Wow. Just Wow. How about Left Field Brewery? I don’t know if you remember when, a few weeks ago (March 4th, to be specific) I mentioned Left Field Brewery launching. I remember, because it was the single biggest day of traffic on my blog. Seriously. People were jazzed about the new baseball-themed beer. Obviously, I have something of an interest here. Mark and Mandy Murphy, the duo behind Left Field, are friends of mine, and Mark and I do our monthly home brew webcast, Brewmance. But my own interests didn’t prepare me for the onslaught of love and attention they were about to receive. Between savvy branding and excellent products, Mark and Mandy have seen their beers launch, been featured on TV news, and now have been chosen to do a celebrity brew with Dirk Hayhurst (and yes, The Garfoose) for Session this year. Bars all over the city now have their awesome mini-bat tap handles, and their beers are being met with enthusiasm. Having accidentally frozen an early iteration of 6-4-3 Double IPA Mark gave me (when I left it too close to the balcony door this past winter) I was both happy — and somewhat ashamed — to receive a lovely sample bottle of it from his this past weekend. And let me tell you: as far as sample bottles go, it’s pretty sharp. It could be a retail bottle. For now, though, you’ll need to seek them out on draught; bottles are a “down the road” plan. So throw me a sinking fast ball, and let me hit into a
6-4-3 Double IPA — Left Field Brewery
From a 650ml Left Field test-bomber (no, they don’t do bottles, yet….) 6-4-3 Double IPA pours a hazy gold, touching on brown in the centre. Around 2″ of dense head dropped to a big ring and fat pancake of head that hung around most of the glass. Aroma is citrusy/tropical hops, with sweet malts keeping everything in check. I definitely get some grapefruit, as well as pineapple and lychee fruit. Malts are just a little bready. Taste is more of the same, big juicy hops, with sweet malts dancing on your palate. Hops are still citrusy and fresh, but with a bit of pine on the palate now. Malts are slightly bready, with a touch on cane sugar. For a double IPA, this is quite well balanced, big hops, but plenty of malts to keep things complex and interesting. The beer is medium weight, with a nice subtle carbonation, though most of what you note is the dry biting finish, that is quite hoppy, but not quite sticky. While this is undoubtedly a big big beer, for the style, it’s very approachable. The bright tropicals keep it from being a big sticky hop-bomb and the balance makes it surprisingly quaffable for an 8.4% beer.
Cheers to Mark and Mandy! So stoked for you guys!
Buy 6-4-3 Double IPA
Look for it on draught around Toronto. I know it’s on at The Only Cafe right now, as I just had a glass of it today. And if we can buy enough on draught, we’ll see bottles eventually!
Drink it With
Well, aside from the usual baseball themed-stuff (dogs, pretzels, etc), maybe a nice fruity/spicy cut of pork? Some chops brushed in my easy-peasy 1:1 marmalade to sriracha hot sauce mix? Or take your favourite BBQ sauce and cut it with some grapefruit or orange juice, and a few good glugs of your favourite hot sauce? Pork chops call for more of a glaze than a “sauce” anyway, right? For cheese, I was munching some young Toscano from my friends at Monforte Dairy with this, and the salty creamy cheese with a little nuttiness and sheepy “tang” was the perfect juxtaposition to the the juicy bitter, slightly sweet DIPA. Maybe not a classic pairing, but an interesting match, to be sure.
To give baseball-credit where credit is due: the notes on the ever-so-sharp sample label say that it pairs well with pretzels and hot mustard, and chicken wings (I assume “hot”). Simply put: I concur.
About The Brewery
Know that feeling you get on opening day, after a walk-off home run or a suspenseful no-hitter? That’s exactly how we feel about beer.
Left Field Brewery aims to make beers you’ll remember. We’re free agent brewers who started out in the minors as a hobby home-brewery. We’re currently contract brewing with a game plan to build a microbrewery in Toronto to call home.
We started Left Field Brewery under a simple philosophy: that great beer is about great taste and good times. We’re not here to confuse you with jargon or gimmicky promises – we’re here to make distinct, flavourful beers that can stand on taste alone. We’re brewing the kind of beer that we like to drink, inspired by the sport we love to play and watch; the kind of beer you can sit and enjoy during the game while talking shop over a blown call or a spectacular play.
The bright tropicals keep it from being a big sticky hop-bomb and the balance makes it surprisingly quaffable for an 8.4% beer.
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