Big Buck
Black Bellows Brewing Company


- From:
- Black Bellows Brewing Company
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Hazy IPA
- ABV:
- 6.5%
- Score:
- +3 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.7 | pDev: 6.22%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Aug 11, 2025
- Added:
- Feb 19, 2022
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
You spend all day waiting just in hopes of seeing it. Most days you either fall asleep and miss it as it sneaks by or it doesn’t come by at all. Now, finally, it’s your time to grab this Big Buck by the antlers. Dry hopped with El Dorado, Citra and Amarillo, this juicy beast goes down easy.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Mikehicks100 from Canada (ON)
3.25/5 rDev -12.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -12.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Its alright. Kind of similar to their other IPA's. Yellowish color with hint of orange. Smells and tastes of citra hops or light orange peel. You need to like IPA beers to like this one.
Jan 21, 2025Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.84/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.84/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Jun 16 2022 and served barely chilled.
Pours a cloudy pale yellow colour, producing almost two inches of fluffy, bubbly, soapy white head that recedes over the next five minutes or so. A beautiful coat of messy lace sticks to the glass, with a wide, frothy collar and thin cap remaining in place - looks great to me, and the aroma is also quite enticing. I'm getting orange juice, lemon and overripe peach, with hints of pineapple, watermelon and mango.
Good flavours, but the aroma had me hoping for a bit more variety. Honeydew and stone fruit at the forefront, with hints of grapefruit and floral, weedy bitterness on the back end; background flavours of bready malt and oats punctuate the hoppiness. The aftertaste is mildly juicy and acidic, with low bitterness. Medium in body and weakly carbonated, combining for a soft, pillowy texture that is appropriate for a hazy NEIPA. Relatively good drinkability for 6.5% - I could go for another can, but if I'm drinking IPAs all night I usually like to switch it up.
Final Grade: 3.84, a B+. Black Bellows' Big Buck is a respectable hazy IPA, and this can specifically is drinking very nicely, considering it was packaged nearly 5 months ago. Very attractive for the style, but the aroma was what sold me on this one - too bad the flavour profile didn't provide the same level of intensity. Worth a look if you're a hophead - personally, I would take this over their Beach Freak pale ale ten times out of ten.
Nov 08, 2022Pours a cloudy pale yellow colour, producing almost two inches of fluffy, bubbly, soapy white head that recedes over the next five minutes or so. A beautiful coat of messy lace sticks to the glass, with a wide, frothy collar and thin cap remaining in place - looks great to me, and the aroma is also quite enticing. I'm getting orange juice, lemon and overripe peach, with hints of pineapple, watermelon and mango.
Good flavours, but the aroma had me hoping for a bit more variety. Honeydew and stone fruit at the forefront, with hints of grapefruit and floral, weedy bitterness on the back end; background flavours of bready malt and oats punctuate the hoppiness. The aftertaste is mildly juicy and acidic, with low bitterness. Medium in body and weakly carbonated, combining for a soft, pillowy texture that is appropriate for a hazy NEIPA. Relatively good drinkability for 6.5% - I could go for another can, but if I'm drinking IPAs all night I usually like to switch it up.
Final Grade: 3.84, a B+. Black Bellows' Big Buck is a respectable hazy IPA, and this can specifically is drinking very nicely, considering it was packaged nearly 5 months ago. Very attractive for the style, but the aroma was what sold me on this one - too bad the flavour profile didn't provide the same level of intensity. Worth a look if you're a hophead - personally, I would take this over their Beach Freak pale ale ten times out of ten.
Rated by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)
3.75/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Dec 18 2025
Jul 29, 2022Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
3.76/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.76/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
473 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for about $3.70 CDN. Canned January 26, 2022.
Appearance - Super turbid, pale hazy peach colored brew and topped with multiple fingers of frothy white head. Great staying power and definitely a very attractive brew. Some spidery lacing clings to the rim of the glass too.
Smell - Green with tropical fruits. Passionfruit mango and guava with hints of lychee and an overriding weediness mixed with it. Just a touch of the overripe fruit aroma, detracts it just a bit for me.
Taste - Quite green and weedy. Tropical flavors subdued, more assertive bitterness than expected with grapefruit making an appearance and almost an astrignent hop oil permeates everything lending itself to a certain charatcer. Not really a juicy IPA in this sense, but fairly intense flavors.
Mouthfeel - Medium full bodied, light carbonation does sort of lend itself to the "juicy" NEIPA aspect, with then a semi-dry finish.
Overall - A good IPA, however the intense green hoppiness isn't a flavor I particularly love, and with this being advertised as a NEIPA, it seems just a bit off. With that said a decent enough brew and glad to see another brew from this brewery available to the masses.
Mar 26, 2022Appearance - Super turbid, pale hazy peach colored brew and topped with multiple fingers of frothy white head. Great staying power and definitely a very attractive brew. Some spidery lacing clings to the rim of the glass too.
Smell - Green with tropical fruits. Passionfruit mango and guava with hints of lychee and an overriding weediness mixed with it. Just a touch of the overripe fruit aroma, detracts it just a bit for me.
Taste - Quite green and weedy. Tropical flavors subdued, more assertive bitterness than expected with grapefruit making an appearance and almost an astrignent hop oil permeates everything lending itself to a certain charatcer. Not really a juicy IPA in this sense, but fairly intense flavors.
Mouthfeel - Medium full bodied, light carbonation does sort of lend itself to the "juicy" NEIPA aspect, with then a semi-dry finish.
Overall - A good IPA, however the intense green hoppiness isn't a flavor I particularly love, and with this being advertised as a NEIPA, it seems just a bit off. With that said a decent enough brew and glad to see another brew from this brewery available to the masses.
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!