Category: Beer Reviews

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Featured Review – Good Juju from Left Hand

We have reached the JuJu portion of Left Hand Brewing review month.
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Here is what the brewery has to say: “A little Juju voodoo – fresh ginger kisses the lithe malty body, copulating with the hop in this pale ale ancestor.”

Well, I agree with the kiss of ginger. This garnet hued beer has a nice touch in the nose and the taste is there too with the trademark bit of heat and spice to it.  Then the beer plunges from view.  There is a little tiny bit of toast flavor and then it’s just sort of watery. I have to disagree with the pale ale and malty body idea. Granted the ginger is left to be the star but it is a one person show to me.

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Featured Review – 400 Pound Monkey from Left Hand

Big eyes adorn the label of 400 Pound Monkey English-Style IPA from Left Hand Brewing.  Except for the monkey in the center who looks rather serene.
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I find it funny that we Anericans took IPA and spun a whole cottage industry out of it, to the point where we find ourselves back at the source.

This beer certainly tilts the equation back towards an even split of malt and hop. And the earthy hops also add to the grain-centricity. The bitterness is there at the front.  Part of a dual front with the malt. And this beer still has zip to it as well. Almost a flavor memory of honey on toast here.

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Review – Totally Radler from H.U.B.

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Totally Radler, as can be seen from the label on the can, is a 50/50 mix of Hopworks Urban Brewery’s Organic HUB Lager and organic lemon soda. And it clocks in at around 2.6% ABV.  I had a Traveler Shandy the previous day to prepare myself.  Previous soda (lemonade) beer concoctions had come off as too sweet or too heavily weighted to the soda side and I wanted to see how another example tasted.

That beer was fine. Though it was a little too candied peel strong for me which fought against the sweetness.  Totally Radler on the other hand was so much less sugary that at first I was taken aback.  It had the same lemon peel / lemon verbena bite to it but then it veered directly into unsweetened lemonade territory.  I would call it close to Key Lime pie as well.  To me the underlying lager is pretty much masked by that lemon hit.

Totally Radler tastes like an Italian soda.  Tart fruit and carbonated bubbles. I liked it but to me it really isn’t beer.  It is soda with it’s beer hidden from view

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Featured Review – Introvert Session IPA from Left Hand Brewing

The Session IPA craze shows no sign of abating but at least the offering from Left Hand Brewing has a catchy name. Or at least catchy for an introvert like me.

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Introvert Session IPA has a little bit of everything, hop wise. Pine notes mostly, followed by a bit of citrus and fruit. The body is nice and light and bears up the load of bitterness well but this could be easily labeled as a pale ale in my book.

My hallmark of the style is Ponto and/or Easy Jack. Lighter, fruitier options that are quite differentiated from their bigger brethren. Having Introvert before 400 Pound Monkey for the first time might skew me a bit but this seems too big a start.

That being said, the overall taste is great if you are looking for a bold Cascade-y type beer.

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Review – IPC from 101 Cider House

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My jury is still out on hopped ciders.  I haven’t (yet) run across one that has melded the right hop to the right apple.  But as with Black IPA’s, I am still trying to find the perfect one.

The latest comes from 101 Cider House here in Los Angeles.

Here is the website description of their IPC, “A blend of american cider apples, and fragrant west coast quince. This cider is the product of a wild fermentation, without the addition of sulfites or other preservative methods. After several months of natural malolactic activity, this dry cider is then twice hopped. The primary hopping (a blend of Amarillo, Cascade, Nelson, and Simcoe hops) adds a rich earthy texture, followed by a secondary hopping of 100% Citra hops. Tart, fragrant, naturally sparkling, and explosive with citrus notes.”

The aroma is really vegetal.  A little too off-putting for my nose. There is a sourness vying for attention with the grassy notes of the hops or maybe that is the Nelson contributing too much wine/grape.  The cider pours a very, very light yellow.  Nearer to hazy white.  The taste is tart but not really bitter to my hop addled palate. Almost too sparkly too.  Bit of an assault on the tongue.  The apple is too dull and the hops just aren’t pulling this together.  Thumbs down on the IPC but I will try the regular ciders in their rotation.

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Featured Review – Polestar Pilsner from Left Hand

I had to wait for the chilling effects of the right out of the ‘fridge Polestar Pilsner.  But when I did, the bright yellow beer was a sight to behold.

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Right off the bat, this beer is primarily mineral driven there are undertones of citrus and hops but they are well underneath that mineral taste. This Colorado Pilsner is crisp but doesn’t fade away quietly. The taste lingers on the tongue. Right at the back you get some grain tastes clocking in.

This is a solid pils and a great start to the Left Hand Brewing line -up.

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Nitro or Not

So, when Left Hand Brewing came to L.A., I basically bought one of everything.  Intrigued by all the possibilities, was I. One of which is the topic for today.

Milk Stout.  Nitro or regular?

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I have only ever had the Nitro, so to be able to taste test the two was great.  Here are the results

Milk Stout – the label is certainly better with the cow and left hands and Van Gogh-ish font and swirls. Much less of a head than the nitro, which is to be expected but the difference is still stark. This beer is super chocolately to me. Almost pudding like with that level of sweetness. Some burnt edges to it as well.

Nitro Milk Stout – the mouthfeel is so different. Really soft and velvety.  The sweetness is cut a bit so there is less of a milk chocolate taste to it. More whipped cream with chocolate instead. Little more coffee bitterness coming through here as well. And much lighter with a touch of spice that lingers at the end.

It is hard to choose a winner. Both have positives in different arenas but I would settle on the Nitro due to the mouthfeel. It is just more unique and plays up the lactose in the beer.

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Featured Review – Brew Free or Die IPA from 21st Amendment

Our final beer from 21st Amendment, their IPA Rushmore, Brew Free or Die!

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This pours out of the can pretty piney smelling.  Very enticing to start.  The orange color and cool lacing are also positives.  And the taste follows suit for a bit.  But then the flavors start to wear on the tongue.  There is some tropical in the mix but I get a lot of woody notes up front that is barrel-esque but finishes with more of a sawdusty taste.  It is bitter but not overtly so but the hops do start to make their presence felt which is what causes the weariness.

Maybe I appreciate the lighter 21a beers.

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Review – Unity 2015

I first sipped this beer near the end of the Kick-Off festival but after so many beers on the day, it was hard to get a true look at it. So, once bottles started showing up around town, I grabbed a few to re-test.

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It is a very simple beer. The initial sip has a spark of tart and that tartness is there the rest of the way but not puckeringly so. The aroma would lead you to think it is more sour than it is. There is a good amount of farmhouse yeast aroma as you swirl the beer in the glass. There is some notes of grapefruit and a bit of the sweet tart intermingled.

I have had various saisons from Smog City with the kumquat being excellent and the plum, not so much. I would like to see fruited variations on this beer in the future. It is good with a nice low ABV but it is missing a little something like a spice or fruit note to add another layer to the beer.

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Review – Session Gap (in bottles)

All Starburst rants aside, I was intrigued to see that MacLeod’s was bottling. Brewer Andy Black is protective of his beer and rightfully so because it really shines when presented right.  That right being on cask at the right temperature.

But the attractive label lured me in and now it is time to see how the bottled version compares.
IMG_4319And there is quite a difference.  There is zero lacing on this beer.  Absolutely none.  Plus it is many shades nuttier than what I remember. There is a nice hit of bitterness here that seems stronger than on cask as well.  Sort of a tea/lemonade mix going on.  Normally I would say this was a thin beer but because MacLeod Ales generally are on the less strident side, this isn’t much different to me.

I would hazard a guess that the darker, maltier beers like Jackie Tar would fare better with the bottle treatment.