Tag: review

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Review – Hello LA from Highland Park Brewery

Rain doesn’t visit L.A. all that often but it came out on the day of the first canned release from Highland Park Brewery. HPB crew and brewmaster Bob Kunz were selling their beer in the cold and drizzle at the Hermosillo.

I got there three hours into the sale and was glad that they had four packs of there Hello LA IPA left. (They would all be snatched up by the end of the night, so sayeth social media.)
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And for a first effort on can design the label is way cool. If these had been on a shelf, you could not have missed it. The white background wrap around is bright and cheerful and not only locally brewed but locally designed as well.

The beer itself is light and fruit forward and dare I say a sessionable IPA. The Mosaic and Citra hops really work well together and also pack a late punch of bitterness that adds a layer to the beer. A great combo of the lighter side of IPA (which I gravitate towards) but with a nice kick.

Bob has made one of my favorite pilsners, he won the recent LA IPA Festival and he does very inventive sours and now he does canned beers that are perfect for sending to other parts of the country to show off L.A. beer.

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Featured Review – Come Together from Double Mountain

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Even if you are not a Beatles fan, the thought of a steam pale beer might intrigue you.

Here is what Double Mountain was aiming for with Come Together: “For Chef’s Week, we paired up with Chefs Doug Adams (Imperial), Adam Sappington (Country Cat), and Rick Gencarelli (Lardo) to create something special. We wanted to brew something that would be perfect to pair with a menagerie of menus and keep things coming together nicely. We chose to ferment a Czech Pilsner strain at ale temperature, creating a pale ale with citrus and pine grove aromas, and a crisp, clean balance.”

To me, Come Together is very much earthy in character. There is quite a bit of bitterness. How this pairs with food is questionable to me. Rye and basil notes to me as well. The lager yeast is quite prevalent. Getting a touch of pear for some odd reason too. It is quite enjoyable but I don’t know how it would work except for maybe a salad with some bitter greens in it that also had a creamy dressing of some sort. A push and pull dynamic. Because even on its own, it is quite bitter.

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Review – 2016 Russian Imperial Stout from Stone

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Thanks to the PR department at Stone Brewing Co., I was able to taste the 2016 version of the Russian Imperial Stout. And they must have known that I was partial to the non-dressed up base version.

This RIS has milk chocolate in the aroma. It is also quite luxurious in mouthfeel, almost like satin and there is a little bit of ABV heat at the back. This is not a super complex beer though there is a trace of some coffee bitterness, light though. Underneath is a bit of pineapple fruit on the tongue which might age away if you kept it around.

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Featured PDX Beer Review – Dynamic Duo from Ex Novo

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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.

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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)
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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.
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Featured PDX Beer Review # 2 – IPA from Buoy Beer

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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.

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Featured Review – Dirty Bastard from Founders

Our final February featured review is Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale from Founders Brewing.
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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.

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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…..
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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.

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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.
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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.

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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.
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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.