Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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Review – 2 from Replicant (and Germany)

Replicant Beer of Pasadena has found a mystery German brewer to assist with a duo of Oktoberfest appropriate beers. One – a German Pilsner and second – a Kellerbier.

Let’s talk Uhaml first, it pours a bubbly mid yellow color. The first sip gives that refreshing note and minerality. Getting a slight melon notes as well. Bit of excess slickness in the mouthfeel, I would like a shade more crispness. Small issues though because this tastes really good.

Rübezahl, the mountain spirit, pours a yellow / orange mix. Big malt notes here that lead into an initially sharp mouthfeel that turns slippery by the end. Earthy is the best descriptor that I can give to it.

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Spa Day

There is always room for a first in the craft beer game and I have heard about one that is in the start-up phase in North Carolina that I would have thought would be way more of a stereotypical California thing, a craft brewery and wellness center combined.

BrewWell will have beer for your liver and a variety of mindful services for the rest of your body.  As you can tell from that last sentence, I am a bit dubious about this concept.  But maybe it is something where you have a group of people that split up into, team beer and team spa.

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8 Frogs in Town

Frogtown is an area of Los Angeles that I would not have pegged for a brewery. Tiny streets, near the L.A. River, hemmed in by freeways. But Frogtown Brewery has made it work for eight years now and have a weekend party scheduled for the first weekend in October.

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Oktoberfest Review – Sierra Nevada & Gutmann

Enough Okto talk and time for an Oktoberfest bier review as we dive into the 2024 cross cultural collaboration between Sierra Nevada with Brauerei Gutmann.

At 6%, this Oktoberfest is on the higher side. The beer pours a yellow streaked orange and the malt is strong in the aroma. The first has a big hit of minerality to it. Which is followed by the malt profile. I detect a little orange peel hop note swirling around as well. Also getting a hefeweizen note as well which makes this beer a bit of a hybrid.

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Review – Patio Project from Beachwood – Can 2

This month, as a bit of a scientific lark, I am going to review the same beer weeks apart to see if any differences can be found. I chose Patio Project IPA from Beachwood Brewing as the test subject after picking it for the beer shopping list post last month.

As you can see from the above photo, it was canned up on 8/1/24. For this review, the first can was tasted on 8/16/24. Can two was opened on 9/5/24.

It is light in body and also has a light citrus taste to it. The bitterness is medium low but still easily noticeable. No weird or off flavors detected. Still a really tasty session IPA.

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Sean Suggests for September 2014

In honor of fresh hop season, this month it is all about hop varietals.  Three choices filled with all sorts of different hops to feed the bitterness that we all seek.

Everywhere Beer Co. Branching Out  – 5.6% – Modern Pilsner hopped with Krush (586), Nectaron, and Nelson

Beachwood Brewing Lupulin Lounge – 7.1% – IPA hopped with Citra, Strata, Idaho 7 Cryo and Columbus 

Green Cheek Beer Co. Playing It Loud – 8.6% – DDH Hazy DIPA hopped with Citra and sprinkled with Mosaic, Motueka and Strata