So when Wellington Brewery announced about this beer, stating that they took the unique flavour profile from Upside IPA, a mighty delicious dangerous IPA that deserves to be in anybody’s rotation because it’s juicy and refreshing. Especially when it’s Hillside-worthy.
Upside Downlow is a Pale Ale that’s 4.7% ABV with 38IBU. FOUR hops are in this beer, yes, FOUR. Those hops are Citra, Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe. It’s available exclusively at the brewery in 355ml shorties (SHORTIES ROCKS!) I know that a lot of folks would hate that statement because it’s a shortie. Honestly, it’s great to have beer in shorties because sometimes you just don’t want a full tallboy. You just want a beer, simple as that.
Let’s talk about this beer, shall we?
The Appearance
Upside Downlow’s artwork has been greatly inspired by its cousin, the Upside IPA which features Zeppelins, Lighthouse, Sunset, Clouds, and Lightning in a simple clean style. I even took the label off and placed it on the fridge, it’s just a clean label.
Let’s Drink!
Upside Downlow pours a hazy orange-yellow body with a white head that quickly dissipated and laced the glassware. The aroma is tropically similar to Upside IPA with notes of grapefruit, peach, pineapple and subtle pine resin. And that first sip that I take is similar to the aroma with more tropical notes of pineapple, grapefruit, peach, mango with a slight bitterness that is quickly gone with yet another sip.
How do we feel about this?
I’ll be frank with you, I quickly finished this one and opened another one. It’s that refreshing, juicy, and fresh as hell. I’m legit impressed with this and the fact that Wellington Brewery took a popular IPA, made it into this incredible full of flavours in a short can. It’s insane, it’s good and I hope that Wellington will keep this one around for a while, or at least do the whole Crispy Forever rotation.
That being said, we all know that Wellington Brewery has been a mainstay at Hillside Festival and that I think Upside Downlow would be a popular addition to the lineup. However, one could argue for Crispy Forever as a popular addition over Upside Downlow, Upside IPA.
Anyways, I feel that Upside Downlow is one of the best beers released this year in Ontario, hands down. I know, we’re already in March. If there’s any left, go get some today!
Cheers!
THE BREW HEAD 