Category: Beer Reviews

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FoodGPS Teaser – Top 10 Beers of 2012

For every 10 Best List, there are a few honorable mentions. And in the craft beer world, many honorable mentions. But I have decided to tease tomorrow’s FoodGPS countdown list with the three that I agonized over not including. So here are beers 11-13 that I wish I could have cheated and snuck in….

13. Bear Republic – Dry Creek Home Grown
Our tribute to the annual hop harvest brewed with Cascade hopes grown in the Dry Creek Valley just 10 minutes from our pub & brewery. I said, ” The aroma alone is worth the price of the pint. Citrus and flowers spring up. Nice light bitterness that doesn’t interfere with the flavor and is distinct, not a muddle of hops. Makes me want to visit this Dry Creek.” Might be available on tap. Window may be closed on it though since it is a fresh hop beer.

12. 21st Amendment – Hop Crisis
A imperial IPA aged on oak using Columbus, Centennial and cascades as the bittering hops and dry hopping with Simcoe, Ahtanum, Amarillo, and Cascades. I said, “Big but not muddled DIPA that shows off the oak aging and finishes strong with a great pineapple, citrus fruit bitterness that really worked well together. Not super aromatic but just a great beer. Super smooth.” This one is canned and is available in San Francisco and via Let’s Pour at times.

11. The Bruery/Hangar 24 – Ichigo Highway
The base style is a sessionable sour red ale that we aged in oak barrels along with a whopping amount of strawberries, most of which were picked from the fields besides Hangar 24’s brewery. I said, “Nice whiff of strawberry. Initial taste is sourness followed by a jam taste. Tastes really fresh. Good sparkle to it. Some farmhouse notes as well. Excellent mix of flavors.” Head to Bruery Provisions for this fruit find.

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FoodGPS Teaser – Christmas is coming

Tomorrow on FoodGPS, I give you some “special” christmas shopping ideas the and the beer and homework is from Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. It is the yearly tradition of Our Special Ale. The holiday ale with a different tree on the label and a slightly different recipe each year.

Recently, I did a vertical tasting of this beer starting with the 2008 version and going through to 2012.

2008
Very frothy pour with an espresso head. Aroma hints that this one may have passed prime tasting time. An old ale background with a touch of sour creeping in. Very British ale tasting.

2009
Another frothy beer. Both were stored standing up so I don’t think it was my cellaring technique. But this one had a much lighter head to it. Some minor roast notes and a little whisper of pine. That same sourness and apple cider taste is evident in this one as in 2008.

2010
This one poured better. More Belgian-y. Good sparkle to this one in comparison to the flatter beers form ’08 and ’09. More coffee acidity here. Again the tree and pine notes are only faint and way in the background.

2011
Dark with a brown ale backbone. Not much spice or flavor in the 2011. Even tastes a little thin. If the others did not stand up to aging then I fear for this one.

2012
Pours dark black. Almost a Dr. Pepper type of aroma. Flavor has a burnt quality to it. Body is light and it is quite sparkly. Flavor does linger on the palate.

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Review – Ichigo Highway

In my mind, the Bruery has been on a roll in 2012. So many beers covering a wide range from light to dark and some great local collaborations with Eagle Rock and Bootlegger’s to name just two beers. Now they have teamed up with the high flyers at Hangar 24 for a strawberry accented beer called Ichigo Highway. Here is the review…

Here is the label copy, “Ichigo Highway is a collaborative beer that we created with Hangar 24 Brewing from Redlands, CA. The base style is a sessionable sour red ale that we aged in oak barrels along with a whopping amount of strawberries, most of which were picked from the fields besides Hangar 24’s brewery. Aged for approximately 8 months, this beer has developed a pleasant funk and a delightful acidity that is balanced by the intensely sweet aroma and flavor of the strawberries as well as a unique dryness achieved by using a sake yeast along with our house strain along with souring bacteria.”

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Review – Anthem Dry Hopped cider

I do like cider but rarely do I get it. I usually see so many beers that I want that the apples get shunted off to the side for another day. But when I saw a cider that was dry hopped with Cascades, well I picked it up.

Anthem ciders are crafted at the Wandering Aengus Ciderworks in Oregon. This one was an extremely light yellow and very bubbly. It wasn’t sour but it was stomach gurgly inducing acidic. The aroma was a battle of apple farm and that signature Cascade hop. A bit muddled to me. The taste grew on me even though it was much brighter tasting when cold. Again, though I got quite a bit of fight between these two distinct flavors. They didn’t seem to quite flow together. And though it did catch my eye and get me to pick up a cider, it did not win me over in the end. But it sure is a pretty beverage to look at.

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Narwhal & Brown Shugga’ reviews

In addition to my monthly video reviews, I plan to do some plain old photo and text reviews as well and this month, I compare a returning Lagunitas favorite with a new stout from Chico, California.

Brown Shugga’
The light amber color of this beer belies it’s strength. The booze is present as is a boatload of brown sugar. (Go figure). This gets a little cloying at times and it is a bit slick on the tongue but it pulls together and balances out as it warms up and as the palate get’s accustomed to the sweetness. I still prefer Lagunitas Sucks though.

Narhwal Imperial Stout
Pours jet black with an espresso head. Big roasty notes. Coffee and burnt toast dominate with a bit of hops at the far back. A touch of milk chocolate / cocoa powder. Really lingers on the palate for awhile. Great label artwork too. A campfire beer.

If I had to choose, I would go with the Narwhal. Primarily because Brown Shugga’ is just wicked sweet and the alcohol is really prevalent.

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Sean suggests for November


If you haven’t beer shopped at Trader Joe’s then you are missing out. You can buy singles of practically everything they have and their private label beers are made by the likes of Firestone-Walker, Unibroue and Gordon Biersch. Not to shabby. They do sell some clinkers, like the Name Tag lager but when they strike a gold mine, the low prices make for a great bargain.

With that said, here are my shopping choices for November. You will probably be in Trader Joe’s anyway for Turkey day so pick up a beer too…..

November 2012 Suggestions

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Berliner Weisse review – Full Sail

The second and final review of the Berliner Weisse style comes from Hood River Oregon and Full Sail. It is part of the Brewer’s Share series that previously brought us an ESB and an Alt….

“The third beer in the series “Chris’s Berliner Weiss” developed by Assistant Brewing Supervisor, Chris Haveman will be released in 22oz. bottles and on draft in the summer. Chris’s Summer Delight is an unfiltered, refreshingly tart small batch Berliner Weiss beer, brewed with 50% wheat malt and just a touch of Hersbrucker hops A perfect German style sour brew with a dry finish for a hot summer day. ABV 4% IBU 9. Chris has chosen to support the Oregon State University Brewing Sciences Program, from which Chris is an alumnus. The program is one of the few in the nation that studies all aspects of producing beer, wine, and fermented foods.”

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FoodGPS Teaser – Pumpkin Beers Review

I have waited until now to talk pumpkin beers. I know they are probably gone from most shelves to be replaced by Christmas ales but I celebrate my holiday’s in order and not in advance. I picked two pumpkin beers to compare. One from Sam Adams and one from Uinta.

Two gourd beers from two different parts of the country and both are pretty different. The Sam Adams poured a darker amber and had a noticeable lack of the pie spice (not a bad thing) and was a little more viscous and malty. It had a definite pumpkin taste. Sort of a yam taste.

The Uinta had a two tiered aroma. First the nutmeg and then a real jack o’lantern hit. The taste did not hold that though. There was some pumpkin flavor but it was more metallic and must have been on a lighter base beer because it poured a golden color.

I gave tasters to my sis-in-law to get her opinion and she agreed. (as well she should). She explained that the Sam Adams pumpkin would be much easier to drink a full glass of and had a more pleasing pumpkin taste. The Uinta tasted more like beer with pumpkin in her opinion.

As a further reference, HERE is the Beer Advocate list of pumpkin beers.