Backbeat
Sons of Kent Brewing Company

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a Teku glass. From the Amherstburg LCBO. Canned February 23/26. My 16th beer from the Chatham, Ontario brewery, and 9th for 2026. Surreptitiously considered at the quietest moments by Sundae the cat...

473 mL can from the LCBO, included in the Sons of Kent IPA Boombox (Vol. 3). Dated Feb 23 2026 and served barely chilled.

Pours a clear golden-amber colour, producing over an inch of soapy, frothy white head that falls back over the next five minutes, give or take. A lovely coat of messy lace is draped around the perimeter, with a tight collar and patchy cap lingering on the surface; looks fine so far. Smells like an old-school Westie to me: grapefruit, pine & orange peel, with hints of melon, lightly caramelized malts and floral, spicy hops.

The flavours largely follow the nose, with bready, lightly caramelized malts supporting notes of grapefruit and orange peel that dominate the front end of the sip. More earthy/bitter on the back end, with floral, spicy hops, citrus pith and pine resin continuing into a rather bitter aftertaste that clings to the taste buds. Medium-full in body, with relatively mild carbonation that feebly agitates the tongue, resulting in a smooth, somewhat slick mouthfeel. I found this very easy to drink, but at 7%, one serving seems like plenty.

Final Grade: 3.91, a worthy B+. Backbeat is a pretty good representation of an above average Canadian IPA circa 2010, back when I began drinking craft beer on a regular basis. Cascade and Amarillo seem to do most of the heavy lifting in terms of flavour, with the Mosaic hops primarily contributing to the aroma. This is a pretty good IPA from Sons of Kent, but is it good enough to enter my rotation? I'm not sure about that, though it's still a nice blast from the past, and worth trying for yourself at least once.