I swear I will get to reviewing Non-IPA beers but this one came to me from Coedo Brewing and I felt compelled to do a quick review.
This surprise of a beer delivery is almost the antithesis of what is happening in America. Marihana Session IPA from Japan is as clear as clear can be. This is truly a session beer but it has a nice solid kick of hops to it. There is a nice sparkle to it as well. Lots of citrus pith here. Aroma is solidly grapefruit.
Review Ignorant DIPA from Boomtown Brewing
I received a lovely package of aluminum cans from North DTLA Boomtown Brewing recently which included a can of their mural style art emblazoned, Ignorant DIPA.
Here is the review:
Big flavor somewhere between navel orange and Satsuma tangerine. Bitterness is really soft. Sticks to the roof of the mouth. Appropriately hazy appearance. Bright tropical fruit (pineapple) aroma. Bit of hop sharpness upfront that fades really fast.
Featured Review – Zero Flocs Given from Angel City
I came home from vacation to find two cans of the best named hazy IPA on my doorstep. Zero Flocs Given from Angel City Brewery is
Pours a slightly hazed light yellow color. Lots of lacing on the glass. Has the signature softness of a NE IPA. Herbal and grassy on the nose. Tastes a bit sticky. There’s good strong bitterness that coats the tongue. A bit of dried orange comes through as well.
I would deem this as an everyman’s hazy IPA. It could easily start someone on a journey of the style.
Featured Pumpkin Beer Review – Pumpkin Ale from Kennebunkport Brewing
This was literally the only pumpkin beer that I found in Trader Joe’s on a late September day. Two years ago, they would have been gone. Already sold.
The new canned version of Pumpkin Ale from the Kennebunkport Brewing Company comes in the orange accented 12oz. My last last Untappd score for this beer was 1.0 for the bottled version. This canned version tastes better than that but still not super. The pumpkin taste actually seems less pie and more actual pumpkin. It is still too sweet to my taste buds and on the thin side but leaves with a nice pie spice finish.
Review – Punk in Drublic from Stone
My wife saw this can that I received in the mail from Stone Brewing and thought the name funny, when I told her there was a pumpkin beer already named that, she revised her statement and thought the name should be changed.
Since I am not a fan, or have heard the music of NOFX, I don’t know if the name fits, but I would agree. Name this hoppy lager something else.
That being said, what about the liquid in the can (I don’t much like the label design either)?
The Punk pours a bright yellow. Getting some sweet tart notes in the aroma and right off the bat on the first sip. Solid bite of bitterness with a nice sharpness to it as well. The aroma barely betrays the hops to come and the bitterness lingers as you drink more. I am torn about where to rate this. It is just a hair too bitter for the base beer but that sharpness is bracing, which I like. 7/10 perhaps.
Review – Two New from New Belgium
New Belgium sent me a nice little box with two of their new beers in them. One I was jazzed to get a free bottle of and the other, I was on the fence about.
Let’s get to it…
Sour Saison
Getting Concord grape. Dry. Some vinous notes too. Wheat in the background pops up as well. Not particularly sour. More a 50% tart than anything. That tart fades quickly. Some barnyard funk hiding in the background.
VooDoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin
Cinnamon bursts out when you pop the cap. Plenty of habanero heat to go with the large dose of spice. Could feel it on my upper lip. Falls into both the spice and purée camp for me. Beautiful brilliant orange color. Pumpkin comes in strong at the end. Liked it better than I thought I would.
The Sour Saison is the understated one of the pair and the Atomic Pumpkin is a blast of flavor. Where you land on the subtlety to agressive scale will decide which you like best. I go for the Sour Saison.
Review – Cloudwater
Mikkeller DTLA had a Sunday surprise recently. They had acquired five beers from the English brewery Cloudwater Brew Co. based in Manchester.
I ordered up the taster tray and got a seasonal pilsner, a farmouse ale and two IPA’s.
Fool For You – My first gooseberry beer if my memory serves. It has a strange slight berry/grape taste. Saison base is solid. Hazy almost rust brown color is a bit off-putting.
Spring/Summer pils with Mandarina Bavaria – By far the best of the four. This pils really nice with some orange juice notes. Quite sharp up front
NW DIPA – Not much color difference between the NW and NE. The West Coast has grassy and pine notes and a tiny bit of orange peel. Aftertaste is more bitter than the front of mouth.
NE DIPA – This IPA is a little softer but I am also getting the grassy and woodsy notes. Also a bit papery. Has that weird top of the mouth feel that I get from this sub-style.
Neither of the IPA’s really blew me away though even though I have heard wonderful things about them. I lucked out that the Pils was a mandatory inclusion of the taster tray. Otherwise I may have picked all IPA and come away with a lesser appreciation.
Thanks to Mikkeller for getting these beers to us.
Featured Review – Lune de Miel from Unibroue
I will be reviewing the the under appreciated but always solid Unibroue from Quebec.
We start with the most recent seasonal, Lune de Miel, a summer specialty release that was sent to me to review by parent company Sapporo. The beer is a Belgian-style strong amber ale brewed with local Québec honey.
This new offering was “inspired by a tradition dating back almost 4,000 years. In Ancient Babylon, the father of the bride would provide his new son-in-law with an unlimited supply of mead during the first month of marriage, a period that came to be called the “honey month”. As Babylonians were using a lunar calendar, the honey month eventually became the “honey moon”.”
After popping the foiled cap off the elegant black and gold labeled bottle a really fragrant hefe meets potpourri nose comes rushing out. Strong beer here. Honey is here in force. Belgian esters as well. Not quite clove or banana but close. This beer is prickly in a good way. Almost like an Imperial hefe. I shouldn’t be surprised. Whenever I get their Trader Joe’s branded beers, they are top notch. This will probably show up in my year-end Best of 2017. Straightforward and superb.
Featured Review – Unicorn Juice from Artifex
Our random walk through beer styles continues in the latest featured review, of Unicorn Juice, a wheat beer with passion fruit from San Clemente’s Artifex Brewing.
This was my first canned beer tasted from Artifex. This wheat ale pours a hazy light orange color. A touch of a tropical fruit nose to it. The major note is an off putting metallic one. Maybe a green unripe fruit taste? Overall, the taste is tilted to the fruit as the wheat is relegated to barely a minor role.
Not a fan of this one, maybe I don’t believe in unicorns.
Featured Review – Malum from Brewery Rex
Our non-themed featured reviews rolls on with a Belgian Golden Ale from Tyler King and Brian White and their new Brewery Rex.
My first ever beer from this brewery pours a pretty dark yellow with nice little bubbles rise up from the bottom of the glass. Aroma has that Belgian ester going for it with a sort of banana and toast flavor. Carbonation and hops offset it a bit. There is a strong sticky taste at the center and back. A bit harsh though with a salt-esque (savory-ish) end.