The COM contingent are at the Clear Lake Brewery during Muskoka Oktoberfest for a bite and a brew and it’s as busy as the opposing goalie on a Leaf’s powerplay*. The CL team are doing a great job. How can you tell when you have a dedicated employee? A visible and large tattoo of the company logo on their bicep is a good indicator.
The draft menu looks inviting, enticing, exciting, and intriguing. I scan the list for a brew I have not sampled before. How about Belly Flop #7, or as they also call it The Wicked Witch of the West Coast, named after a witch who if I remember correctly was liquidated, as I am hoping my thirst will be. A west coast IPA I assume, and plan to consume. Will this be wicked good or a painful and embarrassing belly flop? TBD.
It has a hazy amber pour with minimal head, our intrepid bartender draws draft like a champ. An aroma of fruit with malt, a combination that is as funky as the J Geils Band, I guess that makes me the funky judge**. The first swig is fizz and mild fruit with malt and hops, a complex brew that is guaranteed to evolve. And evolve it does (see I told you). The fizz and bitter are still here, with a touch of fruit, malt is now MIA. The fizz fades but the bitters persevere. Almost as bitter as the Wicked Witch of the West, while my thirst is getting liquidated. Minimal flavour but a hoppy bitter finish, is that pine, or just me pining for more, or just me opining.
When all is said and done usually more is said then done, but in this case my beer is done. And it turns out it is a solid pine bitter mild flavour IPA. An OK pint and went well with lunch, an unseasonably warm afternoon, and a great lunch with great friends.
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