Tag: review

Posted on

Featured PDX Beer Review – Dynamic Duo from Ex Novo

IMG_6276
All NBA season long, I have been treated to the duo of Lillard & McCollum scoring from everywhere. And Dynamic Duo from Ex Novo Brewing is the perfect beer to watch them play. The only question is whether Lillard is Citra and McCollum is Delta hops, or vice-versa.

The IIPA (proejct 007) pours a slightly hazy orange color. The aroma is quite imperial with a skosh of cat pee. There is some grape must notes here and a bit of tangerine citrus too in the flavor profile. This one is a cheek warmer for sure even at the mere 8% ABV. A bit dank and herbal at the end.

This is a strong beer with a great label plus it’s a not for profit brewery.

Posted on

Review – IPA Fest (The Leftovers)

First things first. At the 2016 LA IPA Festival, 3rd Place was Lupulin River from Knee Deep. 2nd to two-time winner Noble Ale Works with That’s Unpossible and the winner was Bonkers IPA from Highland Park. (When that beer is fresh, it is insanely good so I totally understand it winning).

Secondly, do not even try to get in on opening day. Yeah, you will miss the winners mentioned above(they always tap out the first night) but you will save yourself waiting in line and being jostled around like a pinball. Plus you won’t have to put up with whiners who will complain about the lines as if it were some strange otherworldly happenstance that makes IPAs popular. And my favorite reason: flights so you can taste the variety of hops on tap.

I showed up fairly early for a lost hour Sunday and started with a flight of four ranging from the new-to-me, Jambi from Mason Ale Works in Oceanside to The a Winning Team from local favorite Eagle Rock, Stolen Valor from Arts District and the much hyped Peter David inspired beer, Hops are a Preservative from Transplants Brewing. ERB may not have won the voting but it won my first taster tray. (as it did in the People’s Choice Awards too)
Capture
Tray #2 included Recursion 8.0 from Bottle Logic, Anthia from Unsung Brewing of Orange County, Hop Drizzle from Honey Wagon and finally Inclined from Santa Monica Brew Works. The aroma and initial taste of Anthia was the best of both groups but I would still choose the Eagle Rock beer the winner of my informal tasting. Odd, that this group was uniformly yellow in color while group 1 ranged from amber downward.
IMG_6257

Posted on

Featured PDX Beer Review # 2 – IPA from Buoy Beer

IMG_6228
I had heard a tiny bit about the “other” Astoria brewery, Buoy Beer but had never had a beer from them before. But I think I should have purchased the 22oz bottle of pilsner before the IPA. I took a sip and immediately grabbed the bottle to look for a bottled on date which is never a good sign for an IPA. Even the most British and restrained of IPA’s have a hop kick somewhere but it was missing here. This beer was bottled Mid-January of this year so it shouldn’t have been this hop-less. There is citrus here in tiny amounts but the rest is some ESB-esque mix of flavors.

Maybe it was an “old” beer or mis-treated in transit but I will have to try fresh next time.

Posted on

Featured Review – Dirty Bastard from Founders

Our final February featured review is Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale from Founders Brewing.
IMG_6204
This is a sipping beer for sure I cracked open a window for air, cued up Sleepy Hollow episodes and opened the Bastard to see what a Michigan Scotch Ale is like (and also to see if I wanted to buy the Backwoods Bastard).

The beer is a dark brown with a reddish tint. Getting a medicinal, quinine aroma off of the beer but the taste moves in a different direction. It starts a bit sweet but then drops into a dry, burnt butterscotch/caramel end. A bit of harsh alcohol taste emerges too. Not quite digging this. It feels heavy to drink. Maybe a 4oz pour would be better.

Posted on

Review – Glutiny Pale Ale from New Belgium

Despite recent reports about how affected (or unaffected) people are by gluten, it is always good to have choice for those who truly can’t handle it and a choice that doesn’t taste like a weird science experiment.

Enter New Belgium and their Glutiny line which includes a blonde ale and a pale ale…..
IMG_5995
Glutiny pours a light orange color from the biker labeled bottle. I can’t quite pin the aroma down. Orange flavored gum maybe. Not a bad thing but different. The taste is light touching thin at points but like the Omission beers it doesn’t taste funny like the completely gluten free beers. It has a nice bitterness that could probably be ramped up even more. Final notes are tannic and tea like.

I will have to see how the golden ale stacks up but this is a nice XPA in my mind.

Posted on

Featured Review – Dry Hopped Pale Ale from Founders

Founders bottle release reviews started with the Centennial IPA and now move on to the Dry Hopped Pale Ale.
IMG_5947
The Pale pours a clear orange with a head that is foamy initially but quickly settles down to a small rim of white bubbles.It is orange and bready on the nose.

And then a good sting of hops strikes you at the top of each sip. This beer doesn’t have a load of IBU’s but it comes across as quite bitter with a note of orange peel.

It is more bracing than many pale ales and for that matter many IPA’s and I find that to be refreshing.

Posted on

Featured Review – Centennial IPA from Founders

Founders showed up in L.A. last month and I have had a few of their beers on tap but this is my first bottled brew bought in California.
IMG_5943
Let’s see how they stack up in the tiny bit crowded IPA marketplace….

This is one of the darkest IPAs in recent memory. Very reddish/orange. My tastebuds are way to accustomed to extra West Coast bitters so I have to review with care because there is a definite hop difference. Mostly in amount. There is a tea like lightness here. The bitterness is there but not palate numbing. There is orange peel as well but overall this is not complex.

I am tilting more to lighter, sessionable IPAs that have more of a tropical kick and this has classic IPA written all over it so it is closer to my wheelhouse than bolder versions in the marketplace. I still prefer the Mosaic Promise from Founders more because it is more lively and less malt heavy.

Now I need to get some Backwoods Bastard.

Posted on

Review – Double IPA from Angel City

I thought I had missed out on the Double IPA release from Angel City but then, a package arrived at my door a little worse for wear with the new beer undamaged inside.

Double IPA is part of their special Limited 22oz bomber series. It is hopped up with a blend of Warrior, Galena, Citra, Centennial,Amarillo and Motueka hops. It is almost a British DIPA to me. There is a strong malt presence in this offering. The aroma exudes orange pekoe and spice. It is more “wet” than others. Not quite silky but certainly strong without over bounding the style parameters.

Of the Angel City beers, this lands higher on my list. It achieves what many DIPA’s don’t. Deliver a bitterness punch with a strong malt base.

Posted on

Featured Review – Jibe from Green Flash

Our second review stop with Green Flash is with Jibe Session IPA (the canned version).
IMG_5864
As you can see this pours out so very clear. Tilted to yellow on the spectrum with a bit of orange peeking through. This beer starts out a bit tropical with some pineapple notes to it but then fades more into tangerine before passing the baton over to a wheat/grain taste that cohabitates with the bitter remainder of the hops.

It does taste both a little watery but also a little on the viscous side. How that is accomplished, I don’t know. The tangerine is good but I just wish it either chose more of that or more wheat notes. As it stands, it isn’t bad but I can see myself drinking it without noticing (which may be the point of Session IPA).

Posted on

Review – Aspen, CA. from King Harbor

Straight from the silver crowler purchased at the pier location of King Harbor comes this golden ale with spruce tips.
IMG_5822
This is one of the yellowest beers that I have seen. Crystal clear. When first opened, the earthy pine notes are significant. As it warms, those tree notes fade off a bit but the beer retains a strong back end flavor of spruce tree. At 6.1%, the beer might be a skosh strong for a simple golden ale but the white bread toast notes bring it back into lighter territory.