Category: Beer Reviews

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Review – Chico King from 3 Floyds & Sierra Nevada

As threatened at the start of the month, I will be reviewing ALL 13 of the special Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaborations in August.  I had my non-drinking wife randomly select the order and we start here with 3 Floyds and the Chico King.

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“Chico King is a mash-up of our mutual passion for hoppy pale ales and combines a uniquely robust malt body with intense citrusy and fruity new school hop varietals.”

The King pours a dark but still luminous orange color with quite a bit of foam and lacing to it.  The aroma is split between a toasty malt note and grapefruit pith with the toast coming out more and more as you smell it.

The taste is bright and carbonated.  Lot of bubbles rising in the glass as you watch it.  Bitterness sticks everywhere and, for me, primarily on the front of the tongue.  I keep coming back to toast but this is almost like having good bread with a tart marmalade on it.  The peel note isn’t there but this has that type of flavor mix going on.  The beer tastes heavier than the 6.5% noted on the label.

I have not had a pale quite like this though I would guess you could call this an IPA without anyone batting an eye.  Good start to my randomized journey through Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp.

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Review – Doppel Dinkel Bock from Deschutes

For some reason, I am enamored of the random releases and random styles of the Conflux series of collaborations from Deschutes.  # 2, a white IPA brewed with Boulevard came out before # 1 which was still being aged with Hair of the Dog.  Fast forward and now # 3 has slowly come out and it is a bock with Distelhauser which is on the Tauber River in Germany.

That being said.  How does DoppDink taste?  (OK, that is a horrible short name).  This is like a mixture of pie and an amped up hefeweizen.  It pours an almost reddish color and the nose has a bit of sawdust to it.  Very pleasant woody-ness with a bit of pepper.  But then you get a hit of clove mixed with bubblegum and a small dose of banana.  But it has a bigger malt profile and sticks around.  Very hearty this drink is.

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It is such a change of pace from the lighter beers of summer and will probably leave Session IPA fans in the dust.  As it warms up in the glass, notes of cola and caramel start to expand and add to the flavor profile.  I could easily picture this beer with a beef stew or maybe a non-BBQ presentation of pork.  This is a big beer but also one with delicate flavors that you don’t want to stun with a spicy meal.

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Review – Mexican Logger from Ska Brewing

Hot days in L.A. will be the norm and I am glad that I will have a supply of Mexican Logger from Ska Brewing to turn to in the heat.

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This Colorado brewed lager pours a very light yellow.  It is neither bubbly (on the tongue, certainly is in the picture) or creamy but in the middle of that spectrum.  It is very flavorful.  I get grapefruit pith, floral accents and a nice amount of cereal grain as well.  This is an impressive set of flavors for such a light beer and puts the Saaz hop right in the spotlight.  It certainly made me wish it was in a 16oz can instead of the 12.  And it once again disproves the lager is boring myth

The only downside being the design, which is certainly striking but not the type of artwork that I prefer on a can.  It does make me wonder if there is a differently hopped version out there.

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Review – Decadent Imperial IPA from Ska Brewing

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Every once in while in craft beer world, you take a sip of a beer and it is so unexpected that you pause before the next sip.  And that happened with Decadent from Ska Brewing.  It wasn’t due to the creepy Hop Chompin’ skeleton in hipster attire.  Or to the wax around the neck and cap.  This was a grape bomb while still holding on to the taste profile of an Imperial IPA.  There is a lovely viscosity to this beer as well. The website claims citrus notes that I do not get at all but the caramel malt is surely there.  It tastes the full 10% of alcohol and it has the bitter punch to it but there is a serious amount of concord grape sweetness here that really adds an unusual layer to a beer style that can sometimes (let’s face it) get a little boring.

Imperial IPA’s are big but they lack the complexity (usually) of a barley wine and they usually don’t have the pop of a regular IPA.  But Decadent is totally different. With Session IPA’s hogging the spotlight currently, it is nice to have a grown up big IPA that isn’t afraid to showcase a big fruit taste as well.

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Review – Oneida Session IPA from Modern Times

Even translated to bottles, the design of Modern Times is still striking. And despite the Session IPA moniker or hoppy XPA, as I call them, this was a beer high on my want list.

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For two reasons: I wanted to know how the brewery was growing. Could the quality stay high? Secondly, I was intrigued by two of the hops being showcased. Hallertauer Blanc and Experimental 05256.

And this beer delivers. Very similar to Easy Jack from Firestone Walker but with a drier white wine finish to it. There is a bit of unripe melon in the mix as well. The bitterness really lingers but not in an overbearing way. As it warms, a little bit of astringent lemon.

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I still think that Fortunate Islands is my favorite but this is up there. When next I am in San Diego, I will have to explore the beer list at their Fermentorium.

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Review – FOCO from New Belgium & Odells

Collaboration review day continues with this New Belgium branded release with Odell Brewing. Their partner in FOrt COllins brewing crime.

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The Prairie Dog labeled beer pours a darker shade of orange. And is pretty hoppy for a purportedly pale ale. The aroma is a strong medicinal with some woody notes to it. The taste is also strong but not in the muddled way that the Stone collaboration was.

There is quite a bit if bitterness here. Citra seems more background to this Centennial bomb which I would prefer a more even mix of for maximum efficiency. But the lighter hand and pale ale category does allow the hops to shine more.

And it may be one of the only ways to get even a partial Odell’s fix in Los Angeles.

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Review – Unapologetic IPA

One of my favorite breweries, Beachwood has joined the growing list of Stone collaborators to create an Unapologetic IPA along with third partner, Heretic Brewing.

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This IPA that was kindly provided to me by Stone pours a bright and cheerful orange. The first taste that comes through is Concord grape. Grape Ne-Hi to be exact. Then a heavy bitterness hangs like a shroud.

The aroma is great on this one. Zippy and filled with grape notes. But that promising start is undone by the heaviness. There is just an astringency that makes this below average. And then the cat pee notes kick in a little too harshly as well. And since these are such new hops.  Belma?  Yakima #’s without catchy names?  I don’t really know what is causing the high points or the low.

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This just verifies that the Stone IPA palate is not mine. That is no knock on Stone. Their Hophead fans are legion, so they are playing to their customer base for sure. And I know they have a session IPA out there that is more in line with my delicate sensibilities but I would have liked to see less hops here. Toned down the ABV a skosh as well.

All apologies but this IPA is not for me.

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Review – The Kimmie, The Yink and the Holy Gose from AVBC

I am a fan of the Gose style of beer. Unfortunately, American versions tend to include many additions of fruit and/or spices that stray from the original version.

But when I saw a canned version from Anderson Valley, I raised my hopes again that I might find a reliable source of Gose for the summer.

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And I was not disappointed. The beers pours a dark orange color with a citrusy aroma. There is another smell in the background that I can’t put my finger on as well. The taste follows with an orange hard candy taste that has a touch of sour to it. This is a very crisp and refreshing beer. And the salt is like a light undercurrent with each sip.

Very similar to a Berliner Weisse but that salt adds just a little kick to the proceedings. I can see myself trying this a few more times during a hot LA summer.

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Highland Park Brewery

Others have beat me to reviewing the beers from Highland Park Brewery that have trickled out so far, but I will add my two cents here on my reaction to their beers……

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Refresh – They call it a house beer. No style mentioned. A basic lightly hopped beer with a little vegetal bitterness. Light yellow green colorin the darkness of the Hermosillo. Will be a base for other beers like…..

Lapsang – Smokey tea comes out stronger as you sip. Quite crisp. Not overpowering on the smoke, you can taste the tea underneath.

Vacation – Big grapefruit taste here mixed with Belgian notes. A base beer that HPB will use to create variations like….

Staycation. Sage on the nose and a strong taste of grapefruit juice. Seems a bit over the top. Dialing back the sage and juice would balance this beer.

Yowza Sour – Tart opening to this sour. I get a leathery cherry set of notes. A bit of spice lingers in the background but this is a pucker inducing beer.

Arroyo Sour – Pie cherry from beginning to end. Not grab you and make you flinch tart but good. There is a brief wheat ending which is surprising and good.

Hello LA. – Solid IPA. Good bitterness. Some citrus. Floral notes. This is a tough category to get into at this stage of the game. Not a bad hop bomb but I would have liked to seen something as exotic as their other beers.

Double dry hopped Hello LA. – Drying cotton mouth sensation at the back of this IPA. Bitterness is solid and the DDH had a better initial taste but overall, I would go with the regular.

Wake-Up. Great aroma almost an iced coffee. Really good. This beer really showcases the coffee.

Wake-Up at Michaels – I was really unsure how this would work but it does. The lavender isn’t at potpourri levels so the aroma is awesome. But the coffee comes through in the flavor.

Coco Noche – Too sweet coconut explosion. Coconut is hard to add to beer without getting sticky sweet.

Koko B. Ware – Scared to try since I have had a couple spice bombs lately. This one is fine though for fans of heat.

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