Opinion

Broskies on Brewskies: Lake of Bays Brewing Company

Welcome to a very special edition of Broskies on Brewskies. This term we’re doing special issues devoted to breweries rather than the freestyle issues we’ve done before. This issue we’re pretending to visit the Lake of Bays Brewing Company, one of our favourites. We discovered the Lake of Bays brewing company back in Fall 2015 when we did an issue on amber ales and tried the Spark House Red Ale. This might have even been our first 5/5. Ever since then we’ve been big fans of any Lake of Bays beers. This issue we tasted four of their beers so that you don’t have to.

First up was the seasonal offering A Doppel Do Ya, a doppel weizen (double wheat beer) made specifically for the winter months. This beer is smooth and is definitely a wheat beer, with that distinct taste and feel similar to an Erdinger Weisbier. It’s sweeter rather than bitter, with hints of caramel (noticed by me) and banana (noticed by Tristan). Overall we dug this beer. We tasted on a cold reading week night and it fit the evening very well.  We gave this beer 4/5, but were expecting more from the remaining beers.

Next was the Nightwatcher Oatmeal Stout. As per usual with stouts, I liked this beer better than Tristan. This beer has hints of coffee and chocolate (classic stout, am I right?) and felt pretty malty. Despite being a stout, the Nightwatcher is a very accessible beer. It’s sweeter and lighter than most stouts but still creamy and smoky. We find it more comparable to Kilkenny than Guiness. We really liked this one as well, and gave it 4/5.

Our third beer was the West Wind Black IPA. This beer was the first of the “crossover” IPA-stouts that we’ve tried and have really enjoyed. It starts with the feel of an IPA, bitter and bold, and ends with the feel of a stout, creamy and bitter. Largely this beer was like an IPA, but was just a little heavier. This beer was interesting, but we didn’t love it. We gave it 3/5, but would probably give it another try.

Last up was our old friend, the Spark House Red Ale. This beer still lives up to the hype. It tastes good and smooth. It’s a little creamy and a little spicy, with more hops than malts. This is one of the best craft beers we’ve ever had and highly recommendations. As usual this bad boy gets a perfect 5/5.

That wraps up our special on the Lake of Bays Brewing Company. We’ll see you next time, for another very special edition of Broskies on Brewskies.

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