Category: Beer Reviews

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Video Review – Mother Earth Auld Knucker

I reviewed one IPA from Mother Earth Brew Co. in June before the “hiatus”. and here (finally) is the second review of a  hoppy offering from San Diego that have become available in Los Angeles. I picked both up at Vendome in Toluca Lake, which is on my beer buying circuit.

And here is what the brewery has to say about it, ““Sometimes there is nothing like a simple, refreshing, single American-style India Pale Ale…especially the West Coast variety. In a world of over-complicated beers and brewing extremity, Auld Knucker (pronounced Old Nucker) stands out by using a simple grain bill of domestic Pale 2-Row, crystal malt, and a bit of honey malt, paired with a citrusy hop combo.”

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Review – Longshot 2013

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Three reviews in One!   from the Sam Adams / Boston Beer Co.  Here are my thoughts from the latest Longshot…..
Beerflower Wheat
Pours a medium orange color. Has a spicy and herbal taste. Somewhat reminiscent of Dr. Pepper. The hibiscus is tame here which is good because it can take over a beer. Not bad but two of three of this year’s longshots remind me more of soda than beer.
Strawberry Lager
Pop the cap and a blast of strawberry hits the air. It has a big strawberry taste that is pretty close to jolly rancher / candy flavor. It pours a medium yellow color and has a nice fizz to it. Just to sweeet to me and not much else there.
Magnificent 7 IPA
Probably the most disappointing of the group.  Pours a golden orange color.  Aroma is fine, just doesn’t knock my socks off.  Too much caramel here for my taste.  The hop bitterness is good but this group of 7 don’t coalesce on my palate.
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Review – Eye Patch IPA from Monday Night Brewing

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I received a lovely care package from Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta and I have moved onto their Eye Patch IPA.  Oh and just to add a little context to my mindset while reviewing, I am listening to Line of Fire by Junip and reading Life after Life by Kate Atkinson.  Not at the same time.  Not a multi-tasker am I. Anyhoo, on to the review…..

I like the eye patch guy on the label.  It is a really good design from the front logo to the back which includes a Mark Twain quote, what to pair with the beer glyphs and which hops and malt were used.  Nice packaging.  Eye Patch pours a light orange. Aroma is akin to peach skin to me. Faint but nice. Taste is again fairly mild for my West Coast IPA sensibilities but the taste is quite nice. Slight citrus notes and lots of bready notes that normally get buried under an avalanche of hops in many IPAs.

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Review – Tenaya Creek Hop Ride IPA

To some Las Vegas means only Sin City, but to those in the know, the glittering city also has some beer spots. Maybe not rivaling the beer soaked Portlands and Denvers of the world, yet,but they are moving in the right direction.

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That is the semi-ling preamble to my review of Tenaya Creek’s Hop Ride IPA.

Spooky rattler on the label. Pours an orange/yellow color. Fluffy head on this one. Spicy and floral aroma. Bitterness is medium to me and it sticks around on the roof of the mouth. Little bite at the beginning of each sip. A little caramel taste around too.

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Review – Fu ManBrew from Monday Night Brewing

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Out of the blue, I was e-mailed by Monday Night Brewing and now I have the great pleasure of sampling three of their beers.  First up is a ginger spiced wit bier.  (A reminder: any beer I review, no matter how much I pay for it, gets the same treatment)

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Pours a dark yellow or light orange depending on the light. Loads of bubbles here. Aroma is full on ginger. The taste starts with the ginger but you also get a bit of spice, clove I think and a bit of hefe notes. Maybe not a true wit but surprisingly good.

Here is the description of Fu from the Monday Night website, “A bright, spicy Belgian-style wit. An effervescent, easy-drinking wheat beer, brewed with Belgian yeast, German hops, and a whisper of ginger from the Far East. This mustachio’d Belgian-style wit believes that good beer defies borders. The name Fu Manbrew was crowdsourced with some help from our friends at Scoutmob. They call the mustache a “Flavor Savor” for a reason.”

 

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Review – Shore Break Hefeweizen

As part of a Twitter Tasting hosted by the Fresh & Easy Market chain, I had the opportunity to sample a beer new to me, Shore Break Hefeweizen.

This is a “phantom” craft as it depicts bucolic surf scenes and is sold here in California but is brewed by Rheinlander in Wisconsin.

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It pours an orange golden color with not much aroma to speak of at all.  First sip comes and goes without any banana or clove so you can safely assume this is not a real hefeweizen.  But even worse, this beer is watery.  Not much there, there.  Grain taste is practically non-existent.

Not only is this not a “craft” beer it isn’t a German hefe and it is flat out a really poor example of a wheat beer. I do not recommend this beer and I would avoid other Shore Break and Underworld brands at Fresh and Easy and focus on the tried and true you can get there.

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Review – Monks’ Ale

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Made with Care & Prayer is the motto of Abbey Beverage. They are semi-new now to the L.A. area and this is my first beer from them.  Here is the review: Love the stained glass look on the label though I would like to read more about the brand on it. Pours a light orange with minimal head. Has some of the dubbel spice to it. A touch viscous. Some orange notes in the background too. A bit of a bready cinnamon roll aroma. Simply, I enjoyed it.

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Here is what the Abbey says about their beer, “Monks’ Ale is an excellent session ale that is distinctively spicy with moderate fruity esters (particularly stone fruits).  The yeast lends a note of clove and in combination with the malts, hints of plum and apricot. The malts provide a distinct honeyish quality up front and round full middle.  The malts and yeast provide a clean, crisp, dry, finish to Monks’ Ale.”

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Video Review – Mother Earth # 1 – Kismet IPA

June takes us to San Diego and Mother Earth Brew Co. I will be reviewing two of their hoppy offerings that have become available in Los Angeles.  First stop: Kismet.

“Do you believe in fate, destiny, chance, will? Does it really matter? Something brought you to drink this beer. Oh wait, could it be a mad man of an IPA that reeks of NZ Nelson hops and leaves a lingering anesthetic bitterness that is sure to ruin any beer consumed after it? Columbus tends to do that. You forgot what we were talking about didn’t you? Did you care in the first place? That’s what we thought. Just relax and savor every sip, that is, if you can take your schnoz out of your glass.”

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Review – Dat Moi from Monkish

If all goes according to plan, this will be on tap at Beer Belly for my “Light and Crafty” event on the 9th of this month.  Along with Pivo Pils from Firestone-Walker it is a new favorite summertime beer and perfect for a growler buy because it will go quick.

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Dat Moi pours a striking yellow color with a bit of a floral perfume aroma.  Nice big fluffy head as well.  The first sip is sharp but I don’t get either metallic or corn pop like certain lagers I could name.  Instead, I am getting notes of grapefruit and flowers.  Very crisp with nice bubbles.  For a primarily Belgian influenced brewery, Monkish has made a mean lager that I really enjoy. Beer-Hope-Love indeed.

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Review – Organic Hop Cuvée

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With new organic rules in place that now include hops, it is heartening to see an organic IPA already.  Here is my review of this offering from Bison.
Pours a bright yellow with streaming bubbles. Not too much hop notes on the nose. The taste is pretty mild too. An organic XPA as it were. Get a touch of citrus and a little floral flavor but otherwise a mild showcase.
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And I liked that their website had a definition of Cuvee as well….”Used by both winemakers and brewers, the term cuvée indicates a blend—typically, a special blend of higher quality. Each year, “Organic Dan” will work with organic hop growers from the Pacific Northwest to select the best organic hops as well as explore the development of new organic hop varietals to be used in all of Bison’s organic beers—especially Hop Cuvée. The 2013 Hop Cuvée recipe includes Citra® and Simcoe, two new and exciting organic hop varietals not previously available as certified organic, as well the classic Centennial hop. This year’s hops were grown by Carpenter Ranches, Perrault Farms and Roy Farms, respectively.”