Category: Beer Reviews

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Home Brew Review – Imperial Pepper

Now I am not a fan of the “heat”.  I keep trying pepper laced beers and I keep having to hose my burning tongue down.

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But this beer gives me a nice hit of spice mixed with vanilla and chocolate.  Balance!  Thanks God for the brew that mixes well.  There is a really heady capsaicin hit on the nose that worried me but the flavor brings out a milder and milk stoutier taste that I like. Even though no lactose was added

Some people enjoying the “crime” and “punishment” of pepper, but I much prefer the balance and this beer has it.

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Review – Hang Five IPA from Beach City

I have been hearing good things about Beach City beers but I haven’t been able to visit their space. But thanks to the enterprising folks at Sunset Beer,I found two bottles that I could bring home.

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First things first.  Both the beer name and label need work. Compared to other L.A. Breweries, those two aspects pale. Maybe use a more obscure surfing reference and find a cleaner, less busy piece of label art.

On to the beer.  It pours a light orange witha bit of head to it. The aroma is spice with some wood notes.  The taste is fine though I think it is faded a bit. Maybe too old of a bottle. Still has a bit of hop hit to it but seems less rounded.  Even the carbonation seems dulled.

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I will have to reserve full judgement until I have it fresh on tap but this is only so-so.

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Review – Rye Like An Eagle

How do you impress in a saturated barrel-age marketplace?  Well you let Beachwood concoct an Imperial rye brown ale aged in American Rye Whiskey barrels for a year.

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This beer packs the whiskey heat but it is no one trick eagle. There is a load of milk chocolate flavor here that matches the rye whiskey and wood notes.  There is a bit of vanilla cream sweetness here as well. Texture wise it is almost silky but far from syrupy where many a barrel beer ends up.

I don’t know if it is the touch of Udder Love blended in or the age but this is one of the rare 10%+ beers that is drinkable right now.  Three months into the year and I may have found one of the best beers of 2015. It totally reminds me of the Firestone Walker anniversary beers.

Expensive, yes.  But this beer is worth it.

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Homebrew Review – Mustard Brown

After a volcanic opening and a bit of clean-up, I was able to taste a beer that I was a bit wary of. See, I am not a mustard person. Not really a condiment person in general.
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The ale pours a dark brown and the aroma is what I would consider British.  Not much mustard at all except at the end where a touch of spice. This is nice and lively. Great malt taste here.
Simple and flavorful.

Probably my favorite because it doesn’t rely on a big flavor punch.

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Review – King Harbor IPA

IMG_3635 I am so glad that King Harbor is bottling. And also glad the bottle design is cool, compared to Beach City and Bell’s which are also in fiber beer shoppes.

Enough art talk though. What about the IPA?

It pours a dark yellow and the aroma toggles between pineapple, grape and cat pee in equal measure. The taste is solid to above average. I am a big fan of their Swirly beer, so I think they target my darker malt palate but I do enjoy this IPA. It has a nice mixture of flavors without being beat upon the head with hops.  I much prefer this method so den though the finish is a little alcohol burn heavy for me, I still like this offering.  And I hope for more bottles in the future.
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Oregon Collaboration Review # 3 – Deschutes & Widmer

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You can tell right off the bat that this is a whiskey barrel beer that Widmer and Deschutes have put together.  Wood chips and sweet caramel and a touch of the alcohol heat make this less German and more Kentucky. Back in December (and in Oregon) you could sample the barrel aged bitter next to the barrel aged alt, next to the blend of the two.  I wish I had that luxury.  I would love to see which beer stood up stronger against the whiskey.  Because that is the main component that I get from this beer followed by a little bit of bitterness and spice.  You could tell me that it is an imperial brown or an old ale and I wouldn’t be able to talk you off that opinion.

All that said, this is a a smooth and flavorful beer.  I just wished that it was a little less barrel-y.

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Review – Devil’s Tale – Coronado & Devil’s Backbone

Devil’s Backbone has been busy on the West Coast.  Maybe (just maybe) they are planning a future distribution to SoCal but at least we are getting 1/2 of their ideas via Ninkasi and now Coronado Brewing.

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Where the Ninkasi team-up was an offbeat style, the Coronado is a straight up San Diego Pale ale, aka IPA. It pours a medium yellow color. Has a Pilsner look to it. The aroma has a bit of cat pee and mango to it. But that shouldn’t dissuade you because this is a nice light IPA. Dare I say session IPA? Not much of a malt presence here. Kind of light and almost too watery. But the grape accented finish works here and pulls it back from the brink.

If this beer was branded as an IPL, I would give it more favorable marks. Or call it an XPA. It’s nice and could pair well with citrus chicken or whitefish. On its own, it is a little too little for me.

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The Annual Birthday Beer

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Yup, forty-five.  Each birthday sorta demands a special beer and with the Oscars falling on my birthday this year, there is an added layer of that makes the decision harder.

The week before, I hit up Sunset Beer to peruse the choices.  I also peered down my list of cellar items.  And I ended up choosing….La Tormenta from Breakside Brewery which they describe as an…”Experimental sour ale hopped entirely with a unique hop blend including Citra, Mosaic, and Equinox. Tart sour notes combine beautifully with tropical and citrusy hop flavors.”

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And that is an apt description.  The beer pours a light yellow color and the initial aroma is very tropical fruity.  Some potpourri type notes to it.  Some might call it floral or perfume.  Flavor wise, the sourness is there but not overly harsh, mostly tropical fruit and a bit of lemon peel.  Not twinge inducing sour at all.  The beer is very light on the tongue but so flavorful and quite unique which is saying something in this day and age.  (Mine, not in general.)  It is also a bit slick on the palate as well which is weird when you expect a bite of hops or a tart sour edge to it.  This is quite a smooth sour.

 

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4 Whiskies (part 2)

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For part two of my whiskey education, I focused in on Kentucky since I favored the Bulleit last time but to keep things fresh, I added the Red Label of Johnnie Walker and it’s Scottishness to the proceedings.  And this time, instead of club soda, I used regular ol’ Sparkletts water to mellow the affair out.

Here are my rankings for round 2:

Bulleit – Wooden and oaken with a pleasing slide into a smooth finish with a hint of caramel and spice.  The alcohol is there but it is part of the play and not the star.

Woodford Reserve – Wasn’t a fan the first time around but in this company, the balance of the heat and vanilla and smoothness slots it in at second even though it is blander in most respects to the others.

Evan Williams – Lighter upfront with an aroma of coconut.  Quite perfumey.  Some vanilla here too along with cut wood.  Harsh on the palate though.  Falls into the category of love the smell, not a fan of the taste.

Johnnie Walker Red – A light peat aroma greets the nose here.  Much harsher upfront.  Very campfire smokey to me.

Bulleit Bourbon was an even easier winner this time around.  At this point, it will take something different for me to be a fan of the Scottish and Irish style.  Too much smoke that my palate can’t handle.  But there is such a difference when it comes to the Kentucky “style”.  I was so hopeful for the Evan Williams but boy was it sharp on the tongue after a dazzling smell.

 

 

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Not there Yet

Here is the scenario: You walk into a new brewery tap room. The décor is quirky. The people are friendly. The taster tray holding your samplers is adorned with a cool logo.

Then you take the first sip of the first beer. Your friend, who is across the table, has already grimaced a bit. Not a good sign. You don’t hate it but there is something weird going on. You take another sip. Is it not to style? Or was there a brewing mistake?

You try the rest of the sampler and nothing rings your bell. You grasp for a favorite but can’t find one. Only one that is better than the rest. After some discussion, you and your buddy get up. The server sees that your glasses are suspiciously not empty as you slink out.

This has happened to me and it may have to you as well. Instead of being vague, I will name the brewery. It was Escape Craft Brewery in Redlands. My friend and I tried six beers in their warehouse space that is similar to many tap rooms across the Southland. The Vanilla Sunset Lager tasted like Cream Soda. Way too light and heavy on vanilla. The Destination Brown was light but mostly tasted of tar. The Lazy Day IPA was fine but still had a weird off note tucked into it. The Midnight Express English stout was OK if a touch too sweet. Coming off having some stellar MacLeod ales the day before however, really showed how far they had to go. Beer # 5 was a Red Rye IPA that, again, bordered on too sweet and was missing rye to boot. Finally by the end, a beer that I could finish the taster of, the Road Rage 10% Imperial Red Ale.

This was on the heels of some sticky sweet barrel aged beers at Enegren in Moorpark that didn’t strike me or my palate very well. Being the confrontation averse person that I am, in neither instance did I come out and say that I did not enjoy the beers.

Other people in both tap rooms seemed to be quite happy. So who am I to judge? Wouldn’t that make me the “snob” that the craft beer community so loathes?

Not if you walked with the hope that the beer would be good. Not if you want to leave impressed. Not if you want to tell the world about this brewery you found.

The other key is to try the beers again. I am not saying that you need to go out of your way to try them but don’t go out of your way to not try them either. Maybe the brewers need time to work out kinks like a basketball team needs time to gel as a group.

As the brewing scene in Los Angeles grows, there will be a separation between great, good, OK and not there yet. Take this as an my opening salvo in calling out (constructively, not troll-y) those who fall into that last category.