Crafty Canary - Blade IPA 5.3%

Blade IPA is a 5.3% India Pale Ale from Crafty Canary, the independent brewery and bottle shop on the High Street in Cwmavon, in the Afan Valley near Port Talbot. It is the hop forward beer in Crafty Canary's core range, brewed alongside Skyline Lager, Penhydd Stout, Y Wal Golden Ale, Blue Scar and Whites Ruby as part of the shop's own house beers.

Crafty Canary is both a working brewery and a bottle shop, brewing its own beer on site while also selling beers from a wider range of Welsh producers. Cwmavon sits right next to Afan Forest Park and the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre, and Blade takes its name from the Blade trail, a 23 kilometre red graded route that opened in 2014 and is known for its remote, singletrack heavy sections and views out over the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. As with the rest of the range, the name is a clear nod to the trail network that surrounds the brewery.

As an IPA, Blade is built around a more pronounced hop character than the brewery's other beers, with the stronger bitterness and bolder hop aroma that define the style, typically showing citrus, pine or tropical fruit notes depending on the hop varieties used. Expect a golden to amber colour, a firmer bitterness on the finish than a golden ale or lager, and a fuller body to support the hop character without the beer feeling thin. At 5.3% ABV it sits at a fairly standard strength for the style, giving enough backbone to balance the hops without becoming a heavy, sipping strength beer.

IPA's assertive character makes it a good match for food with some weight or spice behind it, such as a curry, spicy barbecue, or a strong, hard cheese, where the beer's bitterness and hop aroma can cut through richer or spicier flavours. It is generally best served a touch warmer than lager, cool rather than cold, to let the hop aroma come through fully.

Named after one of the more demanding trails in Afan Forest Park, Blade IPA is the beer to reach for in the Crafty Canary range for drinkers who want a more robust, hop driven beer. It rounds out the core lineup as the natural counterpoint to the lighter lager and golden ale, giving the range a proper hop forward option alongside its more traditional styles.