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Get your beach van ready, time to dive into Simcoe IPA from El Segundo Brewing Company.
I will give you one guess as to the main hop. This IPA pours a dark-ish yellow. The aroma is like lemony hard candy. It is really nice and different. Not too overpowering with bitterness but enough to know this ain’t no session IPA. Very much lemon meets bitter with the citrus coming out slightly ahead.
Let’s dive into a new hazee from Smog City Brewing in Torrance, Frost Flowers in the colorfully bright can….
Haven’t seen a flower with even a smidgen of frost on it here in L.A. but I will take Smog City’s word for it. This Hazy IPA is 6.4% and pours with a decent amount of orangey haze. It is the first Smog Days Series beer for 2023. Hopped with Amarillo, Ekuanot and Azacca, I get orange peel and tangerine initially. More bitterness here than pillowy haze. A secondary hit of black tea. Tastes quite strong.
I missed the seventh anniversary party for Brewyard Beer Company but I made a point of grabbing a 4-pack of their Bourbon Barrel-Aged Belgian Quad, Cat’z Pajamas.
The feline Quad pours with a slight reddish tint to it. Sharp and bubbly on the palate. The bourbon notes are present but not overwhelming. The barrel provides a nice sweet, almost maple note to the beer. For a double digit ABV, it only gives a little jolt when drinking in keeping with the balanced nature.
I went big with the first choice of Portland Cider’s appley offerings, straight to an Imperial, with peach tea.
Before I describe it, here is the website description, “A rich, golden imperial cider from crisp Northwest apples and mouthwateringly juicy Washington peaches. Steeped Assam black tea from Steven Smith Teamaker adds an extra zing that puts this cider a notch above the rest.”
To start, for this to be successful, I need to taste an apple base followed by peach tea. A spiced apple flavor is there and I am picking up some tea tannins in the background. Past that though, I am not getting much. It is tasty to drink but, to me, the imperial, the peach and the tea are well hidden. I kinda expect peach to be background but tea should be there.
Good but not firing with all cylinders.
I didn’t make it out to San Gabriel for the actual Ogopogo Brewing anniversary party but I did drop in to snare the anniversary beer.
First off, kudos to doing a pale ale even if 6% is closer to that styles ceiling than floor. There is a bit of swirling haze in the glass but not a super murky appearance. Has that tongue scraping hop character that I kinda now expect from a hazy. It could also be that I see the word Phantasm and my mind fills in the blank with a powdery texture. There is a bright fruit punch note at first but that quickly transitions to a less bright earthy flavor.
Overall, I really like that switch. Both sides of that flavor coin are really good.
Time to welcome another brewery to Los Angeles via my beer review. Today it is Los Barbones Cerveceria and their Hazy Double IPA, Olor a Kush.
First off, not a fan of the imagery on the label. Especially if it is not indicative of what’s inside the can. Setting that aside, OAK pours a dark orange color with some haze to it. I would say medium to low. It is a little too sweet. Getting a Sweet Tart rush with an odd raspberry note. Has the needed Hazy softness and a nice DIPA level of malt structure but the hops are playing third string here when they should be number 1 or 1b.
If anything screams Halloween, this treat from Ommegang Brewing does…
My first two words for this beer are sweet and sweet. This is a Halloween treat yo’ self for damn sure. The beers pours pitch black and initially has a big chocolate aroma. Flavor wise, it is a mix of milk and dark chocolate and quite roasty. For me, the peanut butter promised on the label us too faint. As it warms, more peanut aroma and taste arrive, but it is not peanut butter.
Been a long while since I have had a Rogue beer and even longer since a Dead Guy even though that is really the only one available in SoCal.
Here is my review of the Dead Guy variant Dead ‘n’ Dead.
Whiskey barrel chips meets Maibock amped to 9.5% abv. Oak and alcohol on the nose. Kinda hoppy red ale initially before the Germanic influence creeps in. Was not expecting the bubbly nature, thought it would be more placid on the palate. Even so, you can tell this is strong beer. Nothing hidden here. The whiskey chips do their job, adding the spirit without bowling over the beer underneath.
I found two different IPAs from Anaheim’s Unsung Brewing at one of my bottle shop haunts (Talon) and thought it time to review their new hoppiness with a bit of a spooky season theme to the beer names.
Strange Tentacles – lot of hops going on here. Simcoe, Mosaic, Chinook, Amarillo and New Zealand Cascade. New and classic together. pours a dark yellow color. fruity on the nose with a pine accent. medium to low bitterness and light on the palate. summer IPA vibes here.
Alter Ego – into the haze, a light orange one nowhere near murky. super big coconut here which I blame on the Talus hops which are paired with Citra and Strata. a vinous mouthfeel on this one. bit of a milkshake quality as well. falls firmly into weird territory.
Who will be the Fest Winner? California, the U.S. or Germany?
The Contestants
Smog City Smogtoberfest – dark orange in color. smells hoppier than the other two. simple and crisp. lots of malt flavor here with a bit of a spice kick.
Half Acre Lager Town – pours a dark orange with a malty and orange peel taste. a bit heavy to me with caramel notes. minerality here too as well as a viscousness.
Weihenstephaner Festbier – the lightest of the trio. bubbly in the glass. a bit of malty sweetness with a tiny touch of minerality. very clean and crisp.
The Winner
I think I have to choose the SmogtoberFest. It is the lowest ABV but also the fullest of the three beers.