Leeway is a ‘Cold IPA’ - it bridges the gap between the crisp world of lagers and the aromatic, flavour-forward world of IPAs. Made in true Matron-style (slammed full of quality ingredients, low-er ABV and balanced as all heck), the team was excited to bring back this quenching brew.

After our first initial Leeway brew, we were invited by two different breweries to come and make cold IPAs in their space because they are just that awesome to drink. As we’ve said before, giving credit where credit is due is huge to us, so shout out to Wayfinder Beer for the inspiration and helping us put a label on this beautiful hoppy creation over here in Ontario.

THE LONG-ER STORY —

Ok, so a ‘Cold IPA’?

Lately we've been wandering around in a nostalgic daze (still) craving simpler times. We wanted to brew another West Coast inspired beer BUT we have also been pining for a new crispy yet flavourful lager. We wanted the best of two different worlds... so naturally we decided to combine them. We brewed a beer using only barley (no adjunct grains, all Barn Owl Malt), hopped it judiciously in the kettle and fermented it with our house lager yeast at slightly elevated temperature to let the fruitiness of the hops come out while still finishing crisp and clean. We dry-hopped it generously while not being obnoxious and added some actively fermenting lagerbier in a process called "krausening" to naturally carbonate the beer. It was conditioned nice and cold for several more weeks until it was bright and beautiful. We honestly didn't know what call this beer... Hoppy Lager? Sure... IPL? Naw, didn't really ring our bells. While we were trying to figure this out, we came across a podcast discussing Cold IPAs with Wayfinder Beer from Portland. It dawned on us that this is basically what we brewed without knowing it. So, inspired by their trailblazing forays of Lager-IPA hybrids, and our deep passion for lagerbiers and IPAs, we decided to call Leeway a COLD IPA!!

Pairs well with: colouring outside the lines, spring cleaning and all dressed chips