BY THEBREWHEAD · NOVEMBER 13, 2015
It’s hop harvest time! Our brewers went up to Clear Valley hop farm in Nottawa, Ontario to pick some fresh Centennial hops right off the wires. We took these fresh hops immediately back to the brewery and wet-hopped this medium bodied harvest ale to enhance the bright floral, grapefruit, and citrus aromas of the legendary Centennial hop.
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a one-off from Wellington Brewery. And for good reason, they’ve been rebooting a lot of one-offs that has been released to the LCBO across Ontario. ‘Fresh off the Wire’ is a Centennial Harvest Ale from Wellington Brewery.
Out of the tallboy pours a nice Amber colour with a off-white head that went away quickly. The aroma is of floral hops and subtle notes of toasted biscuit. With its first sip, you get more malts than hops. There’s a lingering sweet bitter taste with subtle notes of toffee and toasted biscuits. That being said, I have to admit that I found this one underwhelming and the fact that the malts dominated it, more so than the hops. Which it’s strange since we saw pictures of the crew at Clear Valley Hop Farm, hauling lots of hops which, I admit, got me excited because well, you can’t go wrong with a lot of hops. But I felt that the hops was absence in this Harvest Ale. It’s a okay beer if you prefer a lot of malts, sweetness, and toffee.
And with that, I’m giving this one a fair 2.5 pints out of 5 pints that’s worth trying a sample or a tallboy. Heck, even my Coors Light lovin’ Dad really enjoyed this one when we went to Wellington Brewery last weekend.
- Quick Notes…
APPEARANCE | Clear amber colour with an off-white head
SMELL | Subtle notes of floral hops, toasted biscuits, and malts.
TASTE | Malts, toasted biscuits, and toffee.
STYLE | Harvest Ale
ABV | 6.3%
IBU | N/A
PRICE | $3.45
SIZE | 473ml Tallboy
PURCHASED | Brewery Only
THE BREW HEAD 