Wells IPA - Wells & Young's Ltd

cratez

Ontario (Canada)

2.58/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Much like the IPAs made by Rickard's, Alexander Keith's, and Sleeman, this bears little resemblance to a true IPA. Poured out of a 500ml can into a pint glass.

Appearance: golden amber in colour with barely any head and no lacing. Boring.

Smell: metallic grains and lightly grassy hops.

Taste: bittersweet malt/hop body, a blood-like metal flavour, and a vague bitterness.

Mouthfeel: fairly smooth upfront, somewhat tingly in the finish. Too thin for my liking. Where's the bold and crisp tanginess that you find in most good IPAs?

Overall: anytime I encounter a beer like this, my only question is, "why?" Why bother to make a beer of this mediocrity, so flagrantly out of sync with the proclaimed style? If the brewer were to be truthful about this beer, the label would read "all metal, no hops." This beer should either be discontinued or drastically reworked into an actual IPA.

Serving type: can

02-01-2009 19:40:10 | More by cratez

TheBeeraholic

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

06-15-2013 18:10:00 | More by TheBeeraholic

Cramshawbar

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev +11.3%

05-28-2013 00:15:30 | More by Cramshawbar

IdeaSpeeder

Ontario (Canada)

2.63/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

Serving Type - 500ml can poured into a nonic pint glass

Appearance - Beer pours a clear copper colour, with a red hue. There is some a moderate white head that sticks around for a while. A reasonable amount of lacing is left behind.

Smell - Not much aroma coming off this brew. What is there is grainy and metallic. Not unpleasant, but certainly not appealing.

Taste - Getting an unpleasant metallic taste. I don't see a freshness date...but maybe it's old? I don't know. There is something of a hop profile but it's way to understated for the style. Maybe some caramel malts coming through as well.

Mouthfeel - Medium mouthfeel. Not too watery, not to thick. Carbonation is medium to low.

Overall - 2.75/5

Serving type: can

05-16-2013 02:55:30 | More by IdeaSpeeder

H8B8

Ontario (Canada)

2.75/5  rDev -5.8%

04-04-2013 13:20:51 | More by H8B8

MylesMac

Manitoba (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +19.9%

01-27-2013 22:04:24 | More by MylesMac

KStark

British Columbia (Canada)

2.75/5  rDev -5.8%

01-21-2013 02:22:10 | More by KStark

HATS4BATS

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

01-19-2013 15:43:17 | More by HATS4BATS

KalanM

British Columbia (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +19.9%

11-30-2012 03:29:56 | More by KalanM

Molson2000

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

09-21-2012 21:49:16 | More by Molson2000

Vyronian

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

08-24-2012 04:46:05 | More by Vyronian

mick303

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

BB (28/05/13) Beer pours a fluffy finger or two of soapy head, leaving a nice film and respectably good lacing. Colour is an intriguing medium-dark chestnut/oak brown.

Nose has round malts, hops are present but fairly light. Stale vegetable and skunked notes. Not really defined. IPA aromas don't really come through.

Taste has some initial full maltiness with a few caramel undertones then hop bitterness comes through with dryness. Dry, with a profile focusing on a moderate hop bitterness and a big malt presence. Typical and somewhat unremarkable. Finish is medium bitter and dry.

Mouthfeel is pretty thin, course carbonation, slightly watery. Medium bodied, and fairly in keeping with the style for texture. Drinkability is okay but quite boring.

This one didn't come across as particularly memorable. Fits into the style but without many outstanding features. Drinking this isn't inspiring or overly pleasant. There are far better ones out there.

Serving type: can

08-14-2012 21:52:04 | More by mick303

NightINgale

Quebec (Canada)

2.75/5  rDev -5.8%

06-11-2012 02:38:09 | More by NightINgale

Snatchomcfly

3.15/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: golden copper with nice foam head that stayed in the glass during the 25 minutes of tasting.

Smell: Like many other reviewers the smell of this IPA is not that appealing. Wet socks and stale bread on the nose.

Taste: Surprisingly tasty from the staleness of the nose. Smooth throughout but does seem to loses some steam going down the throat.

Overall: Decent IPA for the price but does not blow any socks off.

Serving type: can

05-29-2012 01:13:41 | More by Snatchomcfly

RedAleMan

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev +11.3%

04-11-2012 04:18:34 | More by RedAleMan

dipso123

California

3/5  rDev +2.7%

03-28-2012 00:29:48 | More by dipso123

andrenaline

Ontario (Canada)

3.05/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From notes... A brew from my brother in-law...

A - Pours a golden copper colour, solid finger of head with solid retention and nice spotty lacing.

S - Super musty, grassy and pilsener type hop notes, with a slightly metallic finish.

T - The metallic grassy hops dominate, wet cardboard and paper mache comes to mind, surprisingly sour and bitter and reminiscent of a sweet tart.

M - Medium bodied, though prickly going down and a bit too dry for my liking.

O - A decent ale, but by no means a good example of the style. This is a mass produced IPA that is better than others, but still fails to fully meet the style expectations. That being said, if I were given more cans for free I certainly wouldn't turn them down.

Serving type: can

03-17-2012 02:33:03 | More by andrenaline

oldp0rt

Quebec (Canada)

1/5  rDev -65.8%

03-15-2012 14:56:04 | More by oldp0rt

ThinkAgain

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev +2.7%

03-05-2012 03:47:27 | More by ThinkAgain

Shmobo

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

02-12-2012 03:22:23 | More by Shmobo

adhallick

Manitoba (Canada)

2/5  rDev -31.5%

01-29-2012 15:09:02 | More by adhallick

irishkyle21

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -14.4%

01-17-2012 15:46:11 | More by irishkyle21

kelvarnsen

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev +2.7%

11-30-2011 19:52:13 | More by kelvarnsen

prosper

Alberta (Canada)

3.48/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a darker-than-expected red colour, white head.

Smells... bad! Vegetables, stale grains. Yuck.

Taste, thankfully, is much better. Dark crystal malts, sort of toasty, burnt-candy-like. Not a lot of hop flavours, but a good bitterness that plays well with the toasty grains. Nice finish that lingers around. I'm actually bumping this up a few points as I go.

Mouthfeel is moderate - it's a perfect match to this particular beer.

Overall - a bit of a sleeper. It's not really an 'IPA,' but it's a nice ruby ale, kinda sorta like Wychwood Hobgoblin. Good, but not what I expected.

Serving type: can

11-25-2011 00:59:43 | More by prosper

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.29/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

[Updated Jan 22 2013]

500 mL can, best before November 2013. I didn't really like this the first time I tried it, but I have given it many chances since (due to a lack of other options) and I must admit it's grown on me a little. I've probably bought close to a flat of these things over the last year or so.

Pours a bright, clear amber-bronze colour, topped with more than two fingers of off-white head that gradually recedes over the next four or five minutes. It leaves behind a doily pattern of lacing on the sides, in addition to a bumpy, creamy cap at the surface. A damn fine-looking glass of ale. The aroma is decent, but with a distinct metallic twinge to it, while leafy English hops, wet hay and some light caramel maltiness comprise its remainder. Appropriate for the style, and inviting enough I suppose.

The flavour is mild and balanced, perhaps not that surprising for an English session ale. The lightly toasted, bready malt character and slight honey sweetness are soon countered by a firm dose of leafy, grassy, somewhat floral, very English-style hop bitterness and light lemon citrus. The finish is dry, and a little metallic, though it doesn't linger terribly long on the palate. Light-bodied, with mild carbonation and a very smooth mouthfeel.

I used to be the sort of person who would try an IPA like this and immediately write it off for not being hoppy enough. I still don't think it's anything terribly special for the style, but it's quite sessionable and tastes fine. Not an exciting pint, but a perfectly serviceable one.

Final Grade: 3.29, a B-. For any thrifty English ale drinkers out there, Wells IPA should make for a decent pint, if an unmemorable one. At its LCBO price point, I would consider it reasonably good value - any fan of English-style IPAs might as well give it a shot for this reason alone, given the lack of other options around here. It's not a masterpiece, but I've thrown several of these back in a night before and will probably do so again at some point.

Serving type: can

10-24-2011 02:45:33 | More by thehyperduck