Tag: IPA

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Featured Review – Ultra Gnar Gnar from Base Camp

We turn to Base Camp for beer # 2 in the featured reviews for May. As opposed to many recent hop beers from Session IPA to Imperial have been a lighter shade but Ultra Gnar Gnar pours a near red color with tints of orange to it.  Plus for a beer of only 6.7% abv, it has some nice Rorschach lacing on the glass.

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The smell is close to apple tree.  There is a cider-y undercurrent to this IPA along with a perceptible orange spice tea note.  Getting some tannin notes in the flavor along with dried orange peel as well.  The bitterness is fairly strong without being oppressive.  As it warms up, I get more iced tea on the tongue as well as some grain to toast malt.

It certainly has multiple flavors going on but I wish it had a bit more orange juice to it to balance out the bitterness.

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Stumped

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Count L.A. as a lucky outpost in Double Mountain Brewery distribution.  Getting their fresh hop offerings and seasonals like Pale Death is great .  And hopefully there will be a supply of Gypsy Stumper soon. Brewed “a minimalist approach” and Pilsner and Vienna malts with Mosaic, Simcoe, Challenger, and Centennial hops intertwined.

 

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Review – Two Hearted from Bell’s

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Is this what the Doctor would drink on Gallifrey? Too geeky? Probably but I see a chance for cross promotion. Which I think would be cool especially since I do not like the label for Two Hearted at all. Though to be fair the rendition on the Bell’s can is much better.

On to the beer, it pours a lovely medium orange. To be frank the aroma is muted from my west coast perspective. A bit of spice orange teas drifts up but that is primarily it. The taste is almost more session wise except for the beefy malt base. The main note that I get is orange. Almost a candied, creamsicle type of orange which works really well. More smooth than carbonated but that works here and the bitterness rounds it out in the back. You can taste why this is popular.

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Tony’s Darts Away – 5

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Midnight IPA and a “Sour Easter Sunday” will ring in the 5th momentous anniversary of Tony’s Darts Away on April 4th and 5th.

I can’t remember what Burbank without Tony’s was like. And that means that Golden Road and Mohawk are even younger! For those who haven’t made the trip to Magnolia Boulevard for an anniversary, each hour from 10am to 7pm brings a new beer on tap. And not just “any” beers mind you, but aged beauties like:

Hangar 24 – Pugachev’s Cobra (2014)
Firestone – Parabola (2013)
Lost Abbey – Bourbon Barrel Angel’s Share (2014)
Russian River – Consecration
Russian River – Supplication
Lost Abbey – Spontaneous Cheer (2013)

Follow them on the social media sites

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Review – Hang Five IPA from Beach City

I have been hearing good things about Beach City beers but I haven’t been able to visit their space. But thanks to the enterprising folks at Sunset Beer,I found two bottles that I could bring home.

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First things first.  Both the beer name and label need work. Compared to other L.A. Breweries, those two aspects pale. Maybe use a more obscure surfing reference and find a cleaner, less busy piece of label art.

On to the beer.  It pours a light orange witha bit of head to it. The aroma is spice with some wood notes.  The taste is fine though I think it is faded a bit. Maybe too old of a bottle. Still has a bit of hop hit to it but seems less rounded.  Even the carbonation seems dulled.

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I will have to reserve full judgement until I have it fresh on tap but this is only so-so.

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Beer Talk

Beer events usually involve beer geeks. Not a bad thing. But sometimes casting a wider net of beer drinkers can yield more interesting conclusions. The 1st Beer Talk with the theme of IPA was just such an event.
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For example, have noted IPA lover Tony Yanow of Golden Road talking about his take on the history of the IPA style to a crowd that included a home brewer, beer bloggers and a person who has never been to Mohawk Bend and you end up hearing new viewpoints on an oft discussed and oft drunk beer style along with generous samples to compare and contrast.
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Tidbits that I picked up:
Tony is a big fan of the Kernel Brewery in London. I tried to put a bug in his ear about a transatlantic collaboration. Maybe that can happen.

A 4% beer with 80 IBU’s would be more of a palate wrecker than Palate Wrecker.

Deadheads were big Sierra Nevada fans and as they followed the band they brought the beer with them around the country. Possibly getting the US accustomed to hoppy beers.

Anything over 100 IBU’s is really theoretical. You just can’t utilize that much alpha acid.

To me the best aspect was getting to try Blind Pig next to Sierra Nevada Pale ale or the Pliny the Elder next to Wolf Among Weeds because it does really show the differences off and can lead to a greater appreciation for a beer that may get passed up. Plus to see the faces of people who either haven’t had the beer before is really cool. Toss in a little blind tasting where I ranked Wolf slightly higher than Pliny along with a couple others is fun too.

And the $20 price tag is a steal in an era of $50+ events out there.

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Review – King Harbor IPA

IMG_3635 I am so glad that King Harbor is bottling. And also glad the bottle design is cool, compared to Beach City and Bell’s which are also in fiber beer shoppes.

Enough art talk though. What about the IPA?

It pours a dark yellow and the aroma toggles between pineapple, grape and cat pee in equal measure. The taste is solid to above average. I am a big fan of their Swirly beer, so I think they target my darker malt palate but I do enjoy this IPA. It has a nice mixture of flavors without being beat upon the head with hops.  I much prefer this method so den though the finish is a little alcohol burn heavy for me, I still like this offering.  And I hope for more bottles in the future.
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Review – The Messenger IPA

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Wow. I remember liking this Three Weavers / Noble Ale Works collaboration back before 3W was not yet up and running in Inglewood but this bottle is tremendous. Just bright with citrus. I am getting tangerine and grapefruit in large delicious amounts. Not much bitterness here but that is because it is accenting the fruit not fighting it.

It also pours a beautiful and clear yellow from a really cool looking and big bottle. Really simple but artfully arranged colors and graphics on the label. The beer really looks good next to the bottle.

Back to the beer, it is super juicy and if you like that, well then this beer will really tickle your tastebuds. And if you have an IPA averse someone in your life, this might be the beer for them. I gave a taste to my resident witbier fan and got a really positive response.

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Hop Hunting

Sierra Nevada continues with hop innovation. From their Torpedo to their new method of using oil distilled from wet hops steam right there in the field. Minutes after the bines are picked.

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The beer beer will be called Hop Hunter IPA though I would have gone with Hop Science or something punnier. The oil will be part of a hopping schedule to create a fresh hop essence as long as the oil lasts.

P.S.  I am not even going to touch the nonsense surrounding the font.  Nope.  Not gonna.

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Gluten Low

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To be completely clear, this is not a gluten-free beer.  I believe that Stone is using a similar system to that of Widmer and the Omission series of beers where the gluten is stripped out later.  Not brewed without gluten.  Either way, the fact that Lemondrop and El Dorado hops are being used should be enough to get anyone, regardless of dietary needs, to check this out.  I have been hard on Stone in past years for falling into a rut with their mainline IPA’s but they have done good work with the Enjoy By series and their Liberty Station brews are interesting and fun.  2015 might be a mini-revival for the brand in my eyes.  And I will be looking for this beer.

UPDATE – If you can withstand a little bit of gluten, then this might be your IPA.  And if you are gluten tolerant, then it might become an alternative, along with Go To Session IPA, to the massive hop bombs that are in the regular Stone line-up.  This is a mighty hoppy beer.  But it is also subtle.  There are grape notes and a bit of peppery rye type spice in here.  The bitterness really lingers on the palate but is quite nice.  And big plus, it doesn’t have the Tofurky curse that some gluten free beers have where you know they had to substitute, and it just doesn’t match up.  Good work.