Category: Beer Reviews

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Invasive Species – 4 Beer Review


I prefer to think of the beer name as a derogative toward a certain coming sorta-president (check it Merriam-Webster) but this 4-pack is a smack to a certain brewery that landed in Long Beach in 2016 with all sorts of Sculpins.

Here are my capsule reviews of the four IPA’s

“Plain”
Getting grapefruit pith here. Dark yellow, orange in color. Coats the tongue. Getting done grain in the back too. Rye spice notes here too. At 7.1% this is a strong and not necessarily neutral base for the other beers to follow.

Grapefruit
Lots of ruby red in the aroma. I was worried that the original was too grapefruity to differentiate much but this does that.  Little bit more sawdust type grain here. Not as much pith here but more of the juice bitterness.

Mango
Initial thought is sweeter but that is incorrect. Aroma is fresh cut mango.  Seems lighter than the two previous beers. The fruit is forward until the last few sips when a hearty bitterness takes charge.

Habanero
Wow. This is spicy. I can feel my lips tingling from the spice which lingers on and awaits food to suck up the heat. This beer subdues the hops for habanero too much but on its own is a fine spice beer.

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Garage Brewing – 2 Beer Review

I am always on the look-out for new local-ish breweries and when I saw cans from the new Garage Brewing Co. on shelves, I picked up a pair to review. We start with their entrant to the over crowded IPA category.

Inline
Nothing particularly wrong here. Earthy hops. Little rye type spice action. Overall just not much there here. Pours a clear light orange. Almost close to DIPA strength. Packaging evokes metal and not garage to me. The can says citrus but that is not coming through.

Marshmallow Milk Stout
Pours a jet black color. This really captures marshmallow. It is quite sweet but that is what marshmallow is. Lighter in alcohol than the IPA. Little bit of chocolate here. Sweetness is the star of this show. The lactose packs a punch.

So, one out of two, which isn’t bad for a growing brewery. Especially when you consider that a great IPA is a one in a million shot and most land squarely in the middle. From these two cans, I certainly would not hesitate to try the third beer.

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Holiday Ale Review – Christmas Ale from Anchor


The 2016 recipe seems more spice forward than the past couple of years. I am catching more rye notes as well as more of the spruce/tree aroma and bite. I’m tasting a bit of clove as well. The malt seems to be more of a burnt roast. Overall, more hearty this year.

Of course part of the allure of the beer is the tree on the label, discussed as much, if not more than the recipe. Here is the 411 on the 2016 label: “Our tree for 2016 is the “1,000 Mile Tree” or the lone pine found during westbound construction of the transcontinental railroad. Discovered in 1869, it was a lone pine amidst a vast and desolate landscape. The tree on this year’s label was hand-drawn by Bay Area artist James Stitt, who has been creating Anchor’s Christmas Ale labels since 1975. His charming illustration of the 1,000 Mile Tree includes a person at the top of the tree with a mug of beer, honoring an old legend that railway passengers sometimes attempted to climb the tree.”

You can see all 42 of the Christmas “trees” in the collection right HERE.

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Thanksgiving Beer Review – Caute from Cellador

Our final review of beers with an eye towards pairing with the traditional Thanksgiving meal comes to us from L.A. newcomer Cellador Ales. Caute is aged in red wine barrels and dry hopped with Saaz hops.
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Caute pours a hazy light orange color. Quite a bit of accumulated acidity here. You don’t notice it at first but as yout take each additional sip it shows up. Red wine on the nose but it devolves into a weird almost but not quite to butter taste. Some citrus and tannins in the background. Not really digging it.

But would it work with turkey and stuffing? It just might. It is potent enough and the tannins are far enough in the background to make this work especially if cranberry sauce were around. This could be one of those beers that is better with food around it.

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Featured Thanksgiving Review – Westfalia & Park from Fort Point

Let’s change it up for options for beer drinking at the Turkey table this year…..Let’s take a taste of two new to L.A. canned beers from Fort Point Brewing of San Francisco.

Which would work better? Westfalia (Nuremberg Red Ale) or Park (a hoppy wheat)?
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Park – pours a really light yellow. Hint of pear in the aroma. Bit more bitter than expected. Heartier too. I am getting some rye notes here.

Westfalia – pours a dark brown with red tint. Has a brown Porter aroma but the taste has a cherry taste to it. Subtle spice with a hint of tobacco.

This was a tough one. At first, I thought that the simplicity of the Park would make it the obvious choice. It being lighter, made me lean towards it to match against the turkey. But the strength of the hops made me take another look at the Westfalia and I have come around to choose that one because it has more pieces to it and can work across the spectrum. I think it might work in tandem with the cranberry quite well. Though I admit it might be too polarizing for some.

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with Thanksgiving review # 1

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Brouwerij West
This is no baby tripel. 9% big ABV’s here. I am getting a lot of citrus and spice. Almost to orange pekoe tea status minus the tannin. The taste sticks to the tongue for awhile. Image wise, the beer pours a hazy orange color especially with the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Extra spice notes in a Hefeweizen sort of way are here too.

When it comes to the Thanksgiving feast this Tripel will add that orange note to the turkey and stuffing quite nicely and it also should play off the cranberry as well. Might be less effective with gravy or heavier or sweeter foods. Might be less effective with relatives who vote Trump as well.

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Review – Duck and Cover DDIPA from Angel City

The latest in the Warehouse Collection made it to my door, Duck and Cover Double Double IPA from Angel City.
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This is certainly a double double. Probably at the intersection of barleywine and imperial IPA. Right at the top of the sip is a tiny hint of dark citrus. Blood orange. Then the alcohol and the earthy/herbal bitterness takes over with a hint of caramel at the back. A cheek warmer for sure and when you wake up the next morning you will remember that the beer is 12.1%. This is a beer to take in smaller amounts than a 22oz bottle.

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Featured Canned Beer Review – Hop A Feel Pink IPA from Eagle Rock

Yes, it is a Pink IPA. And the color comes from beets! Which is literally the only way I can eat that loathsome vegetable.

With each 4-pack purchased, Eagle Rock Brewery sent $2.00 to the Keep A Breast charity.
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Now onto the review, wow that is a pink head of foam on this beer and then you hold the glass up to your nose and the fresh aromas bounce around but it is hops with a citrus hint and not what we expect upon seeing a really red beer.

Hop-A-Feel is labeled a Session IPA but this is no weak sibling. No watery-ness this is full bodied and more on the border of Pale and IPA. And damn if it isn’t the prettiest beer that I have had in a long while.

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Review – Shackmeister Ale from Brooklyn Brewery

My adopted residence of Glendale recently opened up a Shake Shack. The 2nd in Los Angeles and with it comes their house beer brewed by Brooklyn Brewery.
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This is the only beer from the borough that you can get west of Las Vegas. Here is the review of Shackmeister Ale (along with commentary on the burgers).

I have now had the special bacon burger and the regular ShackBurger. Both of which are really flavorful though the cheese sauce on the special was no great shakes. They are small for the price and won’t give In-n-Out a run for speed + flavor. The surprise was the really good chicken sandwich. Nice kick of spice and really tasty. Shakes and ice cream will wait for when the heat and crowds die down.
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Onto the Shackmeister Ale courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery. It is a rather plain ale. For a bit, I thought I may have mistakenly got the Oktoberfest that was also on draft. There is a tiny bit of hops but this is much ,ore a light malt beer. More Helles/Blonde than Pale Ale. Fits well with the burger but doesn’t really add much to it. But the $5.69 price makes it a better deal than the food.

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Featured Canned Beer Review – Wet Hop from Fremont Brewing

Fremont Brewing has been absent from my tasting for a long, long while but thanks to the delivery site Tavour, I got to sample a couple fresh hop ales from their Field to Ferment series.
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Strong with the cat pee this one is. Big aroma of hearty Simcoe in this fresh hop beer. This is really bright and hop filled. Pretty much what you would expect from a fresh beer. This has a solid bite to it that really hits the palate. I think it beats out the Centennial version which is has a little less zest to it.

I am still a little confused as to why they have a website to distinguish which hop varietal you have when they could put that info on a label and make it easier for the consumer. Instead they have a number on the cans and colored coded bottle caps on the bombers which you then figure out yourself.

That aside, I am glad that I got to try this hoppy beer from Seattle.