Category: Beer Reviews

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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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MacLeod Ales – Part the 2nd

I had visited the newest LA brewery (love typing that) a couple weeks back, I only got to sample one beer, so I headed back with beer buddy Rich to see what the other beers were like.

Here is what I found during Round 2 at MacLeod’s Ale Brewing….

…a nice sized crowd. The bar stools all taken. Quick and attentive service. And three new beers to try.

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I hopscotched across the styles starting with the 60 Shilling, then the Ordinary Bitter and lastly the Brown Stout. The Bagpipe tune names, you can see in the above photo.

My favorite and my top choice is The Session Gap. It is ordinary in name only. Lots of grain taste here. Crisp with some citrus notes to it. And like all four beers, it is way easy to be halfway done with a pint before you know it.

The Kings Taxes and Jackie Tar are both on the darker side but are still worlds apart from other dark beers. Even with the added creamy mouthfeel from the hand pump, these two are not viscous or over chocolate/coffee tasting. I keep coming back to the fact that the malt bill is the star here. The Yorkshire yeast is background and the hops are off stage somewhere.

And that is a refreshing change for an over IPA’d LA market.

I strongly recommend visiting their taproom which is open Wednesday through Sunday and look for their beers to be on tap at places like Story Tavern and Glendale Tap in the coming months.

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Review – California Tripel from Ruhstaller

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I know that I sound like a broken record (or is it, broken streaming audio?), but I love the presentation of the Ruhstaller bottles (cans too).  I like the kid with the bad boy look, I like the netting on the neck of the 22oz bottle.  The marketing copy is not only readable but fun.  For their California Tripel, they talk about an artist, a curator and the brewer plus have room for the beer ingredients.  Cause that apparently is the most important thing if the blogosphere is to be believed.  Made with California Metcalf & Copeland barley and California Cluster hops, this Belgian Style Tripel comes in at 9.5%.

Which is a good thing because this is another of the unintentionally aged bottles from Total Wine.  This beer came out in July.  This being June, I assume that this beer is from 2013. The production was limited to 230 cases.

It pours a bright orange color with a disturbing amount of floaty bits in it. As you can probably tell from the photo. Tripels can be evil.  Their high alcohol masked until you finish the glass and this one doesn’t quite succeed in that.  You can get a little heat from it.  That is strike 2.  Which I am holding Total Wine accountable for, not the brewer.  There is some typical Belgian spice in there but the finish is a bit watery despite the alcohol.  I am getting some of the sweetness that you might sense as well which is good but overall, I would have to recommend buying this beer fresh and popping the cap then.  And do not buy it in June in hot Southern California.

 

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Up From the Cellar – Vintage Ale from Trader Joe’s 2011

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Earlier this month, I reviewed the gold embossed 2010 version of Trader Joe’s Vintage Ale brewed by the Canadian Unibroue and now we move on to the silver embossed 2011 and see how much (if any) differences there are.

To recap, here is what I said about this beer years ago, Aroma is not malty or roasted. Rich smelling. Pours dark brown close to black. Alot of plum type flavor in here. A faint touch of spice. The cheeks warm up but only after a few sips.

Every once in a while, you end up with a cork battle. This time the cork won. Various instruments of torture were used and I finally was able to get 1/2 of the cork out while the remainder floated merrily in the bottle.

After cleaning up the mess I made in the kitchen, I brought the glass to my nose and smelled cola?  Yup, distinct cola notes in the nose and taste as well as the carbonation. Drastically different from the 2010. I also pick up rhubarb in there as well. Rhubarb pie to be precise. This us such a brighter and bubblier drink.  There are some candi sugar flavors in there which adds to the sweet overall profile.

As it warms, the clove and typical Belgian yeast components come out of hiding.

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The Verdict?  Strange and soda pop but I kinda liked it. Maybe the thrill of a fizzy aged beer has clouded my judgement but this year was fun.

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Review – Toasted Oak IPA from Innis and Gunn

First off,  I didn’t hold out much hope for this hoppy British beer.  Not because of fear of the Innis & Gunn brewery. But because the two previous IPA’s  that I had bought at Total Wine were old, old.  My fault for not checking the best buy date, but still you would expect a store to rotate the old beers off the shelves. And this beer was coming further than the other two.  And British IPA’s tend to be lightly hopped compared to American ones.

Anyhoo, this was the first I&G beer that I have had,  the marketing copy says, “Its fervent hoppy character hails from the unique addition of large quantities of hops at three separate points during brewing. The result is a beer that’s rounded yet refreshing, with delicate floral notes and oodles of zesty freshness.”

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And here is what I think, or what I would have thought if this beer hadn’t been light years from prime condition. Though it is difficult to tell without any bottled on date. Thus my Total Wine trip was a total IPA loss. This beer, in poor condition, is sickly sweet with a light bit of hops and metallic notes in the background. The toasted oak isn’t clearly coming through but if you swirl it around your mouth a faint bit of it appears. And that is disappointing because toast notes and hops could really work well together.

Maybe if I had cellared it, the sweetness would have diminished and it would be better. As it is, I have learned a lesson. Big Box stores make you do the legwork.