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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.
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.
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.
For the video reviews this month, I am doing something a bit different. Reviewing a base beer and then a variant of that style of beer. We started earlier this month with the famed Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City and now my review of the Humidor Series version IPA from the Tampa based brewery.
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.
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.
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.
When I heard that Anchor Brewing was stopping their bock, I was a bit miffed. Certain styles in the U.S. were being phased out it appeared. Anchor had done such a good job adding a lager to their line-up that I felt a step had been taken backward.
That worry was amplified by what appears to be the replacement, another IPA. I certainly hope it is good. I will try it but I wish they could do it and the bock ½ and 1/2.
Here is how Jay Brooks at the Brookston Beer Bulletin, described the new beer, “Anchor IPA is brewed with six different hops, including Apollo, Bravo and Cascade for bittering, and the five used in dry-hopping are Apollo, Cascade, an experimental hop still know as 431, Nelson Sauvin and Citra.”
For the video reviews this month, I am doing something a bit different. Reviewing a base beer and then a variant of that style of beer. We start with the famed Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City. Later this month, I will review the Humidor Series version IPA.
I don’t know about this experiment but I really like that it is tabbed as an experiment. So many beer releases have fancy, dressed up names but this one I may try because of the fact that they own up to their testing. Kudos to Harvester Brewing!
“Apple IPA features the wonderful characteristics of a dry cider crossed with a classicly-hopped Northwest IPA. It starts with an IPA base brewed with buckwheat and chestnuts and kettle hopped with three large aroma additions of Centennial hops. Then apple must is added to create a mixture of 51% IPA and 49% cider. The blend is fermented with an American ale yeast, and is finished by dry- hopping with 10 lbs. of Centennial hops.”
Golden Road’s Custom IPA’s have a new addition. And whether it is about your eyesight or 6 years from now, 2020 sounds like a good way to start 2014.
