The Starter
Four Fathers Brewing Co.

 

Got this one from the LCBO this past summer

From a 16oz can into a snifter

APPEARANCE: Pours a two finger, medium-thicker, creamy white head with excellent retention. Opaque burnt orange with no real carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a full, frothy cap and clings to the glass. A full wisp remains leaving good lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Tropical fruits, passion fruit, pine notes and a bit of melon as well.

TASTE: A bit of tropical fruit and bready malts up front. Some melon and passion fruit, then a medium but lingering finish of bready notes, piney bitterness and orange peel. Some grapefruit and citrus notes as well.

PALATE: Lighter body and higher levels of carbonation. A bit foamy on the palate, goes down fine and finishes a bit dry. Some bitterness lingers.

OVERALL: Okay. Like a lot of the newer NEIPA attempts, this one shows more character in the aroma than in the flavor. The feel on this one is rather light too. A decent beer but not worth re-visiting.

Pours an orange amber with a fluffy three finger head. Head retention is good, and when it does break, there are a few small islands of foam. Lacing is surprisingly decent.

Smell is grainy malts,citrus pith and piney hops.

Flavor follows the nose to the most part. It starts pithy bitter to me,and then a short bit of malt. Then on the back end I get some pine and an assertive bitter.

Feel is medium bodied, with average carbonation. Finish is dryish and quite bitter, but not really done well.

Not what I am looking for in a session ale. I want something lighter and with much less bitterness. If one is supposed to session this beer, I suspect it would be a short one.

 

 

 

 

Orange with a moderate head. Piney hops on the nose. Medium-light body with crisp, bitter, resinous finish. True AIPA character but low ABV.

easy drinker

..

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; best before Jun 26 2017 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a muddied, effervescent orange-amber colour, initially supporting nearly two fingers of bubbly, billowing, bone white-coloured head that displays good retention, lasting the better part of 10 minutes. A messy pattern of cobwebbed lace is produced as it gradually seeps downward, eventually resulting in a lumpy, foamy cap about 1 cm high. Quite attractive visually. Citrus is the name of the game on the nose - grapefruit in particular stands out, although there's also orange peel, peachy stone fruit, light resinous notes and some floral hops. Beneath it all, some grainy pale malt and caramelized sweetness is also detectable. A strong showing thus far.

The flavour itself starts off with some of that same, coarse grain and light caramel maltiness, though it's quickly brushed aside by highly assertive C-hop flavours. Grapefruit and orange citrus figure in strongly, with subtler notes of peach and tropical fruit by mid-sip. The bitterness kicks into high gear towards the finish, which is quite piney, floral, and finishes with an almost medicinal astringency that I can't say I'm a huge fan of. Resiny-bitter aftertaste which continues to trigger my taste buds well after the sip is swallowed. Light in body, with robust carbonation that relentlessly prickles the palate, causing this brew to foam up in the mouth a bit; somewhat over-carbonated, I'd say.

Final Grade: 3.77, a B+. The Starter is the first Four Fathers' brew that I've had the chance to try, and I suppose it's made a fairly good first impression. It tastes alright, but the high level of astringency on the back end is a bit too much for a session IPA, reducing its overall drinkability, at least IMO - and I say that as a hophead who is not typically put off by high-IBU offerings. I'll have to swing by Rockwood on my next trip through the Guelph area, because their website lists a number of brews that sound highly relevant to my interests.

Can: Poured a clear bright amber color ale with a nice foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of fresh floral citrusy notes with some light bittern notes also noticeable. Taste is a mix of floral citrusy notes with light bitterness and some light malt notes. Body is full for style with good carbonation. Not bad and pretty good for a new brewery but some clean-up of the malt is required.

 

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Purchased from the LCBO for around $3 CDN.

Appearance - Pours a dark amber colored beer with three mammoth fingers of fluffy cloud-like off-white head. Incredible staying power and great head retention.

Smell - Orange, grapefruit and a subtle pineapple suggestion with some backing pine qualities. Impressive stuff due to the robust nature of these aromas.

Taste - Rather earthy and bitter. More pine than fruit here. Some element of grapefruit but the sweetness on the nose from the orange and pineapple is gone.

Mouthfeel - Smooth and light, but lacking any sort of prickly feel to give some additional depth.

Overall - A little disappointed given with how well this one started. It's a little too earthy and bitter for my liking although certainly flavorful for a sub 5% ABV IPA. Worth a try.

 

 

July 20 2025