an IPA that has the bitterness/IBUs of an American IPA and the mouthfeel and body of a [heavier than average] UK IPA without the pleasantly diverse malt character. More of a hybrid and one that IMO doesn't work and is likely not a good idea.

 

 

Tallboy can purchased at the LCBO; no packaging date. Served slightly chilled.

Pours a foggy pale amber hue, generating about one finger's worth of creamy-looking, off white-coloured head. It sticks around for a few minutes, steadily losing cohesion until only a foamy, bubbly cap and collar are left behind. Minimal lace; visually it's quite average for an IPA. The aroma is in a similar boat - I am detecting notes of muddled grapefruit and citrus peel, with plenty of caramelized sugar sweetness. Light hints of pine resin and earthy, dirty hops. Appropriate for the style I suppose, but nothing worthy of a raised eyebrow.

An inoffensive IPA that leans a little heavily towards elements that this style doesn't usually focus on. I am speaking mostly of the malts, which provide a little too much caramel sweetness for my liking. Some bready, biscuity notes are also noticeable, with flavours of bruised orchard fruit cropping up by mid-sip (apple, apricot). The hops don't really assert themselves until the back end, where they imbue notes of piney, earthy hops and more muddled grapefruit citrus. Finishes with a dirty, muddy bitterness that lingers into the aftertaste. Nearing medium-bodied, with low carbonation levels that weakly prickle the palate, allowing a smooth, slick mouthfeel to develop. Relatively easy to drink; the alcohol doesn't really come through, but this stripe of hop bitterness just isn't up my alley.

Final Grade: 3.29, a C+. The most unique thing about Toboggan's Lunatic Fridge is probably its bizarre name and label art, because there's certainly nothing novel about its flavour profile. It reminds me a little of Beau's (Beaver River/Farm Table) IPA, in that the hop strains employed come off dull and dirty, while the malts are over-pronounced. A bog-standard West Coast IPA that doesn't match up to most of the Ontario-brewed competition.

Poured an unattractive translucent brown colour with a thin layer of white head.

The nose has some fruity notes with a massive caramel sweetness.

The palate has moderate bitterness with a huge caramel sweetness. The fruity notes from the aroma are present in the palate along with a slight spiciness (cascade?). Too sweet and something tastes slightly off here. Not a well made IPA