Tag: beer reviews

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Beer Cage Match – Review # 4 – Working for Tips from Moonlight Brewing Co.

Next is review number fourfrom the City Beer Store of San Francisco beer purchase. By the end of the month, I will rank all six.

Currently Side Pull is one with IPL is Dead second and Lenticular Cap third, how will beer # 4 rank?

That beer comes from Moonlight Brewing Co., Working for Tips. A redwood ale made with redwood branches. Now I do not get any tree like notes from this brown hued beer, more a latte type of sweet note. Touch of spice tries to escape but is pushed back. The aroma has a little of the forest to it.

This is the outlier of the group. That could have worked in its favor but it was a little too sweet for me, so it brings up the rear.

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Beer Cage Match – Review # 3

Next is review number three from the City Beer Store of San Francisco beer purchase. By the end of the month, I will rank all six. Currently Side Pull is one with Lenticular Cap second, how will beer # 3 fare?

BareBottle IPL is Dead is a DDH Pilsner.  Full recipe is on the can down to the hopping schedule. First time seeing that.  Getting grapefruit but the malt sticks around well.  Nice balance here.  Has a more silky mouthfeel than sharp and bubbly.  Might think at first that it is a pale ale.

I would slot this into second. A little more crisp and it might have gone first.

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Beer Cage Match – Review # 1

I am loving the fact that City Beer Store of San Francisco ships anywhere in California. My most recent platypus purchase is a wide mix of beers that I thought, I should rate not in a 1v1 format but WWE style.

Here is review 1. By the end of the month, I will rank all six.

We start with Side Pull a Czech-style pale lager from Fair State and famed lager makers Bierstadt Lagerhaus from Colorado.

SP pours a super light yellow color. Did my best to get the best glassware for such traditional beer. Aroma is beautiful. Brings to mind walking around the old Weinhard plant in Portland. A sweet malt air. This is a really delicate beer to the point of whisper thin. Has a stern bite to it though that really lingers on the roof of the mouth. I hate the word crushable that is used on the label because this is just not something to throw back, this lager has a spine to it.

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In the Tap Lines for September 2021

header_attractionsHello September.  Where the first two weeks are filled with Fest and Pumpkin beers which then disappear before tge month is over.  Why? Cause ‘Merica needs to move on to the next holiday pronto.  But let’s drink in the here and the now this month.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries in college football towns
~ special featured reviews of beers bought from City Beer Store
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Gene & Roger
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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In the Tap Lines for April 2021

header_attractionsNo fools today.  Just more exciting beer news from Los Angeles and the world.  Really, we will go traveling as we transition from home bound to bound for taprooms  

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Indiana and March Madness
~ special featured reviews of Belgian styled beers
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Tagline
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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Featured Review – Visions DDH Hazy IPA from Offshoot Beer Co.

When you have had enough examples of a beer style, you can begin to see the hallmarks. Those attributes that the beer needs to have to be a true example of the style.

For me, a hazy IPA needs to look the part first and foremost. It needs to have that citrus juice murk. It also needs a creamy, pillowy note but with some juice and a little hop bitterness that scrapes the tongue.

Visions from Offshoot Beer Co. ticks all of my hazy boxes. The bitterness which is usually the first casualty of hazies is nice and strong due, probably to the Double Dry Hopping. There is just a touch of juice tangled up with a fluffiness. Most of all, this beer pops off. Not your usual flat and dusty IPA without zing.

This was a media sample which I usually really examine but after a few sips, I just enjoyed it.

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Featured Review – (Nuclear) Power Plant from El Segundo Brewing

It’s Meltdown time of year and due to obvious reasons, the trio of speciality beers from El Segundo Brewing moved to the can format, let’s dive into the capsule reviews of two of the three…

TIPA – Pours a bright vibrant yellow. This warms the cheeks real quick. Alcohol is right on the top of this TIPA but I also get cherry and grape notes filling the gaps in between.  When it comes to big beers like this heaviness can wear down the drinker. Especially in a 16oz can format but the PP is still sprightly even at 11.1%. 

QIPA – initial aroma and first sip is super close in profile with PP. I would say more grape notes emerge as well. Canned and drunk within 4 days. Has a good balance of boozy, hoppy and malt. Just a skosh spikier when you sip. 

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BrewDog AF – Part 2

Back to the Alcohol Free brewed in Columbus , BrewDog AF beer reviews. Who will win the crown?

I start the second set of beers with their most widely known near beer, Nanny State. A beer initially brewed to make a point about bar regulations and drunkenness.

Now, the can does not have the style on it. Without Googling, I guessed hoppy ESB or hoppy brown. Turns out it is slotted into the pale ale category. I get much more of a hop tea flavor profile here. The hops are dialed up a bit which helps make this one taste the least thin and watery of the group so far. Dare I say it is the one that is closest to tasting like a real beer.

Similar to the Elvis AF, this has a big grapefruit aroma and that’s flavor follows through into the first sips. Crisp at first. Almost a salty tang to it as well before it fades into a wet finishing mouthfeel. Little bit of pine notes tucked into this as well. Going on the, “Does this taste like beer” spectrum, it is closer than the group one beers. And closer than Nanny State which had more of a tea note to it.

Finally we get to the lone dark beer in the portfolio. Wake Up Call, subtitled an All Day Coffee Stout. It has a really nice fresh brewed aroma and the taste is lime a subdued cold brew without the acid bite you get from that form of coffee. Still a bit thin at the back but overall could fool one into thinking it is a session coffee beer.

That just leaves the ranking:

  • 6. Punk AF
  • 5. Hazy AF
  • 4. Nanny State
  • 3. Elvis AF
  • 2. Ghost Walker
  • 1. Wake Up Call
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Featured Review – Canbic from Beachwood Blendery

Since it is NFL Playoff time, I am calling a featured review audible and will be reviewing a variety of beers this month with no theme, starting with Canbic from the Beachwood Blendery.

This lambic inspired ale pours a rosy color and that first sip does transport you to Belgium. Fruity with a pucker stuck to it. Cherry is the first flavor that I get followed by lemonade and then a wee little touch of vinegar to cap it off. There is a medium level of barnyardy note in here as well. Get a nice spinach salad with blue cheese as a counterweight and this would really work well as a beverage type vinaigrette.

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In the Tap Lines for August 2020

header_attractionsI keep saying each month that the next month will be better.  And I see no reason to stop now, right?  August has to be better.  Anyhoo, let’s see the good beer news coming over the next 31 days.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Garden State of New Jersey – Alementary, Fort Nonsense and Chimney Rustic Ales
~ special featured reviews of beers of Black is Beautiful beers and one Take Action IPA
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events (Far in the future events)
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Creating Cashflow
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.