High Grade
Fairweather Brewing

 

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 tenth beer from the Hamilton, Ontario brewery, and seventh for 2025...

Canned about 1 month from drinking.
Pours about a finger of foam. Color of pineapple orange juice. Smells of citrous and pineapple.
Taste is very good. This is a well made IPA. Again with the citrous and pineapple tastes. You get some bitter hops and a little bit of grain on the after taste. Any IPA fan would like this one. One of the better IPA's I've had, and I've had lots.

Pours hazed peach with a rocky, lace emitting head. Lots of tangerine, tropical and grapefruit hop aromas in the nose. The taste follows suit with loads of tangerine and pineapple hop notes. Light malt ballast in the back. The mouthfeel is full bodied with moderate carbonation. High bitterness and lots of mouthcoating lupulin in the everlasting finish.

A juicy and complex IPA worth a try.

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Jul 18 2024 and served barely chilled. Listed at 6.2%.

Pours a hazy pale yellow colour, producing less than a finger of dense, creamy white head that vanishes within ninety seconds or so. Its remnants include a tight collar of suds encircling a filmy cap, with good lace generation after a sip or two - looks fine so far. The aroma is pleasant, but perhaps a little muted - I'm getting passion fruit and tangerine, with suggestions of peach juice, bubble gum and dank, floral hops.

This is a really tasty IPA - I managed to sip away half of the glass before remembering that I was still writing a review. Its flavours are tropical and stone fruit-centric, with a decent whack of citrus, too - there's pineapple, mango, apricot and passion fruit, as well as mandarin orange and grainy malt and oat sweetness. Finishes with peach, light pine resin, floral hops and dankness dissipating into a moderately acidic aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with gentle carbonation that weakly agitates the surface of the palate; feels smooth and soft on the tongue. Good drinkability - I'd probably enjoy a second can, but it's not something I could drink all night.

Final Grade: 4.03, an A-. High Grade is an inherently boastful name - fortunately, Fairweather backs that claim up because this is a darn solid IPA. Maybe leaning a little more towards New England territory, but that's neither here nor there: regardless of which box you stuff it into, its juicy flavours are sure to satisfy a plurality of hazy pale ale lovers. Good stuff, worthy of a solid recommendation - try this if you can find it fresh.

 

 

April 14 2024

Purchased from the brewery in July so super fresh. Yellow thick pour with light collar. Nose is fragrant from can crack of citrus. First sip is robust pine forward hoppy. a decent brew.

Has a strawlike appearance with medium haze. Bright white head that vansihes quickly and leaves nice lacing.
Great aroma with a punch of dank.
Tastes amazing, decent fruit forward and quite hoppy, carrying through some of the dankness in the aroma.
Soft mouthfeel and smooth flow.
All in all it lives up to its name. Great brew!

 

Unfiltered but bright gold body, like pineapple juice; the light and airy white head barely forms, rapidly sizzling out to nothing.
Medium aroma, of tropical and citrus hops, orange, pineapple, but also peach.
Flavour is more of resin hops, laden with pine, dull, only a light fruitiness; alcohol is noticeable and not in a good way, astringent; medium bitterness, a bit pithy, with balancing grainy-sweet malt, leading to an off-dry finish that lingers; medium body and carbonation; feel is soft, with some burning from the alcohol.

No date on this so not sure how fresh it is, but get a sense that it might be date, and I hope that's the case because this was pretty lackluster. After trying Donna, not impressed with Fairweather so far.

 

500 mL Bottle. ABV 6.6%.
Appearance: Veiled/Hazy straw gold, Under a finger of off white head which dissipates at a fair pace.
Aroma: Passionfruit/Guava, Tropical fruit, Dank, Slight citrus (orange).
Mouthfeel: Under medium body, Fair carbonation, Lingering bitterness.
Flavour: Passionfruit-forward, Dank.
Overall: I enjoyed this beer. It's quite simple and won't blow you away with complexity (as with most other brews from fairweather, but I think it's done well enough to fit the style.

Review: 53

On tap at Rust Bistro in Burlington. Review from notes

Appearance - Rich, hazy dark golden color. A nice finger plus of white head on top. Good staying power. Very appetizing. Good lacing.

Smell - Very tropical, passionfruit being the star here with other fruits in there too.

Taste - Like the nose, middling bitterness, but fairly juicy overall. Good citrus flavor and some grainy malt in support. As another reviewer mentioned, not quite as intense as the nose.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, maybe a touch heavier than other IPA's. Expressive carbonation, easy drinking.

Overall - Another solid Ontario IPA, that I'd like to enjoy another sample of.

Edit May 18, 2022 - Had this at HAMBRGR in Hamilton, Intensity in flavors was there and the overall brew was just excellent. Upgrades scores to reflect as such.

 

 

A- muted hazy yellow with a whitehead dissipates quickly and good lacing
S-A wonderful citrus a room with a nice dank and someone earthy undertone
M-Medium to full body with a luscious mouth feel that is both juicy and resinous
T-Sweet and slightly spicy upfront with a peppery mouth feel that mellows into a smooth bitterness
O-This is a really nice brew that exemplifies mouthfeel and intricate brewing techniques