Review: Great Lakes' Audrey Hopburn Belgian IPA

It's been a while since I've seen Great Lakes beer in Manitoba, as it seems that either than 666 Devil's Pale Ale, their beer is no longer available in Manitoba, and this is no exception, this is not available in Manitoba. Part of the Tank Ten series, which is a pseudo one-off sort of seasonal project by the brewery, Audrey Hopburn Belgian IPA is seriously intriguing me. Audrey Hopburn was planned as a one-off originally, but due to public demand made a re-appearance last month due to high demand. I'm a HUGE fan of pun-based names for beers.. I'm STILL waiting for Ale Hawerchuk to come to brewation..

Appearance: A nice hazy ale with a lemon-orange appearance, looks like your standard Belgian saison/witbier, belle! Minimal head, bright white head gracing the side of the glass.

Aroma: Holy fuck! While I find Great Lakes hit/miss, anything *PA related seems to be consistently solid by the brewery, their 666 frequently sampled by yours truly as it has a great piney hoppiness and really great to drink while Netflixing it up. This is quite stellar. It's a nice piney bitter IPA with a very sweet pineapple backing. For a Belgian IPA, I expected more of a yeasty zest and some coriander in there, but frankly, the yeast is minimal at best and no coriander to be found. Very tropical IPA.

Taste: Average bitterness for an IPA, not overwhelming and yet not underwhelming either. Some pine notes, not as much pineapple sweetness but the Belgian yeast makes more of an appearance here than in the aroma. Bitter aftertaste, bit of a watery mouthfeel.

Overall Thoughts: Je veux dire merci à Itslunchimeca for sending me this! Easily one of better Belgian IPAs I've had. Audrey Hopburn has a great piney backbone, some pineapple for sweetness and a slight Belgian yeastiness in there too. Also, the bottle is damned sexy, loved them painted bottles! I'd buy this up if it ever came up to Manitoba.

From the label: Audrey was born in Belgium. From an early age she took to the stage and began a relatively successful career. Soon, however, she left acting to pursue her dream - becoming a fairly obvious beer pun.

Tank Ten Series: Stemming from our Project X line, Tank Ten is a tickle trunk of tasty treats. This series is payback to our hard working brewers. We've reserved fermenting tank number ten for them and have given them the green light to brew whatever the heck they want. Bottoms up!

Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast.

Serve 5-8C in a Tulip glass, 6.2% ABV, 58 IBU

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