Birch Bark White IPA
Bobcaygeon Brewing Company

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from their Summer IPA Sampler, from my favourite LCBO at The Roundhouse Centre in nearby Windsor. My fifth beer from the Peterborough, ON brewery.

Slightly haze yellow gold. Moderate head that settles to a film, plenty of lace. Nose is gently flowery with a whiff of alcohol. Clean hops. Also flowery and hoppy to taste, Some gentle citrus. Nice grainy malt backbone. Evenhanded stuff, pleasant to drink. Noticeably boozy in patches.

473 ml can from the LCBO. Review from notes on a couple of occasions.

Appearance - Hazy and rich dark golden color with honey brown hues. Big two fingers of head rest on top, reduce to a half finger and stick around for most of the glass.

Smell - Tropical generally, with orange and some hints of lemon and grapefruit. Steady grainy malt bill in the background.

Taste - Close to the nose, orange leading the way again with grapefruit lemon and some earthy bitter undertones in there. A touch of spice to close things out.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, fairly well carbonated and quite easy drinking.

Overall - A pretty solid IPA that up till a few years ago would've stood out more. Definitely solid and worth going back to especially for those who do like the taste of orange with their beers. Give it a shot, this brewery has put out many solid offerings recently.

 

Hazy and veiled dark straw color with moderate activity. Foamy and light frothy 3 finger head, lasting around 15 minutes, good legs and swirl reaction. Flavors of pineapples, orange, lemon, butter, caramel, wheat, light wild yeast, with floral and herbal hops. Light oily and smooth medium body with crispy carbonation. Medium to strong strength finish, mostly tropical with a faint straw effect, lots of dry hops and a bit piney. Well refreshing and nicely intensified, almost with a ripe fruity feel. Great balance and well attenuated. Overall high quality craft.

 

Soft, slightly hazy gold, with lots of carbonation and 2 fingers of white head.

Smells of peaches and perhaps a hint of pine.

Tastes of peaches, orange zest, pine, and only a mild bitterness.

Light body, with a foamy, expand in your mouth feel.

Got at LCBO, drinking in New Hamburg, July 7th, 2018. Decent brew.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated May 25 2018 and served barely chilled. I am disappointed that the white portion of this can's label doesn't have those horizontal black marks you see on birch bark. Which I just now learned are called lenticels.

Pours a hazy, translucent golden-yellow colour, topped with a half-inch of loose, bubbly white foam that fizzles off completely within a few minutes' time. A thin collar remains, but little else; very sparse in terms of lacing. The aroma is mostly citrusy, with grapefruit, lemon and lime present amidst some wheaty, grainy pale malts. Shades of tropical fruit (mango?) and berries in there, too, but they're too subtle and/or diffuse for me to use more specific descriptors with any sort of confidence.

A pleasant little hoppy pale ale; nothing too exciting, but nothing out of place, either. The pale malt/wheat background provides a slight bit of grainy, crackery sweetness that nicely suits the citrusy, fruity character of the hops employed. I'm still getting lots of grapefruit, with lesser notes of lemon zest and orange peel preceding a finish that includes some floral, spicy hop elements; some resiny hop bitterness asserts itself at the tail end of the sip, but fades quickly upon reaching the aftertaste. On the lighter side of medium-bodied, with lively carbonation that prickles the palate with gusto, giving this beer a crisp mouthfeel that I find to be more refreshing than most standard-issue IPAs - 'sessionable' might be an overstatement, but even at 5.8% it's pretty close to being so. This is the third can I've knocked back within the last week, and I have not been able to come up with any serious criticisms.

Final Grade: 3.96, a fine B+. Bobcaygeon's Birch Bark White IPA should make for a superb summer quaffer. I have not had very many, but I was under the impression that a white IPA is basically just a Belgian wit crossed with an IPA. I dunno if they actually used Belgian yeast, orange peel, etc. or not - but even if they didn't, the illusion of spice and citrus peel is still there, which is good enough for me. Definitely one of the better Bobcaygeon products to hit the LCBO - worth a try, and I'll be back for more.