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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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
This 7th Anniversary IPA from El Segundo Brewing pours as clear and pale as a Pilsner. Aroma is fruit punch and dankness mixed. This DIPA is both light and heavy at the same time. Initial part of sip is lively and bitter, then the weight of the ABV starts to weigh heavy. Ends up being very grassy and herbal with a tiny touch of orange peel. A really well executed balancing act.
I came home one night recently to find a box from Iron Triangle Brewing at my door. My guess being that one of their new canned offering was inside. I was partially right. It was actually a mixed 4-pack and inside was also a letter from brewer Kale Bittner that asked for a re-evaluation of Iron Triangle. IT called it version 2.0 of the South DTLA brewery.
So, first up is the Bavarian Pale Ale (BPA). Certainly looks the part of a hefe. The can touts melon papaya and banana. I get the last of that hefe triangle along with the clove spice. The hops are quite muted here, more underlying. A sidekick almost. If you go in looking for a modern spin on a hefe, you will be fine. If you are looking for a pale ale or big hops, you might be disappointed. I got to thinking though, if breweries kept touting hops on the label, would the wannabe hop lovers know? Maybe these spins are needed to re-calibrate beer fans. Maybe I should be happy that alternatives to IPA’s are out there?
Finally back on track with a review of a non-hopcentric beer. Pils from Chapman Crafted from Orange, California.
Really refreshing. Light to almost the watery point. A nice bright yellow color. Getting almost a blonde ale vibe to this one and less pils when sipping but the aroma is straight up lager. A bit of corn taste malt lodges on my tongue.