I have a CRAZY real Saturday so I have to sneak my #beersaturday post in a bit early.

Source:https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.

I am like a kid in a candy shop when touring a brewery. I drink in the smells and drafts. I evaluate the decor. I peek at the brewing area and production line. What I have come to LOVE is a visit to the bottle shop!

The beer nerd gadgets are sometimes good and I do like a branded glass to add to my experience at home as well as the consistency in images for the Beerologist Blog. The best part has got to be the limited run, hard-to-get and scarce beers not available through the bigger channels. A Double IPA or one-off experimental brew makes for some taste adventure and when you blog about a beer nobody has tasted yet, you are truly in elite hipster company.

As documented in my Indie Alehouse https://indiealehouse.com/ reviews, I visited this Toronto brewery a couple weeks ago and came away with a couple neat beers.

Strap on your drinkin' socks and LET'S DO THIS!

The bottle shop https://indiealehouse.com/pages/bottle-shop here actually wasn't the quite the playground like I discovered at Cowbell Brewing https://cowbellbrewing.com/or Toboggan Brewing https://www.tobogganbrewing.com/. Makes sense as real estate in Toronto is at a premium compared to Blythe and London respectively. The beer fridge was well-stocked which is all that really counts.

Love Triangle 3-hop IPA

At first glance, I was prepared not to be very impressed with this one. I chose it as the last choice after the next 2 brews in this blog as it was the only other IPA. As far as hops go, I find Cascade a little pedestrian and remember using this hop in the the brewing days before I discovered IPA. Columbus is a little more IPA in my mind and I can't recall having Ekuanot before. Then you look at the label not so proudly claiming that this has been sitting in the fridge over 3 months and you can understand my trepidation.

I wanted to give it a shot and would rather have a bad IPA to make fun of rather than a boring lager. Plus, I like the idea of having a 3-hop love triangle series where you alternate those 3 hops for different combination, can find something different, and not have to dump too many different varieties in to drown each other out.

The first of the 2 I had was a little underwhelming to tell the truth. A little watery or maybe I was just missing my Mosaic or Galaxy hop boldness and taste. The second one haunted the back of my fridge til just this evening and I decided to give it a shot for the sake of my legions of followers. I enjoyed it in a taller glass (changes the dynamic a bit with the different air flow both drinking and pouring) and as a beverage accompanying a spicy Mexican dish. I was totally surprised to find it rather good in this context. The medium salsa and fermented jalapeno relish seemed to have either awoken my tongue, or perhaps killed it to the point where a 4-month old beer with weird hops was tasty!

Verdict: Lesser of the 3 but not terrible.

Couch Surfer IPA

This is the one endorsed by the world famous @davedickeyyall and boasted my favourite of the 3 in the branding category. I poured this into a glass I picked up at the local craft beer hall and it appears to be a hybrid style with a mix of Thistle and Stemmed Tulip style but not really either. The hops are the (ever popular) Citra, along with Calypso and Ekuanot with a teaser preview of bitter punch, lighter body and the expected citrus. The interesting feature was the light alcohol by volume (4.5% ABV) contrasted by the legitimate bitterness (60 IBU.) Lets give this one a try...

I first had this at the music studio already a couple beers in and almost in sport drinkin' mode. I had a swig of it right after the next beer in this review and it really seemed to be the weaker of the 2. Back home in the Beerologist Lair, it told a different story. I didn't know it was only 4.5 ABV as I enjoyed it like you would your typical 6% IPA. Better than the love triangle and tasty enough to claim "I would buy this again" status. Now that I have discovered I was drinking a light beer, I have an all new respect for the taste packed in. Not sure if it is available in the summer, but if it is, I am definitely going to bring some camping or sailing when the temps are warmer, and the beer flows a little more aggressively!

Verdict: It took second place before I discovered it was light!

Shadow Chaser IPA

Would you look at the ugly mug on this character! He looks like equal parts Van Gogh acid trip and horror movie. Shadow Chaser is the winter seasonal IPA which I enjoy this time of year. They are generally stronger, bolder and thicker than summer seasonals. It boasts the standard IPA Citra and Idaho7 hops and is described a little contradictory as dank, juicy, hazy, pungent, blunt bitter but mellow and chill. Make up your damn mind people. I figured this was going to be a self indulgent mess.

I first had this one at the music studio as well and was expecting noisy silliness. Compared to the Couch Surfer, it was the better of the 2 and didn't have the cacophony I anticipated. It definitely tastes a little more than the 5.5% would suggest but it does only have the pair of hops. I poured it into the tulip glass to get the full nose of it while tasting and that seemed to suit it well.

Verdict: The best out of the 3 and a legitimate IPA on its own regardless of seasonality.

All in all, I am satisfied with Indie Alehouse brews as far as IPA goes. Truth be told, none of the 3 seemed to be anywhere as good as their flagship Instigator IPA that I had on tap at the brewery. I was not looking to be blown away by their product but hoped I would have a new entry into the top 10 breweries currently tickling my pallet. While I would go back to this place for the food, location and taps, I wouldn't put it up against the likes of Great Lakes Brewery, Nickelbrook or Collective Arts. I would probably hit Bellwoods Brewery which is close by but am glad I had a chance to visit.

Overall Verdict: I don't hate this!

If you haven't yet, it is time you checked out #beersaturday, gave @detlev a little love and put up your own beer blog with a mention in comments of the Week 132 of the longest running contest on STEEM https://steemit.com/hive-187719/@detlev/it-is-time-to-join-the-beersaturday-week-132

I am honoured to curate for:

Thanks for hitting the bottle shop with me. Drink anything interesting this week?

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