Tag: 2015

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Up From the Cellar – (2) from Smog City

I am ever so slowly draining my cellar of beer and a weekend back, I decided to pull up two beers from Smog City. One from 2014 and one from 2015.

Goldie (2014) pours a deep amber color. This beer lets you know it’s big but not in an aggressive way.  Cheeks aren’t warm but you can feel the effects of the beer. The bourbon character melds with the strong ale equally. Hint of pineapple and caramel.  Slight burn with each sip. A little tiny touch of honey sweetness leads to a dry finish.

Infinite Wishes (2015) Pours dark black but not much head to it. The barrel has left this building. There is some red wine aged notes. Odd that a 2014 strong ale with less ABV in Goldie lasted longer.  This may have turned just past the point of maturation. Getting some cherry notes making it a little bit sour.  Chocolate is the predominant taste. 

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Review – Bourbon County Stout (2013 vs 2015)

OK, so it not a battle when it involves two great beers. But let’s take a look at my thoughts on the 2013 and the 2015 versions of the original Bourbon County Stouts from Goose Island.
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2013
The most notable part of my first sips of the 2013 is a biting sharpness in the middle. I was expecting a beer mellower and heavier.  And this BCS is both heavy and light with hot chocolate notes. As it warms the heat starts to show more throughout the taste instead of that spike in the middle. This stout is very dry. The Bourbon is tucked in there but not oppressive it is more 1/3 of the pie.

2015
The latest version starts with that same sharpness as the 2013 with more vanilla to it as opposed to chocolate. That vanilla fades though into more raisin notes that I associate with Quads and Belgians. Seems less complex than the 2013. And again the bourbon is just a member of the team and not the star.

These are my thoughts as I sipped from both beers.  The take-away is that these beers are extremely similar.  The shared DNA is obviously there but to each individual palate the flavors with the biggest bounce might differ from mine.

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In the Tap Lines for January 2015

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A new year of new beer possibilities lies in front of us. What beer will wow us? What beers will disgust us? I literally had not heard of the beers that made my personal Top 10 at this time last year. Will that happen again? The slate is clean and ready for the adventure ahead.

~ e-visits to three breweries from The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico.
~ special reviews of FIVE home brewed beers that I received for Christmas
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast reviews
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 95 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is What Beer Book Still Needs to be Written?

Here are two events to get your January started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) January 16th Brew Wings at King Harbor Brewing
2) January 25th Eagle Rock Brewing 5th Anniversary