Tag: review

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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.

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Featured Review – Jibe from Green Flash

Our second review stop with Green Flash is with Jibe Session IPA (the canned version).
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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).

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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.
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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.

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Featured Review – Christmas Ale from Bell’s

Well, if you brew a beer called Christmas Ale, it might as well be vivid red in color. That is what Bell’s has accomplished as you can see….
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Their Midwestern take on the holiday seasonal almost smells like fruitcake as well. Their is a definitive fruit note here that evokes the better aspect of the oft neglected cake. The jelly note and sweetness is here as is a tang of metallic swirling with the soft malts. There is a tiny touch of bitterness as well but it doesn’t linger for long. A lighter take that I would like to see bulked a little bit with some roastier malt but is an interesting viewpoint on what Santa might drink.

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Featured Review – Oktoberfest from Goose Island

We head to the Chicago and Goose Island for our third Oktoberfest offering, Goosetoberfest!(That’s what I call it)
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Now this garnet hued Festbier smells Germanic to me. Sweet and malty. That combo prominently stars in the beer but thanks to a hearty bitter kick and some dryness on the back of the tongue, this beer avoids being a one-hit wonder. There is a brûlée note that opens up as the beer warms as well. I can easily see this being “imperialized” and then cellared. It really reminds me of the sweeter aged beers like Samichlaus. The label makes claims of toffee and dried apricot. I can understand where people would taste the toffee but the apricot is a puzzler to me.

No matter, this would kill with a bratwurst. The savory would really play well with this especially if you had a sweet condiment to go with it.

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Featured Review – Oktoberfest from Left Hand Brewing

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For the first of four OktoFest beer reviews we start in Colorado with Left Hand Brewing.  And to change things up, I am tasting this Marzen Lager paired with three cookies from the famous Diddy Riese in Westwood.

When tasting with the peanut butter cookie, the beer really helps lighten the buttery and heaviness of the peanut butter.  The dark roast is a little too much for the peanut flavor though.

When it comes to the classic chocolate chip cookie, the match-up is a little too adversarial for me  the beer wants to be lighter but the chocolate is too rich and sweet and doesn’t give up

Oddly, the chocolate chocolate chip works much better.  The added sweetness gives a proper foil for the malt and carbonation.

Overall, the Left Hand Oktoberfest is light and lively with a bit of spice to it.  A solid beer.

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Featured Review – Two from Pure Order Brewing

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I started my duo of Reinheitsgebot influenced beers from Santa Barbara’s Pure Order Brewing with what they call a red wheat with the moniker Red Eye. They reference dunkel on the label but this beer felt lighter with hints of strawberry to it. Did I hold onto it for too long?  Was my first thought upon sipping for the first time. Before long though a light grain taste started peeking through the hazy, dull and nearly black beer. The promised raisin notes surfaced as well.

Crooked Neck Hefe has a better name and a cool tall tie-in to the Santa Barbara Zoo but I fear it also fell into a too old trap.  Hints of clove and banana are underneath. But there is a starting to turn edge to it that even some warming up can’t alleviate. I can’t in good conscience review it here.  What I do know is that these beers either didn’t have good transport to L.A. or they were more delicate than others in the style.

I will try again and amend this post with further results.

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Featured Review – Vanilla Coffee Lager from Sudwerk

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When I get a “blah” / “meh” kind of beer, my first and charitable reaction is to think that I bought it or drank it too late.

That may be what happened with this Coffee Vanilla Lager. I recently had Sudwerk’s Citrus Gose and really enjoyed it so my expectations were high for this beer but it never really took flight.

Coffee notes were really muted. No sweetness from the vanilla or cocoa nibs was evident, so I was left with a middling slightly flavorful dark lager. I will chalk it up to bad timing and try it again. Maybe if I see it on draft.

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Event Review – Flip-Flop Fest

Not only does Blue Palms have a BIG anniversary party coming up, but they also found time to do their Flip-Flop fest of Port Brewing beers, named after the iconic logo that double as footwear.

Following BSP procedure, I arrived near opening time to best find a stool and have a full slate of choices. Such as…..
Once You Go Blackberry Saison w/ Blackberries – Gnomercy Belgian IPA – Flyin Hawaiian Hef – Trashkannon Brown Ale – California Honey Blonde Ale – Kung Fu Elvis Strong Ale – Way Heavy Scotch Ale – La Flama Dorado Belgian Triple – May the Port be With You Imperial Stout – Rocky Top American Stout – Dust til’ Dawn Imperial Coffee Porter – Red Leader Imperial Red Ale – Beer Monkey IPA – New Break Pale Ale – Chronic Amber Ale – Ponto Session IPA – Kook Double IPA – Pick Six Hoppy Pilsner

(That list are the ones that I didn’t try off the tiki themed tap handles)

Here is the report:
Saison Persuasion was my first choice, I was beguiled by the Yuzu and peppercorns and I was let down, the beer was a little harsh on the palate and there was barely any peppercorn or yuzu or even ginger to be found.

So I went with a taster flight of (4) fruit IPA’s
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Well three at least, the One Love was a Mandarina Hop and it was the weakest of the quartet. Coming in at number 1 was the Haole passion fruit IPA which had a big and bold aroma that was almost too much but the beer itself was super well balanced bitter and fruit in equal amounts then at # 2 was Grapefruit Puncher which also had an excellent aroma and really brought the citrus. The Lono Mango was only third because the other two were so great.

I finished up with County Line Pub Ale on Nitro which was quite solid. Super smooth. Nice malt texture to it and a perfect hop antidote. Plus, it looked super cool in the glass.
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Review – Jackie Tar Brown Stout from MacLeod Ale Brewing

This is my second bottled MacLeod Ale and boy does it hold up just fine away from its normal cask environment.
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Jackie Tar the Brown Stout is supremely roasty. It pours an inky dark brown and it delivers a slightly smoked malt bomb to your taste buds. It is light with some watery-mess at the far back but that strong flavor just keeps your attention.  It is not a complex beer but it works.

I only wish I could return the bottle to the brewery directly for them to re-use. I almost feel bad recycling.