1ST & 3RD ~ LEFT FIELD BREWING

Left Field Brewery is celebrating their third anniversary with the release of two beers: 1st and 3rd, a Berliner Weisse and an anniversary saison. I was quite excited to try both of these, as I have been impressed with many of Left Field’s brews. Sampled from a 650 mL bottle the beer poured an opaque light golden straw colour with a white head, which left a nice cap of the beer. The nose contained lots of cereal grains, lemon and a slight sulphur smell. The beer was not as sour and tart as I am used to in a Berliner, though the lactobacillus was evident. The palette had lots of dry cereal, wort, some bready yeastiness and citrusy lemon. As it warmed, there was a subtle sweetness that emerged. The flavour, which seemed very ‘young,’ grew on me during the second half of the bottle. Left Field has brewed this using a kettle-soured mash made from their house strain of lactobacillus and 50% wheat. Both Belgian and American yeasts were also used. This Berliner lacks some complexity, is not my favourite example of this style, but is not bad either.

4% from Toronto, Ontario 8 IBU

PHOTO: LEFT FIELD BREWERY