Subsidiaries
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
(On tap at Bar Hop, June 19 2014) Pours a deep amber with a dark almost rusty red hue, a bit murky with a ring of white head. Aroma has fairly sweet cherry with a bit of a sour acetic note but not too vinegary, and some wood in the nose. Lots of cherry in the palate, fruit is sweetish and just a bit tart with a little sour character, lots of wine barrel (chardonnay?), and slightly tinny. In the finish there was lingering fruit and quite a lot of wood with a sweet/sour mix. Mouthfeel moderate with quite soft carb. This seemed more barrel heavy and less sour than the raspberry Spadina Monkey, not quite as quenching as I’d expected. In fairness, sharing a sampler paddle with 3 berliner weisses has probably skewed my perception and I should try it on its own. Not bad at all, regardless.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Jul 2014
at 16:44
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Just a heads up, not a retired beer, though now listed as colab with Jed Nad, otherwise seem the same. Bottle from brewery during the sick-time..2014 review: On tap at the Indie. And just a heads-up they had their 500ml-650ml? bottle of this brew to take it home. Described on the board as dubbel wit. Decent toated malt nose, dark, dark amber pour, with light brown head. Taste of lost of toasted malts, little green-pear like sourness, little yeast funk, that hangs around a bit.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Jun 2014
at 11:48
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Another new beer at Indie. A little skeptical on the combination, but I’ve been richly rewarded (and my liver deeply punished) when keeping the faith with Indie so I of course gave it a go, and it was good. This is the CASK version, don’t know if that will change, but... Pours a cloudy blond, without any of the pink I’d expect. A finger of fluffy white head. The nose of citrus hops, strawberries with some bready malts. Similar taste the citrus of the hops and the berries works really well together. Not overly sweet and with some hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste. Nice.
Tried
from Cask
on 22 Jun 2014
at 13:04
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at Indie on June 21. On the board as Camp Out S’More Stout. As a colab with Sawdust City. So I’m hoping this the same beer. Looking at other’s ratings looks in-line. Pours just like you’re expect for a stout, with half a finger of head, that works down to minor sheeting. Smells of lots of toasted malt and hay. The taste is toast, burn marshmallows, and what I assume is the graham, which comes off like, and I know this is weird, but like the dusty, hot smell your skin has after being in out in the sun for a while. I know, not the best description, but that’s all I got. I like this beer. It has some decent drinkability.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Jun 2014
at 12:51
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
This is, and it isn’t, a review of Couch Surfer. Why? Because this is a review of Couch Surfer using Indie’s new Randall. What’s a Randall? That was my question at Indie (more specifically, what the hell is that thing?) It’s a "double-chamber filter that you connect to a tap of your favorite beer and fill with flavor-enhancing ingredients." This fella was invented by Dogfish Head and it’s cool. But it bring up a sticky question for rating, is this now a separate beer? The admins tell me no. (Thank you JoeMcPhee) But take this review with a grain of salt, this is not the straight Couch Surfer. So... Draft at Indie. The beer pours a very cloudy blonde with white head. Big hoppy nose of pine and resin, fruit citrus floating in there. Taste similar to nose with big hops pine and resin, bready malts, but less fruit.
Tried
from Draft
on 13 Jun 2014
at 15:18
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Another first. Bit of a run lately, but it doesn’t hurt to live down the street from Indie and not far from Bellwoods and their inspired brewmasters. This one is completely random, picked it up in a growler and even the server hadn’t tried it. Luckily the head brewer Jeff Broeders was wandering by, as is often the case, and gave it the thumbs up. So I bought it. Pours a, uh...well, clear caramel colour with a finger thick off white head that sticks around. Nice nose of resin hops and cereal malts. Taste is nice and smooth, flavours of, uh.., well, caramel malts, a decent but certainly not overpowering hops, that adds resins some mild bitterness, a little wood floating around there, but overall very nice. This one has very high drinkability and I could see this being the beer of the day, all day, on the floating dock at the cottage. Nice.
Tried
from Growler
on 06 Jun 2014
at 16:11
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
On tap at Indie. Honestly this is the beer that got me through the door. A soured Belgian wheat? I had to give it a try. I’ve met enough sour Belgians (you know who you are) that I would like to wish into the wheat field (I know the reference is cornfield) that this seemed right up my alley. Pour a nice golden colour with about one finger of white head. Smells of citrus, vanilla, and soft malts. Taste isn’t very sour, must have had only a couple of months of bugging, and it come through more with a complimentary sourness that support lemons and tangerine flavours, which sits atop the general malty wheatiness of this beer. Not a bad beer. I’m loving Indie’s and Bellwood’s bug-love as they give everything a brett-ing. Thanks.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2014
at 11:45
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Well, what do you know, another first. This beer apparently is a colab with Indie 88, Toronto’s newest radio station, on which Indie Alehouse advertises. Don’t know how much those radio guys had to do with it but... Pours a pink-yellow with a think white head. The nose is full of sweet cherries and soft malts. The taste is grass, cherry and wheat. An alright beer.
Tried
on 03 Jun 2014
at 11:32
6.6/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
On tap at Indie. I think Spadina Monkey is excellent. But something about this Cherry variant seems to miss the mark for me. Pours an amber pink with a head that disappears fast. Nose full of sweetness and berries, wine and sours twangs. Taste is dominated by sourness with the cherry taking a back seat. Don’t know if I was having a bad tasting day but the sour dominated a little too much. I’ll try it again in the future and I’ll re-evaluate.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2014
at 11:22
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 9
No one mentioned at Indie it was aged in wine barrels. Explains a lot. Tap at Indie. Pours a clear blonde with white head. Nose is full of fruits and cherries and vanilla. Nice flavour of Belgian yeast, with reoccurrences of that vanilla and cherry discovered in the smell, as well lovely soft malts. Hops really don’t make a big play in this beer at all. Would never classify this as a IPA. Really an excellent beer, very, very drinkable.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Jun 2014
at 11:13