Brewer: Paddock Wood Brewing Co.
Beer: Loki
ABV: 8.7%
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Style: Double IPA
Though this kind of breaks my tradition of San Diegan Beers (as I still have load of beer reviews that I wrote from the IPA’s I brought back, that have yet to make it on to this blog), I’m still going to stay within the framework of IPA’s/IIPA’s. Truth is I’ve been really busy lately, and well, I know the demand for me to spit these out is non-existent, plus what do I know about beer anyway? Anyway, this is a beer that I reviewed probably 2 months ago now, but it was fairly fresh at the time of the review, so let’s just pretend 1 of the 2 following situations: This review is being transposed 2 months back, or the production date of this beer is being fast-forwarded 2 months forward. The beer at hand is Paddock Wood’s Loki IIPA. I have not had a single beer that has disappointed me from Paddock Wood, especially the stuff they collaborate on with Sherbrooke (if you can get your hands on Jeff Werstiuk’s beer he designed for their collab, Heartstopper Hot Chocolate Stout, DO IT!). The colour on this is a rich brown/deep orange. I’d assume its bottle conditioned, because this is one hazy beer, but there’s also a lot of condensation on my glass. Nice big fluffy head came up on this one, and even though it’s down to a real thin layer now, it leaves lacing all over the glass. The smell is really nice too. Tons of citrusy hops, so much so that it smells like a grapefruit massacre. But there is a really strong malt profile when I smell it again – like caramelized sugar. No alcohol presence, despite it being very fresh and 8.7% ABV. First taste is mostly malts for the flavour, and lots of bitter from the hops. It’s kind of like toffee without being cloying, and some graininess. Second taste I get a lot more of the pine. The malt is noticeable, but it doesn’t take over, it balances really well with the piny flavours. I would say that the bitter form the hop is really strong on this beer. It is way more dominant than anything else, and lasts a long time. So understandably the finish is really bitter, and just like the smell, there is no alcohol presence whatsoever. There’s this like extra toastiness that comes in during the finish too. It mixes with the hop bitterness and creates what I’m inclined to call an almost burnt toast character. The mouth feel is really nice, it’s not thick at all, and the carbonation helps I think to stop the malt from making this beer taste syrupy; the strong hop character does work there too. However, I happen to really enjoy a god hop palate shredding, so this isn’t something that bothers me. I wouldn’t say that It’s an Imperial IPA that will blow your mind or anything, especially depending on what style of IIPA you tend to favour. I mean like West Coast IIPA’s are pretty orange in color, with tons of citrus and tropical notes mixing with the pine, and very little malt. Whereas most of the East Coast varieties I’ve tried tend lean more towards a caramel/brown colour, with a bigger malty sweetness and more pine or grapefruit than other hop notes. Again this is just from my experience, but I would say Loki fits itself comfortably in the East Coast area, and honestly I think it is a really flavourful IIPA that actually has quite a bit going on.
