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……
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.
