Category: Beer Reviews

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Review – Bread Spread from Firestone Walker

Let’s keep that FW energy going with a review of the weirdly named barrel-aged Bread Spread. I had two excellent barrel beers at their Invitational (Wild Pirate and Boilermaker), will this be a third winner….

There is a lot in this bottle. Vanilla beans, hazelnuts aged in chocolate bitters barrels and Bourbon barrels. First, Weirdly, what I get in big amounts is banana. Not hefe banana but a chocolate covered banana. Yet, not sweet at all. There is that Bourbon note lurking in the background. Second, Weirdly is that as this warms up, the hazelnuts really pour forward. In both the aroma and flavor. Almost two different beers.

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Review – Seavo Pils at FWIBF23

It is no secret that I am not a fan of the Humble Sea branding. But, the beer is what counts so when I saw that they had a Pivo Pils homage, I had to seek it out at the festival.

Seavo Pils pours a bright yellow.  First beer of the fest is this humble version of Pivo pils. Very crisp.  Bit of a metallic hit to it as well.  Simple and nice to drink. Compared to lager titans like Heater Allen and Bierstadt Lagerhaus, well it pales a bit. Overall though, quite nice.

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Beer Review – London Lager from Machine House Brewery and Lowercase Brewing

I have been jonesing to try a beer from Seattle’s Machine House Brewery. It seems to be a brewery where the best is draft but thanks to some Lowercase Brewing beers sprinkled into Los Angeles, I get to try the collaboration London Lager from the can.

“A traditional base of Simpsons Lager malt and Crisp Floor Malted Maris Otter with some of the finest East Kent Goldings. We decided to recruit some Hallertau Mittelfruh hops from Germany because Lowercase are Mittelfruh Children.”

To me, this is a classic watch Premier League highlights beer. Light orange in color. Lovely malt aroma on the nose. Soft and delicate mouthfeel. Nothing really dominates. All subtlety. Some potpourri and orange pith with a tiny metallic clang.

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Beer Review – 15th Anniversary DIPA from Bootleggers

It has been some time since I had a beer from Fullerton’s Bootleggers Brewery. But I found a nice, big beer to break that bad streak on…

This beer comes across first and foremost as strong. Big pine and earthy bitterness dominate. When first opened, I did get an initial grapefruit nose but that faded off quickly. Getting a tiny touch of menthol here too. Quite a different DIPA than the current fruit forward styles but not really to my liking to be honest.

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Beer Review – A Trio of Oregon Beers

Some great Oregon breweries have been sneaking into the L.A. beer market of late. I have seen a bit of Wayfinder Beer and Heater Allen and lately pFriem Family Brewers too.

So instead of a single review or a duo, it is time for a trilogy of Oregon beers in one post. Three different styles but only one best of show….

Wayfinder Beer Russian Circles Black Pilsner – if you closed your eyes and drank this, at first, you would certainly know it was a pilsner but you would probably then lean towards either German or Czech styled. There is a bit of roast, Malliard reaction in the aroma and taste but overall this is a really nice, hearty pilsner.

Heater Allen Pink Boots Brew – the famous McMinnville lager brewery utilized the 2023 Pink Boots hop blend for this pale ale. Quite a melange of hop notes here. Getting pine and some citrus and even a touch of strawberry as well. A bit slick on the tongue as well.

pFriem Sparkling IPA – pours a dark orange. Initial taste is a bit of marmalade paired with pear as well. Was expecting more bubbles due to the name but there is a swirl of flavors. The label name checks seven fruits including sugar covered strawberry which is quite specific. Just a crazy four dimensional IPA.

My Winner – Due to the complexity, I select the pFriem but this was a close contest for sure.

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Review – No Vacancy West Coast IPA from Firestone Walker and Alvarado Street

This is the official beer for the 2023 Firestone Walker Invitational. Alvarado Street is the dance partner and the beer is out in the wild already so those who did not get tickets can enjoy a piece of the festival.

This westie pours a really light yellow. Typical for Firestone Walker it is a fairly subdued ABV which is good. Light pine and orange peel on the nose of this lightly bitter beer. Tastes close to sessionable to me but others not as hop assaulted might find it more bitter. Super well-made, bright and simple down the middle IPA. This will really work well in the sunny Paso Robles June at festival time as well as summer anywhere else too.

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Sour Day – Beer Review – Lucky 13 from Eagle Rock Brewery

Semi- quietly, Eagle Rock Brewery hit year 13. So, time to review their anniversary sour…

This blended sour ale from Wood #0011 pours a muddy red color. Aroma wise, the sour is there a bit but no cherry taste pops up. First sip is very weird. Getting very pastry bread hit right off the top. Not super sour. As it warms up a skosh, the cherry pie flavors take the foreground but that aggressive breadiness is still there at the back. If I could hold that cherry note all the way through would like this better.

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Beer Review – San Pancho Mexican Lager from Anchor Brewing

The doorbell rang on a recent Tuesday, and lo and behold, I had a package from Anchor Brewing. I tore it open to find a lovely media sample box for their San Pancho Mexican lager.

That means, time to review…

First, I sampled the Yucca chips. Thumbs up. Then the Choco Amaranth squares. Not a thumb up or down. SP pours a bright orange color and the first sip reveals an interesting combination of nicely lager-y with an undercurrent of citrus. Not lime per se but certainly citrus. It is quite zippy on the tongue with a bit of metallic aftertaste. I am glad there was no faux lime experience, so the beer gets the biggest thumbs up.

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Featured Beer Review – Two Coffee beers

Who will reign caffeine supreme between Half Acre Beer and Bellwoods Brewery?

Starting with the latter first, A Stout with Coffee from Bellwoods has a real big coffee aroma to it that is real nice. There is a creaminess to it as well that works really well. Thirdly, there is a bit of honey sweetness as well so you get a bit of an iced latte effect. The only downside here is that this is really thin to me. At 5% this is closer to being a brown ale than a stout.

Big Hugs pours with a lovely espresso head. There is less coffee on the nose and double the ABV of the Bellwoods beer. There is a creaminess to this as well but punctuated by an anise like sharpness. I have to admit that I like the black can as well. It fits with both coffee and imperial stout. This is a simple beer. Not getting layers of flavors. Would not label as a coffee beer actually and that is why, the winner is Bellwoods.

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Beer Review – The OG Infinite Wishes from Smog City Brewing

Yes, variants are fun. But, let’s focus on the base or as Smog City Brewing calls it, the OG of their barrel-aged Infinite Wishes.

This imperial stout is aged in bourbon barrels for a year. Here is my take on the 2023 version…

…IW23OG (sorry for the clumsy acronym) pours jet black with espresso swirls on the surface. I get a little syrup nose to start with just a skosh of wooden barrel. For such a high ABV beer, it is more sparkly than silky. Getting a bit of dark chocolate flavor. A little sweet and a fair share of char as well. Barely an alcohol burn at all when sipping. Really good and really simple.