Kveik IPA
Wellington Brewery

So this was part of a collab pack, and while IPA isn't a style I tend to favor, the branding of this as a Kveik IPA has be intrigued that this might be a good spin on the style, as I didn't mind my first New England IPA (as far as IPA's go at least). Well, lets give this one a shot.

Appearance: Poured with two fingers of head that laced quite well and retained decently. The body however, is a cloudy sediment filled mess. Brown sand flecks, grit at the bottom of the glass in a complete cloud of yellow of which the only noticeable signs of carbonation are that it gives the beer this slow congealing appearance.

Smell: Definitely getting citrus hops as orange, tangerine and grapefruit make themselves known, but while citrus in nature, there is no doubt that these are bitter hops that are creating the smell. That said, it does come across as a bit more subdued, which I generally prefer. Warming didn't really help matters.

Taste: Starts with an almost stale bread taste to start off, with maybe a hint of swamp. I'm kind of reminded of Anchor Steam Beer's dry note with a hint of swamp, which in my eyes isn't a positive but it's overtly offensive. That comes shortly after as the hops just run rampant as only an IPA can. Grapefruit, grass and orange pith smash that stale bread to dust, laying waste to my tongue, as realistically the proper description here is excessive amounts of bitter hops.

Mouthfeel: The one thing I do like about this beer, is that stale bread taste sort of briefly resets the beer and mutes the bitterness, and around the half way point, the hops stop building up on the aftertaste. What I don't like is the dry note that gives aftertaste not unlike you just drank a shot of orange bitters (maybe not that close, I was inspired to shortly afterwards test it with shot glass of 15 drops of orange bitters, and yes, the bitters were more bitter then this, albeit partly due to the undisguised alchohol note, but I digress). The carbonation is nice a foamy which helped out the whole beer, which was good and didn't overly accent the hops.

Drinkability: It's too bitter for my liking to keep putting it back, it's too dry for me to remotely call it refreshing, and it's on the heavier end of medium body which makes this beer feel more torturous then something that would make me "join together" At least it settles down in my stomach well.

Final Thoughts: So looks like Kviek IPA is the horrible offspring of American IPA and Steam Beer and I can file it under IPA styles I do no like, which is the majority of them. I mean the head is done right, but even still, I've had other IPAs I enjoyed far more then this. This beer also committed a recent pet peeve of mine, which I'm hoping isn't a new norm of putting yeast in the can, and not communicating that fact. Unlike with a bottle, where I can see it settle, I can't with a can which I know lead to the grit in this beer. I'm not sure I would have picked this one up if it wasn't part of a collaboration pack. I might have, just hoping this was a pleasant new spin on one of my least favorite styles. Sadly though, that was not the case.

Beautiful looking beer, lacing and collar. The colour is slightly hazy gold. The smell has a faint sour note to it, with hops in the background. The taste is similar but adds subtle notes of peach and maybe some other citrus. Quite a nice beer
Oct 25 2020

473 mL can from the LCBO, one of four collaboratively brewed beers in their "Rising Tide" mixed pack. Packaged Aug 4 2020 and served barely chilled.

Pours hazy golden-yellow, topped with nearly two fingers of soapy, foamy, sparkling white head that recedes within five minutes or so. A ring of sticky lace is deposited in its wake, with a quarter-inch cap and generous collar remaining in place - looks lovely in the glass. Its aroma includes notes of orange juice, grapefruit, passion fruit, peaches and melon, as well as an earthier, vaguely floral hop note and a few hints of gooseberry.

It's pretty tasty, with citrusy flavours such as orange, grapefruit and candied lime coming through alongside a bready, wheaty pale malt backbone. Notes of melon, gooseberry, stone fruit and passion fruit develop by mid-sip, carrying through a pithy, slightly bitter finish and into a fruity aftertaste of melon and berries. Medium in body, with light carbonation that lightly nudges the surface of the palate; feels smooth and soft on the tongue. Fair drinkability; knocking back one can is easy enough, but I wasn't craving seconds.

Final Grade: 3.94, a B+. Wellington & Cameron's Kveik IPA is a hophead's delight, and quite possibly my favourite of the four beers in this mixed pack - though I'm not exactly an unbiased observer here, as I love hop-forward beers of all kinds. The underlying IPA is solid, while the Voss kveik yeast supplies a few interesting subtleties to the package. I'd pick this up if it were available as a single, and I feel compelled to encourage other BAs to try this if they can find it.

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Cost was $3.50 per can. Canned August 4, 2020.

Appearance - Hazy golden color with orange highlights. Capped with a little more than two fingers of decadent white frothy head. Exceptional staying power. Lots of lacing left behind too.

Smell - Citrus with some weedy aspects, nothing terribly distinguishable otherwise. Possible some sort of low hanging berries mixed in (gooseberry / elderberry).

Taste - Some grapefruit, pine resin, low hanging berries and kind of a creamy combination to all this. Fairly bitter. Not much sweetness and does remind me of some of Cameron's recent IPA's. West Coast vibes for sure.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, quite smooth and somewhat creamy. Carbonation is present, but not overly assertive. Dry finish almost chalky.

Overall - This Kveik IPA works in mysterious ways, being a better beer than the sum of its parts. Nice add to the taster's pack.