7¹: White IPA
The Exchange Brewery

355 mL Can. ABV 6.8%
Appearance:
Aroma:
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Review: 208

Hazy honey gold, with a long-lived moderate cap that settles to about 1 cm and gives up a lot of lace on the way down.

Aromas of orange, peaches, melon. Pepper at the back end.

Bitter citrus pithy hoppiness dominates, primarily orange, some softer fruit in there as well. Lingering bitter finish bordering on medicinal. Too bitter to really warrant comparison to Hoegaarden, not the same softness or spiciness, not as approachable. Noticeably boozy as it warms up

Fairly aggressive stuff, good for hopheads.

Pours cloudy yellow. The taste is more like a witbier than an IPA but this is a white IPA so maybe that makes a difference. The frothy head leaves all kinds of lacing on my glass. Reminds me of Hoegarden
March 16 2020

 

 

473 ml can from Fortinos - Cost was $3.75 CDN. Canning date was June 6, 2019. 6.8% ABV and 68IBU's.

Appearance - Murky and turbid dark gold, kind of honey brown color. A finger of white head sits on top and surprisingly doesn't have much staying power until you get to the last sliver of head; that holds on for the entire beer. A little bit of lacing at the edges of the glass. And it bears repeating, this is very hazy.

Smell - Orange and coriander initially with some underlying grapefruit, lots of spices. Clove and lemon are here too. Truly a witbier crossed with an IPA. Some Belgian yeasty qualities too.

Taste - Well that's different. Starts witbier like with orange and corainder, then turns bitter for a second with grapefruit, then all sorts of stone fruit comes into play. Peaches and plums with nectarines. Follow that up with a less than pleasant shot of white pepper and finally turning to an earthy bitter finish. A lot going on. The stone fruit is the highlight for me.

Mouthfeel - Rich creamy and voluptuous with just enough carbonation and a drying finish to cut through.

Overall - Quite impressed with this effort, there's a lot of flavors going on and for the most part complement each other quite well. Probably the best offering I've had from The Exchange.

473 mL can from Superstore; dated May 6 2019. Listed at 6.8% and served barely chilled.

Pours a hazy golden-yellow colour mottled with flaky sediment, as more than an inch of puffy, billowing white head rises from the surface; it has barely begun to erode even after ten minutes, with a thick, lumpy, mesa-like cap sticking around considerably longer. An even coat of lace adheres to the glass as it gradually seeps away - this is a beautiful, effervescent beer. Its aroma is spicy, floral and a tad yeasty - I'm detecting hints of coriander, clove and white pepper, as well as underlying notes of orange, grapefruit, orchard fruit and lemon peel. With so much else going on, the baseline wheaty graininess is easily missed; smells like a Belgian IPA.

As for the flavour profile, it's more of a hybrid: the decidedly North American hops provide a fruity backdrop that includes a mélange of apricot, melon, mandarin orange and grapefruit. It trends more bitter towards the back end, with hints of coriander, orange peel, and a slight clove spiciness rounding out a stone fruit-y finish with lingering floral, resiny hops persisting into the aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with moderate carbonation levels and a smooth, somewhat silky texture that I found highly satisfying. Highly refreshing, especially by IPA standards, with superb drinkability.

Final Grade: 4.08, an A-. I've yet to find a white IPA that really blows me away, but The Exchange's 7¹ might just be the closest I've come to date. It's a hop bomb for sure, yet its witbier aspects - the coriander, the orange peel, and the yeast - add another level of depth to the brew, with these two themes intertwined throughout the sip. They tug on each other, ebbing and flowing in turn, but neither manages to really overpower the other. I really like this beer, and even though it's not at all cheap I will definitely be picking it up again.