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.
Over at Port 12
It is a rite of passage each year to have the latest numbered DIPA from Port Brewing….
Look for it in 22oz bombers.
Royal
I see new beers pass by from e-mails or the Social Media and some garner the “that would be interesting” to “if I see it on a shelf, I will pick it up”.
More rare is the, I will be actively looking for this beer.
I don’t see much of Yeastie Boys in SoCal but maybe I will see it in my fall travels. If so, I would not wait to crack open a combo of my favorite tea with the IPA style.
Featured Review – Palate Wrecker from Green Flash
Some breweries fade in and out. I haven’t had Green Flash beers in a month (or two?) and then I go out and order Sea to Sea Lager and Soul Style – Tangerine in quick succession.
So now on to Palate Wrecker 2017..
The very first sip puts you on your back foot. Very strong, piney and a bit astringent. You would think that what came next would be a heavy, near caramel malt texture to hold up the hops. But that never comes. As the beer warms, more tropical fruit notes start creeping in. I get pineapple in particular. The ABV isn’t what is front and center either. This is just straight up bitter.
Featured Review – Fastback Racer from Bear Republic
Bear Republic has added to their Racer series with a new car style, so to speak, Fastback Racer DIPA.
The beer pours a pretty bright and orange and clear. Lovely bit of foam on the top with nice bubbling to it. A cross of pine and orange peel greets the nose as I stick it into that foam. This really tastes strong and I would classify it as a triple or Imperial. I mean 10.4%! That strength comes through in the flavor. Everything else comes in behind that power which makes it a bit of a disappointment, I guess. Citrus is peeking out here and there but not very often. It makes the beer a bit one dimensional.
Really Fast
The “racing” series from Bear Republic has a new addition arriving this month with Fastback Racer DIPA making a limited appearance. Headlined by Citra and Ekuanot hops, the beer will be in both six pack and 22oz formats.
Beer Book Review – Complete IPA by Joshua Bernstein
Joshua Bernstein has made an admirable stab at the inimitable and intimidating IPA style (and sub-styles) in his book Complete IPA – The Guide to Your Favorite Craft Beer and he mostly succeeds.
Where I find fault is not so much the execution but the format chosen at the beginning. A book based on primarily reviews of IPA’s or in this case, more accurately, highlighting beers from U.S. regions that signify the IPA leads to a certain almanac type of style which can be repetitive even in the most descriptive of writers hands as Bernstein is.
It also leads to the inevitable stale aspect. Bernstein tosses out fun facts and covers a wide swath of breweries in this heavy hardback book which is great. I now have breweries to check out all across the country but he also tosses in other beers brewed of the non-IPA variety that distract from the topic at hand. It is great, overall, to know that brewery A in state B has a great stout but I would have preferred to know about the IPA philosophy of that brewery and how it was brewed to showcase the hops used. If that means less beers focused on, that is fine. I would rather have read ten longer pieces that detailed ten different IPA’s than a Top 10 list however well curated.
All of that is not to say that Complete IPA is not helpful. It is. It is succinct and clear and the beers that appear in the book are fine choices. (Though L.A. got extremely short shrift with only Beachwood getting a page for Amalgamator and Smog City getting a quick mention.) I really like Bernstein’s writing style as well. For such a narrow-ish topic, the book never gets repetitive with its adjectives. For what it wants to do, it is absolutely fine.
In the end, I am also still waiting for a history of the IPA in America to date.
Haunted
Most breweries are, lets face it, will not wind up in architecture magazines. Unless it is “Inudstrial Park Chic”. But Pomona based Alosta Brewing has done the next best thing. And it is a cool beer meets Halloween event minus pumpkins.
They are releasing their new DIPA “Second Empire.” Second Empire is a style of architecture which is embodied in Disney’s haunted mansion. But there is another example, the Philips Mansion in Pomona conveniently located next to a cemetary.
The DIPA houses a blend of Citra, Amarillo, Apollo, and Cascade hops at a striking 76 IBU’s.
The brewery has partnered with the Pomona Historical Society for a special bottle release event.
Here are the details from the website: “Pre-order your bottle(s) of “Second Empire” and then come by the mansion on Friday, Oct. 14th between 7:30-10pm and not only pick up your order, but enjoy a sample or two. Best of all, you will be able to take a nighttime tour of the mansion itself. A portion of every bottle we sell will be donated to the Pomona Historical Society to help in their effort of restoring the Philips Mansion for future generations to enjoy.”
Tustin 20
Two mind-blowing things.
1. Tustin Brewing has been going that long? Wow!
2. This is their first, major bottle release.
Pigeons of War
I will make the assumption that pigeons have something to do with Drake and ships on the open sea and war. Mostly because I think the label is really cool and not only is quite stylistically apart from “normal” Drakes Brewing labels while also still being recognizably Drakes but also sports a cool font and a green/orange color scheme that works really well.
Oh, and they know a bit about hops up there so a DIPA is firmly in their wheelhouse.