Avling Brewery’s Inaugural Barrel Lineup

Toronto’s Avling Kitchen & Brewery opened their doors in Toronto’s Leslieville neighborhood in 2019. Since then, they’ve had a colourful lineup of beers spanning the style spectrum including hefeweizen, several varieties of lagers, and a notably wide range of saisons, just to name a few. Through the latter part of 2020, after many months of aging, they’ve also been rolling out bottles from the inaugural lineup of their ongoing barrel program. I was excited when they very kindly sent the lineup for me to try. Let’s see how they’re tasting!

Sangfroid

Barrel-aged Blend with Cabernet Franc Skins & Honey - 7.0%

I cracked open Sangfroid first, a French oak barrel aged blend on Cabernet Franc skins and honey from the legends at Niagara’s Rosewood Estates Winery. It pours a gorgeous ruby red with a thin, light pinkish head. The aroma is tart and oaky giving off grapes, berries and a subtle sweetness. On the palate it’s earthy and notably tannic. It’s tart with flavours of strawberry and red grape. It’s also woodsy and quite dry overall. The honey gives it an earthy and mildly floral background. It’s light and effervescent despite being no slouch at 7% ABV. ⁣

This is quite the product of patience having spent seven months in the barrel, three months on the cab-franc skins, and finally bottle conditioning for an additional four months.

Spinning Yarn - Blend A

Barrel-aged Ancient-style Saison Blend - 5.0%

Spinning Yarn is an ancient-style saison which Avling made two blends of to explore the differences in the oak barrels and their cultures. They each spent seven months in French oak barrels and a further six months conditioning in the bottle. Another labour of patience!⁣

Blend A poured with a cloudy straw yellow colour and a thin white foam. It’s got an earthy nose with some farmhouse funk, pineapple acidity and a bit of peach. It’s super refreshing on the palate with a plethora of delicate flavours. There’s juicy pineapple giving it a nice touch of acidity, along with white grape and gooseberry with a subtle tart note. It sits on a delicate background of barnyard barrel funk. It’s got a very pleasant frothy effervescence with white wine-like flavours lingering on the palate.

Spinning Yarn - Blend B

Barrel-aged Ancient-style Saison Blend - 5.0%

Blend B, while a sibling of Blend A with many similarities, does carry its own unique qualities. The nose has a more musty funk to it with a note of lemon acidity and white wine aromatics. Like A, the carbonation is light and frothy on the palate, and the flavours are likewise very delicate with melon, grass, white grape, and a lightly acidic cut of lemon which makes it super refreshing. It’s mildly earthy and floral on a subtle background of horse blanket. It’s also dry throughout with a light, clean finish.

Both blends are exceptional!

Amarelle

Barrel-aged Blend with Cherries - 5.0%

Amarelle is a 5.4% blend aged in oak and on cherries. The pour is clear with a bright pinkish red colour, and the nose is rich with cherry and almond, sour with cherry pits and even hinting at a bit of sweetness. On the palate it’s earthy and tannic, rich with cherry flavour but not intensely sour. The almond/cherry pit flavour comes through with the sweetness of just a sprinkling of sugar, giving it a bit of a cherry pastry vibe. The carbonation level is lower than the others, and the body is a touch more full. For only 5.4% it packs a good bit of flavour with a surprisingly full feel. Good stuff!

These were all an absolute treat! If you haven’t had a chance to try their barrel lineup yet, you definitely should. The patience paid off with these bottles. Very reasonably priced too with all 4 available as a pack for $36.

Article and photography by Nathan Lefebvre.

Find Avling Kitchen & Brewery online, including their webstore where their beer can be ordered to be shipped across Ontario:

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Nathan

Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.

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