Take A Break
All or Nothing Brewhouse

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; I can't find a canning date. Served barely chilled.

Pours a hazy orange-amber colour, producing less than a finger of loose, sudsy white head that melts away within sixty seconds. A frothy collar is the only remnant worth noting, though it does leave behind some stringy lace after each sip. I'm getting mandarin orange, mango and grapefruit on the nose, with hints of melon, pineapple juice and wheaty, bready malts.

I was pleasantly surprised by this pale ale's fruit-forward flavour profile. Tropical fruits such as pineapple, mango and melon come to mind, as do citrus fruits, e.g. grapefruit and orange. Its malt scaffold is also rather sturdy, adding some supportive notes of bready malts and grainy wheat; finishes with grapefruit, lychee and pithy, resiny bitterness. Slightly warming aftertaste, but not enough to fuss over at 6.8%. Medium in body, with average carbonation that lends some prickliness to this brew's smooth mouthfeel. Reasonably drinkable for its strength, but one serving per night is enough for me.

Final Grade: 3.91, a B+. It has been more than a minute since I last reviewed an All or Nothing brew - in fact, the most recent one seems to have been back in 2019. That's not deliberate on my part, I just haven't seen anything from them in years. Even brews that used to be easy to find, like their hopfenweisse and cream ale, have just disappeared from this area. I bought this can of Take A Break while shopping out of town, and overall I was mostly impressed. It's not necessarily an upper tier Ontario IPA, but it is a darn good one that is worth checking out for yourself.

Apr 19 2025

 

473 ml can served cold into a tulip. LCBO purchase for about $3.75 CDN.

Appearance - Mildly hazy dark golden / honey brown color. Two fingers of loose and frothy white head are poured. Plenty of lacing clings to the glass.

Smell - Lots of mango, some lychee and melon too. Robust and assertively tropical nose.

Taste - Middling bitterness, lots of tropical fruit. Again mango, pineapple and melon are the stars with a coarse grainy malty background with crackery goodness. A touch more watery than expected.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, sufficiently carbonated and not quite as dry as many an IPA, but works with the flavor combo.

Overall - Solid IPA with great aromas and good flavor. Take A break verges on being too sweet, I don't know if this is a beer I'd want more than one or two of in a sitting, but nonetheless is tasty and adds to an already solid lineup.