Tag: beer review

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Review – Costco and Deschutes Vintage Ale 2024

There are not to many beers nowadays that get the social media talking, but one that has bucked that trend is the Costco Vintage Ale brewed by Deschutes Brewery.

I am lucky enough to know someone with the magic card and so I got to get the boxed barrel-aged beer to try.

I am amazed to see an old school 22oz bomber bottle when I wrestle the bottle out of the packaging. In the first few sips, I am getting a woody bitterness that hides the light bourbon note underneath. The aroma has a green almost peppery note to it which is at some odds to the flavor. That and the viscosity belie the 12% abv. It is almost like a coffee cocktail.

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Featured Review – Prodigal from Perennial Artisan Ales via The Rare Beer Club

Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.

This is the second review of the month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.

This is the Prodigal 2024. It is a biggun in abv at 11.5% but also large in syrupy stoutness. An Imperial Stout with cacao and vanilla and it is slick and big on caramel to me more than either of the featured adjuncts. It is halfway to being stout gravy. There is also a truckload of sugar coming to the fore as well. I would net hesitate to say that this would be good as a cooking ingredient. Little too extravagant for my taste.

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Featured Review – The Last Sipper from Lost Abbey via The Rare Beer Club

Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.

I will be reviewing two of them this month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.

It has been a bit since I have had a blended ale and I could not have picked a better beer and brewer to return with than The Last Sipper and Tomme Arthur.

This is a mix of quadrupel and strong ale. The aroma is candied dark fruit and hints at the texture of the beer which is not thick as some big beers are but has a minerality, along with chocolate and coffee. There is a brightness at both the beginning of the sip as well as the end. It is a complex beer for sure.

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Review – Pumpkin Haze IPA from 21st Amendment

I do not think that I have had an actual pumpkin IPA as opposed to a pie spice version so let’s dive into the Pumpkin Haze of 21st Amendment Brewery.

Gourd claims fully backed up. The first flavor to appear is pie filling followed quickly by hops and then nutmeg to round it out. The malt bill is pitch perfect as a base for those three major players to do their thing. The other noticeable trait is that this is pretty bright. Some fruited IPAs have a rounded off feeling to them but Pumpkin Haze does not.

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Review – Patio Project from Beachwood Brewing – Can 3

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. Can three was opened on 9/29.

Still pours a bright and light yellow. No visual degradation seen at all. Aroma also coming in strong. The hop bite is still there which is good because this is near session IPA to me and without it, the beer would lose a dimension.

Maybe I shall conduct this experiment again but with a different, not as high quality brewery as Beachwood and maybe take it over a longer time frame.

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Review – Fresh Wave XPA from El Segundo Brewing

El Segundo Brewing is throwing it back to the ’80s in both beer style and font with their Fresh Wave XPA, Extra Pale Ale. Like most monikers XPA is a bit weird give it is basically just word replacing. Session IPA is a bit cleaner and understandable.

That said, let’s taste the liquid inside and not get too hung up on verbiage. At 4.9%, this is low ABV but that first sip doesn’t give too much away because the hops come in the front door, loud. There is a second wave of malt where the lightness of the body shows up but at the end, it tastes almost like a hoppy Wit as a tropical burst comes in.

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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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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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Review – Honey and Ube from Engkanto Brewery

My lovely local craft beer bar the Glendale Tap had Filipino craft brewer, Engkanto on tap and since I have never had a craft beer from that country, my curiosity was piqued.

I had the Paint Me Purple Ube Lager which poured a medium dark purple color and had sweet yam taste to it. But also a bit of offsetting minerality as well. Slick mouthfeel too. 

I also sampled their Hive Hive Honey Ale which was really good on very hot day. The honey was definitely in attendance as was that minerality again. Slightly slick mouthfeel but not too sweet at all. I liked that the bottle had the brewery name in the glass.