Someone asked me the other day if I had done the Collingwood brewery tour. A brewery tour of Collingwood, a ski village 20,000 strong? Just how many breweries could a small town like Collingwood have? Then I got to thinking about all the reviews we have done on The Collingwood Brewery, and Black Bellows, and Side Launch, and Northwinds, and of course Creemore just down the road. A brewery for every 4,000 citizens sounds like a campaign promise*, and they have my vote.
They say White’s Bay is named for a small bay along the Collingwood shoreline that was once a local fishing hole. Today just a fished-out bay I guess? They say that this brew has an impressive “hopswallop”. Not even the mighty Google could find that word.
What this brew does have is a golden pour, minimal head and settling fast. A fresh mild fruit/floral aroma not at all hoppy. First swig is mild fruit, fizzy but not hoppy, mild and smooth. Second swig turned bitter where the fizz is, or was, that is. What just happened? Got bitter fast and now the fruit is gone and what’s left is a light malt body with a pronounced bitter ending. Where the hell did all that bitter come from?
The question remains, can this beer be so bitter and also beautiful at the same time? Maybe Amber Heard can pull that off but this beer can’t.
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