…and Perrault Farms with the featured hops. So time to check out a, probably last, fresh hop ale of 2025.
And boy howdy, when I popped this can open, a wave of danky goodness reached me real quick. In the flavor it settles down into a more earthy less bright hop attack into a more balanced, dare I say, English-styled IPA. The back of the can is quite hilarious as it is four paragraphs in extra super tiny font size. But the sentiment about their collaborators is nice. A different IPA experience but glad to have tried it.
OK – yes it is brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge in Belgium FOR Trader Joe’s but the makers of Piraat and Gulden Draak have conjured up a 2025 Vintage Ale that opened with a pop. Don’t often have to be on cork duty so it is a bit of fun. Pours a super dark brown color with a lovely layer of tan foam on top. And it does not taste 9%. Luxurious but not spicy. More yeast driven but still quite subtle. And as it warms up, I start getting a pronounced raisin bread note.
Still fresh hop beers out there though the clock is certainly ticking on them. Before that buzzer rings, I wanted to review a local version from Common Space Brewery, Yakima Fresh! with hops from Carpenter Ranches and Sauve and Son.
YF! pours a real clear dark yellow and it is quite delicate overall. The aroma is fairly muted, no big whiff of lupulin, more a light touch of lemon. The flavor follows that course with lemon and grassy notes intermingling but only lightly bitter. It is interesting that once Common Space got the fresh hops, they were pelletized by hand at the brewery and then used as dry hopping.
A week+ until Halloween or Samhain (Sah-win) if you prefer its precursor, so time to break out the Pumpkin Porter.
That means turning to Epic Brewing from Utah who have imperialized their version.
I do appreciate the gourd based beers versus the PSL beers because they just are more autumnal and just fuller and this Epic twist on the seasonal is much more the former but it also has a overoasted Starbucks coffee type note going on that makes this porter even earthier which takes it away from the sweet spot that I prefer.
Time to Fall Y’all with Fat Orange Cat and their Pumpkin Patch Kittens.
This is a beer that I alternately really like and then have questions about. It has a goodly haze to it. The pumpkin spice is there as is the promised vanilla which is where it goes a little sideways because that vanilla sorta steals the show but not enough to truly sideline the strong New England hazy. In each sip it tastes good to start, then the vanilla intrudes but then the hazy takes the reins again. Overall successful but with notes.
For the past 10+ years, I have kept a rolling supply of Firestone Walker Anniversary bottles on hand. One each of the last five years. Each year, I would add a new bottling and take the oldest out to drink. But this year, (since things are going to shit) I am tasting all five. Starting with Anniversary XXIV aka Year 2020 and ending with XXVIII aka 2024.
And my craft co-pilot Richard has been drafted in to assist in the drinking. So LFG!
XXIV – With fresh taste buds I noted Burnt caramel. Sugar notes without being sugary. A little thin in mouthfeel. The dominance of Bourbon barrel-aged beers makes for more Bourbon notes. Richard was able to pick out the Tequila barrel notes.
XXV – Another one that is thinner than expected.. More spirit barrel centered as the Brandy barrel-aged beer makes an entrance for sure. Overall not as complex though.
XXVI – This one is finally a bit fuller in the texture. Spice and sugar mix in this one and the Bourbon notes lead the way. This was both Richard and my favorite of the day.
XXVII – This was the first one that seemed monotone with the bourbon flavor. Both of us agreed it was good but needed something else to push it higher in the rankings.
XXVIII – Honestly a bit of a blur at this point. Four over 10% strong beers can do that to you. But this one, though it has PaRyebola and a Milk Stout as part of the blend didn’t rise above 26.
Time to take a splash with Sierra Nevada Brewing and their line of fruit flavored hop waters.
Going from right to left, Lemon and Lime is first up and once the can is opened there is a definite hop pellet aroma. Like opening a bin of hops at the home brew shop. The hoppy flavor of Crystal hops continues for the first few sips before some light lemon notes start to appear in the cracks.
The second duo is Grapefruit and Blood Orange, both very assertive citrus notes. The hop for this one is Mosaic and it comes through less in the aroma but is very grassy and in stark contrast to the grapefruit notes that are much bigger than the lemon or lime in the first Hop Splash.
The last pairing is brought to you by the letter P for Peach and Passion Fruit, the widest flavor difference in the group and then going crazy with Krush hops and boy do the Passion Fruit and Krush work well together. That grassy and tropical note from the hops merges right into the fruit. The Peach is a minor player but does add a nice tertiary flavor.
Overall, if you are looking for more straight hops than go for the Lemon and Lime. If you want the fruit head to the Grapefruit and Blood Orange. But my favorite was the last. It had both in abundance.
When big ABV beers go big, Sierra Nevada Brewing has taken Pils, small. To 8oz thin cans to be absolutely precise.
The aroma upon opening the can is outsized to, well, its size. There is a whiff of grassy hop that hits the nose. Pils pours a pretty bubbly yellow color and that first sip is just great. A bit of carbonation and spice on the tongue. A bit of slipperiness is left on the palate as well. The hops are there holding the line and adding a nice herbal bitterness.
I am sure that it will be a common theme in reviews of this beer but this is a beer you are going to grab more than one can of and not because of the size.
I don’t normally review draft beers because the vibes of a taproom may influence me but since it is Festbier season, I am making an exception for Common Space who had their Oktoberfest beers on draft, such as…
Now the bottom two beers are year rounders but that left five seasonals to partake of. So I started with the Passive Perception Dunekl which was a dark amber color and had mini espresso head. It was thin and sweet with a fruitcake cherry note to it. On a cooler fall day it might have been too slight but in humid SoCal it was fine.
The Rauch, Smoke on the Lager (which many a brewery has used as a beer name) had a nice medium hit of smoke. Almost a Carolina BBQ. That smoke faded though and despite not being a being a big rauch fan, was hoping for more.
I am not a member of the Brewmasters Collective from Firestone Walker but the last time that I visited their store at the Propagator in Venice, they had bottles for sale for the common folk. I grabbed a barrel-aged one but not one you would expect from this California brewery.
First off, I really liked this wine barrel-aged beer. It was flat out different for starters. Not Belgian, nor rustic saison because there were zero yeast esthers present, more a base European beer with a lovely strong Chardonnay note to it. Even the 8.4% abv was well masked. Golden, yes. Strong, no. Tripel, not so much. Leave your expectations at the door and this is really good.
