Tag: beer review

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Up From The Cellar – Bois from The Bruery

Since it is an Orange County themed month, I went down to the Cellar (aka the car park, aka the garage) and pulled up a beer from The Bruery from way back in 2013.

This is what the website says about this anniversary ale. “Bois is our fifth anniversary ale, loosely brewed in the English-style Old Ale tradition using our house Belgian yeast strain and then blended using the solera method. A portion of each of our anniversary ales is saved in our barrels and blended in with the next year’s production, providing more complexity and depth of character that comes with age. Layered with complex flavors of dark fruit,vanilla, oak, and burnt sugar, Bois is a robust ale, surely the perfect beer to mark this major milestone.”


Damn this is a really sweet beer. Even the aroma is sweet. Boozy on the tongue and it does burn the throat a bit. Still hot after 6 years. Not much bourbon or barrel notes left. For a beer named after the Wood anniversary, I was hoping for some oak. Getting a vanilla maple syrup combo. Maybe better served to have held longer.

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Flagship Beer Review # 1 – Pale Ale from Sierra Nevada

The Ur beer of California, the oft cited influence for many a brewer across the country is the green labeled Pale Ale from Sierra Nevada.

And if memory serves (often it doesn’t according to my significant other), I have not reviewed it. So for my first #FlagshipFebruary review of the month, it is time to rectify that error.

Pale pours an dark orange color nary a haze to be seen. Orange notes in the aroma that follow through into the flavor along with a bit of pine needle. Rugged hop flavor. Not weak at all. Would stand up to many an IPA. Bit of caramel peeks through at the end to add an extra flavor to the result. It is easy to see why this was such a game changer if you were used to light watery lagers.

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Review – Rosalie from Firestone Walker

This new Beer Rose from Firestone Walker pours a vivid rose color prompting my wife to say that it was the prettiest beer that I have had in a while. (probably a comment on recent hazy beers) The Hibiscus is in full effect. Rosalie smells like a light wine wine and is almost spritzer like, in a good way.  The grape taste is strong but more in a winery pressing after a harvest way. It is fizzy on the tongue and has a light kiss of malt at the back along with some jam notes. 

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…and Finally 1st BEER Review of 2019 – Colimita Pilsner


This is myy second beer from La Cervecería de Colima and it pours a vivid yellow. Seeing a nice amount of bubbles floating to the surface of the beer. This pilsner is crisp and sharp at the outset. Slightly toasty bread grain flavor in the middle. Mini touch of sweet and mixture of orange and pear.  It does become little viscous at the back end which is not my preference but overall this is a quite nice light beer and a great Christmas gift.

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Last Beer Review of 2018 – Bigfoot from Sierra Nevada (2013 & 2017)

I probably tallied north of 60 beer reviews this year. I know that there are some who hate the practice or don’t think that personal preferences can be of use, but I think it is instructive to see which beers struck a chord and which elicit such little word count as to telegraph the yea/nay response.

On to the last review of the year, I have dug into the cellar and brought out the famed barleywine from Sierra Nevada, Bigfoot.


2013
Faint port like aroma. Bitter at the end. Showing some age I think. Caramel notes and a slight oak-y bourbon flavor. A bit vinous.

2017
Lighter and brighter. Bitterness is there but not pounding. A little burnt tasting. More pine notes on this one.

Of the duo, I would take the 2013 first.  It had a swirl of different flavors and aromas going on in it’s 12 ounces.

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Holiday Beer Review – Six Geese A’ Layin from The Bruery


We have reached my last beer from the The Bruery and their 12 Days of Christmas.

Numero 6 – The Six Geese is lightly Belgian with a little bit of fruit to it. My first thought was that this hadn’t aged well so I let it warm a bit. But it was better colder. There is a strong ale base but not much else. The cheeks ear, eventually and it doesn’t have any ABV heat but it is kinda boring. Maybe an additional fruit or a spice would add a layer to this.

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Featured High ABV Review – The Nothing from Smog City

Next in our local, cellared and high ABV beers for review is The Nothing from Smog City of Torrance.

Another beer from the year 2014 and one that I thought I would bring up after the Wood Cellar festival.

The Nothing pours jet black with a toffee head to it. 4 years might be too much for this one. That would be my bad for losing track of it in time and not recognizing that it is under 10% which is the generic threshold for cellaring. Bit of a wine vinous thinness has crept in. Sapping some of the velvet nature that an Imperial would normally possess. The chocolate has a bit of tang and is in second place strength-wise to a coffee roast note.

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Featured Review – Omega from Unsung Brewing


This month, I will be featuring reviews from breweries south of LA. Specifically Orange County and San Diego and we start in Anaheim with Unsung Brewing and their Omega Hazy IPA

This hazy is part of a series that the comic themed brewery is doing and boy does Omega look the hazy part. Light yellow almost like white grapefruit juice specifically. I am getting Concord grape in the aroma and then that follows into the flavor. There are some fruit punch notes as well and a little dank in the smell. I really love the taste of this one. There is some of the fuzzy mouthfeel that I get from other hazy’s but it is restrained and not scraping the roof of the mouth. Only a small touch of bitterness at the end. Only downside is the kind of a boring can design from a brewery that has nice branding otherwise.

Recommend? Most certainly even for those not sure of hazy IPA’s

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Beer Review – Sass Machine from Arrow Lodge


Arrow Lodge can branding has been a bit hit or miss for me. One can is all green and the next is a wavy psychedelic unicorn. But I could not pass up on such a sassy beer. The Mavhine oours a hazy lemonade ice tea color. Very soft and pillowy mouthfeel, bitterness is there but a couple blocks away. There is a tropical fruit aroma. Pineapple and banana to me. I wouldn’t call it sassy. Getting some citrus flavor notes as it warms. Almost sorbet like in the flavor. I noticed that Untappd has an entry for a peach version which might be even better.

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Review – Hat’s Off from El Segundo & Topa Topa


This collaboration and charity IPA from El Segundo Brewing and Topa Topa of Ventura pours a Pilsner golden yellow. I could smell the aroma wafting out after popping the “West Coast Craft” emblazoned cap. I am getting a Concord grape flavor initially from this sprightly IPA. Herbal with fruit and a hard hit of bitterness at the end. Looks like a session IPA but you know pretty quickly that you are drinking something closer to a DIPA. But it has a nice effervescence that ties it up with a bow and keeps it from being too heavy.