Today's sampling is Great Lakes Brewing (Toronto)'s Octopus Wants to Fight IPA. This marks the very first time I've reviewed anything by Great Lakes Brewing in several years seeing as it pretty much disappeared from Manitoba completely around 2012.. Oh how I miss beers like 666 Devil's Pale Ale and their Pumpkin Ale was the first of its kind to ever come to Manitoba and I still remember my initial reaction when I first heard about the beer. Actually, Octopus Wants to Fight has been available in Manitoba but in limited quantities at the Common at the Forks and that was back in 2020. From the can: Our pet octopus is a bit of a jerk. He’s that guy who has a couple then either tells you how much he loves you or threatens to fight you. So we brewed this IPA, with 8 varieties of hops and 8 types of malt. We targeted 88 IBU and 8.8% to appease him.
Sadly, when he found out that we’d fabricated all of the above info, it only made him more volatile.
We are starting to realize that Octopus was a poor choice for a pet. 8.8% ABV.
Appearance: Pours a hazy golden-honey body with a very, very thick amount of snow white head on top. The head diminishes slowly but steadily to leave behind a good amount of lacing on the glass, a couple bubbles here on the glass.. a couple bubbles there!
Aroma: Moderately tropical but pretty tame. I'm getting notes of honey, grapefruit, pineapple, and lastly a bit of kiwi.
Taste: This is pretty much what I got from the aroma. It's not overpowering and overly anything, rather they made an IPA that's moderately bitter with a good amount of tropical notes. I get a bit of kiwi, pineapple, grapefruit, and lastly a bit of a gritty grain taste at the end.
Overall Thoughts: At 88 IBU and 8.8%, it's smoother than I expected.. it's no Devil's Pale Ale but it doesn't have to be. I'd love to see more of this beer in Manitoba..
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