Category: Beer Reviews

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21 V 26

Each year, I review the Firestone Walker Anniversary blend from five years ago along side this year’s model. Let’s dive into 21 and 26.

2017 – 21st

lovely espresso colored foam. bourbon and sugar aroma. silky and very sweet on the tongue. the bourbon flavors compliment the sweet notes. no alcohol burn to be found on a plus 11% beer. almost an imperial milk stout.

2022 – 26th

not much of a head at all. pours a pitch black color. aroma is surprisingly neutral. cherry is the dominant note here. bright, with no heaviness at all. there is a tiny bit of oak if you search for it. this will be interesting to see what happens with age to this.

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Review – Olor A Kush from Los Barbones Cerveceria

Time to welcome another brewery to Los Angeles via my beer review. Today it is Los Barbones Cerveceria and their Hazy Double IPA, Olor a Kush.

First off, not a fan of the imagery on the label. Especially if it is not indicative of what’s inside the can. Setting that aside, OAK pours a dark orange color with some haze to it. I would say medium to low. It is a little too sweet. Getting a Sweet Tart rush with an odd raspberry note. Has the needed Hazy softness and a nice DIPA level of malt structure but the hops are playing third string here when they should be number 1 or 1b.

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Review – Ommegang All Hallows Treat

If anything screams Halloween, this treat from Ommegang Brewing does…

My first two words for this beer are sweet and sweet. This is a Halloween treat yo’ self for damn sure. The beers pours pitch black and initially has a big chocolate aroma. Flavor wise, it is a mix of milk and dark chocolate and quite roasty. For me, the peanut butter promised on the label us too faint. As it warms, more peanut aroma and taste arrive, but it is not peanut butter.

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Review – Dead Guy Ale from Rogue

Been a long while since I have had a Rogue beer and even longer since a Dead Guy even though that is really the only one available in SoCal.

Here is my review of the Dead Guy variant Dead ‘n’ Dead.

Whiskey barrel chips meets Maibock amped to 9.5% abv. Oak and alcohol on the nose. Kinda hoppy red ale initially before the Germanic influence creeps in. Was not expecting the bubbly nature, thought it would be more placid on the palate. Even so, you can tell this is strong beer. Nothing hidden here. The whiskey chips do their job, adding the spirit without bowling over the beer underneath.

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Review – 2 IPAs from Unsung Brewing

I found two different IPAs from Anaheim’s Unsung Brewing at one of my bottle shop haunts (Talon) and thought it time to review their new hoppiness with a bit of a spooky season theme to the beer names.

Strange Tentacles – lot of hops going on here. Simcoe, Mosaic, Chinook, Amarillo and New Zealand Cascade. New and classic together. pours a dark yellow color. fruity on the nose with a pine accent. medium to low bitterness and light on the palate. summer IPA vibes here.

Alter Ego – into the haze, a light orange one nowhere near murky. super big coconut here which I blame on the Talus hops which are paired with Citra and Strata. a vinous mouthfeel on this one. bit of a milkshake quality as well. falls firmly into weird territory.

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Review – 3 Festbiers

Who will be the Fest Winner? California, the U.S. or Germany?

The Contestants

Smog City Smogtoberfest – dark orange in color. smells hoppier than the other two. simple and crisp. lots of malt flavor here with a bit of a spice kick.

Half Acre Lager Town – pours a dark orange with a malty and orange peel taste. a bit heavy to me with caramel notes. minerality here too as well as a viscousness.

Weihenstephaner Festbier – the lightest of the trio. bubbly in the glass. a bit of malty sweetness with a tiny touch of minerality. very clean and crisp.

The Winner

I think I have to choose the SmogtoberFest. It is the lowest ABV but also the fullest of the three beers.

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Beer Review – 1970’s Lager from Faction Brewing

This plus sized stubbie bottle brings back memories, of the 1970’s when I was a wee lad in Portland and of my Dad getting a case of some near generic beer like Buckhorn in the tiny bottles.

Let’s see what Faction Brewing thinks the 1970’s taste like…

Pours a super clear light yellow color. Nice foamy head too. Initially a sweet taste. Not as crisp as I was expecting. More silky in texture while still a bit bubbly. Getting some lemon and lime notes mostly. There is a tiny touch of bitterness as well.

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Beer Review – No Ends, Only Beginnings from Firestone Walker& Highland Park Brewery

Did you think I would NOT review a bourbon barrel-aged beer this month? I specifically hunted a good choice to start with and who better than Firestone Walker who collaborated with Highland Park Brewery on the excellently named, No Ends, Only Beginnings.

This is a simple and effective beer. No bells. No whistles. There is a lovely sugary, caramel aroma here. Not much in the way of oaky barrel. I could see comparisons to brown sugar or a restrained vanilla cupcake. The booziness is really held in check by the sugar. If tasted blind, I would not say bourbon but I would rate it highly.

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Review – 26th Anniversary Imperial IPA from Stone Brewing

Stone released their first anniversary beer under Sapporo and surprise, it is an Imperial IPA.

This triple dry hopped imperial IPA pours a surprising dark orange color. It is a shade under 10% ABV so it is quite a big beer with a very creamy malty mouthfeel to it. The hops coat the mouth with each sip. To start I get berry notes but that moves to a more lemon lime flavor as it warms up. Stone has a few hop tricks for what some might think is just another big IPA.

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Review – Birthday V Cold IPA from Wayfinder with Firestone Walker

Whichever side of the debate over Cold IPA you are on, you have to admit that Wayfinder Beer is the progenitor of the sub-style and pairing them with hop darlings Firestone Walker is a good call.

But let’s dive into the liquid for Birthday V and see what I think…

#5 pours a bubbly clear dark yellow. First sip is grassy and a bit medicinal to me. The aroma has a bit of the cat pee to it while the second sip shows some floral character to it. The bitterness is heavy and lingers on the palate.

I think a little burst of orange flavor would really ties this up into a neat bow.