Tag: review

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Review – TuberFest from Lagunitas

This isn’t my first rodeo with a tuber themed Oktoberfest beer. Widmer Brewing did one a year or two ago, but this is one that makes the connection of spuds to Idaho to the new Idaho 7 hop.
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Let’s see what Lagunitas has cooked up….

The Tuber pours a clear orange color and right off the bat there is some hops to it on the nose. It tastes to me of a beer with two minds to it. There is a hoppy red half and a Germanic Marzen half. New World meets Old World. The hops add a juicy quality that works against the malt to me. The lingering bitterness is a bit more off putting to me. One of those beers that is working right up until it makes a turn. Maybe more spuds are needed?

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Review – Hopzeit Autumn IPA from Deschutes

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Instead of going straight to pumpkins let’s first review the new Hopzeit Autumn IPA from Deschutes Brewery. According to the Bend, Oregon brewery they were “inspired by a traditional Märzenbier, German hops add herbal, fruit and spice notes to balance the smooth and elegant malt character.”

This new seasonal is half dank and half Marzen. And neither half quite works for me. Too astringent by far with a weird bitter toast taste that veers into almost burnt toast territory. I love the label and the accompany marketing…
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…but the beer doesn’t showcase the highlights of both styles. As a test, to make sure, that it wasn’t just a long day of work that had me off-kilter, I also had an Oktoberfest bier and an IPA to see and came away more convinced that the right hop in the right amount wasn’t added to the autumn beer in this case.

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#LABW8 – A Look to 9

So the 2016 edition of L.A. Beer Week is behind us.
Time to reflect on what worked and what else I would like to see happening…
1. I liked the idea of the Gold Line Pub Crawl with different breweries featured at different bars along the route of the train. Next year, it should expand to the new Metro line and the Red Line too. Heck, maybe even the Orange Line busway too.

2. I like the idea of Kick the Keg and Battle of the Guilds and the other competitions but it would be good to have more focused, smaller contests. Select Beer in Redondo Beach had the right idea with four IPA’s going head-to-head. Maybe have mini-contests each day of the week. Monday is Best IPA with one each from San Diego, San Francisco and LA, then the next night, rotate to a new bar for Saisons and so on.

3. The Kick-Off Fest needs to sit in one place for a while. L.A. Center seems to have enough space and the layout was A-OK this year, so I vote for keeping it there if possible. The other idea would be to alternate years. One on the Eastside and the next year Westside but at the same locations .

4. Food and Beer pairings are still out there but I would love to see (again) more focused events that are not so wallet damaging. Beer and cupcakes would be lovely. Special Beer and (insert favorite food here) pairing events in the vein of The Oinkster’s Burger Week.

5. Oregon Night at Beer Belly was a great idea and I would like to see that extended to the Brexiteer’s or German beers.
As usual, the organizers (especially the esteemed Franny) and the breweries are to be commended for all of the hard work and sweat put into this year’s craft beer celebration. The work for one festival is jaw-dropping. But they had to deal with two plus all the events in-between. All so we can have a plethora of choices.

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Review – Unity 2015 Tart Saison from Smog City

On LABW8 eve, I am looking back to LABW7 and the tart saison that I stashed from last year’s Unity brew from Smog City.
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The 2015 Unity pours really clear with a little bit of bubbling around the edges of the glass. The tartness is still there but it softens quickly into a bit of a buttery flavor. A bit viscous on the tongue until the next sip washes it away. Little to no aroma at this point. But there is some lemon rind notes going on. I wasn’t expecting a wonderful experience after a year for a beer that is mid 5% in ABV. More an experiment than anything else but it is a great way to get into the LABW mindset.

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Review – Botanical IPA from Dry River

This is my first IPA from the Dry River crew and I am excited to see what these botanicals add/subtract and how they have interpreted the style.
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Bouquet is a “barrel fermented IPA “dry hopped” with locally foraged botanicals.” Which the brewer believes imparts spice, orange peel, grapefruit, white pepper, clove and sweet citrus.

Let’s see if it does…..
I will have to respectfully disagree about the IPA but this is made up for in the botanical part of the name. This is way spicy. Murky brown with a big earthy aroma to it. Cinnamon, nutmeg and just damn winter ale like to me. Like walking into a spice purveyor. More saison like to me. I am even catching some really rough pineapple notes too. But that is a deep cut.

I really like this but it is quite different from the “normal” beers out there.

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1/2 a Camp

While perusing the shelves at my Trader Joe’s, I noticed that the orphan section had some of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2016 beers being sold as singles.  Sweet Sunny South, the Southern Table Beer, Moxee Moron, the Imperial Session IPA and West Latitude Session Rye with Hibiscus were available.  Where the other 1/2 of the variety pack went, I do not know.

So, let’s delve into the lighter/hoppier side of this years collaborations….
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Sweet Sunny South Southern Table Beer (4.9% ABV) – An easy-drinking, malt-forward beer with a tangy finish, featuring traditional Southern ingredients like peaches, tea, corn grits and honey.

A great start to the 2016 variety box.  Aroma starts a little metallic but then the corn notes start popping and don’t really stop until tropical fruit (papaya, guava, prickly pear) step into the breach. There is a wine-like tannic finish that I wish was more tea like because I would call this beer more Sunny South and lose the sweet descriptor from the name. But this is a complex summer beer that I quite like.

West Latitude Session Rye with Hibiscus (5.5% ABV) – A Session Rye combining a Hawaiian influence of hibiscus with California’s love of hops.

Another beer and another winner.  Hibiscus is usually too potent of an addition to a beer but due to the rye and darker malts, it is lessened.  The potpourri aroma is really nice.  A dry finish.  The tea that I wanted in the first beer is really evident here.  Just a touch of bitterness as well.  Well done to the Bay Area + Maui Brewing.

Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA (7.5% ABV) – A style contradiction honoring the Pacific Northwest’s hop-bomb heritage.

This is a weird one.  Probably my least favorite but not by far.  It seems more Belgian than IPA.  Almost a hint of Brett aged IPA + Weizen + Kettle soured.  Quite a bitter punch at the end though.  I can’t pin this one down which is frustrating.

This is a damn fine start to a variety box.  I honestly don’t know if the other 3 can top this start from a weirdness and unique standpoint, these three really nailed it.

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Review – Extrovert IPA from Left Hand

When I saw that Left Hand Brewing was releasing a Session IPA under the Introvert name, I knew that the Extrovert probably wasn’t far behind. And the much more assertive IPA with a blend of Jarrylo, Cascade, and Comet and expansive dry hopping is much louder.
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The literature on the beer makes claim to tropical flavors, pineapple notes, mango, and orange blossom. Plus a bite balanced by biscuit malt. To me that initial bitter bite obscures fruit notes underneath. Creating more of a fruit peel taste as opposed to the juicy sweetness of the fruit. the aroma is the real puzzler here.  It has a grassy top note with more of a spent grain profile to it.  The aroma does not lead into the bitter taste.  As the beer warms up, a serious grapefruit pith note takes hold leading to a quite dry finish which I like.  I just wish that the aroma wasn’t such a mis-direction. In the end, this beer tastes quite stronger than expected and could probably easily slip into a Double IPA category.

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Up from the Cellar – Gone to Plaid from Noble Ale Works

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We return to the cellar and in honor of the Noble Ale Works wins at the recent Craft Brewers Conference, I have cracked open a Wee Heavy from the Anaheim based brewery.

Gone to Plaid pours a dark brown with red tinting to it. A woody sweet aroma greets the nose. Initially a little caramel sweet but a light drying bitterness closes the gap fairly quickly. This is a cheek warmer for sure. The label mentions fruit cake, toffee and brandy and I concur with that last descriptor the most. This has the weight of that spirit running through it.

I don’t quite remember when this was purchased or where but the Scotch Ale has been in my hands for close to a year and a half. This beer is based on a recipe from home Brewer Darren Shelton who won best of show at the Anaheim Fest of Ales in 2013.

The beer may have lost some brightness that would have added to the flavor by subtracting out done of the sweetness but I think this beer could have aged into something really port-like with more time.

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Taste Showdown Nitro IPA vs Nitro Wit from Sam Adams

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Sam Adams and their Nitro Project has finally started to show up in L.A. (though BevMo seems to hide it strategically through their Burbank store).

I purchased four packs of both the IPA and a White Ale to see which would win taste-wise and which best showcased the Nitrogenation process.

I started with the Creamy & Smooth White Ale.  The sound of the can popping is like starting up an engine.  The head is big and creamy.  There is near milkshake quality to this.  Almost like a horchata shake.  Pie spice nutmeg-gy ness.  It seems to me that the essential subtle shades of Wit Bier (AKA White Ale) are overwhelmed by the creamy nitro.  As it warms, the navel orange notes really start to pick up which adds a missing dimension.

Next on to the Bright & Citrusy,  the hops certainly do combat the nitro more.  There is a pungent, piney hop kick to this beer that seeps through the foamy head.  Lots of wood notes to this hop blend.  As it stays cold the nitro half stays in effect.  I sampled the beer straight from the ‘fridge and also after sitting at room temp and found it to initially be more citrus focused before settling into the woods.

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Overall, I would take the White Ale since it held a little more nuance.  The IPA fought through the Nitro and unleveled that playing field too much.  Now I might have to try the third offering, the coffee stout/

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Featured Review – Cold Brew IPA from Rogue

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From my viewpoint Coffee IPA’s have similar issues to black IPA’s. The main one being that it can be devilishly hard to balance the two competing forces of coffee and hops. Rogue Ales Cold Brew IPA comes close though. The coffee from Stumptown dominates in both aroma and flavor with a kind of green, unroasted bean touch at first. Then a flowering of iced coffee flavors swirl into view. There is a tiny touch of citrus bitterness from the hops at the end.

Now if this was labeled as a coffee pale or coffee XPA or just a cold brew ale, I would be more generous in my praise. It is a tasty brew and I do enjoy the aroma a lot but it doesn’t quite reach the IPA minimum bar.