Crossing Virtual Borders - Flora Hall Brewing
Flora Hall Brewing in Centretown Ottawa is a frequent local haunt for me. Previously a derelict mechanic shop, it underwent a long renovation from 2016 until the brewhouse and kitchen opened its doors in October 2017. In my opinion, they filled a gap in Centretown. Sure, there were a handful of restaurants on Elgin and Bank Street with good craft tap lists, and Elgin Beer Project has been a welcome addition to that strip. In fact, the food scene in Ottawa overall has improved by leaps and bounds in the past 5 years, and with it access to good beer with good food, but until Flora Hall opened its big bay door the neighbourhood was long devoid of its own brewhouse.
They’ve always struck me as a prime example of how a brewery can become a community hub. Any night of the week (pre-COVID anyway), the space would regularly be packed, and not just with beer nerds. It’s the kind of place people come for after work drinks, or with a group of friends, even if not all or even any of them are beer drinkers. Not only is the beer very good, but the open warehouse atmosphere is also chill and inviting, and the food is delicious, too!
They have a regular lineup to satisfy almost any palate consisting of a West Coast IPA, an East Coast IPA, an English Ordinary Bitter, an Oat Pale Ale, a Dry-Hopped Sour and usually one or two one-offs or rotating brews. Two of their recent one-off brews that I was happy to get to try included the latest of their series of paired hop Double Dry Hopped IPAs, and a cross-country virtual collaboration.
Nelson Sauvin / Moutere
DDH IPA 7.0%
This is the latest in Flora Hall’s series of two hop Double Dry Hopped IPAs featuring the New Zealand pairing of Nelson Sauvin and Moutere. Like all the beers in the series, it pours with an opaque haze and tall fluffy head. Straight away the aroma gives off a whiff of white grape juice that Nelson Sauvin is known for. The palate matches with a vinous quality and white grape flavours, followed by a tangy note of tangerine which imparts a bit of acidity. There’s a touch of peppery spice alongside a bit of alcohol warmth on the finish, which is not surprising. At 7% it’s no slouch. The body is on the thin to medium side, but not to the point of being watery. I don’t always love Nelson on it’s own, but I think they’ve found a good pairing here with Moutere. I love this hop pairing series and this is a solid iteration of it. They’ve also just launched a Nano version of this at half the ABV.
Virtual Borders
Hazy Weisse IPA 6.9% - Collaboration with Container Brewing
This is the second time Flora Hall has done a collaboration with a brewery from another province, where both breweries brewed the same beer with the theme being a cheeky nod to interprovincial beer sales restrictions. The first was the Brut IPA they made with Brasserie du Bas-Canada, not so subtly named Gerard Comeau.
This one, as the name suggests, is a virtual collaboration with Container Brewing out in Vancouver, BC. They’ve gone with a style hybrid Weisse IPA, basically a hopfenweisse by my interpretation. It pours a hazy burnt orange with a white lacing head. The weisse flavours come out prominent on the nose with banana and clove alongside some tropical notes like mango and pineapple. The feel is smooth with medium carbonation, making it fairly light and zippy though there is some alcohol warmth right up front. Matching the nose there’s pineapple flavour along with mango. It then leans phenolic as the clove flavour comes back leading to a fairly dry, bitter finish.
Photography by Nathan Does Beer.
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Want to learn about your favourite hops? Grab yourself a copy of Craft Beer 101: All About Hops by our friends Chris and Max of Hops & Bros, with illustrations by the talented David Buist.
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.