Faces Double IPA - Mosaic & Simcoe
Wellington Brewery

 

 

Wellington is probably one of the weaker craft breweries in Ontario. But I thought, hey, let's give 'em another chance. And to be fair, this isn't as bad as the other four I tried from them, but still: within the style, this leaves you wanting. Of course it won medals at the Canadian Brewing Awards, two years running. This again underlines that the Canadian Brewing Awards in no way represent the best brews this country has to offer. Don't ever trust their picks.
So then. This pours thin, with an orange hue. The nose is of malty hops and perhaps honey. Dry, of course, with a bit of sweet maltness, indicating West Coast style (not my preference), but it also has a bitter finish. No citrus and not much fruit overall happening here. Again, not bad, but one can is enough. Bonus: the can looks good.

 

473 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for $4.95 CDN. Canned March 23, 2021.

Appearance - Hazy golden / orange color with a small half finger of white head that fizzles away quickly. Lots of sediment in the glass too.

Smell - Subdued tropical notes when cold. Pinepaple and papaya most prominent.

Taste - Lots of bitterness, grapefruit, with hints of papaya and guava and maybe even passionfruit. Underlying fruity sweetness mid-sip. Stone fruit like apricot and peach at the end. Transitions back to very bitter at the end making this a sipper.

Mouthfeel - Super duper dry, crisp assertive carbonation.

Overall - Reasonably good and well constructed brew, but for some reason this didn't resonate with me. Glad to have the two cans, but unlikely to go back for more.

Can - pours a hazy light gold ale with a 1 finger white cap...aroma is dominated by hops - floral, pine, exotic fruit with a light musty malt undertone...flavor is also dominated by hop flavors..fruit, pine etc..malts ride below the hop flavors , but the body is rich, and the hop tone is, although dominant, mellow not intense, almost giving a subtle balance to this brew...long soft finish where balance is a bit better...decent DIPA

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Mar 23 2021 and best before Jul 23 2021. Served slightly chilled.

Pours deep golden-yellow, its otherwise-clear complexion marred with countless flecks of flaky, clumpy sediment. Two fingers of soapy white foam rise from the surface, dissipating within several minutes' time; plenty of messy, sticky lacing is left behind, in addition to a bubbly collar and thin cap of film. Looks great, and the nose is also pretty enticing - lots of tropical fruit, including mandarin orange, grapefruit, pineapple and papaya, alongside some floral, weedy hops.

It's a well-constructed DIPA, featuring a palatable blend of fruity hop flavours - I'm getting apricot, passion fruit, orange and cantaloupe, backed by bready, wheaty pale malts and a syrupy fruit cup sweetness. More bitter towards the back end - grapefruit pith, floral notes and pine resin, the latter two persisting into a mildly boozy finish with lingering hints of stone fruit. You can tell it's a big IPA, for sure, but it's not all that boozy given its burly 8.5% - so don't be surprised when this one eventually sneaks up on you. Nearing full-bodied, with light carbonation that provides only a slight bit of agitation on the surface of the palate, resulting in a smooth mouthfeel that is also slick and a tad oily.

Final Grade: 3.99, a very solid B+. I enjoyed my glass of Wellington's Faces w/Mosaic & Simcoe, and will more than likely pick up a few more cans while they're still fresh. It's a good DIPA - possibly even one of Wellington's best IPAs to date, actually - with its only real weakness being that it lacks any real flair or novelty that might potentially push it to the next level. Still, it hides its strength well while also being quite tasty, making it very much worth sampling if you can find it.