Tag: IPA

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In the Tap Lines for January 2016

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A new year. A new start. Time to resolve to be a better and more varied beer drinker in 2016. Hopefully, this blog will help you achieve that.

~ e-visits to three breweries from the pages of All About Beer magazine including Smartmouth Brewing Co., Saltwater Brewery and Black Mesa Brewing Co.
~ special featured reviews of IPA’s from Green Flash.
~ 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 returns!
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 107 covers the topic, “Let’s Be Friends”

Here are two events to get your January started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) January 12th  – Founders Brewing Comes to LA at Far Bar
2) January 23rd  – Transplants Brewing opening

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Holiday Ale # 10 – Magnanimous

Day 10 of the Christmas Ale countdown leads us to Astoria, Oregon and Fort George Brewing for cans of Magnanimous IPA…
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“Fort George presents to you its latest seasonal collaboration, Magnanimous IPA, a joint effort with Earth & Sky Farm of Oregon City. Bestowed with generous amounts of hand-harvested Grand Fir tips and bountiful additions of Simcoe and Chinook hops, Magnanimous IPA offers a noble blend of lush piney hops and fresh evergreen aroma.”

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Re-Review: Mumford Brewing

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Since my initial visit to Mumford in DTLA, I have been back two more times and it is time to update my views on the beers and the brewery. The big plus now is that they have a crowler fill station up and running. For $10-$12 bucks you can take home a fresh can of beer. That is great.

What also is heartening is that the beers are gradually improving. In my first taster tray, I really only enjoyed the LA Crema. The rest, including a strange rauch-hop IPA were underwhelming. Now hop heads have their choice of multiple IPA’s and a double IPA. I found Rambis IPA to be to my liking as was the DIPA, Looters. The Hop Rations IPA had a brilliant tropical fruit forward start but then faded into a strange bitterness that coated the tongue. It was truly a Jekyll and Hyde beer. The new dubbel tasted more like a German hefe crossed with a pretzel. It was fine if a bit watery but certainly not up to dubbel strength. The Scottish Stout, Groundskeepers was just fine. Nice dark color and easy drinking malt base.

The beer is improving to match the surrounding and on Sunday, you can park in the lot next door for free.

The beer variety is fine though I don’t quite taste a house character or a theme to their offerings that would mark them as unique but that may come in time.
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Featured Review – Willow Wolves from Acoustic Ales

First off, the label & bottle cap for Willow Wolves from Acoustic Ales beer is super cool and must have cost a pretty penny to not only create but to get onto the bottle in the correct way.
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I wish the beer had been as good. WW pours a muddy orange brown with no head. It just did not look appealing in the glass at all. It was redeemed, somewhat by the aroma which is very earthy.

The beer has a dank flavor without balance with a very lingering bitterness that just sorts of sits there without popping. It is a very one note beer which is odd because I had tasted the blonde ale and found it to be very well done and complex.

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Hop to It, Jack

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To start, anybody that puts the word surreptitious on a beer label gets a kudo.  After that, I am on the fence.  How will the hops vs. Jack battle end?  Or will they work together?  At that ABV, I have a feeling it might be more barrel than hop from noted hop heads Knee Deep.

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Featured Review – Brew Free or Die IPA from 21st Amendment

Our final beer from 21st Amendment, their IPA Rushmore, Brew Free or Die!

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This pours out of the can pretty piney smelling.  Very enticing to start.  The orange color and cool lacing are also positives.  And the taste follows suit for a bit.  But then the flavors start to wear on the tongue.  There is some tropical in the mix but I get a lot of woody notes up front that is barrel-esque but finishes with more of a sawdusty taste.  It is bitter but not overtly so but the hops do start to make their presence felt which is what causes the weariness.

Maybe I appreciate the lighter 21a beers.

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Guinness IPA?

…and in Nitro cans?
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I have a couple bones to pick with this new Irish beer….

This label looks awfully close to the font and style of Noble Ale Works to me. Which was OK when it was variants of stout or a pale lager but now that Guinness has thrown their hat into the IPA ring, it seems to close for comfort right now.

Secondly, why would Guinness make an IPA anyway? Do they have leftover nitro widget cans that needed filling? And someone at Diageo HQ read an article about IPA’s being the “it” style?

I’m not some purist who can’t see IPA’s getting the nitro treatment but this seems tilted toward marketing and not toward making great beer.

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Vanilla IPA?

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I am very picky when it comes to Black (Cascadian) IPA’s. Balance is important and that is a hard trick to manage with that sub-style. But I think a Vanilla Bean IPA from the Hoppin’ Frog might be even harder to manage. Would it impart a creamy, nitro-esque note? Or would it become a fight between sweet and bitter. File this under get a taster first.

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Review – Ride On IPA from Golden Road

Another IPA from the blue building at Golden Road is in cans now, Ride On IPA at 6.4% ABV is supposed to have notes of melon and pine and be perfect for skateboarding. Will I find that, or something else?

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Ride On pours a light yellow with a rocky head of foam.  The aroma hits me as honeydew melon and spice.  So, yeah. The description matches my tastebuds.  Additionally there is a hit of grapefruit juice that is almost rubbing alcohol-esque.  But that rises and fades pretty quickly.  This IPA seems a little more viscous than biting on the tongue.  Which is not what I was expecting at all.  It is certainly an IPA that is less like most of the market for sure.  I would label it as a change of pace IPA.