Truth Serum
Rorschach Brewing Co.

From a 473ml can dated 12/17/25. Poured into a pint glass. A two finger fine white head on a cloudy dirty cream. Excellent head retention. The head diminishes to a layer that sticks around to the end. Lots of patchy lacing.

Grapefruit pith in the nose. tastes of grapefruit. Some pineapple. Some mineral. Sweet up front but dries towards the end.

Very smooth. A creamy texture. The ABV is well hidden. Medium body and carbonation. Overall an interesting and good quality American IPA.

 

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From my favourite LCBO at Tecumseh Mall in nearby Windsor. My second beer from the Toronto, Ontario brewery.

 

Pours hazy straw with a rocky, everlasting head. The aroma is redolent of fresh mango, melon, pineapple and grapefruit. Some arrowroot cookies in the back. The taste is hop forward with loads of tropical, citrus flavors balanced by a solid bready malt base. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. The finish is high in bitterness with endless hop fruitiness.

A fantastic Ontario IPA. Complex and dank. A must try.

A very good looking beer with a substantial long-lived head that won't give up, good lace. Grapefruit-orange colour. Nose is interesting, citrus and flowers both. Unusual. Bitter grapefruit citrus to taste. Sweet up front, but quite drying to finish. Juciy bitter mouthfeel bordering on too juicy, too heavy handed. Not boozy in character despite high ABV. Interesting, worth a try.

 

355 mL can from the LCBO; dated Aug 2 2022 and served barely chilled.

Pours a cloudy golden-orange colour, graced with two fingers of fluffy, foamy white head that lasts for five minutes or so. A sticky coat of messy lacing is left in its wake, as well as a fat, soapy collar with some staying power - looks downright elegant. Fruity and floral on the nose, with clementine, grapefruit, passion fruit and mango; there is also a strong undercurrent of earthy, piney hops, with suggestions of grain and berries.

Starts off with low-key doughy, oat-y sweetness, leading into fruit-forward hop flavours of orange, grapefruit, melon and mango. I'm getting hints of something tropical mid-sip, like passion fruit or papaya, with earthy, floral hop bitterness and grapefruit pithiness tying up the back end; the aftertaste is similarly bitter, with lingering notes of citrus and berries. Mildly acidic, with barely discernible alcohol. Medium-full in body, with moderate carbonation that gently fizzles on the palate, adding a small amount of spritz to this brew's smooth, soft, juicy mouthfeel. Average drinkability.

Final Grade: 3.99, a B+. Truth Serum is definitely a good IPA, but is it a great one? It's fair to argue that Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra are such popular and/or over-used hop varietals that this kinda seamlessly blends into the crowd of other hazy pale ales. Other users have compared it to Life in the Clouds (from Collective Arts), and I'd agree that they definitely share some hop flavours... but I feel like Serum is slightly more bitter, more 'oat-y', and perhaps more rough around the edges in general. This is totally worth a shot if you can find it, and I look forward to revisiting.

Pours a hazy, thick golden orange with a finger of dense head that collapses into a soapy, but dense cap. Aggressive lacing dots the glass

Powerful citrus aromas are forward here along with pine that intermingle with tropical fruits, such as mango, and also mango. Powerful mango on the nose is what I’m saying!

Great citrus flavours come forth, lemon-lime is present but the tropical edge gives this a few grapefruit character for the citrus. Of course, the tropical flavours are present with mango, also some orange. Pleasant malt flavour is in the background tying it all together, a nice breadiness to the finish.

Medium-ish bodied with good carbonation, gently prickly on the palate and a smooth sipping experience, finishes lightly bittersweet and with the remnants of the hop flavours, mild pine and citrus as well as a slight sweet malt character.

The can advertises its dry hopping character which gives it the flavour without the bitterness. I wouldn’t have minded a slighter more bitter edge, but it’s very enjoyable. It’s not exactly the most complex beer or IPA you’ve ever had, and it is a little bit of a fusion of multiple IPA styles rather than a straight up American IPA, but it’s very nice. Definitely worth a try

355 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for around $3.25 CDN. Canning date of April 13, 2021.

Appearance - Very hazy rich golden color with orange and yellow highlights. A finger plus of billowing white head is poured with excellent staying power. A significant amount of loose sediment trickles down to the bottom of the chalice.

Smell - Quite tropical, mango, grapefruit and orange with a subtle sweaty gym sock in the adjacent room.

Taste - Some soft citrus, mango, possible peach, a little grapefruit at the end and light citrus in all parts in between. Finishes bready and has a overly sweet lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium-full bodied, more full bodied than most, light carbonation, juicy and smooth but then finishes dry.

Overall - I tried this first from the can, was insanely sweet and aromas were of course muted. Have come back and reviewed this properly and while it is a good and quite juicy (if full bodied) IPA, the lingering sweetness (cloying?) is just past a point that makes this hard to come back too. I think with a couple of minor tweaks (slightly more bitterness and a tiny bit less body) this would be excellent, as it stands, it's not the right beer for me. Truth Serum does share similarities with Life in the Clouds by Collective Arts and Short Hills by Bench, both of which I think very highly of.

Nov 6 2024

 

 

 

 

I really like this IPA, it reminds me of Collective Arts' Life in the Clouds, only better.
Nice, slowly dissipating head, decent nose and most importantly well balanced body. Very well done.

Draft at loose moose in Toronto
Big creamy dense head, great retention and lacing, hazy orange color

Nose big juicy citrus, grapefruit, orange tangerine juice, zest, little pith, light doughy malt

Taste big juicy citrus, orange tangerine juice, a bit of orange Julius, creamy soft doughy malts, suspended proteins from flashes malt or wheat/oats, soft juicy mineral treated Easter, touch of grapefruit pith, then tropical papaya and little dank, getting slight earthy pine late, very little bitterness until the finish which had light bitterness

Mouth is med bod, soft juicy, medium creamy carb

Overall not bad, pretty solid NEIPA, soft juicy, nice citrus, mild tropical, starts to get a touch dank piney late but thankfully not oniony mosaic, especially for Canadian

 

Pours straw modest head - honey and tropical fruit - grassy herbal hop.