As a general rule in this country, if you see festoon lighting in the distance, you know you’re near one of two things: a brewery or a wedding. If you’re really lucky, you might even be at a wedding in a brewery and drinking a West Coast IPA. Banks Brewing’s Follow The Festoons is a tribute to the omnipresent lighting and features the American hop trio of Simcoe, Columbus and Mosaic. Together, they bring deep berry flavours, sweet ruby grapefruit and light pine while the yellow colour has shades of those very lights and the bitter finish is akin to the realisation that you’re not at a wedding or a brewery but a work Christmas party in a park.
Joining that IPA is Blackberry Parfait, an impressively purple fruited sour that has been conditioned on blackberry and vanilla. The result is plenty of sweet berry flavours, a gripping sourness and a sustained rich creaminess. Good Times meanwhile, takes us back into the land of hops, with the hazy pale part of the Banks’ Taproom series. It’s the kind of territory Banks have long played well in and here there’s a lot of passionfruit, gooseberry, melon and a touch of the dank.
Will Ziebell
Published March 17, 2023 2023-03-17 00:00:00
