Tag: review

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Review – Lion Claaws from Los Angeles Ale Works and Firestone Walker


This milkshake collab between Los Angeles Ale Works and the Firestone Walker – Propagator pours like a grapefruit juice. The aroma is pineapple mixed with coconut. First taste unveils a lot of lactose. A lot. This is sugary. Only little over a week old and the hops of a DIPA are just not to be found. There is some orange juice but that just creates a creamsicle effect.

As it warms some of the bitterness starts to peek through but by then the battle has been won by the lactose. Strong fun flavors but the balance is off to me.

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Review – Boom Sauce from Lord Hobo


The Sauce doesn’t pour super hazy. Nice orange color. I tasted this beer and more from Lord Hobo for the first time on draft (at Barbara’s at the Brewery) and preferred Glorious more. I love the can design the verticality and font is cool. The IPA has that pillowy hop smell. A certain fuzziness. Boom Sauce tasted better in the can but is still feels as if it has road wear to it. A little butter undercurrent runs throughts. Maybe the hype has led to too high expectations.

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Review – BFD from Sierra Nevada

There are more of the “stovepipe” cans out on shelves and one that I have recently tasted is from the venerable Sierra Nevada, BFD. Is it a big deal?

Pours a light yellow and oh so clear. Straightforward and simple. Lightly dusted with bitterness. Aroma is very muted. I am reaching when I say a sweet bready note. Very lip smacking. Light pineapple note to it. Kings Hawaiian roll? If you are watching an NFL Draft or the Freakin’ Pelicans, this is a beer you can enjoy without worry about having had too many.

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Review – Saison Ardennes from The Bruery Terreux

I was lucky enough to get a media sample of the new Saison Ardennes from The Bruery Terreux.

I opened up the 12.7oz bottle with the equine label to see what the second brewery is up to….

…and Ardennes pours a lovely bright orange color. Initial aroma is on the sour side. Much more than the actual taste. Sharp initial sour bite that drops back down to a medium woody taste. A little bit vinous too. Getting a little grape character. More rustic than barnyard.

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Featured Review – Brought A Jacket Didn’t Need It from Mumford


Up there with the great beer names that I have run across is the new session IPA collaboration from DTLAs Mumford Brewing and Cerebral Brewing.
Definite hazy aroma, almost like lupulin powder (if that was used). Has that hazy scrape on the tongue. Finishes a bit watery though so that scrape isn’t full. The can art and design s really cool. The beer itself looks like grapefruit juice. Dank bitterness taste lingers for awhile. First time I have seen Enigma hop broadcast as a selling point. Grassy more than citrus.

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Featured Review – Funky Wit from Angel City

This is the 4th vintage of the Funky Wit from Angel City. I also received the Mattole River Tripel around the same time so, which will be my favorite?

Let’s dive in….
I got through the purple wax without too much trouble and was greeted by what I would quantify as medium funk in the aroma. The taste starts out with a little zip of sour before a mixture of wood and toast notes take over for a duet. Not much of a head and I am not getting much coriander and the orange peel is pretty darn minimal too. Both would have added layers if amplified a bit. A bit of a white wine taste does sneak in as well.

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Review Ignorant DIPA from Boomtown Brewing

I received a lovely package of aluminum cans from North DTLA Boomtown Brewing recently which included a can of their mural style art emblazoned, Ignorant DIPA.

Here is the review:
Big flavor somewhere between navel orange and Satsuma tangerine. Bitterness is really soft. Sticks to the roof of the mouth. Appropriately hazy appearance. Bright tropical fruit (pineapple) aroma. Bit of hop sharpness upfront that fades really fast.

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Featured Review – Hop Bullet vs. Hazy Little Thing


Sierra Nevada does not stop when it comes to hops. And thanks to Sunset Beer Co. selling singles, it is easy to cheaply taste test among their offerings which I did in November as well. Let’s check the two out…

Hazy Little Thing
Seems pretty clear to me. The aroma just popped out when the can was opened. Lots of orange soda taste here. Soft pillowy texture. Candy-esque

Hop Bullet DIPA
“Spring Seasonal” in shelves in December? Pours a clear orange color. Sharp and medium bitter. Grassy and a skosh dank. Some orange notes.

This is a hard call. Both beers are as advertised. The way-too-early “Spring” moniker is minus points but the HLT is just too tilted to a candy flavor that is a bit much for me. I say go old school and bite the bullet.

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Featured Review – Brett Lager from Ale Apothecary/GoodLife

Though I did not make it to Bend in time to visit the Ale Apothecary taproom, I did purchase a bottle of what is probably their least expensive beer to buy. Brett Lager, a collaboration with GoodLife Brewing, their next door neighbor (literally).

I cracked through the wax top to review this exotic beer.

This mixed Fermentation collab from Bend neighbors GoodLife and Ale Apothecary was one of my target purchases on a recent trip to Bend and it lived up to my own made hype.

Brett Lager pours a lustrous and deep orange. There is a bit of leathery, tart aroma. That first taste was quite zippy. I could feel the acidity and bubbles working their magic. There is orange and tropical notes swirling here. If someone had told me lager was in the name, I would have said, “OK, if you say so”. This is mostly a medium Brett beer that just tastes wonderful. There is a satiny and tart mix that works wonders.

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Review – Melon Beers

There are some fruits that get all the beer love, melon is not one of them. But I have seen a recent uptick in their use and now I have two to compare.

First up is from Lucky Luke, Billie a cantaloupe Gose…

… which has a light cantaloupe sweetness. That first sip is quite zippy. Good balance of salt to tart. Has a bit of melon rind smell tucked in as well. Finishes a bit velvety and a touch sugary.

Second is the Melon Saison from Cellador Ales…

… which pours a fizzy yellow. The Saison overflowed once the cap came off. Light honeydew taste is there at the back. Layer of acid and some farmhouse textures. Some barn leather notes. Melon sugar/water can’t balance the tart though.

Of the two, the Billie from Lucky Luke struck the right balance of tart to sweet. The Cellador Saison was good but was too puckery tart for me.