Tag: IPA

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Almanac goes IPA

Screen Shot 2014-07-17 at 7.27.27 PMPart of me wishes that Almanac would stay with the fruits and odd styles like Gose.  And part of me does not like the damn curlicue/scrimshaw font either.  But I guess, when in Rome.  Go hoppy.  I am sure it will be a strong beer.

“Introducing our year-round Almanac IPA in 22 oz. bottles! This copper-hued, West Coast hop bomb is brewed with a malt base of California-grown two-row barley, with additions of German Vienna, Crystal and Biscuit malts.

Then we start layering on the hops—grown in California, Oregon and Washington. We combine Apollo, El Dorado, Simcoe and Mosaic to create our own twist on the IPA style with intense aromas of grapefruit and tangerine peel, melon, pineapple and pine trees. The finish has a clean bitterness and light saltine cracker note.”

Sorry for the non-ringing endorsement in the intro.  As much as I love hops, I wish some people could overcome the urge to add another IPA to the pile. But if the beer drinking people want bread and circus.

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Review – Unapologetic IPA

One of my favorite breweries, Beachwood has joined the growing list of Stone collaborators to create an Unapologetic IPA along with third partner, Heretic Brewing.

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This IPA that was kindly provided to me by Stone pours a bright and cheerful orange. The first taste that comes through is Concord grape. Grape Ne-Hi to be exact. Then a heavy bitterness hangs like a shroud.

The aroma is great on this one. Zippy and filled with grape notes. But that promising start is undone by the heaviness. There is just an astringency that makes this below average. And then the cat pee notes kick in a little too harshly as well. And since these are such new hops.  Belma?  Yakima #’s without catchy names?  I don’t really know what is causing the high points or the low.

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This just verifies that the Stone IPA palate is not mine. That is no knock on Stone. Their Hophead fans are legion, so they are playing to their customer base for sure. And I know they have a session IPA out there that is more in line with my delicate sensibilities but I would have liked to see less hops here. Toned down the ABV a skosh as well.

All apologies but this IPA is not for me.

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Review – 2 from Stone Brewing

First off, I am not even going to try to spell the name of the new series of beers from Stone.  Them’s the breaks when you choose a name like StocheeheenieWTF.  But I will try the beer.  The first in the series was the Grapefruit slam that I thought worked as a beer more than the marketing.  But I am a sucker for grapefruit and it worked well with the hops.  Now they have gone to the Belgian Quad and used Triticale which reliable Wikipedia (and other sources) describe as, “….a hybrid of wheat and rye first bred in laboratories during the late 19th century.”

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This beer was strange.  Not easy to drink.  It was sharp with an astringency to it that made me pucker, even though it wasn’t sour at all.  It also tasted thin.  I expect Quads to have a little heft to them.  Not viscous, per se, but have a solid malty backbone to lean against and this did not have it.  Their was also a lack of spice to it and it had more of a Belgian strong ale straightforwardness to it.  I couldn’t finish this one, to be honest.  I poured out a solid half a glass.  It did work better with the dessert than the main course in my testing but I think that was the sweetness of the fruit crumble that balanced out the strange taste that I will attribute to the Triticale or the yeast.

The second beer was the latest Enjoy By, with the patriotic date of 7/4/14 on it.

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Needless to say this is bitter.  And a little less fruity than past incarnations that I remember.  But it certainly is crisper and more direct than the usual Stone hop bombs.  There is mango and pineapple notes followed by a dankness and heaviness as the beer warms up and hits the back of the palate.  It certainly sticks around as well.  Not many scrubbing bubbles.  And at over 9% abv, this is probably more a Triple or Imperial IPA depending on your taxonomic leanings.  There is a bit of acrid bitterness but the ABV doesn’t heat you up.  But I wouldn’t put someone in charge of the 4th of July grill who has had one of these.  My personal palate would have liked a less heavy dankness and a brighter fruit note but I am not like most Stone fans so this is probably more in line with their tastes than mine.

 

 

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Review – Collective Distortion IPA from Stone

In recent years, I have become more fond of the Stone Collaborations then there core line-up.  They can get a little too zany and pump up ingredients that should be bit players when simplicity might work better.  But their experimentation is a welcome switch from their usual flavor profile.  And though I was not a fan of WootStout or the R&R Coconut IPA, I liked that they were enlisting home brewers of both the non-celebrity and celebrity types in their creations.

And the latter continues with a musical (String Cheese Incidient / Alice Cooper) themed collaboration that adds a reliable hop like Nugget with somewhat newer varietal Comet and Calypso with dry-hopping of Vic’s Secret, a new Australian hop.  Then they added in coriander and elderberries.

That is the backstory, now here is the review…

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The “CD” pours a bright and clear orange.  Not much of a head to it.  Nice and bubbly looking though.  The smell is a bit non-descript with a hint of soapiness to it.  The first flavor that I get is grape.  Concord grape.  Grape jelly grape.  Then there is a really harsh bitterness that fades into a currant note. To the point where I Googled elderberry to see if that was what I was tasting. After a few sips this bitterness coats the tongue and the mouth and the grape notes fade to the back and one is left with the harshness only.  There is also an astringent and wood pairing of notes as well.  The former adds to the debilitating bitterness and the former tries to perk things up without much success.

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I don’t know if it was the mix of hops or the elderberry and coriander or the combination of all three but this is just too much and it becomes oppressive tasting.

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2 out of 3

I have not been a big fan of Stone hop bombs.  Probably a palate thing on my part.  They just seem muddled to me.  Whereas their GoTo Session and Enjoy By seem simpler and tastier.  But this collaboration has me intrigued because it brings three distinct brewers together.  Plus I think the world of Julian Shrago of Beachwood, so I will be getting this just for his 1/3 contribution.

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Review – Castaway IPA from Kona Brewing

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I get the occasional media sample of beers. Most don’t come stuffed inside a volleyball however. But Kona Brewing has always been creative with their packages.

You may have to reach back in your data bank but Castaway (the movie) featured Tom Hanks and a volleyball named Wilson. Castaway (the IPA) features Galaxy, Citra, Simcoe and Milenium hops.

It pours a bright orange. Very tropical on the nose. Pineapple and mango mainly. The taste is light with a hint of wheat. There is still a nice bit of bitterness amidst the fruit punch notes. There is a good amount of bubbles and a minor hint of spice as well.

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This beer was free but I would gladly pay for it on tap. It is fruity and fun and delivers the Citra which I love without being muddled by competing hops.

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Expectations Unmet

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I don’t usually write harsh reviews. Mostly because I am pretty damn picky about the beers that I spend my money on.  But I do have breweries whose beer I think is over-over rated and there are others whose beer just underwhelms expectations.

And unfortunately, Saint Archer has twice fallen into that latter category.

Recently, I had a taster flight plus 2 of Saint Archer beers at Beer Belly.  I set aside my previous experience with the Pale (which I did not cotton to) and the Blonde (which I really quite enjoyed) as I had heard that quality had improved over time.  Which I have found to (sometimes) be true as brewers dial in the recipes.  And since Saint Archer along with Modern Times have been blitzing the L.A. market, I felt the time was ripe to re-evaluate the line.

The Blonde was just as good as I remembered so I started hopefully moving down the taster line.  The Pale was better though not lip-smacking good.  Middle of the Pack.  Which isn’t bad in a crowded hop field.  Then I got to the IPA which was incredibly soapy to me.  I was glad that I didn’t get a full glass of it.  Not much bitterness either.  The last of the taster was a Scottish Ale that was fine but it did have a touch of wort-ish, not quite done-ness to it at the back.

While waiting for a fellow beer gourmand to arrive, I overheard that the Nitro Coffee Brown was tasty, so I ordered one up.  And what I got was certainly a distinct take on the style.  It was just not what I was expecting.  It was the coffee bean all right but the peppery, unroasted type.  So you got much more of that green pepper taste than coffee. Which was a direct counter to the coffee aroma.  I can see how others might like it but it just didn’t work for me because of the switch from aroma to taste.

I finished with the Double IPA which much like the Pale was good but not Wow! Good.  It was fine but in comparison to the hoppy creations of El Segundo that I had tasted the night before, it just paled in both strength and hoppiness.  Maybe my hop palate has an uber high tolerance level but it just didn’t have an effect on me one way or the other.

This experience got me to thinking about expectations. How much of my disappointment is based on the track record of the brewers behind the brand. There are good people at the mash tun so it certainly is a factor. Or is it a comparison to Modern Times whose beers seem on track?  Was I hoping for more than a standard product line of blonde to stout ? Or is it just what I expect from San Diego beer in general?  Only a psychiatrist could probably find out what percentage of my review can be attributed to those points.

As for now, I can heartily recommend the Blonde but I would suggest stopping there unless you want to do your own analysis.

 

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Review – I-10 from Intuition Ales

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This Jacksonville, Florida IPA from Intuition pours a bright orange color. Love the can design of the car and the facts on the reverse side but the silver needs to be muted to be read better. I really have to glare at the can to see the malt bill.  This is a very pine and dank type of IPA. No citrus here. No sir.  Many pepper notes as well that really spices it up. Heavy malt backbone as well. Didn’t appreciate the first can that I tasted but this tasted better or my palate is acclimating to East Coast bitterness levels.

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Amalgamated

I really don’t know if Julian at Beachwood sleeps much.  Every time I turn around he has another beer on draft or another beer debuting in bottles.  Now here comes….

“…Amalgamator India Pale Ale. This powerful and insanely hoppy brew is the perfect addition to Beachwood’s series of bottled IPAs.

Amalgamator is a West Coast India Pale Ale that’s bursting with unique aromas and flavors. This bold IPA is kettle hopped with Amarillo, Warrior, Columbus, and Mosaic, a new American variety. The dry hop is a massive charge of Mosaic that lays down an amalgam of passion fruit, blueberry, dank resin, and citrus aromas. ”

Amalgamator IPA bottles will be released at both Beachwood locations on February 25th, 2014 at 5pm.