Hoppy, fruity, sour, crisp—there really is a beer for every taste. Often, when people are convinced they don’t like beer, the real problem is that they just haven’t found the right one. Read on for our tips on how to find the right brew for you.
Sweet Tooth
A common complaint is that beer is too bitter. While a nice bitter backbone balances many great beers, options abound for those who prefer their drinks on the sweeter side. English barleywines tend to be fruity and sweet—though it’s important to note their high alcohol content. For something a little bit smoother, chocolate and milk stouts are worth a try as well. That said, stay away from milkshake IPAs—despite their creamy texture (thanks to the addition of lactose), they’re still bitter like any IPA. Belgian beers and German doppelbocks are also good options, as they tend to be less bitter than most brews.
If you have a sweet tooth, keep an eye out for our Baltic Porter arriving in the fall. It’s a smooth, lightly sweet dark beer ideal for colder weather.
Acid Freaks
For lovers of kombucha, lemonade, zesty white wines and funky orange wines, the refreshing acidic bite of a sour beer hits the spot. Compared to your average lager, sours tend to be tart, but also funkier—full of yeasty, zesty notes often bolstered by fruit. Bellwoods Brewery’s signature Jelly King is a great local example of a sour with a nice balanced acidity.
At Avling, our first foray into sours is Brevis Cherry—a tart beer conditioned on the leftover skins and pits of cherries from a local juicing company. It’s sour, but not too sour, with a hint of almond.
Wine Drinkers
Many wine drinkers enjoy the bright acidity of sours, but the recent trend of brewers adding wine and wine grapes to beer caters even more to those who tend to reach right for a restaurant’s wine list. At Burdock, wine-beer hybrids have become the main focus; try their Bumo, Icy Icy, and Froots, amongst others. Other local breweries like Bellwoods and Blood Brothers also typically have at least one wine-beer on offer.
While we have yet to mix wine and beer at Avling, wine lovers might equally enjoy our core Saison, thanks to its bright acidity meshed with notes of pear and citrus zest.
Bitter Bets
Hops are divisive. As the ingredient behind a beer’s bitter notes, they’re a necessary ingredient in nearly all good beers. Hop-forward India Pale Ales (IPAs) have become a craft brewing signature, with brewers double and triple-hopping their beers in a quest to out-bitter their rivals. Some think the hops obsession has gone too far, while others love the ingredient’s strong bite. In our opinion, a well-balanced IPA makes a great summer sipper—crisp and citrusy, with a bitter background that quenches your thirst. Matron Fine Beer, a new brewery out of Prince Edward County, makes a balanced, refreshing IPA called Janky that still brings a bitter edge.
At Avling, we have our core IPA on offer, along with seasonal brew, Esperta: a bright and hoppy Belgian Ale.
So Fresh and So Clean
Sometimes you just want a nice, crisp, refreshing pint. Whether you’re on a patio after work or by the lake, classic lagers and pilsners never go out of style. We love making these types of beers because we love drinking them.
Avling Pilsner is our everyday beer. Simple, but not too simple, it’s just bitter enough and boasts body from malts without being heavy. Consider it a beer fit for Goldilocks—just right. For those who want an extra bit of excitement, we have our seasonal Dewdrop: a light, hoppy ale with a touch of bitterness, along with a lower alcohol content and a less hoppy character than our IPA—perfect for those in-between moments when you can’t decide what to drink.