Love Fuzz
Black Oak Brewing Co.

 

 

 

Pours deep reddish mahogany with an everlasting, chunky cap. Equal measures of citrusy hops and toasty, nutty malts in the nose. Chewy, caramel, roasty malts mix with grapefruit and some pine in the taste. Medium bodied mouthfeel with medium carbonation. The finish is lightly bitter with lingering citrus and maltiness.

A nice red pale ale but perhaps could be a little hoppier. Worth a try, especially if you like them malt-centric.

 

 

 

Tallboy purchased at the LCBO; canned Mar 2 2018 and served slightly chilled. Reviewed from notes.

Pours a deep copper-amber hue; its translucent body is crowned by a generous layer of foamy, buff-coloured head. It recedes at a slow but steady pace, lasting for roughly five minutes before being reduced to a rocky cap and frothy collar. Lots of beautiful spongeprint lacing; looks superb, but the aromatics are a bit subtle. I'm getting indistinct citrus and some earthy, floral, pine forest-y hop undertones, along with touches of caramel sweetness, wheat bread and toasted nuts.

A fine red ale with good counterplay between the malt and hop bills, which are also on a relatively even footing (in terms of contribution to the flavour profile). Brown sugar, toasted bread, hints of passion fruit and nuts are eventually displaced in the end by notes of grapefruit, pine resin and floral hops. Earthy, leafy aftertaste that lingers on the taste buds for some time. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation levels that impart a decent bite. Easy enough to drink - another can would be fine with me, though I don't think it's the sort of thing I'd want to drink all night.

Final Grade: 3.89, a B+. Black Oak's Love Fuzz is a solid, more than serviceable amber ale that I've already enjoyed on at least a half-dozen occasions so far. It's well-hopped, but with a proper malt backbone in place to keep the experience fairly balanced. Worth sampling; I don't drink as many ambers as I did in the past, but this one is good enough to secure a spot in my mental rolodex.

 

 

 

Deep brown, amber and filtered with little carbonation. Topped with 5 fingers of deep beige head, and leaves a nice, patterned lacing.

Smells of light, floral notes, deep, meaty umami, and dark, toasted notes. Something reminds me of Scottish Haggis, in the umami quality.

The taste totally follows the nose, and I get even the haggis in here.

Medium body with little carbonation.

I got this at LCBO in Orillia, drinking in Muskoka, April 19, 2018. Decent amber ale.

 

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. An LCBO purchase for around $3.50 CDN. Listed as 6.2% ABV.

Appearance- dark brown in color with reddish hues. A finger and change of off white head, good retention and sparse lacing. Fairly hazy.

Smell - interesting blend with some pine, caramel, earthy hops and nuts. Plenty of grain backing that with a light bready aroma too.

Taste - fairly bitter and well hopped with similar flavors of nuts, bread, hints of citrus and pine coming through that appear on the nose.

Mouthfeel - medium bodied, moderate carbonation, quite an easy drinking beer for something in excess of 6% ABV.

Overall - a very good well hopped amber. Many parallels to Shawn and Ed's barrelshed no.1 which is also a very hoppy strong amber ale. This is slightly muted in earthy flavors but with a little more pine and a little less caramel and treacle. Petty damn good brew.