Review: Blood Brothers Blood 5.0 Ale

I had a lovely long weekend trip to Toronto a month back as a pre-birthday trip to just get out of my neck of the woods and see friends and drink great beer. Porter Air delayed my trip by a whole sixteen hours but it still ended up being worth it.

One of my favourite visits in the city was the Blood Brothers Brewing - I've had lots of great friends have that on their top of their "must visit" list time and time again so it was time to finally make a visit. Well, we had an absolute blast for sure! The awesome bottle shop/merch sales employee (unfortunately forget his name! I'm not good with names) was really helpful to help me decide on beer to take home. All I told him is that I need "hotel beer" and beer to take home to share with friends. He absolutely nailed it on recommendations - Today's sampling is their Blood 5.0 Ale which is parodying a certain beer with a green label that I no longer can get in my neck of the woods.. but a beer that was my guilty pleasure for over fifteen years.

Appearance: Blood 5.0 Ale pours a lemon-straw yellow with a body that's mostly clear but does have a very slight cloudiness to it. Lots of carbonation in the body and a good amount of snow white head on top that gradually goes down a bit just to leave behind a mild lacing on the glass.

Aroma: A bit sweeter than I was expecting but a very welcoming beer - lots of grainy sweetness from the beginning, a bit of honey. The beer mellows a tad over a few minutes and the hops are giving off a mixture of grassiness and a tad floral presence at the same time. Crisp but a bit stronger than your typical dive bar ale.

Taste: Sweet with a grittiness from the barley, hint of honey, slightly floral hop presence that gives off a bit of an alfalfa taste to it, a bit grass-forward. Very smooth, crisp and easy to drink. Hint of lemon at the end.

Overall Thoughts: More hop-forward than your classic Canadian dive bar beers but this is a solid one nonetheless. Very crisp, lots of hop character but still smooth. Need some Kim Mitchell to pair with this beer.