Father's Day at the Wooly

The Blackened IPA in an OCB glass.

Father’s Day we went to the Wooly to celebrate. 

Normally the Wooly puts on a beer festival. This year, though, it was going to be a beer pairing dinner. Unfortunately the dinner and beer pairing menu didn’t happen - but there was still some special beers available. 

The Blackened IPA

The Strawberry Blonde

Wellington brought their Ce’da Bitter Blue, which was on cask. F&M brought their Strawberry Blonde - I (Jeff) tried this for the first time last summer at the Wooly’s Ale Trail. Plus Wellington and F&M collaborated on the 777 Blackened IPA, also on cask.

Ce’da Bitter Blue was also available in cans at the Wellington Brewery earlier on Sunday. Kate and I picked up a few cans. We’ll put more up about it later. We didn’t have any at the dinner.

Kate had the Strawberry Blonde. The first time I had this was at the Wooly’s Ale Trail last Father’s Day. F&M took their light lager and added fresh strawberries. I’m not normally a fan of their light lager but the strawberries are a nice addition. The strawberry flavour isn’t over-powering and it isn’t too sweet. Strawberry Blonde is a nice summer patio sipper.

I tried replicating the Strawberry Blonde at home last summer. I took a package of frozen strawberries, wrapped them in cheese cloth and put that in a pitcher. I then poured some Stonehammer Light into the pitcher and let it steep. It wasn’t as good as F&M’s but it wasn’t bad - and seeing as F&M isn’t bottling it, it’s the best you can do when you can’t find it on tap.

I had the 777 Blackened IPA. I was impressed with the last black IPA I had that F&M was involved with. The 777, to me, had much stronger stout qualities than other black IPAs I’ve had: the coffee and roastiness flavour were undeniable. There is a ton of bitterness in the aftertaste - but there isn’t any citrus flavours imparted by the hops. I liked it but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting - then again, I’ve only had 3 or 4 other black IPAs previously (Kate really liked it).

On a completely unrelated note, I saw on Facebook that Flying Monkeys released Alpha-fornication - the bitterest beer in the world. It clocks in at a ridiculous 2500 IBUs - I think the most bitter beer I’ve had up to this point was in the 90 IBU neighborhood. I wished I’d had a chance to try it.