Category: Beer Reviews

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Review – 7-ish from Los Angeles Ale Works

It is still close enough to L.A. Beer Week to sneak in another L.A. beer review so here we go with 7-ish from Los Angeles Ale Works…

This special anniversary IPA pours a dark orange color with yellow highlights at the bottom of the glass. The aroma is a little spicy and little orange. Getting a bit of a dankness and citrus on the first sip. The juiciness does linger if it is not super strong. It also lands a bit heavier on the palate which I kinda expected since I am tasting this not super fresh and some of the early vivaciousness might have worn off.

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Review – Surreal Kush from Roadhouse Brewing and Mother Earth Brewing

Wyoming’s Roadhouse Brewing Co. meets California’s  Mother Earth Brewing Company for a surreal collaboration. 

According to the brewery notes, Surreal Kush is a “regular ole’ New Zealand Hops Fruit Basket” featuring a blend of four New Zealand hops Nelson, Riwaka, Wakatu and an experimental hop grown by NZ Hops LTD with the temporary name of NZH-104 which “brings intense passionfruit and guava aromas and a mineral character reminiscent of Southern Hemisphere Sauvignon Blancs.”

This medium dark orange hued IPA starts with a load of tangerine to my tastebuds. Getting a distinct guava smell. Light overall but not lacking balance. As it warms a bit, more tropical fruit notes start to pop. Almost hits a candy flavor but pulls back from that precipice. I don’t get the tart burst of a passionfruit but it is pretty close to the other descriptors.

You can find this beer at the following locations: Pasadena Erewhon Market, King’s Row, Elbow Room and at Lucky Baldwin’s.

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Review – Unity 2024 Hoppy Pilsner from Boomtown Brewery

Boomtown Brewery tucked between the Arts District and Union Station is the Unity host for 2024. Unity being the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild collaborative beer for L.A. Beer Week.

The graffitied cans holds a hoppy pilsner and I both had it on draft and bought a four-pack as well because it is really good for the incipient L.A. summer.

The celebratory beer pours a straw color with light fruity hops being the predominant taste. I get both grape and orange. This almost tastes pale ale to me but the carbonation and the heft of the beer does keep it tethered to the lighter side of the ledger.

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Review – Wheater Melon from Los Angeles Ale Works

Even though one can buy watermelon practically all year round, it still remains, stubbornly, a summertime fruit to me and with summer just a few June Gloom days away, it was time to taste Wheater Melon from Los Angeles Ale Works.

Right off the bat, back in childhood with a watermelon Jolly Rancher. The beer is light orange in color. That candy blast comes in strong and then leaves just as strongly, leaving a watery and light finish. Was hoping for a bit of wheat backbone here. Would be quite enjoyable on a hot day by the pool but I fear it would clash or be drowned out by most summer BBQ foods.

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Review – Trailing West – Firestone Walker Invitational Collaboration

This year the special Firestone Walker Invitational collaboration beer partner is Half Acre Beer. And the beer is Trailing West Pilsner.

First off, I am so glad any time a summer beer festival chooses a lighter beer style for their marquee beer. It is just smart. That being said, this is the first year of the FWIBF beers that I have been really m’eh on.

Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe past beers have set a high bar. Either way this beer is not a favorite of mine. Firstly, it is labeled as a pilsner but it seems more a lager to me so right from the jump, I am on the back foot. It is also got a weird mix of corn and minerality that doesn’t mesh for me. If they called it a midwest lager, I would have rated it higher. But if pilsner was the target, they missed.

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Review – Growls Like a Tiger DIPA from Stone Brewing

Hopefully, I will never know how a tiger growls unless it is Hobbes but the beer version from Stone Brewing is next on the review docket, described as a “Double IPA that features Citra and Talus hops which pounce on your palate with abundant sweet orange and stone fruit notes.”

Growls pours a dark orange. This is sorta heavy. The first third swipes at your palate, then there is a bit of grape and candied orange in the second part and then you can feel the ABV in your throat on the way down. The heavy portions are carried by grassy / woodsy notes. A bit different from past Stone big DIPAs.

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Review – Two from ISM Brewing

One of the breweries that I am hyped about is ISM Brewing in Long Beach. I grabbed a couple in cans recently and it is review time.

Coastal Curves is the hopped up West Coast Pilsner and it pours a bright and bubbly yellow. Aroma is definitely hoppy. Getting a bit of Simcoe, I think. There is a bit of berry here. also a peppery note as well. Not super crisp but there is a minerality there that keeps this from veering into pale ale territory.

Sonic Substance a collaboration with Creature Comforts and it too pours a bubbly, vibrant yellow color. Getting a bit of a soft pine near a citrus grove feeling from this one. Not dank but not a fruit bomb either. Tastes heavier than the 6.66% listed ABV.

If forced to choose, I would go toward the pilsner. But it is a close race.

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Beer Review – Lagerville by Figueroa Mountain with Wild Fields Brewhouse and West Coast Brewing

This year for Lagerville, Figueroa Mountain traveled a bit of distance to Atascadero and Wild Fields to grab one collaborative partner and then a much bigger distance to Japan to get West Coast Brewing for a Matcha Rice lager.

It pours yellow with a tinge of green (unless that was me reading into it). There is an orange aroma coming off this at first and then in the first sip, the matcha tea comes through the citrus. This is very light and I am getting a bit of tea bitterness at the end.

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Review – Luponic Distortion 2024 from Firestone Walker

Seems like forever ago when Firestone Walker started their quarterly hop adventure, Luponic Distortion. I believe I collected them all and even reviewed quite a few as well.

LD was a rotating IPA with each version utilizing different hops on the same base beer. Now, it is back as part of a variety pack in cans or bottles.

The new blue canned Distortion is pretty close to pale ale strength and pours an orange-y / yellow color. Aroma is quite strong. I set the glass down and could smell it from over a foot away. I get a bit of sweet tart followed by a bready malt note in equal measure. Berry fruit in particular on the second sip and a bit of a rough hop bite which I like. But still quite light on the palate and the malt keeps this from tasting watery which is an issue I have encountered a bit lately.

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Review – Scottish Golden Aged in Single Malt Whiskey Casks from Innis & Gunn

One of four barrel-aged expressions of a Scottish Ale, the Single Malt Whiskey matured version might not have the spirit geek cred of Caribbean Rum or Islay casks, but the issue is how does the base Innis & Gunn beer react with each cask.

Though I am afraid of the combination of clear bottle and non-refrigerated bottles, I picked up the lone bottle to try and the aroma is nice and Scotch-y but then the flavor turns a little too sweet. Almost cola sweet but that aroma keeps pulling the affair back to center. I like the subtle smoke note here as well. I wonder how this tastes fresh, would it have less caramel?