Category: Beer Reviews

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Featured Review – Sting from Nectar Creek Mead

I have mini-dabbled in mead in the past year so when I got the opportunity to taste a Ginger Mead from Nectar Creek Meadery, I jumped at the chance.

Sting is from their core line-up and is described as, “Fresh ginger and pure Oregon honey combine for a sting of warmth and a tease of sweetness in this refreshing session mead.”

The big flavor here is vanilla. Like pastry shop baking vanilla. Ginger is kinda there. But this slightly bubbly yellow hued mead is big time vanilla. To me less sting and more pillowy. The honey has won this battle royale with the ginger convincingly.

Take away the ginger root on the label. Take away the name. And this is delicious. The pastry heads in attendance would love this. I quite enjoyed drinking it myself and would not hesitate to buy another mead from Nectar Creek. That is saying something because I look at media samples much harsher.

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Review – RnD #4 from Russian River

Time to check in with Research & Development at Russian River Brewing…

#4 pours a really light yellow but has a huge floral and grape aroma that fills the glass. Along with the Concord grape aroma, I also get a touch of cattiness as well. There is a sharp biting hop hit at first that leads to the woody and fruity mashup. It tastes stronger than the color and 7% ABV would leas you to think.

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Review – Two from Enegren Brewing

Let’s double up on Germanic beer with two from sorta/kinda local, Enegren Brewing.

American Reinheitsgebot 2022 Dark Lager – Brewed in collaboration with the much loved Moonlight Brewing Co. (which recently got a new part owner in Patrick Rue of Erosion Wines) this lager is rich and luxurious with a tiny touch of chocolate. Leaves pretty espresso rings of lacing on the glass. There is a slight bitterness here underneath but overall this is a simple dark lager, no fussiness at all.

Maibock – need to get this review in before June starts. This spring lager pours a lovely clear orange color. Sweet malt aroma on the nose. Honey is the dominant note here, Silky smooth texture. The ABV strength is there. Strangely, this reminds me of Bell’s Double Two Hearted a bit minus the hop kick.

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Review – (2) from Shades Brewing

I got three beers from a Salt Lake City brewery that I had never heard of from a dear friend who traveled their recently. So I randomly picked two Shades Brewing beers in their colorful cans to review.

Plum Berliner Weisse – pours a multi-hued purple, red and peach color. Very pretty, as is the shades of purple label. The plum taste trumpets in well. Not one of these where’s the fruit? beers. Nice tartness level. And nice spritzy carbonation as well.

Passion Fruit Sour – another sour bursting with actual fruit. This has the hallmark funky meets tropical aroma and flavor of a passion fruit. Sour level is low but it just tastes fantastic. Liquid fruit from a Farmer’s Market.

Both sours were just great. I cannot stress enough how much of the fruit came through. Real fruit not the fakey candy kind. If you find yourself in Salt Lake grab these beers.

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Featured Reviews – Two from Abnormal Beer Co.

It was great to see that my local Trader Joe’s had a pair of beers from Abnormal Beer Co. amongst their “orphan” singles shelf so I quickly grabbed them because, I do not think that I have had anything from them before.

Hazy Dreams – pours not hazy but pretty two-toned orange color, all the same. Definitely getting a tropical and citrus nose from this dream. Flavor wise, there is a burst of wheat at the end of this that I like as a secondary flavor behind the hops. A bit of alcohol burn peers through which lowers the score in my book.

Boss Pour – IPA labeled as a San Diego IPA. Trying to cast my mind back to the early SD days as I drink this. Has a dark yellow merging into orange color. Not super spiky in bitterness. Getting candied orange peel. A bit of pine pokes through as well. Hits the old school notes.

A criteria for me when tasting a brewery for me is, would I visit to taste on draft. Have I been intrigued enough. Boss Pour is a yes and Hazy Dreams a maybe.

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Double Barrel Reviews – Gold Rider and Daisy’s Favorite from Firestone Walker

Firestone Walker has been reading my mind again as they have done more gin barrel-aged beers and have dabbled in using bitters barrels too.

Let’s start with the bigger ABV of the two, which surprised me, the Daisy…

Imperial Blonde is sort of like imperial pilsner to me, I appreciate the level up game but it also defeats the purpose of a blonde ale. Daisy’s Favorite pours a dark orange color and their is a mingling of spices on the nose. A soft but sturdy botanical flavor leads to a bit of alcohol burn at the end. The spices pop as it warms and the ABV doesn’t show up as strong. I would have maybe liked a little more juniper beer or coriander to add an extra dimension.

Gold Rider has been the beer talked about a bit more. Mentioning Cognac will do that. This has a big barrel aroma. Very French mixture of whiskey and grape. Lighter mouthfeel to this one, the aroma leads you to expect one thing and then you sip and it is different. I am missing the lemon aspect to this though, unless that is what is contributing to the lightness.

To choose a winner: I would pick the Daisy. It had a simpler mission and hit the mark, the orange bitters in the Rider emerged well but it needed more Cognac and lemon.

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Review – Two from Aslan Brewing Co.

Today I tackle two different styles from Aslan Brewing in Washington State.

Frauenbier – This schwarzbier pours with a lovely tan foam. I am catching a bit of light rauch to it. A pretty strong near coffee bitterness. There is an additional caramel layer to this as well.

Cosmic Dreams – pours a truly hazy orangey / near brown. Tropical fruit notes. A bit of mango and pineapple. But also quite earthy as well. Bitter at the back end to boot.

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Double Double Review Day – Paraboloid and Royal Street from Firestone Walker

Our next double are big barrel-aged beers from Firestone Walker that I have posted about earlier…

Royal Street – I often wonder when blenders think too many barrels has been achieved. Cognac, Rye, Bitters AND Absinthe. That is a serious flavor overload. Box reading aside, how does RS taste? It is quite bubbly. Getting cola and licorice in equal measure. Lemon acidity cuts through as a minor creek. As it warms, I am getting a major amount of honey. If I was handed this as a cocktail, I would be fooled for a bit.

Paraboloid – The newest Parabola variant. Has that Firestone Walker bourbon smell. After enough vintages, you can sense their signature barrel style. This is chocolate and cherry to me. Has a See’s Candy hit to it. More bubbly than expected and less Bourbon than expected but it is a dreamy beer to me.

Royal was an experiment that didn’t fire on all cylinders but the Parabola, damn, that is good stuff.

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Double Double Review Day – Lizard’s Mouth and Hiker’s High from Figueroa Mountain

One day, four beers. Starting with the hoppy side of Figueroa Mountain and their hazy and double….

Hiker’s High – Pours a fairly hazy yellow/orange color. It has that soft but palate dusted with hops mouthfeel that I associate with the hazy style. Mostly pine and and earthiness to the flavor. The bitterness is pretty rugged overall and the beer finishes on the stronger side to me.

Lizard’s Mouth – Third time having this imperial IPA, and imperial it is. Aroma wise, this is pretty muted but this is a strong beer once you start sipping. Slick mouthfeel, a bit of a candy taste to it and with a bitterness that slopes of dramatically.

These are both old school IPA to me. HH is that first gen hazy and LM is that San Diego palate wrecker hit.